Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for June
2018.
The Feedback I have personally received from the
Hamvention® attendees was very positive again A little rain did not seem to be too
disappointing. We had great attendance
at the ARRL EXPO Booth and it was neat get around to see some new products
introduced by key amateur radio equipment manufacturers. At the ARRL Forum, President Rick Roderick
K5UR covered some of the essentials coming under review at the next ARRL Board
meeting. Those included some needed updates to the ARRL Articles of Association
as recommended by the ARRL's Connecticut attorneys. Rick also reported that the Board will be
considering a template of a Code of Conduct provided through the National
Council of Non-profits.
At the ARRL Forum, I was able to present an overview of
the planned upgrades to the nationwide ARES program. This included the newly developed ARES
Strategic Plan which will serve as the guideline for ARES in the future. At this point, the Strategic Plan must be
approved by the ARRL Programs and Services Committee and also the Board of Directors. This
may mean changes to the plans before they are introduced in the field, but the team remains optimistic
there will be minimal changes. The
entire program was actively reviewed by a team of experienced Section Managers,
Section Emergency Coordinators and Emergency Coordinators during the
development process. Look for more
information to be forthcoming from ARRL HQ over the next few months.
Needless to say HQ staff will be busy updating much of
the ARES material the League publishes to bring it in line with the new
program.
Since 1935, we have done a great job with the ARES, but
changes in the needs of our served partner agencies, their demands for improved
training, alignment with the National Incident Management System and the
Incident Command System, technological changes and new messaging requirements
have all come into play in bringing ARES into a new age.
Further progress on Amateur Radio Parity Act. As you are aware, the House has passed HB 555 and it was stalled in the Senate by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida. It was then attached to the National Defense
Appropriations Bill and passed the house by a significant margin. It has also been attached to the House Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. It has cleared
the subcommittee and is on its way to the full House. The Senate has not yet taken up these two measures. Please bear in mind that this legislation directs
the FCC to draft a regulation similar to PRB-1 to allow the installation of
effective amateur radio antennas in certain areas where they are not permitted
because of deed covenants and restrictions.
TOM'S COMMENTS:
Comments from our Vice Director Tom Delaney W8WTD
Of all the varied activities associated with ham radio, I
have a lot of favorites, but the one that I focus on most is emergency
communications.
Not surprising, I
guess, since I’ve been involved with it for more than thirty years. And I haven’t been in that many
disasters. A few over the years, but
much more of my energy has been in preparation—which has paid off in those few
disasters where it really counted.
So the focus of Hamvention this year on things like the
response to the hurricanes on the islands, or the EmComm vehicles, the ARES
upgrade, all were things I relate to.
It was great seeing and hearing about the response of
local hams on the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Meeting Oscar Resto, KP4RF, the PR Section Manager, was a real treat. He’s an inspiring
person. It’s hard to imagine the devastation that they witnessed and
lived through. And there were stories from lots of other people about
how they coped with the disaster.
No one knows what we’re faced with in the Division this
year. Certainly the long winter, followed by two days of
spring, followed by early summer, isn’t our normal weather pattern. And the fact that we had a tropical
depression before June 1st doesn’t seem like a good sign. We hope we won’t face some of the problems
others have, but there’s no telling.
Meanwhile, keep your equipment in good working order, charge those
batteries, and take some additional training so you can help if called upon in
whatever natural or man-made disasters may come our way.
--73, Tom W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes Division
HAMFESTING: Here
is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule covering
the next couple of months. These swaps
have received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this
publication. We have approximately 65
ARRL hamfests each year in the Division.
I do encourage each Hamfest Chair to register early for ARRL
Sanctioning. Be sure to invite your ARRL
Officials as soon as your date is set.
6/2/18 IRA
Hamfest Hudsonville,
MI
6/2/18 Fulton
County Hamfest Tedrow, OH
6/2/18 Princeton
Hamfest Princeton, KY
6/3/18 Chelsea
Hamfest Chelsea,
MI
6/9/18 LARS
Hamfest Newberry, MI
6/9/18 Union
County Marysville, OH
6/16/18 Midland
Hamfest Midland,
MI
6/16/18 Milford
Hamfest Owensville,
OH
6/17/18 Monroe
Hamfest Monroe,
MI
7/8/18 20/9
Radio Club Austintown, OH
7/21/18 GARS
Hamfest Germantown, OH
7/21/18 Gladwin
Hamfest Gladwin,
MI
7/21/18 NOARS
Fest Elyria, OH
7/22/18 Van
Wert Hamfest Van Wert, OH
7/28/18 Big
Sandy Hamfest Louisa, KY
7/28/18 CMARC
Hamfest Lansing,
MI
7/29/18 Portage
Hamfair Ravenna,
OH
8/4/18 Columbus/OH
Sect Conf Columbus, OH
8/4/18 UP
Hamfest Escanaba, MI
8/11/18 Central
KY Hamfest Lexington, KY
8/12/18 Cuyahoga
Falls Hamfest Stow, OH
8/12/18 Seaway
Trunk Swap Port Huron, MI
Be sure to check your Section's news pages for the latest
local happenings, club and net information.
73, Let's light up the bands,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
