Inducted May 2026
First licensed as WN1OCU in 1971 at age 15, and later WA1OCU, Paul has spent 48 years participating in HF operating, radio engineering, and contesting. Shortly after moving to Hudson, MA, he established a station with his wife, Charlotte Richardson KQ1F. Since 1985, he has gone on a DXpedition every year, many around the CQWW CW contest. His love of diving and photography has taken him to many DX locations.
Outside his DX activities, Paul is particularly well known for his involvement with SO2R boxes. He is the original designer of the hardware and software for the YCCC SO2R Box, the kit that made SO2R available and affordable. Over 700 were created. Paul also participated in the design and software for the SO2R Mini controller, an Arduino-based little box, with about 250 kits distributed. Almost 1,000 contesters use a K1XM box!
As part of the development for his controllers, Paul created OTRSP (Open Two Radio Switching Protocol), a simple set of commands and events for computer control of an SO2R device. Selflessly, Paul open-sourced the protocol, allowing other manufacturers, inventors, and software developers to implement it. Since then, it has become the de facto standard for communication between computers and their peripherals for SO2R and has been adopted by many software developers.
Paul’s other technical projects have been similarly innovative for the modern contest station. Paul introduced the MOAS, or “Mother of All Switches” as a platform to completely automate station antenna switching at a very low cost. The MOAS is a serious piece of engineering. It can handle the most complex antenna switching functions, including key lines, lockouts, and multi-path wiring.
With the passing of 9A5K, Paul assumed the mantle of lead software developer for DXLog, a contest logging program quite popular in Europe. Under Paul’s guidance, the code base has been refined, bugs removed, and new features added. At the same time, the software’s financial model was changed from paid to freeware. Paul has selflessly dedicated hundreds of hours to the DXLog project.
Paul has been an active member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club for more than 35 years. He spent 12 years as the editor of the Scuttlebutt, the club newsletter. Paul has also served as the Club’s Vice President, and attends nearly every YCCC meeting – often with a project in tow, or a talk to give.