Greetings everyone, welcome to "Dale's Tales"
for February 2018.
And here we are half way through winter and having more
fun than should be allowed. I read about
a
It's not like it all has to be outdoors, the well
attended cold weather hamfests attest to that and with Kosovo contacts now
qualifying for DXCC, spending some time in front of the radio is not too
bad. The scores are adding up for ARRL's
International Grid Chase (see https://igc.arrl.org/index.php)and
the ship Betanzos is approaching the shore of Bouvet and 3Y0Z will soon be on
the air. This is a welcome relief from
the relatively poor band conditions and lack of any truly challenging operating
activity over the past few months.
For those who have expressed an interest and concern
about certain reported plans by the ARRL board, I am pleased to report that
common sense prevailed at the meeting.
Several of the motions were not submitted for action, some were referred
to committee and/or legal counsel for evaluation and some were completely
withdrawn following Board discussion.
Further, the ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct
of Members of the Board of Directors and Vice Directors was referred for
complete review and certain clauses in that were unclear in their meaning were
immediately removed. Those removals
included the sentence in Section 6C regarding the non-disclosure of the votes
of individual members and the entirety of Section 8 covering support of Board
Decisions.
In a separate action, the Board removed a limitation on
the Ethics and Elections Committee regarding the public release of information
relating to an individual's eligibility for election. In future elections, this information will be
released unless the candidate specifically requests otherwise.
The complete ARRL Board meeting minutes are due to be
submitted to the Board members for approval and then released to the membership
within the next few days.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD
We’re well past New Year’s Day, but January is typically
a time when people make “resolutions” to do or not do things in the coming
year.
I’ve always
resisted “resolutions” as such, but I do like to look ahead at trends and where
things are going.
As for amateur radio, I see challenges ahead, but good
signs as well.
The biggest challenge is to keep ham radio relevant for
new people.
I’m actively working on this, through my participation in
some of the ARRL committees I serve on, thinking about new ways of licensing,
and new ways of educating prospective hams in the hobby. And, the good signs here are that so many of
you in the Division are out there with license classes every few months. Many of you are Volunteer Examiners. And many of you are working not just with “generic”
licensing classes, but those targeted at groups like Scouts, STEM classes, etc.
There’s also the personal challenge for each ham
operator, of “keeping up.” What new
formal training will you do this year? Or
what new mode will you try? Keep up your
skills and learn new ones! And how can you offer what you have learned, last year,
or over the last fifty, to help new people understand radio?
And how can we strengthen our clubs in a time when people
don’t want to join anything, and don’t want to volunteer for anything inside a
club they do belong to? Throughout the
Great Lakes Division, we see examples of clubs that are thriving, and then some
that aren’t doing so well. Trying to
understand what works to get people interested in a challenge for all of us.
Despite the challenges, we’re making progress. There are new modes, new things to enjoy, new
people to meet. I hope all of us stay
positive, and keep enjoying this great hobby.
--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
STATE CONVENTIONS:
In even numbered years, the Great Lakes Division's three Sections host
their individual State Conventions. If
your local hamfest is interested in serving as the host for your State
Convention in 2018, your club should contact your Section Manager and request
to serve as the sponsor. State
Conventions normally encompass special forums, can request guest forum speakers
from ARRL and often hold recognition Banquets and special programs. Having a convention also
means additional attendance beyond that normally expected
at a regular hamfest.
HAMFESTING: Here
is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule covering
the next couple of months. 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.
2/3/18 HARA
Hamfest Negaunee, MI
2/10/18 Cherryland
Hamfest Traverse City, MI
2/18/18 InterCity
Hamfest Mansfield, OH
2/18/18 Livonia
Hamfest Livonia, MI
3/3/18 Cave
City Hamfest Cave City, KY
3/4/18 NOARS
Hamfest Elyria,
OH
3/17/18 Crossroads
Hamfest Kalamazoo, MI
3/17/18 MOVARC
Hamfest Gallipolis,
OH
3/18/18 Toledo
Mobile R.A. Perrysburg, OH
4/7/18 Lincoln
Trail Elizabethtown,
KY
4/14/18 Cuyahoga
Falls Cuyahoga Falls, OH
4/21/18 Portsmouth Portsmouth, OH
4/29/18 GMARC
Hamfest Madison
Hgts, MI
4/29/18 Athens
Hamfest Athens, OH
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
