Dale's Tales for December..

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for December 2015.

KRAMER GOES ROGUE:  Not Seinfeld's Kramer, but our own: Harold Kramer WJ1B!  It seems

Harold and a team of operators have decided to strike out on their own to commemorate QST's founding 100 years ago this December as they will be operating a commemorative Special Event station W1Q.  The plan to be on the air from December 1-15. The first QST was published in December 1915.  ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer WJ1B and the volunteer operators will man W1Q. This is not an "official" ARRL operation, and Harold will handle all QSL cards and LoTW entries.  He will post additional information on his QRZ.com page under WJ1B.  Let's keep them all busy!  What a great way to celebrate the founding of our official journal.

SPECIAL EVENT:  National Parks on the Air will be a key event in 2016.

I hope you all will be able to take advantage of getting some On-the-Air-Time to operate and have some great fun contacting stations in our National Parks and actually doing some serious operating from the parks.  Be sure to check out the full details at https://npota.arrl.org/.  There are actually 20 qualified National Park Service Units within the Great Lakes Division, and plenty of opportunities to put them all on the air over the next 12 months.  Be sure to check out the current "On the Air" list of scheduled events on the web page.  Not surprisingly, many dates are already booked.

ON THE AIR: Are you?  Maybe it is time to check!  After the experience of operating last year's great Centennial Points Challenge, like many ops, I have experienced some serious withdrawal symptoms.  So for 2015, I've given myself another challenge and made it a point to try to get on for a while every day and get some QSOs in the log outside of nets and contests.  An all-too-often brief QSO with a foreign ham brings a new friendship and new interests.  Certainly, my knowledge of this Earth's geography is improving as I frequently squeeze in some research on the country I have contacted.  Of course, some time is spent searching for "rare ones", but I like the time spent for even a brief contact.  This is not to say I am neglecting contesting.  Operating contests is great for honing skills, and I note I seem to be able to copy everyone a little better after finishing a contest; with that little experience, copying DX through the noise and QRM truly becomes an easier task.  Of course operating on a few nets keeps up the traffic handling skills and builds camaraderie.  We have so many diverse aspects of this hobby, but one - actually getting on the air - is what it is all about.  Let's all really DO IT!

TOM'S COMMENTS:  Our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD is on a well-deserved hiatus this month.  He will return in January all refreshed for the upcoming year.

UPDATE for AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT: The Senate version of the measure passed through committee during November.  The package will now go to the full Senate for a vote.  NOW is the time to contact your Senator in Washington and encourage his/her support for the measure.  When you do this, please reference the Bill Number S 1685.  Please be sure to route your letters through ARRL Headquarters for personal delivery: ARRL, Attn: Amateur Radio Parity Act grassroots campaign, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111.  You can find more information at http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act.

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  5 - Fulton County Winterfest - Delta, OH 

Dec  6 - L'Anse Creuse - Harrison Township, MI 

Jan 17 - SCARF - Nelsonville, OH 

Jan 24 - Tusco - Strausburg, OH 

Jan 24 - Hazel Park - Madison Hgts, MI 

Feb 13 - Cherryland - Traverse City, MI 

Feb 21 - Mansfield - Mansfield, OH 

Feb 21 - Livonia - Livonia, MI 

Mar  5 - Cave City - Cave City, KY 

Mar  6 - Crossroads - Kalamazoo, MI

HAMFEST OFFICIALS:  It is never too early to register your hamfest for ARRL Sanctioning.  Be sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set.  Help avoid date conflicts, do it early!

WISHES: It is still early in December, but as we enter this holiday season, Judy and I wish to extend the very best wishes for Peace and Prosperity in the coming year.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

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Dale's Tales for November

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for November 2015.

SPECIAL EVENT:  Recent activities at the Michigan State University Radio Club, W8SH, have been running in high gear.  First, was the club's hosting Katie Breen WY7YL and Sean Kutzko KX9X from ARRL HQ to meet with MSU's Scott Westerman W9WSW to investigate new ways to market ham radio to a new generation of potential hams.

Then there was "Sparticipation" a Field Day-like event to welcome 8000 new students to the campus, and this included an active demonstration from the MSU Radio Club.   Several potential hams registered their interest in getting licensed and the club welcomed a couple of hams with the incoming freshmen class.

Then...well, MSU alumnus Gregg WB8LZG says it like this:  "The 1st Spartan Radio Tailgate Party was a good one!  We had the chance to meet and play radio with several of the new incoming Hams! It looks like we're off to a great start this year!  Ed Oxer, Reece Cole es I went to the shack a bit early to make sure all was in readiness for the event.

There was a crock pot full of Ed's famous 'busted QSO chili', and lots of snacks and chips, including MSU Football cupcakes! Wow, this really is a tailgate party! At the starting bell the students took right over and started making QSO's ! They did quite well too. A rough tally shows 44 QSO's, in 19 states, the Galapagos Is, Martinique, El Salvador, and others. Just to keep things exciting they also had a few pileups!

Alumnus Mike, KB8ZGL helped out by connecting to the "Mike LINC" so that we could garner some more check in's via 'echo link'. This proved very worthwhile; also as we had many hams reach us on that link. ...  how nice it was to see the shack FULL of students all having fun, as well as learning from each other. To sum it up, our 1st installment to the 'Spartan Tailgate Special Event' went very well."  Gregg says we can look for W8SH and the Spartan Tailgate Special Event as part of every MSU home game.

CLUB OPPORTUNITIES:  So this begs the question:  "With all of the excellent colleges and universities in the Great Lakes Division, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, what are others doing to promote the growth of Amateur Radio?"  I am very interested in reporting the activities of all of our Division's college radio clubs and we can do this in "Dale's Tales" over the next few months. Let me know.  This is a wonderful opportunity to share some truly innovative ideas.  Following this, we can introduce our cadre of High School Clubs and their recruitment ideas and activities.

COMMENTS:  from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD My word for the month is "persistence."  It's a good concept for just about any time, but I use it to refer to the efforts of so many people around the ARRL's legislative efforts for the Amateur Radio Parity Act.

Here's a quick story about persistence.  One member of Congress was approached by a delegation of hams over a year ago.  Follow-up efforts took place.  Then the letter-writing campaign from the League started.

And at least one individual with a personal link made contact.  Just last month, after more than a year of consideration, that member became one of our co-sponsors.  Meanwhile, across the U.S., more and more members of Congress continue to sign on as co-sponsors.  It didn't happen all at once.  Besides the letters, many people took the time to personally contact their representatives through visits or phone calls. Those efforts are still paying off.  The first contact is not always the one that convinces.

But the continuing contacts, and increasing number of constituents advocating the position seems to make the difference.  I think we can be successful in this effort.  But it's going to require some persistence on the part of all of us.  Thank your rep if he or she has signed on.  Keep writing emails if they haven't.  When the bill comes up for a vote, be sure to make a phone call or send an e-mail of continued encouragement.  Don't give up.  We can do this!

73, Tom W8WTD

UPDATE for AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT: 111 and climbing.  As of this date, we have 111 http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act contains the complete text of both the House and Senate bills.

House members that have agreed to Co-sponsor HB 1301 in the U.S. House of Representatives. FCC Rules currently allow residents in these associations to install TV receive antennas, both satellite dishes and multi-element arrays.  This bill has been introduced to allow Radio Amateurs parity within homeowners associations so hams may install an antenna. The ARRL Web Page

So, here is the League's recent statement on the Act, written to present some of the key facts:

"Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity"

Prepared by ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio

Some objections and concerns have recently been raised about the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301 and S. 1685, by representatives of community associations.  To address them, and to separate fact from fiction, let’s look at the bill itself and what it would and would not do.

Why is it needed?

Thirty years ago the Federal Communications Commission, recognizing that there was a strong federal interest in effective Amateur Radio communication from residences, adopted a policy of limited preemption of state and local regulations of Amateur Radio station antennas.

Those regulations:

1) Must not preclude Amateur Radio communications;

2) Must reasonably accommodate such communications; and

3) Must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the state or local authority’s legitimate purpose.

Since that time, private land-use restrictions have become increasingly common. Restrictions on antennas are now so pervasive that they prevent effective communication from residences in large areas of the country.

What would the Amateur Radio Parity Act do?

As introduced in both the House and Senate, the bill recognizes the fact that whether a residence is subject only to state and local regulations or also to private land-use restrictions, the federal interest in effective Amateur Radio communications is the same. The bill simply instructs the FCC to extend its time-tested limited preemption policy to private land-use restrictions.

What would it not do?

The Amateur Radio Parity Act does not create new federal policy regarding outdoor antennas. Congress and the FCC already have acted to prohibit restrictions that prevent the installation of direct-to-home satellite dishes, TV antennas, and customer-end wireless broadband antennas.

The bill does not prohibit community association review of proposed Amateur Radio antenna installations. It simply limits restrictions to what may be necessary to accomplish the association’s legitimate purposes, such as safety and aesthetics. Prior approval still can be required, just as in the case of municipal land-use regulation.

The bill does not mandate that a particular size of antenna be permitted.  As long as a size and placement restriction does not constitute a prohibition, but reasonably accommodates Amateur Radio communication, and provided that the restriction is necessary to accomplish a legitimate purpose, it will be allowed.

Claims that the bill will do any of these things are simply wrong, and are either misunderstandings of the plain language of the bill or deliberate misrepresentations.

What is the current status of the bill?

As of August 28, 2015, H.R. 1301 had 94 cosponsors (Update Oct 30, 2015 to 111) in addition to its sponsor, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.  It has been referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.  S.1685 was introduced on June 25, 2015 by its sponsor, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and original cosponsor, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.  It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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. 

Nov   7 - Grant County -  Georgetown, OH

Dec   5 - Fulton County Winterfest - Delta, OH

Dec   6 - L'Anse Creuse    - Harrison Twp., MI

Jan  17 - SCARF - Nelsonville, OH

Jan  24 - Tusco - Strausburg, OH

Jan  24 - Hazel Park - Madison Hgts, MI

HAMFEST OFFICIALS:  Your Division and Section officials want to be at your events and we strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chair to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to invite them to attend the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.  When you receive your "Hamfest Package"

from ARRL, please open it immediately.  Read it over and check out all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

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Dales Tales for October 2015

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for October 2015.

SPECIAL EVENT:  Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. (AMSAT-NA) will hold their 33rd AMSAT

Space Symposium and Annual Meeting Friday through Sunday, October 16-18, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 33 East 5th Street in downtown Dayton. There is free hotel parking to attend the Symposium. Registration includes receiving a copy of the “Proceedings of the 33rd AMSAT Space Symposium”.  Papers will be presented from 1300-1700 on Friday and 0800-1530 on Saturday (break for lunch).  There is a reception Friday evening and the banquet on Saturday starts at 1900. The banquet speaker will be AMSAT VP-Human Space Flight Frank Bauer, KA3DHO, retired NASA Engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center presenting “Making a Difference:  AMSAT’s Contribution to Navigation and Timing in HEO/GEO Space and Its Profound Impact on Earth and Space Science”.

 

The Symposium is a wonderful opportunity to learn about amateur radio’s newest satellites! Get helpful tips and techniques of working the “birds”. Hear about the future satellites. Banquet Prizes! Rub shoulders with some of your fellow hams and satellite enthusiasts.

Additional information about Symposium and options to register for the Symposium as well as the banquet can be found online:http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=3667.  Check directly with the Crowne Point Plaza Hotel for room availability as the deadline for the AMSAT block of rooms has expired.  Call 1-800-689-5586 for hotel reservations.

CLUB PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES:  You would be surprised to discover all the things that your League is involved with these days.  Here is an opportunity to learn more about how your being an ARRL member truly helps Amateur Radio.  Your locally elected leadership, consisting of your ARRL Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit radio clubs and talk with you about ARRL and what is happening in your Section or your Division or nationwide.  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.

COMMENTS:  from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD It was another busy month with travel to hamfests.  I always enjoy meeting and talking to fellow hams, and finding out what is on your mind.

This may sound like a broken record, but we can't stress enough how important it is to put some pressure on Congress to get our legislation passed.  You can check out the ARRL website for all the details on the two bills, one in the Senate, and one in the House.  It's hard to overestimate how important these bills may prove to be for the future of ham radio.  Each ham should do his or her part.

While we're generating letters at hamfests, it's also important to note where things stand with individual Congressmen.  We don't want to appear ignorant of who is supporting us already.  While we want to gain more support by way of co-sponsors, it's equally important to thank those who are already on board.  So I did a search on the current list of Congressmen, looking for those from the Great Lakes Division who are signed on as co-sponsors. 

Here's the list: 

Michigan:  Rep. Benishek, whose 1st district includes a lot of northern Michigan and all of the U.P. ;  Rep. Huizenga, whose 2nd district includes a portion of the western part of the state;  and Rep. Bishop, whose 8th district includes a smaller portion of the center of the state. Also from Michigan, Cong. Tim Walberg, whose 7th district includes much of south-central Michigan.

Kentucky:  Rep. Guthrie, whose 2nd district includes a lot of the center of Kentucky, from south of Louisville and Lexington down to Bowling Green.

Ohio:  Rep. Wenstrup, whose 2nd district includes much of southern Ohio, from just east of Cincinnati over to Chillicothe and south to the Ohio River; Rep. Johnson, whose 6th district takes in much of eastern Ohio, running along the Ohio River from Youngstown south and west near to, but not including Portsmouth; and Rep. Joyce, whose 14th district is generally east of Cleveland.

These are people we need to thank!  Please send an e-mail, or phone your local office with a message of thanks and encouragement.  If you're not sure of just who your representative is, you can find out by checking  the listing "Who is my representative in the US House?" under the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 on the ARRL website.  If your Congressman is a co-sponsor, please thank him.  If not, then ask for his or her support, either by signing a letter at one of the hamfests, or getting details on how you can write a letter from home, also on the ARRL website.  Please, do something this week.  It only takes a few minutes, and it is so important to you and to all your fellow hams!

Here's another way that a few of you can help.  Not everyone will be able to do this.  But in conversations at hamfests, I came across a few people who could say, "You know, I went to school with Rep. ___"  Or, "I know Rep. __ from business connections, back when he was doing ___."  If you have any connections like that, what would it take for you to call and make an appointment and discuss the issue with your friend?

Personal connections are so important.  And while most of us don't have those, all of our representatives went to school somewhere, and have friends in the community.  If you have that kind of connection, please make use of it!

Thanks for listening.  I hope to see many more of you at hamfests and meetings coming up next month and beyond, and also talking with you on the air.

73,  Tom W8WTD

FIELD CARD CHECKERS:  Well, the facts are simply this: we need more and we need more to visit our hamfests.  The ARRL Programs and Services Committee has established a sub-committee to examine the current Field Checker guidelines, the appointment requirements and many of the details of the program.  It has been a while since a thorough review has been conducted of the Field Checker rules so that is happening now.

Your Director has been asked to assist, and I have been actively discussing Field Card Checking with both active Checkers and aspiring ones plus the DX Community in general.   Feel free to let me know your thoughts and I will see to it they are considered by the committee. 

Today, Card Checkers can be nominated by the following methods:  One by each recognized "DX Club", one by the Section Manager in his Section and one by the Division Director in his Division.  These requirements impose some serious limits.   For example, a Section with 2 DX clubs can have 3

Field Checkers, (possibly 4, if the Director's appointment was made in that geographic area).  A change of Section Manager or Director has no bearing on appointing additional Field Checkers.  As you can see, geography and population density can affect where the Field Checkers are located and even how far they need to travel.  Further, the rules are silent on how to replace non-active Checkers.  Suffice it to say, we have a list of things to consider, but hopefully, some improvements can be implemented within the next few months.  In the meantime, our Division's diligent Field Card Checkers are taking every opportunity to be at swaps to check our cards.   They travel on their dime and truly deserve our sincere thanks for serving the DX Community.

UPDATE for AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT: We now have 100 Co-sponsors for HB 1301 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The new ARRL Web Page http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act contains the complete text of both the House and Senate bills.

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. 

Your Division and Section officials want to be at your events and we strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chair to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to invite them to attend the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.

Oct   3 - ARRL Executive Committee Meeting

Oct   3 - GRAHamfest - Grand Rapids, MI

Oct   3 - Vette City - Bowling Green, KY

Oct  10 - TBARC Swap - Alpena, MI

Oct  17 - Muskegon Color Tour Hamfest - Muskegon, MI 

Oct  18 - Conneaut - Conneaut, OH 

Oct  18 - Kalamazoo Hamfest, Kalamazoo, MI 

Oct  25 - Massillon - Massillon, OH 

Oct  25 - USECA - Madison Hgts, MI 

Oct  31 - Hazard - Hazard, KY

Nov   7 - Grant County -  Georgetown, OH

Dec   5 - Fulton County Winterfest - Delta, OH

Dec   6 - L'Anse Creuse    - Harrison Twp., MI

HAMFEST OFFICIALS:  When you receive your "Hamfest Package" from ARRL, please open it immediately.  Read it over and check out all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

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 September

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for September 2015.

SPECIAL EVENT:  September 12 is the date for the Greater Louisville Hamfest.  See http://louisvillehamfest.com/ for complete details.   The Hamfest will be hosting the Kentucky State Leadership Conference with nine forums on the schedule.  KY Section Manager Alan Morgan KY1O will kick things off with an update on Visions and Goals for the Kentucky Section.  Forums include the KY EOC, Red Cross interfacing, Training goals, Search and Rescue, KY NTS activities, working with health care alliances and ARES Leadership.  Your Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD and I will be there to meet with attendees and participate in the ARRL forum activities.

CONVENTION FINAL: My personal thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to make the 2015 Great Lakes Division Convention a successful event. The attendance exceeded expectations.  The forums got rave reviews. The Wouff Hong ceremony welcomed 45 "novices" into "The Order".  Our Keynote Speaker Debra Johnson K1DMJ provided us with insight towards getting school students interested in Amateur Radio and the steps necessary to promote school ham clubs. 

On the Division Level, the Great Lakes Division's DX Achievement Award was presented to Jay Slough, K4ZLE for his outstanding service to the DX community.

Of course the Section Managers presented several awards to deserving amateurs and clubs.   For Club Newsletters, in Ohio, the 1st Place winner is the DELARA NEWS. 2nd Place winner is The TM&K. For 3rd Place, a three way tie occurred and the winners are The MVARA Voice Coil, the Mount Vernon, Radio Club and the PCARS Radiogram.

The Michigan newsletter contest first place award went to the Blossomland ARA Rusty Key and second place went to the Michigan QRP Club’s 5 Watter.

After selection and awards are presented by the individual Section judges, these winners compete for the Division's Newsletter contest award.  The winner of the 7th Great Lakes Division Newsletter Contest was the DELARA News from the Delaware ARA Club in Ohio.  Stan Broadway, N8BHL is the editor.

Ohio's Allan Severson Memorial Award was presented to Bob Dixon, W8ERD.

Michigan's ARRL Service to Scouting award went to Frank Maynard, NF8M for his many years of service to the scouts of Michigan.

The Michigan Ham of the Year Award was presented to Ed Hude, WA8QJE for his many years of tireless effort to get a Michigan PRB-1 bill passed into Michigan law.

Our congratulations to all of these winners and our special thanks to the Voice of Aladdin Amateur Radio Club for hosting a very successful Convention. 

A NOTE OF THANKS:  To Jim Bridgewater, District Director of the Detroit FCC office, who, despite its unfortunate future, worked with his staff and local hams, tracked down and took action against two regional amateurs who had been creating deliberate interference and failing to properly identify their stations.  We all have been concerned about the FCC's cuts and the potential impact upon the Amateur Radio Service.  It is good to note that the Commission still remains vigilant and concerned about the scofflaws and miscreants that occasionally appear to the detriment of all of us.  Thanks Jim, and best wishes to you and your staff from the entire Amateur Radio Community.

COMMENTS:  from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD There is a new round of hamfests coming up for the fall.  I plan to be at Greater Louisville, Findlay, Cincinnati (OKYIN), and Vette City. And maybe some others.  It's a good time to meet people, and talk ham radio issues.  I'm always glad to find out what's on your mind, so come up and say hello if you see me at your hamfest.  There are also some club meetings on my agenda for the fall.

Having participated in the communications for one bike ride here in SW Ohio, I am reminded of the good work we hams do all across the country.

There are bike tours, walks, runs, car rallies, all sorts of events where our participation as safety communicators is so helpful.  Every weekend of the summer there's some sort of activity on a repeater nearby.  These are the kind of things that make us valuable assets to our communities.  If you didn't take part in an event this summer, maybe you'll have time to help out next summer!

It's almost time for the Boy Scout Jamboree on the Air, coming up in October.  I know some clubs have expressed interest in helping.  I haven't worked it in a long time, but had great fun with the Cub Scout troop that my sons were in, many years ago.  I encourage those of you who can to participate.  Some advice from the education coordinator, Debra Johnston, at ARRL HQ --you never know what particular thing will interest a young person.  So, to the extent that you can, be sure to feature as many different aspects of the hobby as possible.  Yes, make those contacts on HF.  But can you demonstrate digital modes?  Anyone listen to satellites?  CW seems to interest the younger kids, around the age of Cub Scouts.  Remote control?  Many middle-schoolers are into robotics.  You don't need a whole display.  Many of them can teach us something.  But remote control of things?  Maybe they haven't gone there with their robotics work.  Anyone in your club do Fox Hunting?

The kids would love to try it.  How about the Arduino boards?  Maybe someone in the club has built something using an Arduino.  Bring it along and show it off.

If you order now, you can get publicity flyers from ARRL.  I recommend the Youth flyer, 22 Things You Can Do with Ham Radio, as well as the Scouting and Amateur Radio leaflet.  So get your plans together, contact a Scout group if they haven't already contacted you, and see what you can do to promote ham radio to the Scouts.

You probably saw the ARRL news article about the FCC and our interference here in the Cincinnati area.  Yes, that was me the ARRL quoted.  We had a team of us working on the problem.  We're glad the interference is off the air.  It was pretty horrible to listen to, and you never knew when it would pop up.  But we kept our cool, didn't acknowledge it on air, and did what we could behind the scenes to track down the offender.  Luckily, almost all hams are courteous and friendly, and this type of thing is rare.

Finally, as Dale has noted, let's keep the letters, phone calls, and e-mails going to convince Congress that we need the legislation to extend PRB-1 to cover HOA's and CC&R's.  We have over 700,000 hams in this country.  We should be able to make enough noise that this non-partisan, common-sense bill can become law.  The ARRL just issued a position paper titled "Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity," which sets out our position pretty clearly.  (See www.arrl.org.)  Have you contacted your representatives yet?

73, until next month,   Tom W8WTD

AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT:  We are rapidly approaching 100 Co-sponsors for the "Amateur

Radio Parity Act" HB 1301 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This bill was introduced in the House to direct the FCC to allow Radio Amateurs to have "parity" with the current TVRO antenna regulations and install reasonable ham radio antennas and has been subsequently introduced in the U.S. Senate.

We will be at both the Louisville and Findlay Hamfests to generate letters encouraging your elected officials to support and co-sponsor the Amateur Radio Parity Act.  We are equipped with custom software that will identify your Senator and Congressperson and generate a letter to each.  We will print these letters, you can sign each and ARRL representatives will hand deliver these letters to your elected officials.  This personal contact and supporting constituent letters have been extremely effective in our campaign for reaching potential bill co-sponsors.  The new ARRL Web Page http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act contains the complete text of both the House and Senate bills.

It should be noted that there is some inaccurate and misleading information that has been released by some representatives of homeowners and community associations.  ARRL has published a statement to provided clarification to these statements and cover, in simple

terms, what the bill will and will not do.   For more details, please

see

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Clarity%20on%20Parity.pdf

CLUB PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES:  Your ARRL Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in your 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:  As Tom has mentioned, Hamfest Season is in full swing.

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.  I have noted where Tom and I have commitments to attend. 

Your Division and Section officials want to be at your events and we strive for insuring that the ARRL is properly represented at every ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest.  It is always a good idea for your hamfest chair to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to invite them to attend the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.

Sept 12 - Greater Louisville / KY Leadership Conference - Dale and Tom 

Sept 13 - Findlay - Findlay, OH - Dale and Tom 

Sept 19 - Richmond - Richmond, KY - Tom 

Sept 19 - GMARC Trunk Swap - Shelby Twp, MI 

Sept 19 - OHKYIN ARS Hamfest - Cincinnati, OH - Tom 

Sept 20 - Adrian Hamfest - Adrian, MI - Dale 

Sept 27 - Cleveland Hamfest - Berea, OH - Dale and Tom

Oct   3 - ARRL Executive Committee Meeting - Dale

Oct   3 - GRAHamfest - Grand Rapids, MI

Oct   3 - Vette City - Bowling Green, KY - Tom

Oct  10 - TBARC Swap - Alpena, MI

Oct  17 - Muskegon Color Tour Hamfest - Muskegon, MI 

Oct  18 - Conneaut - Conneaut, OH 

Oct  18 - Kalamazoo Hamfest, Kalamazoo, MI 

Oct  25 - Massillon - Massillon, OH 

Oct  25 - USECA - Madison Hgts, MI 

Oct  31 - Hazard - Hazard, KY

HAMFEST OFFICIALS:  When you receive your "Hamfest Package" from ARRL, please open it immediately.  Read it over and look at all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

Dale's Tales for August 2015..

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for August 2015.

  

SPECIAL EVENT:  Boy Scouts of America’s National Order of the Arrow Conference Special Event

Amateur Radio Station, K2BSA/8, is coming to Michigan State University August 3rd to 7th in East Lansing Michigan.

The National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) is the premier event for the Order of the Arrow (OA), (Scouting’s Honor Society) and is

the second largest national gathering of Scouts.   15,000 Arrowmen will

gather from across the nation at Michigan State University in East Lansing Michigan Aug 3rd to the 8th to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Order of the Arrow.

To celebrate this unique event the Michigan State University Amateur Radio Club, (MSUARC) W8MSU will be sponsoring a special event Amateur Radio station, K2BSA/8.  The station will be located close to the exhibitor’s tents and will be operating on 20 and 40 M, the local repeater (442.900 + 77) and IRLP node (7930) in addition to Echolink (289654).  The station will be manned by ham radio operators from across the nation Monday through Friday 9-12 and 1- 5 EDT.  This event is supported by ICOM radio.

If you are one of the lucky ones attending NOAC, stop by and guest operate or if you can’t make it in person, please listen and contact us on the airwaves.  We are attempting to have contacts from all 50 states in addition to as many Scouts, Scouters and Brother Arrowmen, past and present, as we can.  There will be a special K2BSA/8 NOAC QSL card email available. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime QSL.

Our goal is to get as many Scouts on the air as possible locally and at a distance and share the exciting world of Radio Scouting with them.

We’ll share how they can integrate Amateur Radio into their outings, high adventure treks and Merit Badge advancement for fun, education and safety.

For additional information contact Fred Donkin, KA7MMM, fredrick.j.donkin@L-3com.com or Don Kunst W3LNE, W3LNE@ARRL.NET.

CONVENTION: Coming to Columbus on Saturday, August 1.  The time is close!  The location is the Aladdin Shrine Center at 3858 Stelzer Rd, in Columbus, OH.   http://arrl-greatlakes.org/  Forums will include DX, NVIS, Digital Voice, ARES, HF Sound Card Modes, and OSSBN/NTS. There will be on-site VE testing at 0900.  Debra Johnson K1DMJ, ARRL's Education Services Manager will be our keynote speaker. Debra is directly involved with getting school kids involved with Amateur Radio and she heads up the Teachers Institute plus the ARISS program to contact the International Space Station by amateur radio. 

The Voice of Aladdin Amateur Radio Club is hosting your Convention in conjunction with their annual Hamfest, so there will be plenty of swapping and shopping and commercial vendors.

Royal Order of the Wouff Hong (ROWH) will convene at 1300 hours to induct new members into this worthy organization.  This is induction done only at State, Division and National Conventions.  Check the Division Web pages at http://arrl-greatlakes.org/ for advanced

membership applications.  

ARRL DUES CHANGE:  After 14 years of holding any changes to our dues, and after a few years of cost-cutting to keep the level the same, your Board of Directors agreed that it was time to move ahead and authorize an increase.  While this has been a most difficult decision, it is your Board's responsibility to insure a solid and sound future for the League.  This change just had to happen.  So I looked at the impact of a $10/year increase.   Based upon an 85¢ cost of a cup of "senior

coffee" at a certain fast food chain, I will find it necessary to deprive myself of 12 cups of the magic potion each year.  That's only a cut of cup one a month!   DUH, I can do it, even with my habit.  Since the change was announced, member response has been quite favorable and the comments very supportive.  Thanks!

COMMENTS:  from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD

My usual "column" for this month is already out there --the video highlighting the various forums at the Convention on Saturday, August 1st.  Thanks to the people who were so kind to give up some of their time to help with the recording.  Maybe we can talk the presenters into some sort of digest of their key points, although nothing beats being there in person for the talks.

Looking ahead, I will be visiting Kentucky over the next several months, particularly in August with the Central Kentucky Hamfest on August 8th, and an ARES Forum at Eastern Kentucky University on August 15th.  Hope to see many of my friends from the Bluegrass State at those events!

73, until next month,   Tom W8WTD

AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT:  Currently we have 90 members of the House of
http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act contains the complete text of both bills.

Representatives signed on as Co-sponsors.  "Amateur Radio Parity Act" HB 1301 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to direct the FCC to allow Radio Amateurs to have "parity" with the current TVRO antenna regulations and install reasonable ham radio antennas.  The new ARRL Web Page

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. 

Aug 1 - UP Hamfest - Escanaba, MI

Aug 1 - Great Lakes Convention - Columbus, OH Aug 9 - Central Kentucky - Lawrenceburg, KY Aug 16 - Seaway Trunk Swap - Port Huron, MI Aug 16 - Warren Hamfest - Cortland, OH
Aug 23 - Cuyahoga Falls Trunk Swap - Stow, OH
Sept 12 - Greater Louisville / KY State Convention
Sept 13 - Findlay - Findlay, OH
Sept 19 - Richmond - Richmond, KY
Sept 19 - GMARC Trunk Swap - Shelby Twp, MI
Sept 19 - OHKYIN ARS Hamfest - Cincinnati, OH
Sept 20 - Adrian Hamfest - Adrian, MI
Sept 27 - Cleveland Hamfest - Berea, OH

HAMFEST OFFICIALS:  When you receive your "Hamfest Package" from ARRL, please open it immediately.  Read it over and look at all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

Your Division and Section officials 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 chair to contact the Section Manager, Vice-Director or Director early in the planning stages to invite them to attend the activity.  This will allow time to prepare for alternate representation in the event of time conflicts.

CLUBS:  The ARRL Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in your 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.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division


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Dale's Tales for July - 2015

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for July 2015.

Convention: Debra Johnson K1DMJ, ARRL's Education Services Manager will be our guest and our keynote speaker for the 2015 ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention.  Debra joins us from ARRL Headquarters and is directly involved with getting school kids involved with Amateur Radio.  Among her many duties, she heads up the Teachers Institute plus the ARISS program to contact the International Space Station by amateur radio.  If you have an interest in getting younger folks into this hobby, Debra's talk is one you should not miss.

The Voice of Aladdin Amateur Radio Club is hosting your Convention on August 1, this year.  The location is the Aladdin Shrine Center at 3858 Stelzer Rd, in Columbus, OH.   http://arrl-greatlakes.org/   Forums will include DX, NVIS, Digital Voice, ARES, HF Sound Card Modes, OSSBN/NTS and there will be on-site VE testing.

Returning this year will be an opportunity for ARRL members to join the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong (ROWH).  A special session, available only at State, Division and National Conventions, will allow candidates to join the ROWH Check the Division Web pages at 

http://arrl-greatlakes.org  for membership applications.   Not familiar with the ROWH?   The ARRL Great Lakes Convention is your time to discover the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong.

Comments:  from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD

Such crazy weather.  I started thinking about past Field Days, and the only one that I can remember that was so cold and rainy wasn't one around here.  It was in the late 1970's, when we were camping out on a mountainside in Idaho, above the 8,000 foot level.  Cold and rainy.  And that's what it was in West-Central Ohio this past weekend.

Still, it was good to see some of the clubs and their efforts.  I only managed to get to two sites, the Champaign/Logan club in West Liberty, Ohio, and the Shelby County ARES Group in Sidney, Ohio.  The weather was a factor limiting each club, with a scaled-down operation in West Liberty at the park, and another accommodation to the weather in Sidney, keeping the vehicles off the very soggy grass fields, and moving the operation partly indoors. The spirit of Field Day held everyone together in spite of the weather.  Put up that antenna, get on the air! 

You have to admit that some things are easier to do when they are "fun."  And Field Day was work this year.  Putting antennas up in the rain just takes some of the fun out of it.  And having to work for contacts isn't great, either.  But we saw some real dedication out there this weekend.  It may not be as much fun, but it hones the operating skills to ask for repeats, to keep trying to dig signals out of the noise.  It's satisfying when you get that difficult contact in the log.  It's just one more contact, but it was worth the effort to listen just a little harder, to figure out that call sign or section.

Good work, everyone!

The next big event for the Division is our convention on August 1st in Columbus, Ohio.  You'll be hearing more about it over the next several weeks.  Make plans now to be there

73, until next month,   Tom W8WTD

Amateur Radio Parity Act:  A companion bill to House Bill 1301 has been introduced in the US Senate.  It is Senate Bill S. 1685, introduced by Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, with Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut as the initial Cosponsor.   We have full details on the ARRL Web pages related to field support of this measure. Our efforts with House Bill 1301 are continuing very well with your support, as of Tuesday June 30, we have reached 84 cosponsors. 

Current FCC Regulations allow homeowners in deed-restricted residences to install TV receive only (TVRO) antennas.  This includes both dish antennas and conventional over the air antennas.  "Amateur Radio Parity Act" HB 1301 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to direct the FCC to allow Radio Amateurs to have "parity" with the current TVRO antenna regulations and install reasonable ham radio antennas.  The new ARRL Web Page http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act  contains the complete text of both bills.

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. 

July 10-11 - Michigan Summer Outing - Hale (Lupton) MI 

July 11 - 20/9 Tailgate - Austintown, OH 

July 18 - NOARS Fest - Elyria, OH 

July 18 - GMARC Trunk Fest - Shelby Twp, MI 

July 19 - Van Wert - Van Wert, OH 

July 26 - CMARC Outdoor - Lansing, MI 

July 26 - Portage - Randolph, OH 

Aug 1 - UP Hamfest - Escanaba, MI 

Aug 1 - Great Lakes Convention - Columbus, OH 

Aug 9 - Central Kentucky - Lawrenceburg, KY 

Aug 16 - Seaway Trunk Swap - Port Huron, MI 

Aug 23 - Cuyahoga Falls Trunk Swap - Stow, OH

Hamfest officials:  When you receive your "Hamfest Package" from ARRL, please open it immediately.  Read it over and look at all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

Your Division and Section officials 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 chair 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.

The ARRL Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in your 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.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

Dale's Tales for June 2015

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for June 2015.

Honors:  Michigan Section Manager Larry Camp WB8R and I recently had the opportunity to attend The Auto State Young Ladies (TASYLs) 50th Anniversary luncheon in Holt, MI.  We were able to present congratulatory letters from the Section Managers from Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan as well as a Congratulatory Certificate from the Michigan Section and a Commemorative Plaque from the hams in the Great Lakes Division.  TASYLS presented several awards, honoring Charter Members and long serving members. Beverley Stoner K8ZJU, was recognized as a Founding Member and honored as 50 year members were: Rosemary Davidson WA8VXE, Myriam Gregg K8ILN, and Verline Ferris KI8V.  TASYLs holds a regular weekly net for YLs on 3940 kHz, each Thursday at 0900 local time.

Convention: The "target" is Columbus, OH for the ARRL 2015 Great Lakes Division Convention.  The date is August 1.  The Voice of Aladdin Amateur Radio Club will serve as hosts this year.  Forums will include DX, NVIS, Digital Voice, ARES, HF Sound Card Modes, OSSBN/NTS and there will be on-site VE testing. Check the Division Web pages at http://arrl-greatlakes.org/ for updates. 

Special Event:  The Museum Ships on the Air Special Event will occur over a 48 hour period on the weekend of June 5-7, 2015. The times are 0000 Z June 6 thru 2359 Z June 7. There will be a collection of over 75 actual Ships and Museum Sites from around the world participating.

Included are many of World War II Historical Vessels with the Battleship New Jersey, NJ2BB, sponsor of the event. Working 15 different participating ships will earn you a certificate. Additional information about the Museum Ships Operating Event can be found on The Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station's website http://www.nj2bb.org/museum/

   

A Michigan Club, The Ships Amateur Radio Club, will be sponsoring a Special Award during the event. It requires contact with the 5 ships representing the Great Lakes. The WAGL Award, “Worked All Great Lakes” is commemorating the Light Ship Huron (K8H), SS Col Schoonmaker (K8E), SS Milwaukee Clipper (K8M), SS Edmund Fitzgerald (K8S) and the US Army LT-5 Tug Boat (K8O). Information is available at http://ships-wagl.com/  or on QRZ for those call signs. 21 Hams will be operating portable style for up to 16 hours each day at 5 different Great Lake sites either where the ships are located or at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. Additional Information is on their web page http://ships-wagl.com/.

All QSL requests via W8CDB. For those energetic stations working all five ships with the K8* call, they will have a downloadable certificate, the "WAGL" (pronounced "Waggle") or "Worked All Great Lakes." 

Special Event:  The Alger and Lake Effect ARC’s are joining forces during the weekend of June 6-7 to put on a Trails Day on the Air event at Muskallonge State Park, east of Grand Marais and NW of Newberry.

Station N8T will be operating sideband and PSK-31 both days. The North Country Trail (NCT) actually runs through the park and the Superior Shoreline Chapter of the North Country Trail Ass'n. will have an information booth and be offering public hikes along the NCT. At least one hour of Hellschreiber is planned each day, too, for the really odd ducks out there. Maybe even some 6-meter if someone wants to try a sked.

And now, comments from our Vice Director, Tom W8WTD as he looks back on the Dayton Hamvention®:

Whatever trends are happening in ham radio, you can find them at the Dayton Hamvention.  For that matter, you can find all the essential elements of ham radio there, as well.  Emergency communications?  The ARES forum, and many exhibits and vendors dedicated to making sure we're well prepared.  Advancement of the radio art?  Of course.  New products, but in many more ways, hams teaching hams about new discoveries.  Training?  Lots of forums intended to help the new hams, as well as the more experienced, how to do things better.

International Goodwill?  Ohio Section Manager Scott, N8SY, had a map at his table showing 72 countries being represented.

At the heart of all of this is hams meeting other hams, some for the first time, some for the hundredth time, sharing information and friendship.  I had a great time at the ARRL booth, getting to know more people from the Great Lakes Division, and hearing about what they do.

Making sure we connect with each other on our projects is very important.  Sometimes, information that people in one part of the Division might need is similar to what others from another part of the Division have already been working on.

Dale WA8EFK will no doubt mention the importance of House Bill 1301, the "Amateur Radio Parity Act," and the impact it can make on ham radio for all of us.  It was encouraging to see the number of people who stopped by the booth to sign a letter to their Congressman.  If you didn't make it to Dayton, you can still help by going to the ARRL website and following the instructions there.

I love working DX, and I don't do enough of it.  It's even better to meet some people in person.  Friday I had the chance for a nice chat over lunch with people from the Radio Society of Great Britain.

Saturday, I met a young man from Argentina, and helped him find the right person to work on an issue with a certificate for a friend of his.  And these were just a few of the many people with DX calls that I saw during the weekend.

We should all be grateful for the work done at the ARRL Lab.  They provide a valuable service to the hobby by their rigorous testing and experimenting.  I had a chance to work with some of them for a few hours on Saturday as they tested HT's.  Most of the equipment tested fell within specs.  They'll use some of their results to pinpoint problems with certain types of equipment.

Finally, you'll be hearing more about this soon, but remember to mark your calendars for the Division Convention in August.  Interesting forums, a flea market, and another good chance to connect with your fellows hams in the Division.

73, until next month,   Tom W8WTD

House Bill 1301:  Current FCC Regulations allow homeowners in deed-restricted residences to install TV receive only (TVRO) antennas.

This includes both dish antennas and conventional over the air antennas.

 "Amateur Radio Parity Act" HB 1301 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to direct the FCC to allow Radio Amateurs to have "parity" with the current TVRO antenna regulations and install reasonable ham radio antennas.  At the recent ARRL EXPO at the Dayton Hamvention®, we were successful in preparing more than 800 signed letters from Radio Amateurs covering over 100 Congressional Districts.

These will now be hand delivered to their Congressmen.  The ARRL Web Page http://www.arrl.org/hr-1301 contains the complete text of the bill.

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. 

June 6 - IRA Hamfest - Hudsonville, MI

June 6 - Princeton Hamfest - Princeton, KY 

June 6 - Fulton County - Tedrow, OH 

June 7 - Chelsea - Chelsea, MI 

June 13 - Luce County - Newberry, MI 

June 20 - Milford - Milford, OH 

June 20 - Midland - Midland, MI 

June 21 - Monroe - Monroe, MI 

July 10-11 - Michigan Summer Outing - Hale (Lupton) MI 

July 11 - 20/9 Tailgate - Austintown, OH 

July 18 - NOARS Fest - Elyria, OH 

July 18 - GMARC Trunk Fest - Shelby Twp, MI 

July 19 - Van Wert - Van Wert, OH 

July 26 - CMARC Outdoor - Lansing, MI 

July 26 - Portage - Randolph, OH

Hamfest officials:  When you receive your "Hamfest Package" from ARRL, open it immediately.  Read it over and look at all of the material you received.  There is a form included to order additional material if you deem it appropriate.

Your Division and Section officials 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 chair 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.

The ARRL Director, Vice Director and Section Managers are available to visit local radio clubs and give presentations about ARRL and what is happening in your 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.

73, see you on the bands.

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division

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