Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for
October, 2019.
Of all the articles I have written for Dale's Tales, last
month's column about the health of ham clubs drew the most responses from
readers.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. What I heard was all about the reality of
today's club activities; the successes and the lack thereof.
I think it points out the need for continued examination
of where we are and what we are planning for tomorrow. It was truly heartwarming to see several
clubs make the decision to re-invent themselves and take a whole new approach
towards involving their membership.
One reader offered some commentary about local activities
in his area and how quiet the local airwaves are. There may be a distinct tie into what is
happening locally. Did you get on the
air today?
Notes of thanks:
Today our cadre of Official Observers retires to be replaced by a new
Volunteer Monitor (VM) program. I want
to especially thank all of the retiring OOs for their sincere dedication and
service as we move into this new era.
Our outgoing OOs have served our hobby well and have continually kept
our operating standards to the point where the FCC recognized Amateur Radio as
the best self-regulated service administrated by the commission.
Changes at the FCC have called for changes in how we
radio amateurs self-police and the new VM program is where this will be
done. About 250 amateurs across the nation have been vetted by ARRL
and the FCC to participate as monitors.
They all will be enrolled in a continued training program and will
engage in their rolls in a less visible manner.
They will monitor the airwaves and collect evidence that can be used to
correct misconduct or recognize exemplary on-air operation.
Cases of flagrant violations will be referred to the FCC
by the ARRL for action in accordance with FCC guidelines.
On a second note, I wish to personally thank our Great
Lakes Division Vice-Director Ton Delaney W8WTD, and Section Managers Steve
Morgan W4NHO, Scott Yonally N8SY and Jim Kvochick K8JK for insuring that ARRL
is well represented at our local hamfests.
They do this wonderful service all the time, but I want to give them
special thanks for their extra duty while I take a few weeks off for some rehab
due to knee surgery.
TOM'S TOME
Comments from your ARRL Vice Director Tom W8WTD.
When technology changes --and it always does—what happens
to the things we used to think of as “standard?” Some things get applied differently and some
things go away entirely. To give an
example, in my field of television production, almost nothing is the same
technically.
Producing the content is pretty much the same, but the
pictures are made entirely differently, and wow do they look better.
I was out West recently, and met with an old friend, a
ham, from our days together in local television. We remarked about how much the technical
standards had changed. But we also noted
that ham radio has changed, too. Jeff
used to work moon bounce. Back in the
1970s and 1980s, he had to use some huge yagis, four of them, as a matter of
fact.
Now he’s working
meteor scatter with one yagi and a good computer.
He’s as interested in that as he used to be in moon
bounce, but he said that some people think “if your computer is talking to my
computer,” then it’s not ham radio. To
which I responded, “are you using RF?
Then it’s ham radio.” Of course,
he agrees.
Whether it’s AM versus SSB, analog vs. digital voice, or
computer sound cards to discover propagation that we thought was non-existent,
progress means change. Whatever your
favorite mode of operation, I hope you are still finding it worthwhile. And I hope you’re willing to experiment with
the new ways of doing things.
Because the new ways are where ham radio is going. And the new hams will be wanting to use the
latest in technology. I’ve heard it said
many times that the new hams are not being motivated by the same things that
motivated most of us. Ham radio has lots
to offer new people, but it won’t be in the same ways many of us
experienced. We all have to find new
ways of operating and thinking, so that ham radio will be a welcoming
experience and a life-long hobby and pursuit for those just becoming interested. Keep that in mind the next time you try to
explain what ham radio is all about.
--73, Tom Delaney W8WTD Vice Director, Great Lakes
Division
OUR GREAT LAKES DIVISION web page does carry news from
some of the recent events in the Division, useful links and information as well
as some neat photos supplied from around the Division. Check it out: http://arrl-greatlakes.org/
Be sure to check your ARRL Section's news pages for the
latest local happenings, club and net information.
HAMFESTING: Here
is the current Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest Schedule covering
the next few months. These swaps have
received their sanctioning approval from ARRL HQ at the time of this
publication.
If you plan to request ARRL Hamfest Sanctioning, please
be sure to do it well in advance of your Hamfest date, as this allows adequate
time for QST Listings. Be
sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set. Plan
ahead and request your ARRL Officials to attend.
With 52 weeks and 70+ hamfests in the Great Lakes
Division, things do double up a little and we need to share duties.
10/5/19 Alpena
Swap Alpena, MI
10/5/19 Scioto
Valley Chillicothe, OH
10/5/19 Vette
City Bowling Green, KY
10/12/19 Northwest
Ohio ARC Lima, OH
10/19/19 Muskegon
Color Tour Muskegon, MI
10/20/19 Kalamazoo Kalamazoo, MI
10/26/19 Hazard
Hamfest Hazard, KY
10/27/19 USECA
Hamfest Madison Hgts, MI
11/2/19 Grant
ARC Hamfest Georgetown, OH
11/3/19 Massillon Massillon, OH
73, Were you on the air today??? Ham it up!
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
