(Hicksville, NY –
May 15, 2020) – The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has seven new members for 2020,
CQ magazine announced today. This brings to 333 the total number of members
inducted since the hall's establishment in 2001.
The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who
have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs
who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their
professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet.
The 2020
inductees (listed alphabetically) are:
- Chet Atkins, W4CGP (SK), legendary musician known as "Mister Guitar," and music producer; ushered in "the Nashville sound" on RCA Records (Note: Chet's call has subsequently been re-issued)
- Les Barclay, G3HTF (SK), propagation expert, leader of International Telecommunication Union propagation study groups and Chairman of the ITU's first Radiocommunication Assembly in 1993; top official in the UK's telecommunication regulatory agency
- George Laurer, K4HZE (SK), developer of the UPC (universal product code) or "bar code" on merchandise, permitting items purchased at stores to be scanned on checkout rather than manually rung up
- Yasuo "Zorro" Miyazawa, JH1AJT, whose Foundation for Global Children helps fund educational and medical programs for children around the world; FGC also works with several countries to help them organize and train teams for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
- Champ Muangamphun, E21EIC, a DXer and DXpeditioner who has been a sparkplug for growing interest in ham radio in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia. Champ also accompanies JH1AJT on many of his humanitarian missions and operates DXpedition-style ham stations while Zorro works with government officials and non-governmental organizations on behalf of the Foundation for Global Children.
- Sultan Qaboos bin Said, A41AA (SK), Sultan of Oman from 1970-2020; transformed impoverished country into a modern and prosperous state with influence throughout the Middle East
- Tom Roscoe, K8CX, a champion of amateur radio history who collects and makes available online his "Ham Gallery" of old QSL cards and other historic photos
New members are
also being inducted into the CQ DX and
Contest Halls of Fame in separate online ceremonies, due to the cancellation of
the Dayton Hamvention and related DX and Contest dinners. Contest Hall of Fame
inductees were announced on May 14; new members of the DX Hall of Fame will be
announced on May 20.
