CAMPUS PEOPLE

Curtis' article recounts early history of the VHF/UHF Century Club

"VUCC -- 20 Years and Counting," an article by Mass Communications Department Chair Anthony R. Curtis is in the February 2003 issue of QST, the official journal of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

In the article, Dr. Curtis recalls the early history of the ARRL's VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) which boosted the passion for contesting among amateur radio operators and brought the invention of "grid squares."

"The proper name for grid squares is Maidenhead Locator System," Dr. Curtis explains. "They were invented in 1980 by amateur radio operators from around the world meeting at Maidenhead, England.

"They overlaid the entire globe with a pattern of squares measuring one-degree latitude by two-degrees longitude. That created 32,400 grid squares encircling the globe. Each grid in the continental United States measures about 70 by 100 miles," the professor said.