- Field Day: Gone for another Year
- ARRL Board Meets in July
- Having a Hamfest Sanctioned is a Two-Way Street
- Ohio Section Manager Election Looms
- 2009 Annual Report is Available
- Ohio State Parks On the Air
- QSO Parties are Scheduled
- ECAC Committee Staffed
- SWODXA Operates W1AW/8 in IARU 'test
- Felon Hams: Sticky Issues
- Tentative Travel, Hamfest and Activity Schedule

+++ Field Day: Gone for another Year +++

I've received many reports of very successful Field Day operations from
throughout the Division. I was also privileged to be able to visit
several others on FD Saturday. Regardless of the size of operation,
these fun activities serve as valuable tools toward tuning our
responses to real emergency situations when these occur. Several clubs
signed up new members thanks to FD. At least on club held VE licensing
exams the morning of FD and introduced the successful new hams to
on-air operation later in the day.

Many of the operations in the Division obtained great community press.
Among these, several hosted state and local dignitaries who got to see
for the first time just part of what Amateur Radio can do "when all
else fails." At least one county sheriff told a reporter who covered
his visit that he had added the local amateur group to his disaster
planning as a result of its demonstration.

Well done, gang!

+++ ARRL Board Meets in July +++

The second yearly meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors for 2010 will
be July 16 and 17 in Windsor, CT. Windsor, as is true of Newington, is
a suburb of Hartford. Committee meetings will take place on July 15. I
am privileged to serve on the Administration and Finance Committee. Of
course, I greatly appreciate the confidence you have showed in me by
making me Great Lakes Division Director.

Please send any suggestions you may have for the Board to consider.
Keep in mind that the Board primarily establishes policy although as
individual directors we also can input into non-policy activities.

+++ Having a Hamfest Sanctioned is a Two-Way Street +++

Most hamfests or swaps of which I am aware apply to be sanctioned by
ARRL. This is a very nice and appropriate action to take. It gets
special mention of the event in QST, automatically has nice door prizes
sent to the hamfest committee and lets the committee choose from among a
variety of free handouts to offer hams and would-be hams who attend.
This is good, but this is not all that is involved in the agreement
between the hamfest committee and ARRL that leads to receiving ARRL
sanctioning.

Sanctioning involves a two-way agreement -- an agreement that ARRL will
take certain actions that benefit the hamfest committee and an agreement
that the hamfest committee will take certain actions that will benefit
ARRL. From time to time, the actions to be agreed change as technology
and the situation related to hamfests change. Just as candidates for a
license exam should be certain study the current study guide and not
assume a guide from three or even one years ago is up-to-date, so too,
hamfest committee members should not assume the agreement for
sanctioning that existed in the past is still valid. As is true in the
business world, one should read an agreement before signing it.

The main points of the actions hamfest committees agree to take when
they apply to have their hamfest sanctioned can be found at
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/convhf_final.pdf The document this
link leads to is the ARRL Convention and Hamfest Planner. Although
primarily a guide of suggestions for holding successful conventions and
hamfests, this guide also discusses the actions hamfest committees agree
to take in exchange to have their even sanctioned. These discussions
most particularly are on p. 16 and again on pp. 22-24.

Applying to have a hamfest or convention sanctioned is done using the
online form at http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application. The
first step in the approval process for these applications is a review in
the Membership & Volunteer Programs (MVP) department at HQ. After MVP
review, the applications are forwarded to the division Director for
approval. Because this process is conducted via the Internet, most
applications to have hamfests sanctioned makes the rounds from receipt
at HQ to final approval in about three days.

The sanctioning process is lengthened when it involves a convention.
In these instances, the ARRL Executive Committee is added to the
approval circuit. The EC typically meets once each month. Depending
on when the application is received, as long as eight weeks may be
needed for final approval of a convention.

If there are questions about sanctioning an event, please feel free to
contact me - k8je@arrl.org.

+++ Ohio Section Manager Election Looms +++

Ohio members should be aware that they will receive a ballot for the
Ohio Section Manager (SM) in the coming week or two. This is an
opportunity for members to determine who they wish to lead ARRL Field
Activities in the Section. There are two candidates for SM for the
coming two years. These are Tom Sly, WB8LCD, of Kent and Frank Piper,
KI8GW of Pickerington. Tom is very active in the Portage County ARS.
Frank is the current Ohio SM, having been appointed to the position to
complete the term of former SM Joe Phillips, K8QOE (SK).

A short statement from each candidate will accompany the ballot. In
addition, each candidate has a web site that provides further
information they believe relevant to the election and SM position.

Ballots will be mailed using the ARRL non-profit mailing permit.
Please do not misconstrue these for junk mail. Please, also, exercise
your privilege as an ARRL member to vote for the candidate of your
choice for SM. This is a very important position that is responsible
for ARES(TM) management, state legislative action effort, supporting
affiliated clubs and additional activities at the state level.

Good luck, gentlemen.

+++ 2009 Annual Report is Available +++

The ARRL Annual Report for 2009 is available. To review it on line go
to
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/ARRL%20Annual%20Report%20for%202009.pdf.
The report shows that ARRL membership and it's legislative activity
increased during the year. Thanks to a significant extent to the
generosity of our members and deceased members, the League, is on a
sound financial footing.

+++ Ohio State Parks On the Air +++

At least, many the Ohio State parks will be on the air this coming
September 11. This is the date chosen by the Portage County (OH) ARS
(PCARS) for its third annual Ohio State Parks On the Air Contest. The
day is Saturday and the time is from 12 noon to 8 PM -- 1600Z to 2400Z.
The object is to set up portable amateur stations in as many Ohio State
Parks as possible and for stations not at parks to work as many park
stations as they can.

Ohio and non-Ohio amateurs can compete for a variety of awards using
the usual amateur bands of 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 and 2 meters. For
further information, go to http://parks.portcars.org.

If you plan to operate portable from a park it will be a good idea to
discuss your plans with the park administrator ahead of time.

+++ QSO Parties are Scheduled +++

Well, I did it again. I goofed. This time in my haste I reported an
incorrect time range for the Ohio QSO Party. It is actually from 1600Z
August 28 to 0400Z August 29. The Kentucky QSO Party, as reported
previously, is from 1400Z November 13 to 0200Z November 14. My old
friend Hank, N8XX, took great glee in correcting me. Tnx Henry.

+++ ECAC Committee Staffed +++

ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN has announced the members of the new
Emergency Communications Advisory Committee (ECAC). This Committee was
established by the Board of Directors in January. Michigan SM Dale
Williams, WA8EFK was nominated to the Committee by your Director and
was named its Chairman by President Craigie. There is one Committee
member from each of the 15 ARRL Divisions as well as an additional
member who represents the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC). RAC is the
Canadian national Amateur Radio organization.

+++ SWODXA Operates W1AW/8 in IARU 'test +++

The Southwest Ohio DX Association (SWODXA) will operate as W1AW/8
during the coming International Amateur Radio Association (IARU) HF
Contest. The club will put 11 stations on the air on bands from 160
meters through 10 meters from members' stations in several SW Ohio
counties. The contest is July 10-11.

+++ Felon Hams: Sticky Issues +++

Members contact me every now and then about hams who are convicted
felons. They are concerned that the ARRL allows these amateurs to hold
elected office in a local club, or to belong to ARRL. The initial
comment usually leads to a statement that the League should not allow
people with serious criminal records to participate in activities
associated with it.

Although the concerns expressed are understandable, we need to remember
that the US Constitution and our laws mostly treat persons who have
completed punishment for crimes as having paid their debt to society.
With exception, these people are not expected to be at continual
jeopardy of further penalty for the same crime.

In Amateur Radio life, the result is that the FCC permits many felons
to retain their amateur licenses. The Commission determines on a
case-by-case basis who among these will lose their licenses. At least
until the Commission takes a license from someone, there is little or
nothing ARRL can do to refuse membership or to bar them from holding a
position or membership in a group.

If action is to be taken to keep any amateur out of a position of
authority in a local club, it needs to be taken by local amateurs. It
is they who select members to be officers and to fill appointed
positions in their clubs. If a member has already been elected or
appointed to a club position, the club constitution and by-laws nearly
always provide the means for removing them from the position. This
provision may simply be a reference to the use of parliamentary
procedures including Robert's Rules of Order.

Similarly, if local amateurs believe a licensee should be stripped of a
ham license, send the FCC all information considered relevant to having
the license revoked.

To sum up, ARRL is not an omnipotent organization that is allowed to
override Constitutional rights. This leaves us as individuals in the
position in which we need to remain vigilant to protect others and
ourselves, but not to act as vigilantes in accomplishing this. Use the
law and generally accepted social processes in the manner they are
intended to be used whenever it becomes necessary to protect the rights
of ourselves and others.

+++ Tentative Travel, Hamfest and Activity Schedule +++

Hamfests in the following list have received ARRL sanctioning as of
press time. Hamfests and other events for which a Great Lakes Division
representative is scheduled to attend are identified with the
representative’s name. The schedule can be expected to be fine-tuned
from time to time.

Patronize ARRL-sanctioned hamfests. Hamfests, conventions, symposia
and similar events sponsored by ARRL-affiliated clubs may be eligible
to be sanctioned by the League. For information on sponsoring and
sanctioning a hamfest or convention, go to
www.arrl.org/hamfest-sponsor-support.. To have your hamfest
sanctioned, go to http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application to
apply on line. Please have your event sanctioned soon. Two hamfests
have already been sanctioned for 2011.

Support our Division hamfests and swaps:

6 Jul: Directors webinar - Jim
8 Jul: Mahoning Valley ARA, presentation – Jim
15 Jul: Administration & Finance Committee Mtg., Newington, CT - Jim
16-17 Jul: Second Board of Directors Mtg., Windsor, CT – Jim, Gary
17 Jul: NOARSFEST, Elyria, OH
18 Jul: Van Wert ARC Hamfest, Van Wert, OH
25 Jul: Portage Ham Fair, Randolph, OH
28 Jul: Directors webinar - Jim
6 Aug: Summit Co. (OH) ARES, `Akron, OH - Jim
7 Aug: UP Hamfest, Escanaba, MI
7 Aug: Voice of Aladdin ARC, Columbus, OH - Jim
8 Aug: Seaway Trunk Swap, Port Huron, MI
15 Aug: Warren ARA Hamfest, Cortland, OH
15 Aug: Central KY Hamfest, Lawrenceburg, KY - Jim, John
15 Aug: Lapeer Swap & Shop, Lapeer, MI
21 Aug: SARA Inside/Outside Trunk Sale, Owosso, MI
22 Aug: Cambridge Hamfest, Cambridge, OH
25 Aug: Directors webinar - Jim
26 Aug: Summit Co. ARES Mtg., Akron, OH - Jim
11 Sep: Greater Louisville ‘fest, Shepherdsville, KY
11 Sep: GRAHam fest, Wyoming, MI
12 Sep: Findlay Hamfest, Findlay, OH - Jim, John
18 Sep: Central KY ARES Hamfest, Richmond, KY - Jim, John
19 Sep: Greater Cincinnati ARA Hamfest, Cincinnati, OH - Jim
19 Sep: Adrian ARC Hamfest, Adrian, MI
22 Sep: Directors webinar - Jim
26 Sep: Cleveland Hamfest, Cleveland, OH - Jim, John
16 Oct: Ohio Section Conf., Columbus, OH - Jim
16 Oct: Great Lakeshore Super Swap, Holland, MI
17 Oct: Kalamazoo Hamfest, Kalamazoo, MI
27 Oct: Directors webinar - Jim
30 Oct: Hazard Hamfest, Hazard, KY
31 Oct: Massillon Hamfest, Massillon, OH
6 Nov: Grant ARC Georgetown, (OH) Hamfest

73,