Dale's Tales for July

Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for July, 2022.

OH my gosh, six meters continues to live up to its name as the Magic Band with openings practically every day within the Continental US and some really outstanding DX as well. I hope you have been able to venture on 6 and snag some good contacts.

There was certainly plenty of activity on the bands last weekend as ham radio's biggest operating event took to the airwaves in the form of ARRL's annual Field Day. Some slight adjustments to the FD rules were in place, the most significant was setting the operating power limit at 100 watts. This was done to equalize the FD rules with other similar events and also improve the competitive levels among all entry classes.

Field Day for this amateur meant operating with my club and I had a great time.  The weather was playing favorites and we only had a couple of light overnight showers.  This year afforded some excellent training opportunities as we have seen some significant club growth with new hams and this past weekend was their first opportunity to participate in this operating event.   I think our old timers and newcomers all exchanged some ideas and brought home some innovations for next year.  Most importantly all of the participants left with improved skills and operating abilities.  We were fortunate to welcome several key visitors, the local media, our State Representative and his wife and our Section Manager Les W8MSP and his wife Karen KB8AKC.

Thanks to all who stopped by your Great Lakes Division's booth at Hamvention and posted their QSL cards or signed our guest register.

Sorry if we may have missed a few visitors signing our guest log, but here y'all are: 

AA8SU, AA8TA, AB4IQ, AB8OU, AC1JL, AC8GU, AC8HZ, AC8NP, AC8QB, AC9CK, AD8C, AD8DZ, AD8IT, AD8WA, AH0AA, AH0AA/JR2SCV/JE2YRB, AI4EY, AK8A, AK9TX, JH1NBN, JW/K8GU, K0EED, K3GP, K3JJB, K3KTB, K3RC, K3ZB/JH1NBN, K4ZLE, K5HTE, K7EK, K7SUF, K7WE, K8ALG, K8BF, K8BP, K8CLP, K8CX, K8DP, K8EEP, K8HCF, K8IYF, K8JH, K8JTK, K8MDA, K8MST, K8NU, K8RJH, K8TS, K8UPR, K8VCE, K8VQC, K8VSY, K8WDA, K8ZCT, K8ZT, KA0AZS, KA8KWO, KA8UGB, KB8FXJ, KB8GYB, KB8IUP, KB8NW, KB8QLR, KB8UNJ, KB8UUZ, KB8WPZ, KC4OHX, KC8CAD, KC8GE, KC8MNW, KC8TEF, KC8TVW, KC8UFV, KC9QFH, KD2REM, KD4NUH, KD4SS, KD8JIP, KD8OCS, KD8QGA, KD8RER, KD8RTP, KD8SKZ, KD8SMO, KD8VRX, KD8VWE, KD8YVJ, KD8ZDF, KD9PDY, KE8BGZ, KE8BKP, KE8CEO, KE8CKN, KE8CKO, KE8CVA, KE8EJF, KE8EKG, KE8EKH, KE8EOB, KE8LPL, KE8MYH, KE8QAT, KE8RJU, KE8RS, KE8TBS, KG6NFJ, KI4SPO, KI8AF, KJ4BYD, KJ8BB, KJ8F, KM4CH, KM4FO, KO4ZFC, KY4M, N4DLR, N4HAI, N4JMR, N4LSJ, N4SV, N6JRL, N6YPC, N7JTB, N7OEI, N8AMY, N8AUC, N8BAG, N8BAP, N8CUB, N8DAF, N8DPW, N8ETP, N8FE, N8FTD, N8GBA, N8HAR, N8HG, N8HO, N8JKO, N8JMW, N8LE, N8NAV, N8NU, N8QKE, N8QXC, N8SBE, N8SY, N8VOX, N8WD, N8YSB, N9WYD, NA8L, ND4X, NE5SD, NE8Z, NF8M, NK8D, NL7CF, NM8W, NX8G, NY8D, VE7BC, VE7HA, VU2TO, W2THU, W2WCM, W4DFR, W4JKL, W4NHO, W4WKU, W4ZIP, W8AAZ, W8AOR, W8CTF, W8DEC, W8GN, W8DLB, W8DNZ, W8ERW, W8FSA, W8HFZ, W8IZC, W8KNO, W8MSP, W8NDB, W8PAB, W8PHN, W8PI, W8PT, W8SHF, W8VRD, W8VTN, W8YSY, W8ZAG, WA1EIB, WA2DHG, WA6EZV, WA8AAZ, WA8EFK, WA8HEA, WA8HUB, WA8UWV, WB0NPN, WB1ARU, WB4SUV, WB8BSA, WB8LCD, WB8TRL, WD4FJF, WD8ITP, WD8JM, WD8NVN, WD8SCL, WD8USA, WE8Q, WE8TOM, WG8H, WG8X, WH7W, WM8G, WR8G, WX8V.

Again, our sincere thanks for visiting with us.

SCOTT'S STUFF: Comments from your ARRL Vice Director Scott, N8SY.

Let me be the first one to say...  Happy 4th of July to you and yours!!!

 Have fun, but please be very careful.  Here in Ohio, we are now legally, in some communities, allowed to shoot off fireworks.  Back in the day I used to shoot off hundreds of firecrackers at a time.  It sounded like a real gangster gun battle for sure until one day I shot off an M-80 and it blew a hole in our backyard about 3 foot wide and a couple of foot deep!  I decided that I like my fingers way too much to take that much of a chance in possibly losing them, so I just sit back and watch the professionals do it now.  I was told recently that in one of the professional fireworks displays it didn't go well.  As I understand it, a worker hit the wrong button and set off a 20-minute display all at once.  I understand it was the best grand finale ever in that town, but very short lived as that it only lasted around 35 seconds.

Let's shift gears...  Wow oh wowie...  I think that sums up Field Day weekend!  It felt so good getting out and being able to see and talk with all of you at your Field Day sites.  This year above all other years I'm really impressed with how many younger folks were involved with Field Day.  All the sites I visited I found at least one newbie that was not just young to amateur radio, but young in age, less than 40 and they were active!  I feel that speaks volumes for the growth and interest in amateur radio!  It was exciting to hear how and why they got involved.  Though the stories were varied, they all seemed genuine in not only expanding their thirst for knowledge, but in advancing in their licensing as well.  Now, for the record, I visited 12 sites and drove

467 miles!  I'm only sorry I couldn't get to more sites, but the day is only so long and the miles between sites really makes the difference on just how many of them I can actually get to.  I do apologize to the folks that invited me personally to come and visit their site and I just didn't get there.  I promise to try harder next year to do just that!

Shifting gears again...  Now that Field Day is over are you ready for some more fun?  The Simulated Emergency Test (S.E.T.) is October 1-2 and next to Field Day, one of the busiest times for ham radio!  Is your ARES group or club already in the planning stage yet?  If not, it should be, like Field Day, S.E.T. demonstrates to our served agencies what amateur radio is really all about, communications.  Did you happen to notice in this past months QST the results of the 2021 S.E.T.?  The Ohio Section represented the Great Lakes Division quite well by coming in 2nd in the nation!     

OK, shifting gears again...  Now, for all the contesters out there. July has many contests just waiting for you to do. If you are interested in just having some fun, here is a link to a schedule of all the contests for the month of July...   https://www.contestcalendar.com/fivewkcal.html  

That is going to do it from here this month. Stay safe and "Catch Me On The Air, at a meeting or hamfest!!!"

 

73,

Scott Yonally N8SY

Vice Director
Great Lakes Division

n8sy@arrl.org 
 

HAMFEST LISTING: 

Here is the current listing of Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned hamfests through September 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 September 2022:

07/09/22 - Mansfield Mid Summer Trunkfest, Mansfield, OH

07/10/22 - Flying Beers, Ferndale, MI

07/16/22 - NOARS Fest, Elyria, OH

07/16/22 - GM ARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp, MI

07/17/22 - Van Wert Hamfest, Van Wert, OH

08/06/22 - Columbus Hamfest, Columbus, OH

08/13/22 - Letcher Co, Hamfest, Whitesburg, KY

08/13/22 - Cincinnati Hamfest, Owensville, OH

08/20/22 - GM ARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp, MI

08/21/22 - Letcher County, Whitesburg, KY

08/28/22 - Seaway, Port Huron, MI

09/10/22 - GRAHamfest, Grand Rapids, MI

09/10/22 - CMARC Hamfest, Okemos, MI

09/10/22 - Greater Louisville Hamfest, Shepherdsville, KY

09/11/22 - Findlay Hamfest, Findlay, OH

09/17/22 - Richmond Hamfest, Richmond, KY

09/17/22 - Mound ARA, Miamisburg, OH

09/17/22 - GMARC Trunk Swap, Shelby Twp, MI

09/18/22 - Adrian Hamfest, Adrian, MI

09/25/22 - Cleveland Hamfest, Berea, 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