Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales"
for August 2017.
Our Great Lakes Division Convention to be held at HamCon
this year will be recognizing the
contributions of several hams and radio
clubs. These awards will be presented at
the closing ceremony of the GLD HamCon in Brooklyn, MI. As a Division resident, you have to
opportunity to nominate candidates for each of the five categories. 
GEORGE S. WILSON III W4OYI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD The
Radio Amateur in the Great Lakes Division whose lifetime achievement record
merits recognition for outstanding contribution to the Amateur Radio
Service. The nominee is active on the
air and in Amateur Radio organizations.
The Wilson recipient is an all-around Amateur whose lifetime activities,
attitudes, and achievements might serve as an example to others. At the time of
nomination, nominees must have been licensed Radio Amateurs for at least 30
years and be at least 50 years of age.
Emphasis is placed on service to others rather than self, diversity of
Amateur Radio interests and Activities, evidence of continuing self-challenge
via Amateur Radio, and outstanding contributions to Amateur Radio. Devotion to Amateur Radio is balanced with
attention to work responsibilities and family life. This award is presented at the discretion of
the Awards Committee and Director. The
recipient must be a current ARRL member.
GREAT LAKES DIVISION AMATEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD The Radio
Amateur in the Great Lakes Division whose outstanding record in the year
preceding nomination merits recognition for contribution to the Amateur Radio
Service. The Amateur of the Year, is an
all-around Amateur, whose activities, attitudes and achievements may serve as a
guiding example to others. Devotion to
Amateur Radio is balanced with attention to work responsibilities and family
life. The Amateur of the Year
exemplifies the "Amateur's Code."
In selecting the award recipient, emphasis is placed on service to
others rather than self, diversity of Amateur Radio interest and activities,
evidence of continuing self-challenge and outstanding contributions to Amateur
Radio. The recipient must be a current
ARRL member.
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Radio Amateur(s) in the Great Lakes Division whose
technical excellence exemplifies "continuation of the Amateur's proven
ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art" and whose
attitude exemplifies the highest dedication to service to others and to science
rather than self. Particular value will
be placed on evidence of continuing contributions to the Amateur Radio
Service. Groups of two or more Amateurs
may be nominated for a joint award in this category.
Technical achievement may be demonstrated through
activities such as the following: publications, research and development,
creativity in hardware, software and firmware systems design and
implementation, technical instruction, application of advanced technology to
public service communications. This
award is presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee and Director.
The recipient(s) must be a current ARRL member.
DX ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The radio amateur(s) in the Great Lakes Division who has
dedicated time, talent and service to DXing.
The award is given especially in recognition of an exemplary lifetime DX
record. Recipients are active on the air
and in DX Amateur Radio organizations.
The DX achievement recipient is also an all-around Amateur whose
lifetime, ethical DX activities, good operating practices and notable
achievements of the recipient might be viewed as examples to follow by
others. At the time of nomination,
nominees must have been licensed Radio Amateurs for at least 20 years and be at
least 50 years of age. Emphasis is
placed on DX totals (Honor Roll, DXCC Challenge, etc), DXpeditions served on,
Elmering/Mentoring other DXers plus other outstanding DX related
accomplishments. Devotion to Amateur Radio is balanced with attention to work
responsibilities, and to civic and family life. This award is presented at the
discretion of the Awards Committee and Director. The
recipient(s) must be a current ARRL member.
YOUNG RADIO AMATEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented to a young radio amateur in the Great Lakes
Division, 18 years of age or younger, in recognition of a record of outstanding
contributions to the Amateur Radio Service.
This record consists of activities and achievements in Amateur Radio,
which may include support of the community through Amateur Radio, ability to
recruit fellow students into Amateur Radio, scholastic achievement and
extracurricular activities. The Young
Amateur of the Year is enthusiastic and shows potential for leadership and
further achievement. This award is
presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee and Director.
CLUB NEWSLETTER AWARD, also to be presented at the GLD
HamCon:
JOSEPH J. PHILLIPS, K8QOE, NEWSLETTER AWARD This award
will be given to the highest scoring newsletter submitted in Great Lakes
Division competition to the newsletter review committee.
Each newsletter for the contest will have been declared
newsletter-of-the-year for the Section it represents during the present year;
however, when the timing of the Division Convention occurs too early in the
year to permit selection of a newsletter for the year, winners for the previous
year may be submitted.
An eligible newsletter must be regularly published at
least four (4) times per year and be a recognized Amateur Radio organization
within their state.
Electronic (or Web based) produced newsletters may also
enter. However, they must represent their printed newsletter in all formats.
This is to ensure uniformity.
Non-amateurs, in the Public Relations industry will do
the judging. They will judge on following criteria:
Style (15%): This
means newsletter design of all pages.
Content (35%):
This is the amount of useful information contained
within the newsletter.
Service to members (35%): This is the amount of information using
individual member’s names.
Clarity of presentation (15%): This is the readability of the
newsletter including accuracy of spelling and grammar.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney, W8WTD
With the Board of Directors meeting just concluded this
month, education is on my mind. You can
read the board minutes soon. Right now I
can tell you that the committee I have been serving on, the Entry Level License
Committee, gave its report to the Board in July. While we made some modest
proposals for licensing, we spent a lot of time focusing on education of hams
in general. After all, if we want this
hobby/service to continue on, we need to keep getting new people into it. So here's a
question-- if you are concerned about the future of the
hobby, what are you doing?
Are you a VE?
Great. Keep up the good
work. You are part of a vital pathway
for others to get into ham radio.
Do you work with Scouts?
Not only is that a great thing to be doing, but it may provide some of
the best and brightest hams of the future.
Not every kid will want to be a ham, or course. But for those that do, you can show them how
to build their skills now, in the things they like, and it will help them as
they choose career paths.
Do you teach classes?
Your work is valuable. Make sure
you stress the practical, and make sure your students get some hands-on with
radios.
You do give them a chance to talk on the radio, don't
you? That "first contact" once
they have their license will still be special, but just talking and observing
contacts while they are still learning keeps them interested, and helps them
know how to go about making contacts once that license is theirs. People who get licensed and then never get on
the air is a situation we don't want to encourage.
Do you help others with radio? Everyone should try to mentor someone when
asked. It may be as simple as sharing
your experience with an antenna, a rig set-up, or maybe more complicated with a
whole station layout. Whatever your
level of experience, you probably have some good knowledge to share. If you're asked, be sure to respond.
There are many other pathways into ham radio. Some people find themselves in the
"Maker" mode. Others teach in
schools, and are very aware of the importance of STEM subjects. Some people work with the ARISS program.
Whatever you do, be aware that the future of amateur
radio depends on all of us.
73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
HAMFESTING: 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.
This listing has been updated since it was first published..
Aug 5 - Columbus
Hamfest - Columbus, OH
Aug 5 - UP
Hamfest - Escanaba, MI
Aug 12 - Central KY - Lexington, KY
Aug 12 - Midland
Hamfest - Midland, MI
Aug 13 - Seaway Trunk Swap - Port Huron, MI
Aug 19 -
Thunder Bay ARC Swap - Alpena, MI
Aug 20 - Warren Tailgate Swap - Cortland, OH
Aug 27 - Cuyahoga Falls Tailgate Swap - Stow, OH
Sep 9 - GRAHamfest - Wyoming, MI
Sep 9 - Greater Louisville Hamfest -
Sheperdsville, KY
Sep 10 - Findlay Hamfest - Findlay, OH
Sep 16 - Richmond Fall
Hamfest - Richmond, KY
Sep 17 - Adrian Hamfest - Adrian, MI
Sep 23 - GMARC
Trunk swap - Shelby Twp., MI
Sep 23 - OHKYIN ARS Hamfest - Cincinnati, OH
Sep
30 - Paintsville Hamfest - Paintsville, KY
Oct
7 - Vette City Hamfest - Bowling Green, KY
Oct 7-8- GLD HamCon and
Convention - Brooklyn, MI
Oct 15 - Conneaut ARC Hamfest - Conneaut, OH
Oct 21 - Muskegon Color Tour Hamfest - Muskegon, MI
Oct 22 - Kalamazoo Hamfest - Kalamazoo, MI
Oct 28 - Hazard Hamfest - Hazard, KY
Oct 29 - Massillon Hamfest - Massillon, OH
Oct 29 - USECA Hamfest - Madison
Heights, MI
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, Let's be radio-active.
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
