A History of the Western New York Section

The geographic Section and its members is the basis of the American Radio Relay League. Each Section has a facinating history behind it as its members contributed to the radio art. Below are some of the highlights of the ARRL's Western NY section. The page remains under construction as new research is completed and the Webmaster, N2IKR would very much like contributions and clarifications regarding the material presented here and you can email him at the above link. N2IKR would also like to acknowledge the primary research source for this material and thank W2CXM, the Cornell Amateur Radio Club for the use of their wonderful QST library from April, 1946 to the present day.

These are the days when the League is just getting started. Spark is the only thing going. Even CW doesn't exist yet. HPM comes up with his plan to criss-cross the country with Relay Trunk Lines and plans are actually put into practice...scant months before the Great War shuts down Amateur Radio.

• Fall 1915 - League Station 8YC, Cornell University, in Western NY is heard in long distance monitoring from 1VN in Hartford, CT.
• January 1916 - The very first ARRL Stations in what will become the Western NY Section are mentioned in QST: Walter Bernacct, 8RZ, Ray Swanecamp, 8LL, H.W. Woodmansee, 8AGO, all of Buffalo; Ronald Marshall, 8UU, of Cazenovia, Elliott Ford, 8ADK of Rochester, and Norman Snyder, 8FO of Ithaca.
• April 1916 - The first Trunk Line (forerunners of the National Traffic System) Managers are announced. Western NY is put on Trunk Line A whose manager is R.H.G. Mathews.
• December 1916 - Dues to the ARRL go from free to $1 per year. The first radio club in what will be the Western NY Section is mentioned: the Binghamton Progressive Radio Association.
• February 1917 - Stations 8ZP and 8SK are made official Trunk Line A stations in Buffalo, NY. The first Transcontinental Relay is done on February 6th, taking one and a third hours.
• March 1917 - The Radio Assoc. of Western NY, based in Buffalo, elects new officers and adopts its new name. An announcement is made about affiliating clubs with the ARRL.
• April 1917 - A new branch of Trunk Line A is worked between NYC and Buffalo and includes WNY stations 8WO, the Bush Bros. of Binghamton; 8ALK, Joel Young of Elmira; 8AJE, Laurens Taylor of Geneva; 8ASH, G.W. Finegan of Rochester and 8VX, William Fraser of Buffalo. War comes to Amateur Radio and our stations are shut down.

District Superintendent William T. Fraser, 8VX/8FR
May 1917 - June 1921

While we've named William Western NY's first leader in the vein of a Section Manager one must remember that this is the very earliest days of the ARRL Field Organization as we know it. The Division Directors take more of a role that we now see as the perview of the Section Manager. For example, it is the Division Directors who write the reports in QST, not the Section Mangers. What we now call sections are roughly known as districts in this time period. Indeed, especially after the reorganization of May, 1921, the Atlantic Division actually has two proper sections: the Northern Section that comprises the states of NY and NJ and the Southern Section that has everything else. Assistant Division Directors run these sections and appoint District Superintendents where they feel they are needed.

William's call started out as 8VX when his appointment was announced in May of 1917. Immediately afterward, of course, World War I was declared and Amateur Radio was closed down. In October of 1919 when transmitting was resumed all Amateur licenses had been expired and new ones - and that meant new calls! - had to be garnered. William's new call of 8FR was announced in January, 1920. William seems to fade away in late 1920.

• May 1917 - J.O. Smith, 2ZL, is named first Atlantic Division Director. He appoints William T. Fraser, 8VX as his Western NY District Superintendent. Both are named to ARRL's first Board of Directors. Headquarters is moved to NYC. ARRL dues go to $2/year upon adoption of the new Constitution.
• June 1917 - The Radio Club of Utica, NY is mentioned having a membership of 25.
• October 1917 - QST ceases publication.
• April 1919 - Amateur Receiving is again permitted by the Navy Department.
• June 1919 - QST resumes publication. J.O. Smith, 2ZL becomes ARRL Traffic Manager and the Atlantic Division gaines a new Director, Charles Service. The League's offices move back to Hartford, CT.
• October 1919 - Transmitting resumes!
• January 1920 - Canada is brought into the ARRL Operating Department.
• April 1920 - A Central NY District is created under George Benas of Utica, NY.
• June 1920 - The number of ARRL Divisions double. The Atlantic Division looses the New England states to the new New England Division and Virginia to the Roanoke Division and retains (all of ) New York, (all of) New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and DC.
• July 1920 - The classic ARRL Diamond Logo is designed and released!
• October 1920 - The Rochester Radio Club and the Radio Club of Syracuse join the now 85 ARRL Affiliated Clubs in existance.
• January 1921 - A.H. Benzee Jr. named as Acting Superintendent for Western NY.
• May 1921 - R.D. Haire, 8GI, is named Rochester City Manager.

District Superintendent A.H. Benzee Jr., 8FE
June 1921-

In June of 1921 the Northern Section (comprising NY and NJ) is reorganized into districts with defined borders for the first time. The Western NY District, what would directly become the Western NY Section, is defined as the Counties of Niagara, Orleans, Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego, Onondaga, Seneca, Ontario, Monroe, Livingston, Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Yates, Cortland, Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, Steuben, Schuyler, Alleghany, Cattaraugus, Chatauqua, and Jefferson. Other districts at this time include the Capital District, the Hudson Valley District (direct ancestors of the ENY Section), the Long Island District, New York City District, and the Brooklyn District (the three of which currently make up the NY-L.I. Section). CW takes over from Spark during Benzee's Administration.

• July 1921 - R.D. Haire, 8GI resigns as Rochester City Manager due to entering the "commercial game." J.J. Young, 8HJ is appointed Elmira City Manager. The Triangle Radio Society of Rochester and the YMCA Radio Club of Rome join the ARRL Affiliated Clubs.
• August 1921 - V. Graham, 8IX, is appointed Rochester City Manager. The First National ARRL Convention is held in Chicago.
• September 1921 - S. Woodworth, 8AWP, appointed City Manager of Syracuse.

Section Communications Manager Charles I. Otero, W8UPH/W2UPH
-1948

Charlie started out as W8UPH. Due to the FCC's change in call district numbering Charlie's callsign changed to W2UPH and was reported as such in the September 1946 QST. Charlie lived in Spencerport, NY. It's interesting to note that many of the Station Activities reports from this era identify stations only be the suffix of their callsign with the prefix being assumed.

• May 1946 - The Rochester Amateur Radio Association holds their hamfest with a turkey dinner, entertainment, speakers and exhibits. Ticket price: $3.00. The Radio Association of Western NY formed in Buffalo. Senator James Mead attends the first meeting. The Jamestown ARA becomes active again. The first W2 calls are issued in the Section.
• June 1946 - The Kenmore Buffalo Tonawanda Radio Club becomes active again. 80m becomes available from the military again at long last.
• November 1946 - QST goes to $0.35. The first postwar meeting of the Chautauqua ARC is held in Dunkirk. FCC restores the remaining half of 40 and 20m to the Amateur Radio Service.
• December 1946 - EC appointments are made for Dunkirk, Tonawanda, Syracuse, Angelica, Glens Falls and Lowville. Charlie calls for more to properly cover the west end of the state.
• January 1947 - A "Western NY Traffic Net" forms on 3720kc. Binghamton ARC reported going strong but the city still needs an EC.
• March 1947 - ARRL starts DXCC program. Edward P. Kingsland, W2NA of Herkimer, NY proclaimed oldest active Ham at age 82.
• April 1947 - The WNY and ENY Traffic nets are combined on 3720kc forming the forerunner of the NYS CW net of today.

Section Communications Manager Harding A. Clark, W2PGT
1948-1951

Harding's address started in Syracuse, but then changed to Manlius later in his tenure. Callsigns of this era are still largely by suffix only. Harding's Station Activity Reports were quite spotty during his tenure.

• March 1948 - Binghamton ARC reorganized after WWII with 60 members.
• May 1948 - The Syracuse University ARC is formed.
• July 1950 - The Cornell Amateur Radio Club is licensed as W2CXM.
• April 1951 - The Oswego Co. Amateur Radio Association is formed.
• June 1951 - The NYS Civil Defense Net starts on 3509.5kHz.
• July 1951 - The Novice License goes into effect.

Section Communications Manager Edward Graf, W2SJV
1952-1956

After serving as the Section Emergency Coordinator under the last two administrations, Ed Graf of Tonawanda moved into the Section Communications Manager position in January of 1952. During Ed's administration TVI and how to combat it become important topics. Civil Defense and Amateur Radio's part in it, also come to the forefront.

• February 1952 - The RADEES ARC is formed at Buffalo University.
• May 1952 - The 15 meter band opens. The Netherland Antilles is taken off the Banned Countries List. A reciprocal license agreement is worked out between the US and Canada.
• July 1952 - A new Charter & By-Laws goes into effect for the ARRL, and a new President - W0TSN - takes over.
• October 1952 - The Cattaraugus Amateur Radio Society in Olean is chartered.
• November 1952 - The Cattaraugus Amateur Radio Society becomes ARRL affiliated (that didn't take long!).
• December 1952 - Lebanon and Japan are dropped from the banned countries list. It now includes: Austria, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Thailand, & Viet Nam. W2ORD is issued to the University of Buffalo ARC.
• January 1953 - NYS Slow Speed Traffic net (precursor to the Empire Slow Speed Traffic Net?) mentioned at 3595kc at 8:00PM.
• February 1953 - The old Class A license is discontinued. Phone is also opened on 40 meters.
• April 1953 - The Black River Valley ARC becomes ARRL affililiated.
• May 1953 - The Ithaca Mike & Key Club converts a bus for use as an AREC Communications Center with 80, 75, 10, and 2 meter capability.
• June 1953 - Korea is added to the banned countries list.
• August 1953 - The IBM ARC is formed.
• November 1953 - The QST editorial warns of a new problem on the horizon: more TVI to the brand new color TV receivers just now being built.
• January 1954 - Gilbert L. Crossley, W3YA, becomes Atlantic Division Director with 985 votes.

Section Communications Manager Charles Hansen, K2HUK
1957-August, 1968

Starting off his career in Buffalo, by mid 1966 Charles had moved to Holland, NY.

Section Communications Manager Richard M. Pitzeruse, K2KTK
Sept 1968-July 1974

Richard, from Syracuse, started off taking the reins from Charles after he did not run for a 7th year.

Section Communications Manager George W. Hippisley Jr, K2KIR
August 1974-August 18, 1975

In August of 1974 "Bud" Hippisley, our current Section Emergency Coordinator, stepped into the center seat. Bud then lived in Syracuse. K2KTK remained as Assistant Section Communications Manager. Unfortunetly, increasing work pressures caused Bud to resign prematurely. K2KTK, re-took the reigns as Acting Section Communications Manager until the regular election was held the next year.

Section Communications Manager Richard M. Pitzeruse, K2KTK
August 19, 1975 - June 1976

Still hailing from Syracuse, Richard stepped back into the center seat taking over from Bud Hippisley.

Section Communications Manager Joseph M. Hood, K2YAH
June 1976-August 1978

Living in Rochester, in May of 1977 Joe dropped the "H" in his call becoming K2YA.

Section Communications Manager Lonnie J. Keller, WA2AOG
August, 1978 - October 19, 1980

Lonnie Keller hailed from Lancaster, NY.

Section Manager William Thompson, W2MTA
October 20, 1980 - December 31, 1999

After some time as Assistant Section Communications Manager Bill Thompson of Newark Valley stepped into the center seat. Bill Thompson served 20 years as Section Manager of Western New York and became one of the most Senior Section Managers in history. Bill's tenure saw the explosion of Packet radio both on the VHF and HF frequencies, the creation of AMTOR, the first Amateur transmissions from a person in space, the launch of the VEC program, the first codeless amateur licence, and the rise of the World Wide Web and the Internet and what that has meant for Amateur Radio.

Section Manager Scott Bauer, W2LC
January 1, 2000 - Present

Scott Bauer starts his reign during what can be argued as the most turbulent time in Amateur Radio history. The first official event of his tenure was dealing with the new FCC Amateur Radio restructuring issues. Talk about the deep end of the pool...

Last updated December 26, 1999
Please send changes and corrections to: Doc Kinne, N2IKR