Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
February 2019.
ARRL BOARD MEETING.
On January 18 and 19, the ARRL Board of Directors held its Annual
Meeting. The board welcomed several new
Directors and Vice Directors to its membership.
In specific actions, the board approved the launching of
a Life Long Learning initiative (LLL).
This will include a Content Management System and an Account Management
System as well as significant web site improvements all aimed at bringing LLL
to the membership. This is a lengthy
project that will be implemented in several phases. More will be released by HQ soon.
The Board approved the adoption of new guidelines for the
ARES Program, bringing significant upgrades to ARES aiming at improved standards
in the organization. This was the result
of a 31 month effort to upgrade the program.
ARES participants registered in ARES Connect will be able to take the
newly revised ARRL EMCOMM training course EC-001 for no cost.
An amendment to the Articles of Association brought them
into alignment with Connecticut law relating to there being no stockholders in
our 501(c)3 organization.
A permanent operating committee was established to insure
continued support for Logbook of the World.
The definition of the position of Vice Director has been
revised to insure that the holders of this elected office are fully able to
step in to serve in the absence of their respective Directors. The fiduciary
responsibilities and requirements of operational information were included.
Dir. Hippisley W2RU entered a motion that I supported
commending the National Traffic System (NTS) and endorsing the ARES and the
rolls they have in emergency communications.
The board accepted the resignation of Chris Imlay W3KD
who has served as ARRL General Counsel for many years.
The ARRL Board Code of Conduct was repealed, leaving CT
law as the guiding principles for board members.
In standing committee appointments, our Great Lakes
Division Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD was appointed to the Administration
and Finance Committee and I was selected to chair the Programs and Service
Committee.
Several awards and honors were granted, currently being
announced by HQ. This year, none involved Great Lakes Division members.
SEVERAL ITEMS I covered in the January issue of
"Dale's Tales" were discussed with fellow Board members. Those included a request to return the Rag
Chewers Certificate, add a list of new licensees to appear in QST, continuing a
down-scaled version of the OO program, increasing the point value for new hams
participating in Field Day, adding a point value for GOTA contacts and
consideration of a video Amateur Radio training program. Some of these will soon be examined by the
Programs and Service Committee.
TOM'S COMMENTS: We often speculate on the future of ham
radio. With many of us aging, and not so
many young people coming to club meetings, we wonder what will happen. Some steps taken by the ARRL Board at its
recent meeting, and other things being done by ARRL staff have certainly
increased my optimism for what may happen in the future.
Data gathered by the staff, with assistance from a
Connecticut advertising firm, has given us a much better idea of who might be
interested in ham radio, what their motivations are for becoming hams, and what
they would like to do with ham radio.
That can be translated in action, particularly as we learn to reach out
in a different way to prospective hams.
An example of this appears in CEO Howard Michel’s column in the February
issue of QST. I encourage you to read —
or re-read — that column. Howard
imagines a grid where we can calculate our interests between using new
technology and existing technology, and between hobby and public service. And each of us fit in various places along
those scales. If we, as individuals and
clubs, as well as the ARRL as an organization, can better appeal to newcomers
by how they fit that grid, we can help them achieve their goals, and keep them
interested in ham radio through the years.
ARRL will be making new efforts to keep all of us
interested, by improving training materials.
Just as technology keeps evolving, ham radio does too, and keeping up
with the latest interests might be something we all want to do. Watch for new learning programs, and new ways
of presenting the information that we need.
As for reaching out, on the local level, please keep
holding those license classes. Remember
that not everyone looking for a license has the same expectations of ham radio
as you do. Young people in particular
are drawn to technical and scientific aspects that many of us are not. Other people are really drawn by the
opportunity to serve their communities.
We need to be more aware of all the facets of ham radio, and demonstrate
ones that are of most interest to the people we reach out to. And be sure to welcome everyone to the hobby,
encourage them in their interests, and help them get started.
-- 73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
OUR GREAT LAKES DIVISION web page does carry news from
some of the recent events in the Division, useful links and information as well
as some neat photos supplied from around the Division. Check it out: http://arrl-greatlakes.org/
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.
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
3/2/19 Cave
City Hamfest Cave City, KY
3/3/19 NOARS
Winter Fest Elyria, OH
3/16/19 Gallipolis Gallipolis, OH
3/17/19 TMRA
Hamfest Perrysburg, 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
