December is Youth on the Air Month. It is time to fire up the club station and introduce ham radio to all the kids in the neighborhood.
According to the recent YOTA News release, Amateur radio operators age 25 and younger will be on the air as special event stations around the world throughout December in celebration of youth in amateur radio. YOTA Month stations will be on all bands and modes at various times. QSL and award information is at events.www.ham-yota.com.
A couple of weeks ago I got a note from one of our members in Redford, MI. He commented that he had done a little research on some local clubs by looking at their web pages. What he found were many cases of seriously outdated pages and many links that just were not operating. I also checked, randomly sampling clubs throughout the Great Lakes Division. He is correct. Some were actually years out of date.
We all understand the people move, retire, and just plain change, meaning that these details are often overlooked. So, a reminder to all radio club webmasters and club officers: As this year ends, it would be really helpful to look at your club's web pages and make sure they contain the correct links, and the information is spot-on accurate. It is all helpful material, especially for new hams and those who would link info on your club, let's make a real effort to insure you are providing accurate and timely information.
As the year closes, it is time to recognize some unsung heroes of ham radio. These are the groups who tackle some heavy problems, sometimes controversial problems and always seemingly unending problems. They are our Amateur Radio Repeater Coordinators. Perhaps you are not familiar with their efforts, but they do their best to find an available frequency for a new repeater, ensure that those who have a coordination are truly on the air and they now struggle with the need for new channels for our influx of digital systems, and that it only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Properly coordinating repeaters means (among many other things) finding a clear frequency within a certain geographic range for repeaters thus minimizing co-channel and adjacent-channel user interference. A properly coordinated repeater according to FCC rules receives a degree of protection if it is suffering interference from a non-coordinated repeater. The rules put the responsibility to resolve the problem on the uncoordinated system.
A tip of the hat from the Great Lakes Division to these tireless groups:
For Kentucky, it is SERA, the Southeast Repeater Assn, https://sera.org/index.php/home/sera-districts/sera-districts-ky/, for Lower Michigan, the Michigan Area Repeater Council, http://www.miarc.com/index.html, for Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula Amateur Radio Repeater Assn., http://uparra.org/, and for Ohio, https://www.oarc.com/.
SCOTT'S STUFF: Comments from your ARRL Vice-Director Scott, N8SY.
First let me say... Merry Christmas; Mele Kalikimaka; Joyeux Noël; Frohe Weinachten; Feliz Navidad; Buon Natale; Feliz Natal; Vrolijk kerstfeest; Craciun fericit; Wesolych swiat Bozego Narodzenia; God Jul; Veselé Vánoce or however you may pronounce it, Christmas is just 24 days away! Have you been good little girls and boys? I sure hope so, and I hope that you get everything on your list as well!
I do hope that you all have survived turkey day. You know... that one day above all others that you eat everything in front of you, including the dishes, tablecloth and if you’re really hungry, you’ll even go after the dog’s food bowl and then sit back with your pants unbuttoned complaining that there’s no leftovers and you’ll have to make a run to the store for some snacks! Anyway, I hope that you and yours had a wonderful day and that you remembered those in uniform that keep us safe.
Shifting gears... Things are really busy for Dale and me right now getting things ready for the upcoming Board of Directors meeting in January. It seems like I no more than get off of one Zoom meeting when I find that I have another one to go to. I do hope that you can see that we ARE moving things in a positive direction and that we are always working to make things better for YOU!
Ok, let’s really shift gears for a minute. Where is your ham shack located? Is it in the basement, garage, or outbuilding? Most generally ham shacks are not in the living room and as such, heating devices for your shack are usually some sort of a supplemental heater/furnace and that is why this next paragraph is so important to talk about now that the weather is getting colder. I want to talk to you about Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning.
First, let me describe what Carbon Monoxide (CO) is. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is the poisonous gases emitted from carbon fueled heat sources (i.e... gas or fuel oil furnaces, wood burning fireplaces or stoves, kerosene, or propane heaters). I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Carbon Monoxide is colorless, odorless and it will kill you if you breathe very much of it into your lungs. How does this gas kill?
It migrates into the blood stream and replaces the oxygen in your blood with the Carbon Monoxide. Once it invades your blood stream it will be with you for many years to come. In fact, most of your life! Just ask any firefighter about that. That is where a Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector comes into play. These little devises are inexpensive (usually around $20) and can really save you and your family’s lives. Buy one or more of them now (if you don’t already have one) and use them! Oh, if you haven’t changed your batteries in your smoke detectors lately, you really need to do that too.
Shifting up through the gears... I am happy to inform you that the scholarship application process is now open. There is a link on the ARRL homepage in addition to the link on the scholarship page. More than 100 scholarships ranging from $500 to $25,000 will be awarded in 2023. Hey, this is FREE money for your kids to go to college on! How many kids do you know that couldn’t use a helping hand with their college tuition? All applicants must be active, FCC-licensed amateur radio operators and all applicants must submit a completed online application no later than January 4, 2023, at 12pm.
Go to: http://www.arrl.org/scholarship-program
The ARRL Foundation will be utilizing the same Scholarship Management Platform for the 2023 Scholarships that was used for the 2022 Scholarships. Transcripts and additional required documents must be submitted WITH the application and not emailed separately. A number of scholarships require additional documents, such as a letter of recommendation from a sitting Officer of an ARRL-affiliated club.
Applications without accompanying transcripts and additional required documents (if applicable) will not be considered. The ARRL Foundation Scholarship Committee will review all applicants for eligibility and award decisions. Awards are mailed directly to recipients' schools.
OK, shifting down to come into the pit... This month we have the 160-meter, 10-meter and Rookie Roundup (CW) coming up, not to mention that there are a few hundred more contests that you could get involved with as well. Here’s the link to see them all... https://www.contestcalendar.com/
Okay, that is going to do it from here this month. Stay safe and "Catch Me On The Air, at a meeting or hamfest!!!" But most of all... Have FUN!!!!
73,
Scott, N8SY
Vice Director
Great Lakes Division
n8sy@arrl.org
HAMFEST LISTING:
Here is the current listing of Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned hamfests through the end of 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 February 2023:
12/03/22 - Fulton County Winterfest, Archbold, OH
12/04/22 - Lanse Creuse, Troy, MI
01/15/23 - SCARF Hamfest, Shade, OH
01/22/23 - Hazel Park Hamfest, Royal Oak, MI
02/11/23 - Cherryland, Traverse City, MI
02/18/23 - MOVARC Hamfest, Bidwell, OH
If your ARRL Affiliated club plans to request Hamfest Sanctioning, you should make that request well in advance of the scheduled Hamfest date, as this allows adequate time for QST Listings. QST announcements require a 3 month lead time. To be fair to our Division's clubs, the Great Lakes Division policy is to offer a club ARRL Sanctioning for a limit of two hamfests/swaps in any given calendar year, and they must be four months apart. 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
In closing, Judy and wish you all the very best this Holiday Season. May 2023 bring Peace, Health, Happiness, and Prosperity to us all.
73,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
wa8efk@arrl.org
