- ARRL Convention at the Hamvention
- Scholarship winners in the Division
- Telephone numbers
- What ARRL does for me
- DTV Presentation Still Available
- Time for Antenna work is nearly over
- Fred Jones, WA4SWF
- Travel Schedule
+++ ARRL Convention at the Hamvention +++
The 2009 ARRL National Convention at the Dayton Hamvention will be
Friday through Sunday, May 15 through 17. The Hamvention is the
greatest ham radio show on earth. As always, it will showcase nearly
every product and service available to radio amateurs. Attendees are
expected to include most of the World's leaders in essentially every
aspect of Amateur Radio. Always a great event, the Hamvention holds
even more significance when it and the ARRL National Convention are
combined.
Great Lakes Division involvement --
This year there is a particularly interesting forum and an especially
useful display that many Division members will doubtlessly want to
patronize. These are the ARES(r) forum and the ARRL Legislative Agenda
booth.
ARES Forum: The forum title, "The Maturing of ARES in this decade of
911 and Katrina," can only suggest the significance of the discussions
it will generate. Mark Hamvention Meeting Room 3 at 2:30 PM Saturday
on your calendar. Be there to see the exciting and challenging changes
that will happen to ARES in coming years. As Ohio SM Joe Phillips,
K8QOE has said, "This isn't our grandfather's ARES."
We amateurs have always prided ourselves with the thought that we are
on hand to pick up the pieces when all other forms of communication
fail. Those who attend this ARES forum will get a good view into what
is needed if we are to continue to meet this self-portrait into the
future.
The forum panelists will be: Charles Miller, AE4UX Section Emergency
Coordinator for South Carolina; Southeast Division Director Greg
Sarratt, W4OZK and Rob Macedo, KD1CY Director of Operations for the
VoIP Hurricane Net. Director Sarratt was Alabama Section Manager at
the time of Hurricane Katrina. He was a major organizer of the
post-Katrina Amateur Radio relief operation. Ohio SEC Jack Sovik
KB8WPZ of Youngstown, OH will moderate the forum that he organized.
Legislative Agenda at Dayton Hamvention: This will be the first year
for an ARRL Legislative Agenda booth at the Hamvention. It will be
located in the ARRL section. Along with myself, NB4K, there will be
many other Division Legislative Action Chairmen, Coordinator's and
Assistant's. We have had nine of the 15 Division Directors also say
they would be looking forwards to the information given out and taken
in at this booth for further education in the Divisions. This is not
just a Great Lakes Division endeavor but a coordinated agenda among the
many Divisions.
We will have handouts and information for those not yet familiar with
our agenda along with folks who will be able to answer any of your
questions. Stop by and see us as we will be looking forward to seeing
you.
73
John D. Meyers, NB4K
Great Lakes Legislative Action Chairman
+++ Scholarship Winners in the Division +++
The ARRL Foundation has announced scholarship winners for 2009. Of the
52 scholarships awarded, six went to amateurs in the Great Lakes
Division. Division recipients are:
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association Scholarship - $1000
Thomas Fielitz, KC8YAK, Smiths Creek, MI.
The K2TEO Martin J. Green, Sr. Memorial Scholarship - $1000
Jacob Wagner, KD8CDC, Rocky River, OH
The David W. Misek, N8NPX Memorial Scholarship - $1500
Janet Ruminski, KC8WGT, Beavercreek, OH
The Thomas W. Porter, W8KYZ Scholarship Honoring Michael Daugherty,
W8LSE - $1000
Robert Garfield, W8BOB, Cincinnati, OH
The YASME Foundation Scholarship - $2000
Kathryn Ankenbauer, KD8AHA, Portage, MI
Andrea Hill KD8FJS, Bellefontaine, OH
Congratulations to the winners. All the best to them in their
studies.
+++ Telephone numbers +++
Several recent situations have come up that suggest many of us overlook
keeping our contact information up-to-date with ARRL. Most often, this
involves not updating telephone numbers when new numbers are obtained
or when one retires. At other times, e-mail addresses and even street
addresses may go for years without being kept current.
Overlooking keeping data up-to-date by clubs usually happens when new
officers are elected. It is surprising that officers for some very
active clubs that are proud to say they are affiliated with ARRL have
failed to update their information annually are really years out of
date.
Members can update their addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail
addresses by going to Members Only on the ARRL web site. Club updating
is done on the Club page of the web site. If you need help, let me
know or, for clubs, contact your Section Affiliated Club Coordinator.
Speaking of telephone numbers, members who have stored my telephone
number may not have noticed it has recently changed. The number to use
in reaching me at home is 513-459-1661. This number now appears in
QST.
Incidentally, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers
of Vice Director Johnston, KI4LA and me are always on p. 15 of QST.
The counterpart information for SMs Joe Phillips, K8QOE, Dale Williams,
WA8EFK and Jim Brooks, KY4Z are always on p. 16. We may be "shakers,"
but we aren't "movers" when it comes to these two pages.
+++ What does ARRL do for me? +++
Last month I began this series of discussions on the benefits members
receive from membership in ARRL. I provided a simple listing of
services and noted which were available with no fee associated with
them. I also referred to a number of the best-known services (e.g.
DXCC, contest) as being superficial. By superficial I mean they are
great activities that provide many of us with needed relaxation and a
lot of fun (admittedly, with a little frustration at times), but they
don't do much of earthshaking consequence for Amateur Radio or the
public.
ARRL is the only ham radio organization in this country that can mount
a sustained, full-scale effort to achieve the regulatory and
legislative action Amateur Radio deserves. Through this effort,
Amateur Radio, and you and I benefit.
What other ham organization in the US could have brought a successful
lawsuit against the FCC in Federal Court? None.
However, because of ARRL, the FCC has been prevented from putting an
ill-conceived regulation into effect. A US Court has required FCC to
suspend implementing it and to go back to the drawing board. The
Commission is required to follow its own operating rules in developing
a new regulation, provided it wants to develop a new regulation.
ARRL successfully showed the Court the Commission ignored its own rules
when it paid no attention to relevant data it had received in
developing rulemaking. The resulting rule would give unlicensed
transmitters dominance over licensed transmitters. In other words,
Part 15 unlicensed devices could interfere with license radio services
(including Amateur Radio). The most notable Part 15 device at this
time is BPL.
When one considers only BPL, if you operate from 160 through 2 meters,
you have benefited from the League's fight to keep Part 15 devices,
including BPL, to operate free of interference to ham operations.
Next month I'll feature another aspect of something ARRL "Does for
Me."
+++ DTV Presentation Still Available +++
I've received e-mail that praised the Alliance (OH) ARC's switch-to-DTV
PowerPoint presentation. If your club plans a similar presentation,
feel free to contact Frank Sanor, WA8WHP, wa8whp@arrl.net to obtain a
free copy.
+++ Time for Antenna Work is nearly Over +++
It is my unfortunate duty to remind everyone the time to install and
repair antennas has nearly passed for our part of the world. The next
opportunity to ensure the value of this work will not come again until
early winter.
The Law of Mass Inclemency clearly states that the worse the weather
when antenna work is done, the better the antenna will perform.
Conversely, the less uncomfortable the weather when this work is
performed, the less well the antenna will perform.
+++ Fred Jones, WA4SWF +++
On May 2, Fred retires as Lawrence County, Kentucky EC after 35 years.
I don't typically become involved in recognizing work done in
individual ARRL Sections. The Section Managers take care of this quite
adequately. I'm making an exception in this instance because the
person involved is an exceptional individual and has performed
exceptional service for ARRL and Amateur Radio that goes beyond the
Kentucky state line.
Fred thanks for your tremendous work and the outstanding effort you
have devoted since before you became EC until now. Knowing you and
your devotion to our great service, you will remain in an active role
in Amateur Radio for many years to come.
Congratulations and thanks.
+++ Travel Schedule +++
The following is the travel schedule for Division staff for the coming
weeks. In addition to Vice Director Gary Johnson, KI4LA, Division
Legislative Action Chair John Meyers, NB4K and 8th Area QSL Bureau
Manager Jay Slough, K4ZLE will visit the events shown below.
Date......Event.......................Division Representative(s)
SCHEDULE
2 May: Louisa, KY Hamfest -- Jim
8 May: Miami County ARC, Troy, OH -- Jim
11 May: Northern KY ARC -- Gary
15-17 May: Hamvention(r)/ARRL National Conv. -- Gary, John, Jim
6 Jun: Grand Rapids, MI; Independent Rapt Assoc. 'fest -- John, Jim
6 Jun: Olive Hill, KY; Little Sandy RC -- Gary
7 Jun: Chelsea, MI; Chelsea ARC 'fest -- John, Jim
20 Jun: Midland, MI; Midland ARC 'fest -- Jay, Jim
21 Jun: Monroe, MI; Monroe Co. RCA 'fest-- Jay, Jim
9 Jul: Mahoning Valley ARA Meeting -- Jim
16 Jul: A&F Committee meeting, Newington -- Jim
17-18 Jul: ARRL Board meeting, Newington -- Gary, Jim
26 Jul: Randolph, OH -- Portage ARC 'fest -- John, Jim
NOTE: Please apply to have your hamfest/swap sanctioned well in
advance of the date it will be held. The sooner it is sanctioned as an
ARRL event, the sooner it will begin to receive publicity in the
listing of hamfests on the ARRL web site. It is not too early to
submit your 2010 'fest for sanctioning. Doing this will assist Vice
Director Johnston and me develop a travel schedule that includes
early-2010.
73,
Jim
