SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX011   
   ARLX011 Former ARRL staffer Mason P. Southworth, ex-W1VLH (SK)   
      
   ZCZC AX11   
   QST de W1AW   
   Special Bulletin 11  ARLX011   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  September 10, 2015   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB SPCL ARL ARLX011   
   ARLX011 Former ARRL staffer Mason P. Southworth, ex-W1VLH (SK)   
      
   Former ARRL staffer Mason Southworth, ex-W1VLH, of Montara, California, died   
   August 28 from complications related to a traumatic brain injury 2 years ago.   
   He was 81. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford and Rensselaer   
   Polytechnic Institute, he began work in 1956 at ARRL Headquarters, where he   
   met his wife, Freddie.   
      
   While at ARRL, he was chosen to head the ARRL International Geophysical Year   
   (IGY) Propagation Research Project (PRP). Conducted under a US Air Force   
   contract, the PRP enlisted 600 Amateur Radio operators from around the world   
   to help improve the understanding of VHF propagation. Data from the   
   experiment, sorted and recorded on 300,000 computer punch cards, provided a   
   global footprint of VHF propagation phenomena.   
      
   Southworth subsequently directed a PRP follow-on project under O.G. Villard,   
   W6QYT, at Stanford University, researching transequatorial scatter   
   propagation. He later returned to the East Coast to join IBM, where he spent   
   25 years and became known for his ability to make complex technological   
   concepts accessible to non-scientists.   
      
   During his League tenure, Southworth authored numerous articles on the PRP as   
   well as on VHF-related topics, including construction projects.   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   ... You know summer is here when the chair you sit in gets up when you do.   
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