Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for May, 2022.
CONGRATULATONS to John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, of Columbus, Ohio, selected by ARRL to be our new national ARRL News Editor.
An Extra class licensee, for the past 10 years, John has served as the Public Information Coordinator for the ARRL Ohio Section. His background includes journalist and broadcast engineer. An OSU graduate, he had dual careers as Vice President/Associate for Wilson Group Communications, a Columbus-based public relations, media relations, and crisis management firm. He recently retired from AT&T after 28 years as a Network Analyst.
He is a US Army and US Army Reserve veteran, and is a six-time recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for helping disabled and homeless veterans.
John has been training with Bob Inderbitzen NQ1R and ARRL Headquarters staff members of the editorial team for the last few weeks. He has already produced the last 2 editions of the ARRL Letter, and ARRL Audio News. John will also produce news content for ARRL’s website, and the “Happenings” and “Amateur Radio World” columns in QST.
Submissions for The ARRL Letter and ARRL News can be sent to John via news@arrl.org.
HAMFESTING: Continuing the discussion from last month, I have had discussions with our three Division Section Managers to cover some concerns that have been expressed regarding Great Lakes Division Hamfests. The first relates to what may constitute a "Swap" or "Hamfest", versus what are recently being called "Trunk" swaps. It seems most swaps, at least when the weather is warm, are in fact swaps involving a lot of sales from trunk, tailgate, and personal tables in the trunk sales areas. Furthermore, there is no real accepted definition that covers what differentiates a "trunk sale" from any other type of swap. Should it be a limited number of sellers? Attendance?
Available lot size? Admission charge? Sponsor's choice? At this point we are seriously considering no longer attempting to define hamfests by a definitions as "Trunk sales/swap" or not and will use a general listing as either a hamfest (or a ham swap meet), sponsor's choice for those two traditional naming conventions. Your input is solicited.
The second matter arises as to the number of ARRL Sanctioned hamfests that should be permitted each season for a specific sponsor. Further discussion with ARRL Headquarters and our Section Managers has resulted in a Great Lakes Division policy change that takes effect May 1, 2022 and applies to all future ARRL Sanctioning applications. The Great Lakes Division will grant ARRL Hamfest Sanctioning to a maximum of two hamfest per sponsoring organization each year. These two must be at least four months apart, putting each in a different season. The allowance of two is a consideration made because of many shifted hamfest dates caused by the Covid 19 Pandemic. As you are aware, ARRL contributes prizes to Sanctioned events, and this new policy exhibits fairness to all of our hamfest sponsors.
HAMVENTION 2022: News directly from the Dayton Amateur Radio Assn.:
Hamvention in Three Weeks!
It has been an amazing and eventful three years since we had an in-person Hamvention. We are now three weeks away from ending that
Covid-19 caused pause. In the spring of 2019 it never occurred to us that we might not be having Hamvention for a while. As world events played out, we learned that public health officials and other government officials would prohibit our meeting together to learn, visit, and have fun with our many friends. Way back in March of 2020, none of us knew much about the pandemic that was beginning to sweep across the world.
There was not a lot that we could do other than be law abiding citizens, trying to stay alive, and doing our part to not spread the virus further. Lots has gone under the bridge since then. Politics got involved. Friends died. Businesses suffered. Kids were made to have school by Zoom. And amateur radio emerged as a way to stay connected without spreading the pandemic.
We are finally to the stage that we can meet, see each other face-to-face, and continue our love of learning everything radio. We can present the accumulated awards sponsored by Hamvention for the last three years of winners. We can hear about many new ideas related to amateur radio in the Forums, including the hams that made a difference in developing immunizations against Covid-19.
So, here’s to Hamvention! See you at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in exactly 20 days! Buy your plane tickets, fill up the car with super-expensive gas, just get here!!
Rick Allnutt WS8G
Hamvention 2022 General Chair
Hamvention, an official ARRL Sanctioned Event, will be held Friday-Sunday, May 20-22 at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, OH.
SCOTT'S STUFF: Comments from your ARRL Vice Director Scott, N8SY.
Scott’s Stuff - May Edition
I want to express my congratulations to John Ross, KD8IDJ for becoming the newest ARRL News Editor! John is taking over the reins for Rick Lindquist, WW1ME who recently retired from this post. As many of you know, John was my Public Information Coordinator for almost all of my time as Section Manager for Ohio. He's gonna' do the Great Lakes Division proud for sure!
Have you heard the latest? The FCC is once again processing license applications and exam session files, but the process has been slowed down some since the addition of the $35 fee started. Our ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) Maria Somma has reported that the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) electronic batch filing (EBF) system was down for several days. So, this will mean that there will be some delays until they get caught back up in getting licenses processed. Please be patient, they will get processed!
Shifting Gears... As I expressed last month "April showers bring May flowers and May flowers brings the Dayton Hamvention!!!" Yes, there's now only 19 days left before Dayton!! Are you ready for this? The biggest hamfest in the world is back, and you're not gonna’ want to miss out on the fun and excitement of everyone getting back together.
This year's theme is "Reunion." It's the 70th anniversary so let's make this the best hamfest weekend ever!
OK, shifting gears again... Now, for all the contesters out there. May has contests. If you are interested in just having some fun, here is a link to a schedule of all the contests for the month of May...
https://www.contestcalendar.com/fivewkcal.html
Now speaking of contests... Well... This isn't actually a contest, it's an ARES Exercise but it's fun no matter what you call it, Field Day is fast approaching. Yes, Field Day this year is June 25 - 26. Is your club planning on participating? I sure hope so. As I have done for many years, I'll be out and about visiting many of the Field Day sites once again this year! Where will I be? Who knows! My plans this year is just to get in the car and go. So, how will I know where the sites will be? Simple, I will go to those sites that have registered on the ARRL Field Day Locator! https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator There are already a bunch of sites listed on the map that I can go to. So, hope to see you at Field Day!
That is going to do it from here this month. Stay safe and "Catch Me On The Air or at a hamfest!!!"
73,
Scott Yonally N8SY, Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
HAMFEST LISTING:
Here is the current listing of Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned hamfests through May 2022. 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.
Be sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set.
Please feel free to reproduce and publish in your local Club Newsletter with credit to the source.
ARRL Sanctioned Hamfests through July 2022:
05/01/22 - Lucas County Trunk Swap, Toledo, OH
05/07/22 - Cadillac Hamfest, Cadillac, MI
05/20 to 05/22/22 - Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH
05/21/22 - GM ARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp., MI
05/28/22 - Scioto Valley, Piketon, OH
06/04/22 - Fulton County Swap, Wauseon, OH
06/04/22 - IRA Hamfest, Hudsonville, MI
06/05/22 - Chelsea Hamfest, Chelsea, MI
06/11/22 - Luce County Yooper Hamfest, Newberry, MI
06/11-22 - St Joseph Hamfest, Centreville, MI
06/18/22 - GM ARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp., MI
06/18/22 - Midland Hamfest, Midland, MI
06/19/22 - Monroe Hamfest, Monroe, MI
07/09/22 - Mansfield Mid Summer Trunkfest, Mansfield, OH
07/10/22 - Flying Beers, Ferndale, MI
07/16/22 - NORAS Fest, Elyria, OH
07/16/22 - GM ARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp, MI
07/17/22 - Van Wert Hamfest, Van Wert, OH
If you club plans to request ARRL Hamfest Sanctioning, you should do so well in advance of the planned Hamfest date, as this allows adequate time for QST Listings. QST announcements require a 3 month lead time.
If your swap is cancelled or the date is going to change, please notify ARRL HQ.
For the latest detail on regional hamfests, check the ARRL web page at:
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar
73,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
wa8efk@arrl.org
