Greetings Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, welcome to
"Dale's Tales" for April 2018.
Some Michigan Radio History: Kimball N8FNC informs us of
the recognition of a historic event and That is the 90th anniversary of the
Detroit Police Department's installation of one-way radio for its police
cars. Special Event Station KØP will be
on the air to celebrate, through the efforts of The Ford Amateur Radio Club,
the Detroit IEEE chapter and APCO. Check
out this URL for full details:
a Special Event station to commemorate
it.
OO/AA Update:
There is some considerable interest in what is happening to the Official
Observer Program and rightly so. There
has been a hiatus on appointing new OOs because of impending changes. We have been working with the FCC to make
some significant improvements. The
Official Observer/Amateur Auxiliary program has long been stagnant and in
recent times, has not resulted in any significant improvement in the conditions
of our ham bands. In working jointly and
collaboratively with the FCC, we have developed a revised program to meet some
new requirements for the Commission. The
FCC is currently examining these plans in detail and thus the proverbial ball
is in their court. At this time, we
don't have any feedback about the implementation timeline or the details of
what exactly will comprise the new program.
As soon as the Commission releases some information, ARRL will post it
on the web page.
QSO Party time:
The Mad River Radio Club sponsors both the Ohio and Michigan QSO
Parties. The Ohio QSO Party is scheduled
for Aug 25, 2018 and the Michigan QSO Party is an April Happening, falling on
April 21 & 22. You can check out the
complete details at http://www.miqp.org/index.html. All of the rules are posted and the web site
includes a huge amount of helpful information for anyone interested in the QSO
Party and contesting in general. Check
it out - participate and join the fun.
For more information and some interesting history about the sponsor, the
Mad River Radio Club, please see their web pages at https://www.madriverradioclub.org/.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD
Just over a month ago, at the end of February, the ARRL
submitted to the FCC a petition to change some of the operating privileges for
Technicians in the hope that more HF privileges will lead to more interest in
upgrading to general class and extra class.
You can find more complete information on the ARRL website.
This work came out of the Entry Level License Committee,
on which I served. We were faced with a
number of challenges. The FCC has stated
clearly that it has no interest in expanding the number of license
classes. We have three, and that’s all
they want. So we had to work within
that, even though we feel strongly that the Technician class was never intended
to be an entry-level license.
We got clear data on what hams would prefer. We also did studies on the current test,
including the readability and the material covered.
Over the last two years, I’ve talked to a number of you
about licensing, exams, and advancement of hams to higher-level licenses.
Most support these proposals. There are always a few people who object to
what they consider “dumbing-down” of license material. Actually, this whole effort is aimed at just
the opposite—making better hams.
From a knowledge standpoint, we’d like to see the actual
language of the tests be improved in “readability,” for better comprehension of
the material. And as for the additional
privileges, we think that gaining experience on HF will help provide more
incentive for advancement, meaning that more hams will advance to the next
level of license.
All this is the result of two years of consultation, research
and careful consideration of the issues involved. I was privileged to serve on that committee.
And, finally, it is good to note that throughout the
Division, classes for all levels of license continue to be offered, with many
classes filling up with almost record numbers of students. To those of you in the many local clubs who
spend so much time helping out, thank you!
Keep up the good work.
--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
CONVENTIONS: The
ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention will be held in conjunction with this
year's Dayton Hamvention® May 18-20. The
theme this year is "Amateur Radio - Serving the Community". There are five forum rooms available this
year and a very full schedule. Check out
their web site for the latest information.
http://hamvention.org/
In even numbered years, the Great Lakes Division's three
Sections normally host their individual State Conventions. Kentucky's ARRL State Convention will be hosted
by the Greater Louisville Hamfest in Shepherdsville, KY on September 8,
2018. See
While not a state convention, Ohio will be holding the
Ohio Section Conference in conjunction with the Columbus Hamfest on August 4,
2018.
HAMFESTING: Here
is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule 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.
4/7/18 Lincoln
Trail Elizabethtown,
KY
4/14/18 Cuyahoga
Falls Cuyahoga Falls, OH
4/21/18 Portsmouth Portsmouth, OH
4/28/18 RCARA
Tailgate Ashland, KY
4/28/18 JCARC
Hamfest Jackson, OH
4/28/18 Chassell
Hamfest Chassell, MI
4/29/18 GMARC
Hamfest Madison
Hgts, MI
4/29/18 Athens
Hamfest Athens, OH
5/5/18 Cadillac
Hamfest Cadillac, MI
5/18 to 5/20 Dayton
Hamvention Xenia, OH
6/2/18 IRA
Hamfest Hudsonville,
MI
6/2/18 Fulton
County Hamfest Tedrow, OH
6/2/18 Princeton
Hamfest Princeton, KY
6/3/18 Chelsea
Hamfest Chelsea,
MI
6/16/18 Midland
Hamfest Midland,
MI
6/17/18 Monroe
Hamfest Monroe,
MI
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, Let's light up the bands,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
