Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for September, 2020.
Recent weather
events have been close to home for many in the Great
Lakes Division.
Fall and winter are drawing near, and so it the annual
Simulated Emergency Test (Oct. 3 & 4 for most areas). It is time to check out the reserves, batteries, generators, fuel and jump kits and be prepared; not only for community service, but for our families as well.
NEW CEO: And now
we have our new Chief Executive Officer selected,
hired and officially elected as CEO and ARRL
Secretary. After many
months of resume reviews, interviews, evaluations, 30+ Zoom meetings, David Minster NA2AA has been chosen to lead our organization. David's profile has appeared in the August 27th ARRL Letter so I'll not recap it here. What I do want to say is a little about the steps taken by the Board to make this choice. The selection process was considerably different from that used in the recent past, not just because Covid-19 drove some of the processes, but because the CEO Selection Committee was tasked to consider the entire field of candidates, and select three to be interviewed by the entire Board.
The Committee chose five candidates for interviews, one withdrew leaving four individuals for consideration. They all were individually interviewed by the entire Board of Directors. I believe this selection process was quite thorough and allowed the candidates an excellent opportunity to discuss the their individual experience, education, leadership skills, capabilities and their vision of the future for ARRL.
The Board members' questions were very challenging for the candidates, as they should be, and the following selection discussions within the Board of Directors were extensive.
David will take office on September 28 and will relocate to the Newington, CT area. Our interim CEO Barry Shelley will then retire (again) with our sincere thanks for taking 8 months out of his well earned retirement to lead the ARRL while the CEO selection process took place.
AWARD: In other Board actions as the summer meeting closed was a motion I made to honor the Marietta, OH Amateur Radio Club on the event of their 100 anniversary of Affiliation with the ARRL. The motion was seconded by Director Tom Abernethy W3TOM of the ARRL's Atlantic Division. The motion also included for the record, a copy of the original Certificate of Affiliation signed by Hiram Percy Maxim W1AW. A plaque is being prepared for the Marietta ARC to commemorate the event.
FCC LICENSE FEES: Just a couple of comments regarding the recent FCC proposal for returning license fees to Amateur Radio....Our ARRL Legal Counsel is working with the Executive Committee on a response. There is ample time for us to prepare a suitably detailed reply, so we will take this opportunity to prepare a well documented paper expressing the concerns of the amateur radio community. As with my fellow ARRL
Directors, I have received many e-mails expressing that the re-imposition of fees is entirely inappropriate, especially for a group of sincere individuals who dedicate themselves to community support and international good will at our own expense. Many more very positive ideas have been brought forth in support of zero fees, and we will draw upon them as the response is completed.
TOM'S TOME: Comments from your ARRL Vice Director Tom W8WTD.
While the current pandemic is affecting everyone in various ways, ham radio operators are coping well in most respects. Some of us talk more on the radio since we can’t get together in person. Contests are still being run, and many clubs have found ways to reach out to each other.
However, I want to come back to a point I made last month about licensing. For ham radio to thrive, we need new and enthusiastic hams along with those of us who are the experienced operators. We’ve got to find a way, observing health protocols, to make sure people have access to the help they need to study for each license level, and then make sure they have access to testing so they can get that original license or whatever upgrade they are looking for.
Maybe that’s going on in some parts of the Division, and I just don’t know about it. Sometimes I get feedback on what I write, but no one wrote to me about last month’s column in which I said the same thing. I can’t be sure of what’s going on at the local level throughout the three states, but I did see a report that FCC license activity is far below what it was a year ago. Not surprising. But as this thing drags on, what can we do to help prospective hams?
I don’t have all the answers here. So I’ll once again encourage education coordinators to think about it. I’ll be happy to share any responses I get, and maybe get some idea-sharing going so that as we get into the fall, we can find ways to reach out to new people of all ages.
--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
HAMFESTING: If your swap is cancelled or the date is going to change, please notify ARRL HQ. We work together with the HQ staff to verify all new date selections in the hope of mitigating date conflicts.
Here is the current listing of Great Lakes Division ARRL
Sanctioned hamfests remaining through the end of 2020. Please note that all are subject to change,
so please stay current by checking the sponsoring club's web page before making
your travel arrangements. To date, we
have had 36 Great Lakes Division hamfests that have been canceled due to
Covid-19 and almost an equal number that did not even schedule their event because of venue restrictions and government requirements.
Still on the calendar:
9/12/20 GRARA Trunk Swap Grand
Rapids, MI
10/24/20 Hazard Hazard,
KY
11/1/20 Massillon Massillon,
OH
12/5/20 Fulton County Winterfest Delta, OH
For the latest detail on cancelled hamfests, check the ARRL web page at: http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/search/page:5/keywords:Canceled/model:Event
It should be noted that there has been a change in the way ARRL contributes to your ARRL sanctioned 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 normally about 70 hamfests in the Great Lakes Division, things do require some advanced planning, especially under the current travel restrictions.
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.
73, All the best to you and your family. Stay safe.
Ham it up!
