Dale's Tales for November

Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for November, 2016.

DON'T FORGET ARRL Sweepstakes is coming in November.  Get on the air! 

The CW event is the weekend of November 7-9 and Phone is held the weekend of November 21-23.  This is a USA and Canada contest and you can check out the details and the rules at the ARRL November Sweepstakes page: http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes

THE HIRAM PERCY MAXIM MEMORIAL AWARD is given annually to a licensed radio amateur under the age of 21.  The nominee must be a current ARRL member.  The nominee's accomplishments and contributions to both the community of Amateur Radio and the local community should be of the most exemplary nature.  These activities may include:  Participation or leadership in organizational affairs at the local or national level, technical achievement, operating record, recruitment and training of new amateurs and/or public relations activities.

A few months ago, the winner of the Hiram Percy Maxim award for 2015 was announced.  The honor went to Chris Brault, KD8YVJ, of Liberty Township, Ohio, a member of the Great Lakes Division.  The Division would like to formally recognize Chris for this national honor and will be holding an awards ceremony at the Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester, Ohio, on Saturday, November 12th at 1 p.m.  Hams throughout the division, but particularly those from the Greater Cincinnati area, are invited to this celebration.  We invite all ham radio operators to come and meet Chris and congratulate him on his accomplishment.

The VOA Museum will be open from 1 – 4 p.m., with free admission.

However, donations are always greatly appreciated.  The facility houses three museums, one featuring the Voice of America transmitting facility (the Bethany Relay Station) which is the original purpose of the building; another the Media Heritage Museum, showcasing the history of broadcasting in the Cincinnati area; and finally the Grey History of Wireless Museum, with many old-time radios of all sorts.

In addition to the ceremony and reception, where hams can congratulate Chris in person, we hope to get him on the air from the West Chester Amateur Radio Association shack in the museum, so that hams throughout the Division can make contact with Chris.  Details to be announced later, but we’ll probably try forty meter SSB after 2 p.m.  He’d appreciate making many contacts with hams in the Division.

For more details, contact Vice Director Tom Delaney, W8WTD, at w8wtd@arrl.org.

A NOTE ABOUT ARRL SANCTIONED HAMFESTS:  With the year's end approaching in just two short months, the requests from Great lakes Division Swaps for ARRL Sanctioning in 2017 seem to be running behind this year.  It is important to note that obtaining ARRL sanction for your hamfest is not automatic.  Your swap chairperson needs to file the request early to insure that there is adequate time to obtain the sanctioning approval, that way the swap will meet the deadline to be listed in QST and hamfest material can be shipped to you from ARRL Headquarters.  It is never too early to register your hamfest with Headquarters.

WITH ABOUT TWO MONTHS LEFT to rack up the points in the National Parks on the Air operating event, one can only hope that a few of the missed parks re-appear before year's end.  At last count, there were still 30+ "units" that have not been on the air.  It has just been plain old good fun to get on and meet some of the challenges of making these contacts.

 Check it out at https://npota.arrl.org/

TOM'S COMMENTS:  Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delany W8WTD:

This has been quite the year for anniversary celebrations.  This month, I attended the 75th anniversary party for the Monroe County Radio Communications Association (Michigan), the third one I've attended.

Earlier in the year, the Dial Radio Club (Middletown, Ohio), celebrated their 75th, and in August, the Queen City Emergency Net (Cincinnati, Ohio) celebrated its 75th.

Why this year?  For at least two, maybe all of them, the rumors and almost certainty of war in 1941 prompted them to be ready for community service.  And in fact, war came, the hams were ordered off the air, but they managed to find ways to serve and stick together, and were ready to pick up again as soon as the war was over. 

Looking back over the history of all three clubs is not just a nostalgic visit to the past.  We can discover some important things about clubs that motivated them then, continues to make them successful, and can help us with the future of ham radio. 

One thing you notice at the meetings is the loyalty and friendship among members.  Yes, they've all done some crazy things together, and that helps, but they genuinely want to be there and be with members of the group.

Another thing is the dedication to public service.  There is a long tradition of being there with communications in times of need.  Each region is different, but whether there were floods or derailments or airplane crashes, or whatever, they were there to serve when called upon, and they spent many hours setting up stations and procedures, and meeting with partner agencies, to be sure they could be ready.

Field Day was a big thing for each club.  Yes, it's part of the tradition of ham radio, but these folks really worked at it, and it provided great training, as well as great fun, for club members.

And speaking of training, each group had and has on-going efforts to give license classes, and in general to “elmer” new hams so they learn and participate in all the aspects of ham radio.

So congratulations to each of the clubs on a special anniversary year.

And no matter how long your own club has been around, keep working to improve it and make it a source of learning and service for your community.

By the way, since he's too modest to mention it, I will –our Director, Dale, WA8EFK, was awarded a
“lifetime achievement” award from the Monroe club.  Among the many things he has done for the club over the years, his leadership skills are some of the most important.

I couldn't get an accurate count while watching the presentation, but Dale served as club president many times over four decades.

Congratulations, Dale!

Tom

73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division

Here is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule covering the next few weeks.  These swaps have received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this publication.  We have approximately 65 ARRL hamfests each year in the Division.  I do encourage each Hamfest Chair to register early for ARRL Sanctioning.

Be sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set.  Tom and I are already committed for several dates in 2017 as are our Section Managers Scott N8SY, Alan KY1O and Larry WB8R.

Nov 5  - Grant ARC Hamfest - Georgetown, OH
Dec 3  - Fulton County Winterfest - Delta, OH

Dec 4  - Lanse Creuse Hamfest - Madison Hgts, MI   --  NEW LOCATION

Jan 15 - SCARF Hamfest - Nelsonville, OH
Jan 29 - TUSCO Hamfest - Strausburg, OH

Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest local happenings, club and net information.

73, See you on the bands,

Dale Williams WA8EFK

Director

Great Lakes Division