Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
December 2018.
David AD8Y, the Faculty Advisor of The Case Amateur Radio
Club, reports that CARC will be sponsoring the 2019 HamSCI conference in
March. It will be on the campus of Case
Western Reserve University and will include tours of the CARC station, W8EDU,
and the CWRU ThinkBox public-access shop.
There will also be an exam session.
More material will be available as the date approaches. This fits well
with the ARRL's new incentive for Lifelong Learning and you will hear more
about that over the next few months.
DXCC Field Card Checkers. As you recall a few months ago I successfully lobbied for several revision to the DXCC
Field Card Checker rules. Among the changes is the provision for adding more
checkers, especially in areas where there are none. In the Great lakes Division, we have card checker is the following areas: Paducah, KY;
Louisville, KY; Russell, KY; Gregory, MI; Marysville, MI; Bath, MI; Waterford,
MI; Kalamazoo, MI; Goshen, OH; Hamilton, OH; Wooster, OH; and Hiram, OH. A quick look at the map will clearly show
that the urban areas of our three Sections are well covered, but there are
regions where added Card Checkers would really benefit the DXers in those
areas. We need checkers in Southern Kentucky,
SE Ohio, the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. If you live in any of these areas and hold
DXCC, please consider becoming a card checker.
Of course, we would like you to be available at regional hamfests to do
some field checking just like our present Field Checkers. IF you have an
interest in helping out, please let me know at wa8efk@arrl.org.
ARRL Board Meeting.
Your Board of Directors will hold its annual meeting January 18 and
19. Vice Director Delaney and I will be
in attendance. If there are items of concern
to you that you feel deserve Board action, please send them to me before mid
December. That will allow adequate time
for me to discuss those concerns with my fellow Directors, and offer ample
opportunity to place any specific subjects on the meeting agenda. The meeting
agendas are quite full, as they include reports and discussion relating to the
League's various standing Committees, such as Administration and Finance
(A&F), Programs and Services (PSC) or the Executive Committee. Often consideration for suggested changes to
field programs, like contests or DXCC are first reviewed by one or more of the
standing committees and presented to the full Board with recommendations.
IN OTHER NEWS: My personal quest for making connections
with inactive local hams continues, but I am thinking I might find that
contacting one per month is bound to be the going rate. The initial effort with phone and e-mail has
run its course and I now need to turn to letter writing due to the
inaccessibility of e-mail addresses and phone numbers. We'll see how that works out over the next
few weeks. More next month.
TOM'S COMMENTS: I
like the changing seasons. But I think
all of us in the three states in our Division were surprised by how quickly
fall turned to winter. Hope this doesn’t
mean a long, snowy winter. What does this have to do with ham radio? If there are “seasons” for ham radio, it’s a bit like gardening. There’s always something to do, but the
activities vary according to the seasons.
I got most of my antenna work out of the way, so unless something falls,
I don’t have to worry about putting up antennas in the cold. The upcoming month of December brings lots of
club parties. Nice to be able to enjoy
some moments of friendship with those we share the hobby with.
For those of us a little more involved in disaster
response, batteries always need to be charged, and the gear always ready. Any season can bring emergencies. Even though we tend to focus on spring
storms, October’s SET in Ohio featured a winter storm scenario. Just a few years ago, hams in Central
Kentucky had the real thing, and they did a great job responding.
With some exceptions, hamfests tend to happen in the
spring through the fall. I usually have
a list of small items, parts, etc., that I’ll look for at hamfests. Hope I don’t need anything too quickly. The next hamfest I plan on attending is still
a few months away.
Two other things in ham radio are really without
seasons. Mentoring is key to keeping the
hobby going. Any time a new ham, or an
old ham with a new challenge, needs help, we should all be ready to offer
advice or help. How’s your club doing
with mentoring as a club project?
The other thing is dealing with the public. Whether you’re at a winter parade or a summer
bike ride, we can all promote ham radio’s public service aspect. And it’s a great feeling to be of help in
your community.
Enjoy the holiday parties coming up!
--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.
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 Madison Hts, MI
1/27/19 Tusco ARS Hamfest Strasburg,
OH
2/2/19 HARA
Swap Negaunee, MI
2/8/19 Cherryland
Swap Traverse City, MI
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.
As we enter this year's Holiday season, let's all be
thankful for family and friends and the wonderful blessings they have brought
us during the year. Season's Greetings
from Tom and Helen, Judy and me and all the best wishes for a joyous New Year.
73, Let's go light up the bands, 'tis the season!!
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
