The YASME Foundation

A The YASME/Colvin Collection

From the beginning, Lloyd Colvin collected incoming QSL cards in small metal file cupboards measuring 6,3 x 5 x 15,7" Fig. 01/02 The collection expanded to 640 units, each containing 1,000-1,500 cards depending on the filling quantity. This results in a total of approx. 800,000 QSL cards. Lloyd and Iris Colvin reported a total of around 900,000 contacts. The collection should therefore be complete.
After the Colvins' death, the cupboards were left unattended in a garage at their home. The increasingly poor state of preservation induced the YASME Foundation to donate the entire collection to the Documentation Archives Radio Communication in Vienna.
The transfer took place in March 2006 Fig. 03 . A provisional initial installation revealed considerable damage due to rust, bent and jammed shutters Fig. 04 . The alphabetical order was also no longer preserved. The restoration, conservation and reorganization took one and a half years Fig. 05-07 For this purpose, the collection was temporarily set up in its own room Fig. 08 and finally moved to the public archive Fig. 09 . Today the YASME / Colvins archive is integrated into the premises of DokuFunk and is available for consultion and research Fig. 10 .
The logbooks are still in the USA without archival support. Documents (images and written material) on the activities of Lloyd and Iris Colvin were not handed over. The archival-scientific processing is not yet finished.

B The YASME Foundation

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The YASME Foundation, with its headquarters in Castro Valley, California, USA, is a a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to support scientific and educational projects related to amateur radio, including DXing (long distance communication) and the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in developing countries. Yasme supports various projects relating to amateur radio, with an emphasis on developing amateur radio in emerging countries and encouraging youth participation in amateur radio.non-profit organization to promote research and educational projects in the realm of amateur radio, to encourage and support radio Dxpeditions to otherwise rarely activated geographical entities, and to help to introduce and spread amateur radio in countries with no or only a few active stations.

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C Lloyd and Iris Colvin

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Lloyd Dayton Colvin - *1915-04-24, Spokane, WS - †1993-12-13 Instanbul, Turke
Iris Venita Iola Colvin ← Atterbury - *1914-04-15, †1998 -- ⚭ 1932-08-11
Daughter: Joy Victoria Colvin ← Gilcrease *1940-03-20 -- ⚭ 1969-06-18 Richard Vowell Gilcrease *1927-01-24
First licensed in 1929 at age 12, Lloyd earned an electrical engineering degree from U.C. Berkley. After graduation he embarked upon a 23-year army carreer, retiring in 1961 as a lieutenant colonel. His service years had already provided the opportunity to operate W6KG from many foreign countries.
Iris graduated from Berkley in 1937, from the College of Arts and Sciences as a fine arts major. Lloyd and Iris married in 1938, and Iris obtained her license 1in 1945. - By the mid-sixties, their successful real estate investments and contracting business in Alaska and California had ensured financial independence.
The YASME Foundation was established in 1961, initially to aid the sailboad DXpeditioning of Danny Weil, and later sponsored several other DXpeditioners, providing licensing and QSL assistance. The cooperation with the Colvins began in the fall of 1965 in Saipan and lasted until 1992. They traelled to 221 DXCC entities, operated in about two thirds of them and generated over a million contacts. YASME volunteers answered over 750.000 QSLs.
(Norfthern California DX Club, Worldradio)
After Lloyd's death, Iris was not active on the radio. After Iris died, the house in Richmond, California, was sold.

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Lloyd Colvin - Obituary (Northern California DX Club Bulletin, September 1994) [PDF , 557.01 KB]

D Richard C. "Dick" Spenceley, KV4AA

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If you don't have a QSL from the U.S. Virgin Islands, it's not Dick's fault. He was providing QSOs from there for 55 years (1927-1982). Dick was born in the Boston suburb of West Newton, MA, on September 14, 1905, and lived here until 1924 when he joined the U.S. Navy. In 1925 he transferred to Navy Radio Station NBB in St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. He lived there until his death in 1982.
Dick developed an interest in amateur radio, and in 1927 he became licensed as K4AAN. At that time, the K4 prefix was used for stations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Dick caught the DX contest bug in 1932, when he took part in the week-long ARRL DX CW Contest, placing third. The experience gained by frequent participations in subsequent contests enabled KV4AA to make the world's top score in the ARRL DX CW Contest of 1951, 1954 and 1956. In addition to contesting, Dick became a serious DX operator after receiving his KV4AA call sign in 1947, and by 1962 he held the top spot on the DXCC Honor Roll. After reaching that pinnacle, he continued to work DX, but did not submit any further QSLs to maintain a ranking.
He served as Dx Editor of CQ from 1952 to 1958 and fashioned the popular WPX awards during the later part of his stint with the magazine. He was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in March, 1969. He became a Silent Key on July 30, 1982 (K8CX Ham Gallery, YASME The Danny Weil and Colvin Radio Expeditions, p29)
Dick played an important role in creating the YASME Dxpedition of the intrepid Danny Weil, VP2VB/MM, who activated 32 rare DX spots while attempting to sail around the world single-handed. He asked for small contributions to be forwardewd to KV4AA, thus helped to fund the expeditions, later YASME II> and YASME III, inaugurated The YASME News magazine, and initiated the YASME Foundation as a a non-profit organization. When Danny Weil quit the seas, the YASME Foundation was reactivated to sponsor the world-wide DXpeditions of the Colvins. The first YASME operation was Saipan, KG6SZ, in September 1956, the last one TA1/W6QL, in November 1993

G Dick McKercher's Africa Expeditions

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George R. (Dick) McKercher, W0MLY, †31. May 1999, was one of the "Top DXers", with 380 DXCC-Entities. First licensed 1930 as W4DVL, he travelled widely in the 1950's and 60's in Africa (a.o. 5V4MY, 6L6MY, FL8MY, VQ9MY, TY2MY, 4W1MY). Dick was member of YASME's Board of Directors and ARRL Life Member.