Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
September 2018.
The following news was announced earlier this week by
ARRL
Headquarters:
Newington, CT – August 27, 2018 – The Board of Directors
of ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio, has elected Howard E. Michel, PhD, WB2ITX, of Dartmouth, MA, to be the
association’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective October 15. Michel is currently
Chief Technology Officer at UBTECH Education, and Senior Vice President of
UBTECH Robotics, a $5 billion (U.S.) Shenzhen, China, AI and robotics company.
As the Chief Technology Officer at UBTECH Education, Michel helped build this
company from a start-up in China to $100 million in valuation.
“I have amateur radio to thank for starting me on a very
successful career, and I’m excited about the opportunity to further ARRL's
goals as CEO. Leading the League will allow me to ‘give back’ to a great
community and provide similar opportunity for future generations,” Michel said. “I have been a licensed ham for fifty years,
and I’ve seen many changes in the hobby. One of my top priorities as CEO will
be to develop new products and services so all licensed hams, whatever their
license class or interest, find value in League membership,” he added.
Michel first because licensed as WN2ITX when he was about
16 years old and upgraded to General Class and Advanced Class within a year of
that. He upgraded to Extra Class in 2000. He notes that he has
always had a strong interest in building and repairing radio equipment. “I’ve
operated CW/AM/FM/SSB/Digital on 80/40/20/15/10/2 on equipment that I have
either built, repaired or modified.”
“We are excited to have someone of Howard’s
qualifications to lead this organization,” said Rick Roderick, K5UR, ARRL
president. “Howard’s management experience, along with his
experience at leading a membership-driven association, makes him an ideal
person to move this organization forward,” Roderick said.
In 2015, Michel was the volunteer president and CEO of
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a volunteer-led
501(c)3 association advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.
“In any large
membership-led organization such as ARRL, its members and volunteers are its
greatest asset, and a good staff-volunteer relationship is crucial to its
success,” Michel said. “I intend to build on this relationship and multiply and
amplify the efforts of both staff and volunteers in furthering ARRL’s goals to
advance the art, science, and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.”
Michel is a retired U.S. Air Force officer having served
as a pilot, satellite launch director, engineer and engineering manager, including
a tour in the People’s Republic of China where he served as a senior U.S.
Government technical representative enforcing technology-transfer control plans
and procedures during two satellite launch operations.
He notes that during his time in the military, wherever
he could set up an antenna he took the opportunity to operate.
Michel has a notable academic background, including
currently being a Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Previously he was a member of the faculty at the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the University of Dayton in Ohio.
Michel says that some of his favorite activities include
attending hamfests to find old stuff to repair or re-purpose, contest
operating, and DXing, especially on 80/40 meters. He adds that he is a Life
member of the Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association.
Michel will succeed Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY, who had been
serving as ARRL’s CEO since January of 2018 following the resignation of Tom
Gallagher, NY2RF. Shelley had been ARRL’s Chief Financial Officer since January
of 1992.
*********
Again, change comes to our Headquarters operation. While it is inevitable, sometimes we are uncomfortable with the
unknowns that change brings.
Particularly with new leadership, we are especially alert to even the very minor differences in the various ways the
"new guy"
influences day-to-day operations.
So as we gear up to welcome Howard Michel in October,
let's gear up for the expectations regarding the new ideas he will
bring. Will we all agree with every decision? Of course not, and that should not be a
consideration. Will we reach accord,
will we achieve consensus, will we find common points? Yes, and that's the way it should be. Let's also be supportive by continuing to
bring out our own new ideas as we face the future of our hobby, especially as
we introduce newcomers to ham radio and mentor them into being good
operators. That's the important goal.
Tom's comments follow and are a well aligned insight for
today.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD
Who is a ham? What
does a ham do? I was thinking about that
recently as I looked back on my summer.
Not much operating. Well, wait,
there was Field Day. And lots of repair,
lots of planning. Wanting to make sure
that all the systems will operate, both at my home station and for the clubs I
work with.
Those of us who have been in ham radio for a while tend
to remember certain hams we knew from the 1950s and 1960s, who had a reputation
for staying in their basements (or wherever the shack was) and talking for
hours around the world. And a few of us
still do that. We have groups dedicated
to helping each other find and work those rare call signs.
Then there are others who talk little but tinker a
lot. Maybe it’s more than tinkering, but
whatever you call it, it’s technical.
Maybe it’s just keeping equipment repaired, maybe it’s restoring life to
old equipment, or it could even be real scientific advancement.
And of course, these days, with fires and floods and
storms all around us, a lot of people spend time preparing for, and actually
operating during a disaster. Just this
past week, with the hurricane threatening Hawaii, the ARRL home page talked
about “Ham Aid” and the preparations to make sure equipment was available in
case a large-scale relief effort was needed.
There’s ham radio in each of those activities. We all tend to do what we like, and every now
and again, something new will catch our interest. All of it is
valuable to the future of ham radio.
So let’s keep at it.
Make sure your gear works. Get on
and chat once in a while with friends.
And in particular, reach out to new hams and help them with projects so
they learn and improve.
Looking forward to seeing and talking with many of you
during the upcoming hamfests this late summer and fall.
--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
HAMFESTING: Here
is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule covering
the next few months. These swaps have
received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this
publication. If you plan to request ARRL
Sanctioning, please be sure to do it well in advance of your Hamfest date, as
this allows adequate time for QST Listings.
Be sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set.
With 52 weeks and 65 hamfests, things do double up a little. Plan ahead for requesting your ARRL Officials
to attend.
9/8/18 GRAHamfest Grand Rapids, MI
9/8/18 Greater
Louisville Louisville, KY
9/9/19 Findlay
Hamfest Findlay, OH
9/16/18 Adrian
Hamfest Adrian, MI
9/16/18 Central
Kentucky Richmond, KY
9/22/18 OHKYIN
Hamfest Cincinnati, OH
9/22/18 GMARC
Trunk Swap Shelby Twp, MI
9/23/18 Cleveland
Hamfest Berea, OH
9/29/18 Paintsville
Hamfest Paintsville, KY
10/6/18 Vette
City Bowling Green, KY
10/11-14/18 Microwave
Update Fairborn, OH
10/13/18 Cave
Run Hamfest Moorehead, KY
10/20/18 Muskegon
Color Tour Muskegon, MI
10/21/18 Kalamazoo
Hamfest Kalamazoo, MI
10/27/18 Hazard Hazard, KY
10/28/18 Massillon Massillon, OH
10/28/18 USECA Madison Hgts,
MI
11/3/18 Grant
ARC Hamfest Georgetown, OH
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, Let's go light up the bands,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
