Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for June,
2019.
The fourth full weekend in June brings Field Day,
probably the largest ham radio operating event held annually. It's a time to test our mettle, get out there
with our temporary antennas, improvise shelters, set up non-commercial power
and see how many contacts we can put in the log. Field Day is a great opportunity to
demonstrate some of the most interesting facets of our hobby.
So with that in mind, I recommend you invite some of your
local elected officials and some of the non-elected ones as well. (You get FD points for doing this). Let them see first-hand some contacts being
made. If you do this, remember to talk
with them in terms they can understand.
Drop the ham-lingo, forget "QSO", forget
"DX", even forget "rig", your guest probably doesn't have a
clue about what those terms mean. Think
about keeping the terms pretty basic and in understandable common vernacular. These demonstrations keep ham radio in the
eyes of our public officials; keeps the information flowing about how Amateur
Radio can service the public good, and shows them how we are community minded.
Remember this when
you want to install that new antenna.
Most importantly, don't forget the really good parts of
Field Day; the pot-luck meals with our families joining us and the opportunity
to nurture some new operators.
At this time, let's not forget our fellow hams in Ohio as
these gals and guys are heavily involved with the aftermath of a series of
tornadoes that struck several communities this past week. ARES Teams across the state are assisting
local officials and their needs with surveys and cleanup operations. Please be alert for continuing net operations
on frequencies across the state. What
may be a temporarily quiet channel, frequency or talk group may have ongoing
operations related to the storms.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Another successful Hamvention this month! The organizers again deserve a lot of credit
and praise for a job well done. Things
keep getting better at the new facility.
And they really struck a good note with their theme:
“Mentoring the Next Generation.” Very
timely. It’s been on the minds of many
of us as we look around for the next generation. Where are they? At the ARRL Forum on Saturday, President Rick
Roderick, K5UR, asked how many in attendance were under thirty. The answer—none. How many under forty?
— one!
Not to be all doom and gloom, there really are younger
hams out there, and many local clubs in the Division are reaching out and
offering classes. In fact, I’ll bet that
your club, or a club near you, has just finished spring classes and your area
has a number of newly licensed hams.
That’s great. Now—are the efforts
at mentoring ready? It can’t just be
that, well, I’m available to talk if someone wants to. Who scheduled the next meeting for that group
of new hams? Class is over, and that’s
it? Who’s going to help them get on the
air? Can we make that a club activity
and priority? Some clubs do, with great
success. All clubs should do the
same. Need some suggestions? Contact me, and I’ll pass along the stories
of those clubs that are making the efforts.
Another way to reach out is coming up in June. It’s called Field Day. Yes, Field Day is
lots of things. Operating. Meals.
Good friends. It’s also about meeting the public. Are you prepared? Do you have a PIO specifically for Field
Day? Have you done any publicity? Will you have people at the site looking out
for visitors? Can you explain ham radio
in terms that interest non-hams? Do you
have a good supply of hand-outs about ham radio? For young people in particular, can someone
talk about some fun technical projects that having a license can
facilitate? Yes, the contesting aspect
of Field Day is on display. But what
about describing “science” things that might interest, like balloon launches
with APRS tracking, remote control of models, and particularly remote control
of robots?
Interestingly, really young kids, up to about 8 years
old, are fascinated by CW, in that they love to learn how to send their name in
code. Can someone please bring a code
practice oscillator to let them try? Are
you doing data as part of Field Day?
Show them how the computer works through the radio.
The recent tornado outbreak, unfortunate as it was for so
many people who lost homes, can be a chance to talk about public service, both
in Skywarn and in the many relief efforts underway. There are lots of things to talk about in ham
radio, so make sure you’re prepared to meet the public.
As you can tell, I can get pretty wound up about this
subject. I look forward to talking with
many of you at some of the many summer hamfests.
--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 70+ hamfests in the Great Lakes Division, things do double up a
little and we need to share duties. Plan
ahead for requesting your ARRL Officials to attend.
6/1/19 Luce
County Newberry, MI
6/1/19 Princeton Princeton, KY
6/1/19 IRA Hudsonville, MI
6/1/19 Fulton
County Wauseon, OH
6/2/19 Chelsea Chelsea, Mi
6/8/19 Union
County Marysville,
OH
6/15/19 Milford/W8DXCC
Conv Milford, OH
6/15/19 Midland
Hamfest Midland, MI
6/16/19 Monroe Monroe, MI
7/7/19 20/9
RC Tailgate Swap Austintown, OH
7/20/19 Big
Sandy Hamfest Louisa, KY
7/20/19 NOARS
Fest Elyria, OH
7/20/19 Gladwin
Swap Gladwin, MI
7/27/19 Van
Wert Van Wert, OH
7/28/19 Portage
Hamfair Portage, OH
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/
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, Ham it up!
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
