[Wswss] Remembering K1FO

[Wayne Overbeck]

Steve Powlishen, who died yesterday (just two months 
after he turned 60) was not only an exceptional 
engineer and builder of potent RF amplifiers--he 
was also a premier VHF contester of the 1970s and 
1980s.

Steve, K1FO (WA1FFO until 1977), built a super-
station in Connecticut and became the odds-on 
favorite to be the top single operator in any 
VHF contest, just as K1TEO is the odds-on favorite 
today.  I got to know him well because I also 
wanted to win VHF contests--and concluded that 
I had to have a good station in the northeast 
to have any chance against Steve.

I flew to Boston for the September, 1978, VHF 
contest, hauling seven suitcases of equipment.
I rented a car, built a console inside, and 
parked on Mt. Equinox, Vermont.  K1FO was 
well aware of this--and redoubled his own 
efforts so he could teach this California 
carpetbagger a lesson.  And he did.  Steve 
amassed the highest single-op score ever in 
the September VHF contest, and did indeed 
send me to the departure gates at Logan 
Airport vowing to try harder next time.

The next year I outfitted a Ford van with 
kilowatts on all bands through 432, added an 
Onan generator and mounted a tower on the rear 
deck.  I drove east in 1979, towing a 70' 
tower trailer behind the van so I could have 
two towers on an eastern mountaintop for VHF 
contests.

Meanwhile, Steve built a killer home station.
He was ready when I set up on Mt. Equinox 
for September, 1979 for a showdown in what 
was becoming a rivalry.

The record books say September, 1979, saw some 
of the best tropo conditions ever in a VHF 
contest.  Steve and I both worked all the way 
from New England to Oklahoma on the VHF bands, 
working tropo DX on 2, 220 and 432 that 
Californians can only dream about.

Steve's previous record for September was 
45,000 points (scores were much lower in 
those days because ARRL sections, not grid 
squares, were the multipliers--and roving 
had not been invented yet).  We both shattered 
that record.  I edged Steve out with almost 
103,000 points, a September score that was 
never exceeded under the section multiplier 
scoring system.  But Steve was destined to 
have the final word in the June contest.

The rivalry continued for a few more contests, 
then I abandoned these coast-to-coast VHF 
expeditions and tried to get serious about my 
career.  The next year, Steve went all-out in 
the June VHF contest and scored almost 110,000
points--the highest June score ever posted 
when ARRL sections were multipliers.  Then 
he, too, decided to concentrate on his 
career--and became legendary in his field.

It's very hard for me to accept that the 
guy I remember as a young kid in a red 
Ford Torino is gone forever.  Like thousands 
of others, I will miss him.

-Wayne Overbeck, N6NB