Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
October 2018.
Congratulations to the Dayton Amateur Radio Association®
for their selection as the host club for the 2019 ARRL National
Convention!! The ARRL National will be
held in conjunction with Hamvention® at Xenia next year.
Here is the official announcement:
NEWINGTON, CONNECTICUT – ARRL, the national association
for Amateur Radio®, has announced that Hamvention® will host the 2019 ARRL
National Convention in Xenia, Ohio, May 17-19, 2019. Hamvention is the largest
annual Amateur Radio gathering in the US. Hamvention and the ARRL National
Convention will share a joint theme, “Mentoring the Next Generation” of Amateur
Radio operators.
As host of the 2019 ARRL National Convention, Hamvention
will feature dozens of forums covering a variety of topics in Amateur Radio,
such as technology, public service, on-air operating, training, and learning. A
track of presentations will be organized to build on the convention theme,
encouraging more individuals and radio clubs to serve in mentoring roles,
leading new and inexperienced radio amateurs to become more active, involved,
and engaged.
A special event Amateur Radio station, call sign W8BI,
will be set up and operating from the fairgrounds—inviting attendees to join in
for some on-air fun.
The National Convention will also feature ARRL EXPO—a
large assembly of ARRL-sponsored exhibits, activities, and representatives for
ARRL programs and services. Several ARRL-sponsored presentations and forums
will be given. Information will be posted to www.arrl.org/expo
as it becomes available.
2019 will be the third Hamvention to be held at the
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio since the event
relocated from Dayton. At 28,417 visitors, Hamvention recorded its
third-largest attendance ever in 2018. It attracts many international
attendees.
Since 1952, Hamvention has been sponsored by the Dayton
Amateur Radio Association® (DARA), an ARRL-affiliated radio club, and is
supported by volunteers from radio clubs throughout the country. In past years,
Hamvention has received regular sanctioning as the ARRL Great Lakes Division
Convention. Hamvention® hosted the ARRL National Convention most recently in
2005 and 2009.
Hamvention features multiple buildings of indoor vendor
exhibits, an outdoor flea market, and many food trucks and concession stands.
There is free parking onsite and at nearby remote parking lots served by free
shuttles.
The Hamvention website www.hamvention.org
will include details for convention tickets and information about forums,
exhibits (including information for vendors and flea market), travel, and
preferred hotels with special rates. Convention tickets are $22 in advance; or
$27 at the gate. Each ticket includes convention admission for all three days.
Electric scooter rental information can be found at the
Hamvention website. Onsite RV camping is managed by the Greene County
Fairgrounds.
Ham radio operators are encouraged to bring family and
friends, and extend their convention trip by visiting nearby popular
attractions. The National Museum of the US Air Force, the oldest and largest
military aviation museum in the world, is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton region also boasts many parks, museums,
shopping, entertainment, and dining options.
All major airlines serve the minutes-away Dayton
International Airport (DAY), and some travelers use the airports in Columbus
and Cincinnati, Ohio, driving the final 60 to 90 minutes to Dayton/Xenia. Plan
your trip to Hamvention at www.greenecountyohio.org
and www.daytoncvb.com.
Interested parties will find complete details for the
2019 ARRL National Convention at www.arrl.org/expo
(coming soon).
For information about ARRL and Amateur Radio, visit www.arrl.org and www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.
IN OTHER NEWS:, "Well how did that work out for you
Dale?" Oh yeah, that was for my
commitment to make contact with several of the local hams in my community that
seem to be inactive. That is my personal
effort to get involved in mentoring inactive hams and help in any way to get
them active and on the air. This did
turn out to be a bit tougher than I had expected, so it is still a work in process. First, one has moved from the area according
to his dad. And then it seems most have no listed phone so that puts a limit on
accessibility right from the start.
Now, it my effort
is to try to locate an e-mail address and go on from there. That has met with limited success and a
couple of contacts are in the works. One chap even found me! He is new to the area and was not yet on the
local list, but has already participated in the local Saturday lunch. So, I'll keep at this and report again next
month.
Hopefully November will be a little less busy and more
time can be devoted to the effort. How
about you? Did you give this effort a
shot?
A SPECIAL NOTE from AC8W: Fellow Great Lakes Division DXers
Given the evident popularity of the new FT8 mode of
communication demonstrated by the data collected in LoTW showing a seven figure
increase in the number of monthly QSOs year over year resulting from the
explosive adoption of the mode by hams worldwide, and the extremely high
percentage (approximating 40%) of all QSOs being made with this mode at the
current sunspot minimum
The DXAC is investigating the advisability, feasibility
and desirability of creating or modifying one or more digital mode awards in
the DXCC program to accommodate encourage and reward new modes of amateur radio
activity on the bands.
How do you feel?
Should we:
a.) Create endorsement stickers for the existing Digital
DXCC (i.e.
RTTY-100; PSK31-100, JT65-100, FT8-100, etc with
incremental stickers 125, 150, 200 and so on)
b.) Create a separate DXCC award for each mode
c.) Do nothing at all and leave new digital modes under
the existing Digital DXCC.
Are there other options?
Your opinion is important so let me know at ac8w@arrl.net Deadline for responses is
Wednesday, November 14.
Thanks
Stan Arnett II AC8W
DXAC Representative
Great Lakes Division
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD Excitement was in the
air as the students at Tallmadge Elementary School in Lancaster (Ohio) filed
into the auditorium for their much-anticipated contact with the International
Space Station. There are many ways to
introduce people to amateur radio, but this has to be the best. Only problem is that there are so few
opportunities for contacting the ISS.
Congratulations to the Lancaster & Fairfield County
Amateur Radio Club. They worked more than a year on the project, and that
hard work paid off with a great contact!
Another activity that seems to have a lot of promise for
interesting young people is a balloon launch with tracking. Kids get interested in weather and other
science experiments that they can observe and/or participate in.
Dale and I have talked a lot about recruiting new hams
and getting people of all ages interested in ham radio. We all have opportunities to show off ham
radio, ranging from the dramatic (the ARISS contact) to the everyday. What works for your community, and your
club? It’s important for all of us to
remember that what got us interested in ham radio is not necessarily of interest
to new people. Maybe they will
eventually get interested in whatever you like, whether it is DX, weak-signal,
traffic handling, public service, or any of the numerous other things we do. But reaching out to them requires finding out
where their current interests in science and technology are, and showing them
how ham radio can be a part of that.
Let’s all follow the example of the club in Lancaster by planning an
activity and carrying it out with great results!
--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.
11/3/18 Grant
ARC Hamfest Georgetown, OH
12/1/18 Fulton
Co. Winterfest Delta, Oh
12/2/18 Lanse
Creuse Hamfest Madison Hts, MI
1/20/19 S.C.A.R.F.
Hamfest Nelsonville, OH
1/27/19 Hazel
Park Hamfest Hazel Park, MI
1/27/19 Tusco ARS Hamfest Strasburg,
OH
2/17/19 Livonia
Hamfest Livonia, MI
2/17/19 Mansfield
Hamfest Mansfield, 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
