Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for July,
2019.
ARISS Adventure.
Dale's Tales extends congratulations to the Cherryland ARC of Traverse
City, MI on their cooperative effort with the Traverse Area District Library as
they hosted a radio contact with the International Space Station on July 28. Eight youngsters were selected from the library's Summer Reading Program to ask
questions of Astronaut Nick Hague aboard the station.
Conditions were perfect for the effort, which included
club-provided computer controlled Az-El antennas on the library roof, plus rack
mounted primary and back up radios and controls. Former astronaut Col. Greg Johnson was also present as a guest speaker.
Considerable emphasis was placed upon STEM, Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math, and the youngsters in attendance saw
first-hand what the results of a STEM aligned education can mean to their
futures.
This all points out the strong need for radio amateurs to
develop closer ties with the educational facilities in our communities. Clearly, the enthusiasm shown by the
attendees is a good indication of excellent opportunities for all of us. We watched these selected eight youngsters
communicate with the ISS and saw the excitement on their faces and the faces of
their brothers, sisters, friends and families.
Supporting STEM projects and applicable school programs
can offer entry into amateur radio, and we know the opportunities that amateur
radio has opened for many of us in our careers.
Perhaps a discussion with some of your local school administrators could
open an opportunity to introduce amateur radio into your local school system.
TOM'S TOME
Comments from your ARRL Vice Director. (Yes of course, we just had to
introduce this new column name!!)
Repeaters –what they were, what they are, what they never
were, and what they might become.
OK. We all know
that repeater activity is not what is was twenty or thirty years ago. I had occasion to remember that a few weeks
ago when it would have been nice to have someone to talk to. I was in an area with several road closures
that popped up. The first one, okay,
just take another route. After the
second one, I started wondering what else would be closed, and could I get
where I wanted to go. The repeater for
there is usually quiet (like most) and, no one on to talk to. Maybe someone could have helped, maybe not. Of course I have GPS in the car as well as on
my phone. I just noticed that there was
no friendly voice to either guide, or even to commiserate.
By the way, for those few people reading this who think
they know the repeater and the situation, don’t worry. I’m not pointing fingers. It happens everywhere.
No one is to blame.
Back to the friendly voice. I certainly remember earlier times when any
call on a repeater would get an answer, and sometimes even helpful
comments. (And some unhelpful, even if
genuinely meant, suggestions.)
Automated traffic reporting such as GPS signals are a
better way to go. Generally, that stuff keeps better track of traffic and
situations than any of us could. But
it’s the idea of a response from someone who knows the area, the back routes,
and maybe even the situations.
What ever happened to people who monitored their
repeaters while they did other tasks?
Have other things so taken over our attention that it’s no longer
important to listen? Of course, if no
one talks, there’s no one to listen to.
Where does it start to get better?
And finally, this.
ARRL ran a news story that the WRC has an agenda item asking for the
study of the 144-146 MHz portion of the band globally for potential
reassignment to Aeronautical Mobile Service.
Do we care? That full band is
where most of our repeaters are located.
Time to start communicating again?
--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/
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
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 Hamfest 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. Plan
ahead to request your ARRL Officials to attend.
With 52 weeks and 70+ hamfests in the Great Lakes Division,
things do double up a little and we need to share duties.
7/20/19 Big
Sandy Hamfest Louisa, KY
7/20/19 NOARS
Fest Elyria, OH
7/20/19 Gladwin
Swap Gladwin, MI
7/21/19 Van
Wert Van Wert, OH
7/28/19 Portage
Hamfair Ravenna, OH
8/3/19 Columbus
Hamfest Columbus, OH
8/3/19 U.
P. Hamfest Escanaba,
MI
8/10/19 DX
Engineering Hamfest Tallmadge, OH
8/10/19 Central
Kentucky Lexington, KY
8/11/19 Seaway
Trunk Swap Port Huron, MI
8/17/19 GARS
Germantown Germantown, OH
9/7/19 GRAHamfest Wyoming, MI
9/7/19 CMARC
Hamfest Okemos, MI
9/7/19 Greater
Lousiville Shepherdsville, KY
9/8/19 Findlay
Hamfest Findlay, OH
9/14/19 Central
Kentucky Richmond, KY
9/15/19 Adrian
Hamfest Adrian, MI
9/21/19 GMARC
Trunk Swap Shelby Twp, MI
9/21/19 OHKYIN
ARS Hamfest Cincinnati, OH
9/22/19 Cleveland
Hamfest Berea, OH
73, Were you on
the air today??? Ham it up!
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
