Dale's Tales..: May 2018

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Dale's Tales for June 2018

Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for June 2018.

The Feedback I have personally received from the Hamvention® attendees was very positive again A little rain did not seem to be too disappointing. We had great attendance at the ARRL EXPO Booth and it was neat get around to see some new products introduced by key amateur radio equipment manufacturers. At the ARRL Forum, President Rick Roderick K5UR covered some of the essentials coming under review at the next ARRL Board meeting. Those included some needed updates to the ARRL Articles of Association as recommended by the ARRL's Connecticut attorneys. Rick also reported that the Board will be considering a template of a Code of Conduct provided through the National Council of Non-profits.

this year.

At the ARRL Forum, I was able to present an overview of the planned upgrades to the nationwide ARES program. This included the newly developed ARES Strategic Plan which will serve as the guideline for ARES in the future. At this point, the Strategic Plan must be approved by the ARRL Programs and Services Committee and also the Board of Directors. This may mean changes to the plans before they are introduced in the field, but the team remains optimistic there will be minimal changes. The entire program was actively reviewed by a team of experienced Section Managers, Section Emergency Coordinators and Emergency Coordinators during the development process. Look for more information to be forthcoming from ARRL HQ over the next few months.

Needless to say HQ staff will be busy updating much of the ARES material the League publishes to bring it in line with the new program.

Since 1935, we have done a great job with the ARES, but changes in the needs of our served partner agencies, their demands for improved training, alignment with the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System, technological changes and new messaging requirements have all come into play in bringing ARES into a new age.

Further progress on Amateur Radio Parity Act. As you are aware, the House has passed HB 555 and it was stalled in the Senate by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida. It was then attached to the National Defense Appropriations Bill and passed the house by a significant margin. It has also been attached to the House Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. It has cleared the subcommittee and is on its way to the full House. The Senate has not yet taken up these two measures. Please bear in mind that this legislation directs the FCC to draft a regulation similar to PRB-1 to allow the installation of effective amateur radio antennas in certain areas where they are not permitted because of deed covenants and restrictions.

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

Of all the varied activities associated with ham radio, I have a lot of favorites, but the one that I focus on most is emergency communications.

Not surprising, I guess, since I’ve been involved with it for more than thirty years. And I haven’t been in that many disasters. A few over the years, but much more of my energy has been in preparation—which has paid off in those few disasters where it really counted.

So the focus of Hamvention this year on things like the response to the hurricanes on the islands, or the EmComm vehicles, the ARES upgrade, all were things I relate to.

It was great seeing and hearing about the response of local hams on the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Meeting Oscar Resto, KP4RF, the PR Section Manager, was a real treat. He’s an inspiring person. It’s hard to imagine the devastation that they witnessed and lived through. And there were stories from lots of other people about how they coped with the disaster.

No one knows what we’re faced with in the Division this year. Certainly the long winter, followed by two days of spring, followed by early summer, isn’t our normal weather pattern. And the fact that we had a tropical depression before June 1st doesn’t seem like a good sign. We hope we won’t face some of the problems others have, but there’s no telling. Meanwhile, keep your equipment in good working order, charge those batteries, and take some additional training so you can help if called upon in whatever natural or man-made disasters may come our way.

--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division

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.

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

6/9/18 LARS Hamfest Newberry, MI

6/9/18 Union County Marysville, OH

6/16/18 Midland Hamfest Midland, MI

6/16/18 Milford Hamfest Owensville, OH

6/17/18 Monroe Hamfest Monroe, MI

7/8/18 20/9 Radio Club Austintown, OH

7/21/18 GARS Hamfest Germantown, OH

7/21/18 Gladwin Hamfest Gladwin, MI

7/21/18 NOARS Fest Elyria, OH

7/22/18 Van Wert Hamfest Van Wert, OH

7/28/18 Big Sandy Hamfest Louisa, KY

7/28/18 CMARC Hamfest Lansing, MI

7/29/18 Portage Hamfair Ravenna, OH

8/4/18 Columbus/OH Sect Conf Columbus, OH

8/4/18 UP Hamfest Escanaba, MI

8/11/18 Central KY Hamfest Lexington, KY

8/12/18 Cuyahoga Falls Hamfest Stow, OH

8/12/18 Seaway Trunk Swap Port Huron, 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

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Dale's Tales for May

Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for May 2018.

HAMVENTION: This year's Hamvention® will host the ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention. This affords the opportunity to include some extra activities from ARRL and the Headquarters staff. The new location in Xenia, OH is well equipped for hosting the world's largest ham radio event and the venue has offered some expanded areas this year. Scott Yonally N8SY and his team from the Ohio Section will be greeting visitors the ARRL Field Organization booth at ARRL EXPO and we encourage everyone to stop by to meet and exchange thoughts and greetings. The ARRL EXPO is in building 2, the "TESLA" Building.

Other ARRL EXPO activities will include Radiosport/DXCC, IARU, Public Service, Meet the Authors, Collegiate, Learning and Development/ARRL Foundation plus the ARRL Store.

ARES NEWS: Of special note, this year's ARRL Member Forum at the Hamvention will include an overview of the planned upgrades to the nationwide ARES program. This forum offers an excellent opportunity for ARRL to introduce the changes proposed for ARES for the 21st Century.

We'll present the recommended ARES Strategic Plan, the background and how it was developed, the peer review procedures involved and the multi-stage approval process. Most importantly, we will highlight what the changes will mean to every ARES participant and our served partner agencies plus the benefits the program will offer for those participating. The ARRL Forum will be in Forum Room 3 beginning at noon on Saturday.

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

Good news for amateur radio from two clubs in my local area. The Highland County (Ohio) club recently graduated more than 30 new hams from their classes in March.

The OH-KY-IN group in Cincinnati is finishing up a five-week course with almost 25 prospective hams in that group.

And while I try to keep up with what other classes and activities go on throughout the Division, it’s impossible to know what every local club is doing. But I’m sure many of you are out there teaching and promoting ham radio. Whether you had two or thirty new hams this month, keep up the good work!

One of the continuing themes of the Board’s Entry Level Licensing committee was on-going education. Too many people take that first step, and stall. They don’t go further. Here’s one thing that those two clubs are doing to offer that next step. The Highland county group is offering an “Elmer’s night” for its recent graduates. They’ll meet to offer information on first rigs, antennas, and all sorts of advice. They’ll also offer the opportunity to get on the air and make that first contact for those who have not yet done so.

For several years now, the OH-KY-IN group has taken a different approach. They run the “Newcomers and Elmers Net” on their repeater each week. It’s worth quoting these two sentences from their website: Our goal is not only to help you learn, but also to give you real-world experience talking on your radio. Each week, there will be a topic for discussion, but ALL questions are welcome whatever the area of the radio hobby. If we do not know the answer right away, we will find out!

Two great efforts at follow-up for new hams, which we can all learn from. Not every new ham is going to attend that session, and not every new ham is going to get on the air so they can learn from the net. But the opportunity is there, for those who take it.

And if we think about it a little bit, there are probably other efforts we can all make to invite the new people to better participation in our great hobby. What are your thoughts? If you’ve got an idea, whether it’s something you’re doing, or just something you’d like to see happen, let me know. Let’s share some of the ideas and get more of our new hams on the air.