ZS1AU 1934 South Africa

ZS1AU 1947 South Africa

Len Wells was my father. He was first licensed in 1933 as ZS1AU. He became a Silent Key in 1950 at the age of 45yrs. I took over his callsign in 1950 & have also held ZS4AU from 1970 to 1980. I am now 80+ years & have held my father's callsign for 59 years. When I was born in 1928 my father was already building his homebrew transmitter. In 1934 Len gained a Merit Award in the D104 Astatic D104 Mike / Photo competition (when he was ZS6FB in Pretoria, South Africa).
I have a vast amount of history in my shack. My father was the first person, when he was a boyscout, to hear Mr. Streeter, on the first transmission of voice over the air in 1915. The headphones my father used are still in my shack today.

Here is Len's photo that he submitted in the D104 contest.

Notice Len's Honorable Mention Status under the callsign ZS6FB

Here is J.S. Streeter ZS1W, A4Z. The magazine article read; "The late OM Streeter was probably the best known of all South African hams, for he played an enormous part in Radio in the early days in this country and was largely responsible for popularizing it as a hobby.

Here are Len's headphones the now remain in his son's shack.

Courtesy of ZS1AU