Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales"
for December 2016.
"THANK YOU FOR ACTIVATING" are the words I have
heard so very frequently during all of 2016.
Our National Parks on the Air operating event has been a wonderful
activity throughout this year and operators have displayed more courtesy than I
can ever recall in the 54 years that I have been a ham. One of our local hams called it to my
attention and it certainly it true.
While most hams are normally quite courteous, often in contesting and
challenging events, those courtesies get set aside. I know I have done that. This event, is different.
Folks wait their turn, are complimentary and express
their thanks.
NEAT! At last
count, with still a month remaining, there are more than
926,803 National Park QSOs entered in Logbook of the
World. This leaves little doubt we are going to hit a million! What a great event.
Thank you for operating!
(What's next?)
YOUR ARRL BOARD worked diligently this year to make some
significant improvements within our organization, some you may have seen
directly, some you may have seen the side effects, while others remain works in
progress. We have a new CEO, we have
some realignment of Headquarters job duties to spread the workload more evenly,
and we have made some technical improvements to Logbook of the World, just to
name a few. A couple of wanted and
fairly significant changes for the Field Organization are currently being
vetted in committee. We hope those will
be approved and authorized at the January Board meeting. In addition, and of real import, the ARRL
Foundation granted many scholarship awards this year and accepted more
scholarship endowments to its list of available programs.
SPEAKING OF AWARDS, now we begin our search for
outstanding individual hams who whose talents and/or service to our hobby and
the community may qualify them for the unique awards that ARRL has to
offer. Awards for your consideration
include The Hiram Percy Maxim Award, The ARRL Herb S. Brier Instructor of the
Year Award, The ARRL Microwave Development Award, The ARRL Technical Service Award,
The ARRL Technical Innovation Award, and The Knight Distinguished Service
Award.
Opportunities are now open for members to nominate
candidates for these awards. Look
around; one of your local club members may be well qualified to be so
honored. For further information or
questions, you may check the ARRL Web pages for award criteria, or contact Sean
Kutzko at Headquarters, (860) 594-0328.
IT HAS BEEN A MAD SCRAMBLE as our Washington lobbyists
and the ARRL Legislative Action Team get down to the final stretch for the
Amateur Radio Parity Act. We await
approval by the Senate. The
Congressional Session ends on December 31.
At the time I am composing this newsletter, we have no way to predict
the results of this effort.
Regardless of the outcome, on behalf of the L.A. Team and
the ARRL Board of Directors, I want to thank each of you in the Division for
your personal efforts to request our elected officials to support the proposed
legislation to allow hams living in deed-restricted communities to install
effective antennas.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delany W8WTD
I can’t help it.
Sometimes I find very interesting connections in the most wildly
different situations in ham radio.
Let’s start with youth.
Early in November, we had a great celebration in West Chester, Ohio, for
Chris, KD8YVJ, the winner of the 2015 Maxim Award.
It was wonderful to have Dale present him with that national award, with
so many family members, club members and other hams around. And it was quite special to see what a great
operator this young man has become. I’m
sure he was pleased to make so many contacts and hear from so many in the
division. But for us who were there in
the room with him, it was a treat to see him operate.
And another youth story.
An eleven-year-old from Ohio just got his license. While not his Elmer by any means, I was
pleased to have some small part in coaching him for the test. He’s now on the air, and very excited about
being a ham.
What motivates these young people to be hams? Having a parent as a ham is a big help, of
course. But that’s not all there is, or
we’d have far more young people clamoring for licenses. What is that unknown factor or factors?
For that matter, what is it about ham radio that
motivates those of us who should know better than to stand around in the cold
November weather, operating? Recently, I
was part of a group that helped coordinate a local parade. There’s something about public service that
calls us out to help. That same weekend,
somewhat on the spur of the moment, I joined some hams I know who were
activating one of the National Parks in our area. Why do grown men sit around in a field with a
radio and an antenna, trying to do our part to make the NPOTA a
one-million-contact event, contributing our measly 120 or so contacts?
It was cold and damp, for goodness’ sake! (And fun!)
There are many reasons to become a ham, and many more
reasons to be an active ham. We older
folks know what motivated us, and those aren’t the same reasons that motivate
the new hams of today. We have to keep
finding out what the motivations can be, the new ones and the old ones, so we
can tap into that and help keep amateur radio going in its second century.
What thoughts do you have about licensing, education and
youth? I’d love to hear from you.
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.
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
Feb 4 - HARA
Swap - Negaunee, MI
Feb 11 - Cherryland - Traverse City, MI
Feb 19 - Mansfield
- Mansfield, OH
Feb 19 - Livonia - Livonia, MI
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, and from Judy and me, the very best wishes throughout
this Holiday Season.
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
