Dale's Tales for December 2014

Greetings everyone,

As 2014 comes to a close, we must look back at this year as having been one of the most significant in ham radio.  Among the outstanding events, we recognize the ARRL's 100th Anniversary as the lead item.  It brought with it a wonderful National Convention with renowned speakers on timely subjects.  It brought us the W1AW Portable Operating Events, allowing the average ham across the USA and possessions to operate "our club station" from their own home QTH as W1AW/x.   Each state and territory took to the air and we all reached out to work them on multiple bands and modes.

It brought us the ARRL Centennial Challenge QSO Party sparking thousands of hams into getting active and working towards achieving Challenge Points. 

We also hosted the 2014 IARU Radiosport Championship and 2014 also brought a matching fund Challenge to us all to offer further financial support to our ARRL, insuring its future. 

Combine this Anniversary Year with new product introductions by several manufacturers, new developments in software designed radios, advances in weak signal programs, and we have experienced a truly great 2014.

We must also offer our special thanks to the ARRL HQ staff for hosting the 100th Anniversary National Convention and for developing and managing the scoring systems for this year's operating events all intertwined with the rest of their routine and daily duties.  Great Job, well done.

From a purely personal note, this year has allowed me to meet thousands of different hams on the air in operating the Challenge.  My log has filled with wonderful QSOs and along with that, many new friendships have formed.  Everyone has been polite, courteous and understanding, all typical of what we inspire to be as Radio Amateurs.  I also thank all for being so very tolerant of me as I stumbled through getting all the call signs and signal reports accurately recorded.  There is still plenty of time left to rack up a lot more Qs, so keep at it.  Things will close with another "Red Badge Day" on December 31.

HB 4969 Progress Report:  I currently count 67 Co-sponsors for our House Bill 4979, the Amateur Radio Parity Act.   This bipartisan effort would direct the FCC to extend the "reasonable accommodation" provisions for Amateur Radio antennas to include all types of land-use regulation, including deed restrictions and restrictive covenants, not just those covered by PRB-1.  Details and updates are posted at http://www.arrl.org/hr-4969.  Time is now very short, please write to your Congressperson and encourage his/her support, or offer your thanks if he/she has already signed on to co-sponsorship.

Vice Director, Tom Delaney W8WTD offers these comments:  Early December, being between major holidays, is a time when we normally don't focus as much on ham radio, with all the busy rush of other things.  And in spite of the old saw about antennas working better when they are installed in bad weather, I really don't like working on antennas in cold weather.

But there's still the interest in the Centennial QSO party, with many people vying to get more contacts for that high score they hope to achieve.  What a great motivation to get on the air.  It turned out far better than anyone probably imagined when they came up with the idea. Now we have to find something else like it to generate an equal amount of interest.

As I was thinking about the Centennial effort, I realized how important the Logbook of the World has been in this effort.  And so my thoughts turned to the internet and how much it has affected ham radio.  In some ways, writing about the internet is so obvious.  Of course it has affected just about every aspect of life.  What's new about that? 

However, the story here is how amateur radio has adapted the internet. In some ways, it could have been like the predictions in the early fifties of how that new thing called television was going to do away with the movies.  We learned how good a prediction that was.  And it's logical that a new form of communications would do away with old forms of communication--except that didn't happen either.  Some aspects of ham radio aren't what they were.  But because hams are resourceful, they saw the possibilities in making use of the internet to enhance ham radio, and that's what we have today.  Logbook of the World is a simple adaptation of the paper QSL cards, but it has made awards and contests so much better--and provides the "leader board" for the Centennial QSO Party.  Spotting DX was not possible to the extent it is today without the internet.  And so many of our interconnections for Echolink, IRLP, D-Star and DMR depend on the internet.  New forms of communications, hybrid, maybe, but still offering some of the magic of a ham radio contact.

Operating a radio still requires skill.  These new operating aids are always nice to have.  So keep operating, make those contacts, whether you're going for a standard award, or that higher place on the leader board.  See you on the air.

73,

Tom W8WTD

Vice Director

Great Lakes Division

Hamfesting:  Here is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule for the next few weeks.  These swaps have received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this publication. 

Dec 6 - Fulton County Winterfest, Delta, OH 

Dec 7 - Lanse Creuse, Harrison Twp, MI - WB8R 

Jan 11 - Hazel Park, MI - WB8R - WA8EFK 

Jan 18 - SCARF, Nelsonville, OH 

Feb 1 - NOARS, Elyria - N8SY 

Feb 7 - HARA, Negaunee, MI - WB8R 

Feb 14 - Cherryland, Traverse City, MI - WB8R 

Feb 15 - Mansfield, Mansfield, OH - N8SY - WA8EFK 

Feb 15 - Livonia, Livonia, MI - WB8R 

Mar 7 - Cave City, Cave City, KY - KY4Z

A note about hamfest attendance by your ARRL elected officials.  We want to be at your events and we strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.  Conflicts can arise, such as hamfests which might occur on the same day.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chairman to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to insure his attendance at the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.

Club Visits: Thanks to the Arrow Comm. Assn., CRES ARC, and the Branch County ARC, for recently hosting your Director at their club meetings.  My next outing is to the Livingston County ARC on December 11.   Your Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in the Section or Division.  Please feel free to invite any of us for an ARRL Night at your club.  Most of the talks are prepared in a video presentation format and can include a Q&A session as well. Advance scheduling really helps and gives you an opportunity to publicize the event.  See pages 15 & 16 of a recent QST for contact information.

And, from Judy and me, the very best wishes to you and your family as we celebrate this Holiday Season. 

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

Dale's Tales for November, 2014

Greetings everyone,

THE Operating Event:  We have but a couple of months left before the ARRL Centennial QSO Party comes to a close.  There is plenty of opportunity to enjoy contacting fellow ARRL members and collecting points.  The Award Certificates have been announced and will be presented in the following categories:  First Level, 1000 Points; Second Level, 3000 Points; Third Level, 7500 Points and Top Level 15,000 Points.  These levels are really placed well to insure that most of us will be able to hang a certificate on the wall commemorating a great operating event.  

You will still find ample time to get on the air and qualify for an award, even if you have not actively participated in the Centennial QSO Party.  If you are currently a user of Logbook of the World, your uploaded contacts( and there for scores) are already recorded and can be found through a link on the LoTW Home page called "Leader Board".

From this web page, you can log in using your LoTW ID and password.

Check it out, you may find that you are already well on your way to a Centennial QSO Party Award.  Actually as few as 4 well placed contacts can bring you 1000 points.  Just listen for ARRL President Craigie, a couple of Directors and a VP, contact them, and you'll be there!  It can be that simple to log some great contacts.  Self-spotting has been permitted, so watch the DX clusters to see who is on.

HB 4969 Progress Report:  The number of Bill co-sponsors continues to climb, thanks in large part to your support.  Our original plan was to reach 30 Congressmen for co-sponsorship and we now have already reached 60 who have already co-sponsored or agreed to support HB 4969, the Amateur Radio Parity Act.  This bill is aimed at directing the PRB-1 style "reasonable accommodation" provisions for Amateur Radio antennas to include all types of land-use regulation.  This includes areas with deed restrictions and restrictive covenants, hence the term "parity".

"CC&Rs" (covenants, conditions and restrictions) are the prohibitions and limitations placed on properties by builders or home-owner associations (HOAs) which prevent licensed Amateurs from erecting even modest antennas.  Details and updates are posted at http://www.arrl.org/hr-4969. 

Vice Director, Tom W8WTD offers his monthly commentary:

One of the things I like about this position is the opportunity to share information with other hams.  I've mentioned that before.  The various forums are always a good way to pick up new information, or to share something with some hams who are looking for new ways to do things.  We've talked about the future of amateur radio, and things like the MESH networks.

This month, I want to share an experience.  Taken in itself, it's just another ham doing communications.  But just maybe you'll find in it something that will help you and your group with something you like to do.  October is the month for the SET (Simulated Emergency Test.)  Many of us in the Division were out doing something, testing equipment, practicing our skills.  It was the same for my home club, the Queen City Emergency Net.  We decided to do an exercise in which we tested our direct and indirect communications with outlying areas in the large area that our Red Cross Chapter serves.

A side note here--those of you in ARES who count the Red Cross among your served agencies--be sure to talk with them about their recent reorganization.  Many smaller chapters have been closed, and the larger ones are responsible for more territory.  Which is why we did our exercise.  The Cincinnati Chapter, or whatever it will soon be called, now has primary responsibility for at least a third of Ohio.  With our immediate metro area encompassing three states as well, the Chapter's area stretches 170 miles north to south, and well over 100 miles east to west.  One club can't cover all that, so with the help of partners and some club members who were willing to travel, we wanted to see how much area we could cover without commercial communications, meaning, directly, through linked repeaters, or by relay. 

I was in some of our northern counties.  With my new DMR radio, I was able to get on the Ohio talk group and communicate directly with Cincinnati.  There are some great possibilities in this technology for covering large areas.  Yes, it depends on the internet, and could go down easily, but likely only in one area, meaning that the larger ham resources of a state could still be coordinated that way.  It's only one channel statewide, but we hams know the discipline of net procedures, and the new mode could be a big help to all of us, no matter which of the states we live in throughout the Great Lakes Division.  (We didn't use it, but I'm sure D-Star could be of similar use.)

Then there was direct communication.  We have a high-profile UHF repeater located a little to the north of Cincinnati.  Using a ten-element beam, I was able to get into it with clear communication about 60 miles away.  We all need to think about extended range.

Finally, and this reminds me of the original ARRL --there's relay.  We work closely with the hams in the Dayton Red Cross, and they were on the air with us.  As I was driving around north of them, I could get into a Dayton repeater and they were relaying information down to Cincinnati.  We didn't try simplex, but I'm sure in an emergency, we could find a way to do that too.  Nothing here that most of you don't already know.  But it's what we do with what we know that makes all the difference.  What challenge face you in your area?  And which of these methods would be most helpful to you the next time a disaster comes around?  If any of this stirs some thoughts that you'd like to share, please get in touch!

73,

Tom W8WTD

Vice Director

Great Lakes Division

Club Visits: Your Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in the Section or Division.  Please feel free to invite any of us for an ARRL Night at your club.  Most of the talks are prepared in a video presentation format and can include a Q&A session as well.  Advance scheduling really helps and gives you an opportunity to publicize the event.  See pages 15 & 16 of a recent QST for contact information.

Hamfesting:  Here is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule for the next few weeks.  These swaps have received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this publication: A note about hamfest attendance by your ARRL elected officials.  We want to be at your events and we strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.

Conflicts can arise, such as hamfests which might occur on the same day.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chairman to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to insure his attendance at the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.

Nov 1 - Grant County - Georgetown, OH

Nov 2 - Massillon ARC Hamfest, Massillon, OH -- QSL Checking - N8SY 

Dec 6 - Fulton County Winterfest, Delta, OH 

Dec 7 - Lanse Creuse, Harrison Twp, MI - WB8R 

Jan 11 - Hazel Park, MI - WB8R - WA8EFK 

Jan 18 - SCARF, Nelsonville, OH - N8SY 

Feb 1 - NOARS, Elyria - N8SY 

Feb 14 - Cherryland, Traverse City, MI - WB8R 

Feb 15 - Mansfield, Mansfield, OH - N8SY 

Feb 15 - Livonia, Livonia, MI - WB8R

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director, Great Lakes Division

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ARRL Great Lakes Division

Director: Dale R Williams, WA8EFK

wa8efk@arrl.org

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Dale's Tales for October 2014..

Greetings everyone,

HB 4969 Progress Report:   At the last writing of this column, ARRL and our supporters had garnered 28 Congressmen to co-sign the legislation.

At that time, congress was in recess, so no one could sign the bill.  Upon return from recess, ARRL continued to work for additional co-sponsors and now we have more that 55 who have signed on or agreed to do so. 

To the members of the Great Lakes Division, I sincerely want to thank all of you for your continued effort to contact your congressman and ask for his support in passing HB 4969, the Amateur Radio Parity Act.

As you are aware this bill is aimed at directing the PRB-1 style "reasonable accommodation" provisions for Amateur Radio antennas to include all types of land-use regulation, including areas with deed restrictions and restrictive covenants, hence the term "parity".

"CC&Rs" (covenants, conditions and restrictions) are the prohibitions and limitations placed on properties by builders or home-owner associations (HOAs) which prevent licensed Amateurs from erecting even modest antennas.  Details and updates are posted at http://www.arrl.org/hr-4969. 

Great Lakes Division Vice Director, Tom Delaney W8WTD offers his monthly commentary:

A common theme I've heard at some of the ARRL forums I've attended this past month at hamfests is: what about the future of ham radio?  Some think we're doing fine, since the number of hams is at an all-time high.  Others worry on more practical terms --who's going to do what we are doing?  And some of that is quite practical.  Who will maintain the club repeaters, the club gear, and help instruct the next generation of hams?  In fact, what about the clubs?  How do we get more active members?

Food for thought, but there is also a lot being done.  Every time these questions come up, there are also people there with some answers.  Maybe not one big answer that covers everything, but simple solutions they are taking in their communities to help recruit and train and mentor new hams.

For instance, in Cleveland, there were several answers to the question of how to interest young people who already have so many distractions, and who are tied to their cell phones and would never imagine themselves talking on radios.  One team is working with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) programs in their local schools.  But other people suggested that the interest in Robotics is another way to generate interest.  And yet another person suggested that MESH could interest students who already know about WiFi, because it would open up their possibilities for using a common technology they already know about.

Some of the other questions are not so easily answered.  But if we keep talking about it, and sharing ideas, on the air, in print, and in person, maybe we'll find some good solutions.

Ham radio is still vital.  The activities of the Centennial year are certainly showing that.  Lots of great participation in the W1AW portable operations, and all the other things going on.  And a lot of thought being given to how to interest the next generation.  Each one of us has something we can do.  Take a few minutes, and figure out what your contribution will be!

73, Tom W8WTD, Vice Director, Great Lakes Division

Tom's observations should be considered by all of us, as we look to Amateur Radio's future.  Thirty years ago, for example, autopatches played an important part of ham radio emergency preparedness.  We all counted on them and we all used them.  Today, it is rare to hear someone using a patch because technology has moved us to the use of cell phones. 

Time and technology have brought change and in many ways ham radio ops have played a vital part in advancing that technology.  We move ahead.

We must continue that effort and we need to see that our youth are offered the opportunity to know what ham radio can offer as they will soon be leading the technology push.  How do we do this?  How do we reach our youngsters?  Admittedly, the most successful ham programs seem to be in our public schools and those flourish where an instructor who holds a ham license is directly involved with the students.  From a practical sense, that is not always possible and in many cases a licensed ham from the community serves as a counselor and mentor to the school's program.  Other truly viable programs are those dedicated to ham radio youth, again with a truly dedicated sponsoring ham.  Either way, serious commitment is required and it appears few of us are prepared to take those steps.

So what is the solution?  We talk about it - a great deal.  We have heard our young hams tell us what needs to happen.  We really know what we need to do.

The application period for ARRL Foundation scholarships opened October 1st.  Here is an opportunity to assist students that could use help in paying for their college education.  Please pass the word that the ARRL Foundation scholarship program is available to help out and encourage students to apply.  Details at:  http://www.arrl.org/news/the-arrl-foundation-invites-scholarship-applications-for-2015-16-academic-year

Here is the current ARRL Hamfest Schedule for the Great Lakes Division:

Oct  4 - 'Vette City Hamfest, Bowling Green, KY -- QSL Checking -- WA8EFK, KY4Z

Oct 18 - Muskegon Color Tour Hamfest, Muskegon, MI -- WB8R

Oct 19 - Conneaut ARC Hamfest, Conneaut, OH - N8SY

Oct 19 - Kalamazoo Hamfest, Kalamazoo, MI -- QSL Checking - WB8R

Oct 25 - Hazard KY Hamfest - Hazard, KY -- KY4Z

Oct 26 - USECA Hamfest - Madison Heights, MI -- WB8R

Nov  1 - Grant ARC - Georgetown, OH

Nov  2 - Massillon ARC Hamfest, Massillon, OH -- QSL Checking - N8SY

Dec  6 - Fulton County Winterfest, Delta, OH

Dec 12 - Lanse Creuse, Harrison Twp, MI - WB8R

A note about hamfest attendance by your ARRL elected officials.   We strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.  Conflicts can arise, such as hamfests which might occur on the same day.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chairman to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to insure his attendance at the activity. This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts

73 all, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams, WA8EFK

Director, Great Lakes Div.

291 Outer Drive

Dundee, MI 48131

734-529-3232; e-mail wa8efk@arrl.org