Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
February, 2020.
The January ARRL Board meeting in Newington, CT began
with discussion about renewing the annual employment contract with Howard
Michel WB2ITX, ARRL's CEO which had reached its expiration. By a majority vote, the Board elected to not
renew the contract.
Former interim CEO Barry Shelley N1VXY has agreed to
resume that roll for about six months while we pursue the selection of a new
CEO. I would not expect to see any
radical changes in the current programs that ARRL has in place. I am pleased that Barry is willing to assist
as we begin our CEO Search. He returns
with many years of experience and is well liked by the HQ staff.
Rapidly approaching is our Great Lakes Division
Convention. This year, it will be held
in conjunction with the Toledo Mobile Radio Association’s annual hamfest in
Perrysburg, OH on March 14 and 15.
ARRL President Rick Roderick K5UR will be there to meet
members and serve as the keynote.
Another special attendee is Bob Heil K9EID of Heil Sound who will be a
guest speaker. Check our web pages at: http://www.toledoglc.org/ for the full details.
During our conventions, we honor several radio amateurs
in the Division for their outstanding efforts in service to ham radio and their
community. These awards are presented
based upon nominations coming from the local amateur community (THAT'S YOU) and
we all have the opportunity to contribute to this effort. Below are the criteria for each of the
awards. Please review these and if you
are aware of someone whom you feel is worthy of one of these awards, please
send your nomination to the Great Lakes Div. Selection committee c/o w8wtd@arrl.org. You will need to include a
write-up in your nomination explaining why your candidate is deserving of the
award.
GEORGE S. WILSON III W4OYI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD The
Radio Amateur in the Great Lakes Division whose lifetime achievement record
merits recognition for outstanding contribution to the Amateur Radio
Service. The nominee is active on the
air and in Amateur Radio organizations. The Wilson recipient is an all-around
Amateur whose lifetime activities, attitudes, and achievements might serve as
an example to others. At the time of nomination, nominees must have been
licensed Radio Amateurs for at least 30 years and be at least 50 years of age.
Emphasis is placed on service to others rather than self, diversity of Amateur
Radio interests and Activities, evidence of continuing self-challenge via
Amateur Radio, and outstanding contributions to Amateur Radio. Devotion to
Amateur Radio is balanced with attention to work responsibilities and family
life. This award is presented at the
discretion of the Awards Committee and Director. The recipient must be a current ARRL member.
GREAT LAKES DIVISION AMATEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD The Radio
Amateur in the Great Lakes Division whose outstanding record in the year
preceding nomination merits recognition for contribution to the Amateur Radio
Service. The Amateur of the Year, is an
all-around Amateur, whose activities, attitudes and achievements may serve as a
guiding example to others. Devotion to
Amateur Radio is balanced with attention to work responsibilities and family
life. The Amateur of the Year
exemplifies the "Amateur's Code."
In selecting the award recipient, emphasis is placed on service to others
rather than self, diversity of Amateur Radio interest and activities, evidence
of continuing self-challenge and outstanding contributions to Amateur
Radio. The recipient must be a current
ARRL member.
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Radio Amateur(s) in the Great Lakes Division whose
technical excellence exemplifies "continuation of the Amateur's proven
ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art" and whose
attitude exemplifies the highest dedication to service to others and to science
rather than self. Particular value will
be placed on evidence of continuing contributions to the Amateur Radio
Service. Groups of two or more Amateurs
may be nominated for a joint award in this category.
Technical achievement may be demonstrated through
activities such as the
following:
publications, research and development, creativity in hardware, software
and firmware systems design and implementation, technical instruction,
application of advanced technology to public service communications. This award is presented at the discretion of
the Awards Committee and Director.
The recipient(s) must be a current ARRL member.
DX ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The radio amateur(s) in the Great Lakes Division who has
dedicated time, talent and service to DXing.
The award is given especially in recognition of an exemplary lifetime DX
record. Recipients are active o(n the
air and in DX Amateur Radio organizations.
The DX achievement recipient is also an all-around Amateur whose
lifetime, ethical DX activities, good operating practices and notable
achievements of the recipient might be viewed as examples to follow by
others. At the time of nomination,
nominees must have been licensed Radio Amateurs for at least 20 years and be at
least 50 years of age. Emphasis is placed
on DX totals (Honor Roll, DXCC Challenge, etc), DXpeditions served on,
Elmering/Mentoring other DXers plus other outstanding DX related
accomplishments. Devotion to Amateur Radio is balanced with attention to work
responsibilities, and to civic and family life. This award is presented at the
discretion of the Awards Committee and Director. The
recipient(s) must be a current ARRL member.
YOUNG RADIO AMATEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented to a young radio amateur in the Great Lakes
Division, 18 years of age or younger, in recognition of a record of outstanding
contributions to the Amateur Radio Service.
This record consists of activities and achievements in Amateur Radio,
which may include support of the community through Amateur Radio, ability to
recruit fellow students into Amateur Radio, scholastic achievement and
extracurricular activities. The Young
Amateur of the Year is enthusiastic and shows potential for leadership and
further achievement. This award is
presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee and Director.
We will also present the JOSEPH J. PHILLIPS, K8QOE,
NEWSLETTER AWARD This award will be given to the highest scoring newsletter
submitted in Great Lakes Division competition to the newsletter review
committee.
Each newsletter for the contest will have been declared
newsletter-of-the-year for the Section it represents during the present year;
however, when the timing of the Division Convention occurs too early in the
year to permit selection of a newsletter for the year, winners for the previous year may be submitted. Each of our three Section Managers will establish the criteria for
selecting the candidate
newsletter(s) from their respective Sections.
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 ARRL Section's news pages for the
latest local happenings, club and net information.
TOM'S TOME
Comments from your ARRL Vice Director Tom W8WTD.
This month I want to echo what Dale has said about the
Great Lakes Convention. Mark your
calendars and check your plans to see if you can attend. There will be excellent speakers and a lot of
interesting topics in the forums. It
will be worth the trip, no matter what part of the three states you are coming
from. Meet some of your fellow hams in
the Division, and take back some new knowledge to your club or your area. Maybe something will spark a new interest in
an aspect of ham radio that you hadn’t thought of.
Second, look around your local club or your local
area. Are you seeing a ham who has been
doing outstanding work this past year, or more likely, over many years? Consider nominating that person for an award,
if there is a category they best fit.
Dale has listed all the awards and the criteria necessary. Maybe you know a future award winner.
Finally, a word about the new publication from ARRL, On
the Air. It is finally out there, and
has been enthusiastically received by new hams and experienced hams alike. How do you get a copy? Well, ARRL will send only one print magazine,
so you will have to choose between QST and On the Air. However, you can get both magazines
digitally, so if you are an experienced ham who wants to see On the Air, go to
the website and discover how to get the digital editions. If you’re a newly licensed ham, you should
check out the new magazine, and perhaps choose the option of having that
magazine in print form. You’ll find
great advice and hints about operating, rigs, building simple projects, etc.
And, the good news is, this is just the first of several
new programs the League will be offering to members over the coming year.
See you at the Convention, I hope!
--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.
2/1/20 HARA Negaunee, MI
2/16/20 Mansfield Mansfield, OH
2/23/20 Livonia CANCELLED for
2020
3/1/20 NOARS Winter Hamfest Elyria, OH
3/7/20 Cave City Cave City, KY
3/14-15 GL
Conv/TMRA Hamfest Perrysburg, OH
3/21/20 Gallipolis Gallipolis, OH
4/11/20 Crossroads Kalamazoo, MI
4/11/20 Cuyahoga
Falls Cuyahoga Falls,
OH
4/18/20 Chassell
Hamfest Chassell, MI
4/18/20 Portsmouth
Hamfest Portsmouth, OH
4/19/20 GMARC
Tech EXPO Madison
Hgts, MI
4/26/20 Athens
Hamfest Athens, OH
If you plan to request ARRL Hamfest Sanctioning, please
do so well in advance of your Hamfest date, as this allows adequate time for
QST Listings. QST requires a 3 month
lead time. It should be noted that there
has been a change in the way ARRL contributes to your hamfest efforts. Please carefully read the e-mail from ARRL
Headquarters confirming your sanctioning as IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT DETAILS
REGARDING PRIZES. 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
requires some advanced planning.
73, Ham it up!
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
