Saturday, June 1, 2019

Dale's Tales for June


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