Let's Talk..

The SET in Ohio, grid-down power outage,  involved a lot of simplex work. In order to capitalize on that activity, Ohio ARES has launched the first annual “ARES VHF Simplex Contest”.  It’s simple, direct, and follows a civilized time frame.

Even something as simple as a temporary loss of power could necessitate using 2-meter/70-centimeter simplex as the main mode of local communication. We hope to both stimulate interest in the simplex modes along with data, and to create a fun atmosphere in which antenna performance and coverage can be determined – very helpful for a real communications emergency!

The contest is open to all, and we hope to stir up a lot of simplex activity on January 9, 2016.

Now for the Rules..

Announcing!

The Ohio ARES  VHF Contest

January 9, 2016

Purpose

ARES is tasked with being able to provide communications “When all else fails.”  Local communication is critical and typically takes place on the VHF or UHF amateur band. In order to improve our ability to perform on these bands, Ohio Section ARES is sponsoring the ARES VHF Contest (Yeah, we know, but calling it the Ohio VHF / UHF Contest got a little long-winded).  Participants in the contest are encouraged to make as many contacts as possible within the time frame of the contest, with as many different geographical locations as the bands permit. The contest is open to all amateur operators, ARES members are strongly encouraged to participate. How else are you going to win the ‘bragging rights’ session of your next ARES meeting?

When did you say it was?

The contest is January 9, 2016.  The start time is (for those of us who sleep in) 10 AM through 6 PM Eastern. Yeah, a civilized time frame that doesn’t rob sleep, and allows time with the family. Why, you can even watch a few cartoons in the morning!

Where you gonna be?

You may operate this contest from anywhere. There are certain benefits for venturing out from your warm, comfortable home station. EOC stations can gain extra points. Portable stations can gain even MORE extra points – that is, if your frozen fingers will still be able to operate a keyboard. Portable stations MUST use portable antennas, nothing permanently attached…kind of like Field Day on ice.  We are not going with any mobile operation this time. The image of a bunch of vehicles running around with portable towers, 150 pounds of antenna hardware and an occasional grounding anchor is best left to the ARRL contesters.

Da Bands – a la’ Mode

Because local emergency communication takes place primarily on the two meter and 70 centimeter bands, the contest is limited to those two bands. Within each band, we will have these modes:  FM Simplex, “Everything else” Simplex; DIGITAL simplex contacts will make up a third mode on each band.  Contacts with a station count once per mode- if you can talk the other guy into abandoning “his frequency” and meeting you on SSB or CW, more power to ya!  NO REPEATER CONTACTS WILL COUNT.  If you get bored, you certainly are welcome to chat amongst yourselves on repeaters, or simplex, or cell phones, or smoke signals.

Da Contacts

The goal is to contact as many different stations in as many different counties as possible. You can make as many overall contacts as you like, they will then be multiplied by the number of counties you’ve reached.  Extra points will be available for contacting an EC, AEC, DEC or ADEC or SEC.  Pretty simple- any more complex and we’ll confuse the scorekeepers.

Da Score

Each FM Simplex contact counts as 1 point.

Each non- FM simplex contact counts as 1 point.

Each digital simplex contact counts as 1 point.  (Detect a pattern

here?)

Contact with EC, AEC, DEC, ADEC, or SEC adds 5 points.

Contact with an EOC or with a portable station adds 5 points.

Operation from an EOC add 50 points to your total contact score. 

Operation from a portable location add 100 points to your total contact score.

Total contact score (all bands/modes added together) will be multiplied by the total number of counties you contacted. 

Da Logs

Please use any of the appropriate computer logging programs, paper dupe sheets, a well worn slide rule or rusty abacus.  Just keep all that to yourself, we can’t find anyone with the time to go through all the detail contacts. Submit an email to  contest@delares.org  with the following:

Your name:

Group name:

Location:  (City, county)

FM Simplex Contacts:

“Everything else” Simplex Contacts:

Digital Simplex Contacts:

EOC bonus:

Portable bonus:

Total Contact Score (Add above together, but you figured that out already):

Multiply by total number of counties contacted (include your own!):

Bask in the glory of a well thought out, well executed effort!

**********

 

From the Incoming QSL Manager for the 8th Call District..

All QSL's have been forwarded to the letter managers last week (November 23), except the letter H. W8HC i is still out of the country on the VK9WA trip.

If possible send your SASE's directly to the letter manager. This will prevent delays. Check with your letter manager to see if they are on a credit system or want you to send SASE's.  Anything smaller than a 5x7 is pretty worthless for sending more than a couple of cards.

**********

And with this all said.. I want to remind all of you there are just 25 more days until you find yourselves overwhelmed, stuffed to the gills with food and sleeping on the couch while watching that silly game..

Have a Merry Christmas one and all..

**********

-eof-

Let's Talk - October

Hi Gang,

 

Wow, fall has definitely arrived!!!  The Leaves are falling fast and furious and it won’t be long now that we will be in winter. Yes, I said that ugly word, but let’s face it, some portions of our state have even seen some “snow”..

I wanted to pop into your email boxes just for a quick update.. As some of you know the scores are out for “Field Day.” Yup, and Ohio did really great this year.

In the overall scoring throughout the country with all classes figured in, Ohio’s own DELARA scored in the top 10 stations with a whopping 15,766 points. They were 2^nd in the county for (4A) stations losing out only to the Huntsville Alabama group K4BFT who had 17,038 points.  All in all, Ohio did really GREAT and everyone should be proud, not because of your rankings (yes, that’s always something to show-off about) but moreover, the weather was absolutely terrible, the bands were terrible and yet, even though all these things were factors, the public got a chance to learn something about us. We also got a learning lesson from it. Yes, it was raining, but guess what, when that time comes and we get the call to help in a disaster, the sun most likely won’t be shining. It won’t be the greatest of temperatures, and the band conditions won’t be the greatest either, yet throughout all of these adversities, we’ve shown the public (and ourselves) that we can do it. We can get the messages through “when all else fails..”     

Within Ohio here’s how the rankings went..

1 K8ES      15,766     4A     DELARA

2 N8BC      11,044    6A     Lake County ARS (LCARS)

3 W8DXA   9,162     2A     Northern OH DX Assn (NODX)

4 K8BF        8,990    4A      Portage County ARS (PCARS)

5 K8PI          7,826    3A     Dial RC

Now quickly onto another couple of subjects..

** Are you getting those emails from the Great Lakes Director or Section Manager? Now, for those of you who may not want to go to all the bother of checking your account with the League, or you are just not League members, you still have a chance to get these important emails. All you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them. There’s a link to do this on the Ohio Section website, it’s on the bottom left corner.. For your convenience, here’s a direct link to it: 

http://arrl-ohio.org/forwarder/forwarding.html   I urge all of you to make sure that everyone, regardless of whether they are a League member or not, get signed up for one of these options. You can always “Opt-Out” at any time if you feel this is not what you were expecting. But, who in their right mind would want to miss out on anything coming out of the Great Lakes Director or the Ohio Section Manager?

** The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 bill in the US House (H.R. 1301) now has 108 cosponsors with Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania just signing on! ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, credited ARRL members “who understand the importance of the legislation” with making it possible to reach that milestone. Remember - a big bag of letters from the constituents is always more impressive than ones trickling in day after day.

The Ohio Section Website.. You can find the Ohio Section Website at: http://arrlohio.org  If you don’t have this website set as your home page, I urge you to do so. This website is one of the exceptions to the rules.. It changes all the time. It’s never stagnating, and I would highly recommend that you check into the website at least 3 times per week or more if you can. Yes, it does change that much! Now, how do I know so much about the website?? I’m the webmaster for it!

** HEY, did you see that there’s another NEW – one question – questionnaire on the Ohio Section Website. I’ve been changing the questions about once every couple of weeks or so. It only asks one question and it will take all of about 2 seconds for you to answer it, and you can see how your answer stacks up with others instantly. If you haven’t done it yet, please do.. I really want to hear from you.

** Are you a member of the ARRL?? If you aren’t a League member, this is a great opportunity to become one. Want more information on how to join? Here’s the link: http://www.arrl.org/membership-levels. There’s even a 90 day FREE trial that you can apply for if you’ve never been a member.. Got questions about being a member or what the League is all about? Send me an email.. n8sy@arrl.org   I’ll be happy to call or write to you or even call you if you’ve given me your phone number.

** Hey, and don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour this Sunday, November 1st.. This is when we get to gain that hour back that we lost early last spring.. and it’s a really neat birthday present for me.. I get to sleep in an extra hour!!

73, for now..

Scott..

***********************************************************************

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Dave Sumner, K1ZZ coming to Findlay and PCARS

Hey Gang,

Just wanted to drop-in on your email to let you all know that Dave Sumner, K1ZZ will be at the Findlay Hamfest September 13th. Come see Dave on his last tour around the county before retiring next year.

Can't make the Findlay Hamfest? Then try this. PCARS is also hosting Dave the very next day (Monday) September 14th at their regular monthly meeting. Interested? The meeting will be at Underwood Hall at the American Legion Post 1945 Mogadore Road in Kent. The meeting will start at 7pm sharp. If you're interested in joining in on a dinner, come early, as that there will be no food or beverages allowed in Underwood Hall. For more details contact Tom Sly, WB8LCD@portcars.org

****

Don't forget, Thursday (September 3rd) is the day that Vanity Call-sign fees go away.

****

Are you getting those emails from the Great Lakes Director or Section Manager? Now, for those of you who may not want to go to all the bother of checking your account with the League, or you are just not League members, you still have a chance to get these important emails. All you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them. There’s a link to do this on the Ohio Section website, it’s on the bottom left corner.. For your convenience, here’s a direct link to it:  http://arrl-ohio.org/forwarder/forwarding.html

I urge all of you to make sure that everyone, regardless of whether they are a League member or not, get signed up for one of these options. You can always “Opt-Out” at any time if you feel this is not what you were expecting. But, who in their right mind would want to miss out on anything coming out of the Great Lakes Director or the Ohio Section Manager?

****

Do you follow us on Facebook or Twitter? Many folks have started picking us up on Facebook and Twitter now. Yes, we definitely have a presence on both of these social media areas! Why, well that’s an easy one to answer, it’s because that’s where the younger folks are hanging out these days.. It’s also a very quick way to post a short blast to everyone following us when something is happening. So, with that in mind, there’s a lot going on up on Facebook and Twitter for the Ohio Section. Right now, we have over 1,400 followers from all over the world, with that number growing every day. So, do you follow us? On Facebook just type in: https://www.facebook.com/ohio.section   On Twitter type in: @arrlohio

There’s a new link on the left side of the main page of the Ohio Section Website “Follow The Section Manager” Come on, follow me as I go around the state visiting with all of you folks. I post pictures of where I am and have a lot of great folks commenting and liking my posts. Hey, I even have Kay Cragie, the President of the ARRL following along with me. It’s a lot of fun and you’ll get to see all the places I go and the folks I meet along the way.

Not on Facebook? It’s easy to join in and the best part of it is, it’s FREE!!

****

Finally..  there’s another NEW – one question – questionnaire on the Ohio Section Website. I’ve been changing the questions about once every couple of weeks or so. It only asks one question and it will take all of about 2 seconds for you to answer it, and you can see how your answer stacks up with others instantly. If you haven’t done it yet, please do.. I really want to hear from you.

****

That's it for this time around..  Have a safe Labor Day weekend and "keep the faith"..

73,

Scott, N8SY..

****

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New Technical Coordinator (TC) has been appointed..

Hey Gang..

I have a big announcement to make.. The Ohio Section has a new Technical Coordinator!!!!  

As you all know Jim, W8ERW stepped down several weeks ago so that he could go off and get married and become a Texan.. We wish Jim a hearty ya-hooo on his upcoming marriage and going off into the sunset with his new bride!

Anyway, I’ve been talking with a very bright and upcoming young fellow from the Cleveland area about taking over.. and sure enough, he’s agreed..  Yes, I did have several other candidates for the job, but they really couldn’t hold a candle to this fellow..

Let me introduce you to Jeffrey (Jeff) Kopcak, K8JTK..

So, without further Aude, let me share with you his BIO..  

My name is Jeffrey Kopcak and my call is K8JTK.  I was born, raised, and live in Westlake, Ohio, a western suburb of Cleveland.  I got interested in amateur radio at a young age through my father, Tom N8ETP, after tagging along to public service events, meetings, and listening on his HT.  I became licensed right before my sophomore year of high school in 1999 and currently hold an Amateur Extra license.  My interests are using computers in Ham Radio and digital modes.

I am a member of: The Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association (LEARA); Life Member of the Wood County Amateur Radio Club (WCARC) and American Radio Relay League (ARRL); and member of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA).  In addition to these clubs, I’m a Volunteer Examiner (VE), Skywarn spotter, and net control for the Ham Nation D-STAR After Show Net.

Computers have been an interest of mine from a very young age and I work as an Analyst/Programmer.  I brought my knowledge of computers into television production at WHBS in high school and WBGU in college.  During my television career I got to work for Fox Sports Ohio and work on four programs that received Emmy nominations.  One of those won an Emmy award.

I graduated from Cleveland State University with an undergraduate business degree in Information Systems & Technology and a Masters of Business Administration.

My free time is spent learning technologies and watching technology related podcasts.  On the air I operate mostly digital modes and special event stations on HF.  I hope to work you on the air!

Contact:

Web: K8JTK.org

Email: K8JTK@arrl.net

Let’s all congratulate Jeff in his new endeavor..    Even though Jeff didn’t mention it in his Bio, he is/was a Technical Specialist in Ohio already. So, as you can see, he has all the qualifications needed and I’m sure he’ll be great as our new Technical Coordinator..

   

Let’s Talk..

FCC Universal Licensing System, Other Applications to be Down for Maintenance

ARRL Bulletin 25

From ARRL Headquarters

FCC website maintenance in early September will make the Universal Licensing System (ULS), the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), the Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) and other public applications unavailable for more than 5 days. The Commission said the outage will begin at 2200 UTC on Wednesday, September 2, and continue through the Labor Day weekend. The maintenance work should be completed by 1200 UTC on Tuesday, September 8. During the ULS outage, it will not be possible to file any Amateur Radio applications.

"[M]ost Commission resources normally accessible through the Commission's website, including access to all electronic filing systems and electronic dockets, will be inaccessible for the same period, with the exception of the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS), the Consumer Help Center (CHC), and the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which will remain available," an FCC Public Notice said on August 20. "The Commission's website will remain available, but with reduced content and limited search capabilities." According to the Public Notice, the FCC will follow its normal schedule of operation during the maintenance period, but voicemail will be offline, and most Commission staffers will not have access to e-mail. Static content webpages on the fcc.gov domain, such as the FCC consumer guides, should remain available during the outage.

The FCC will extend filing deadlines for all regulatory and enforcement filings that fall during the maintenance period. Filings due on September 2, 3, 4, or 8 now will be due on Wednesday, September 9. "Except for the due dates specified herein, we are not automatically extending the deadlines for any other comment or filing periods that will be running during this time period, but requests for extension of time will be considered consistent with the Commission's normal practice," the FCC Public Notice said. "To the extent the due dates for filings to which reply or responsive pleadings are allowed are affected by this Public Notice, the due dates for reply or responsive pleadings shall be extended by the same number of days."

In a blog, "Modernizing the FCC's IT," FCC CIO David Bray said that with the world and the technology we use are changing rapidly, "the information technology used by the Federal Communications Commission must change as well." Bray said the FCC has "made significant progress to upgrade and modernize our infrastructure, and we continue to work on modernizing the FCC's legacy IT systems with the resources we have available."

"We understand that this temporary downtime before and during the Labor Day Weekend may be inconvenient for some FCC stakeholders,"

Bray added.

****

From Kay, N3KN..

Facebook post (08/24/15)..

Kay Cothran Craigie to the ‎ARRL Ohio Section..

Ohio ham friends -- thanks for the contacts in last weekend's Ohio QSO Party. Now I want to request your help. At the present time, the Amateur Radio Party Act of 2015, H.R. 1301, has 3 co-sponsors from Ohio. They are Representatives Wenstrup (2nd district), Johnson (6th district), and Joyce (14th district). If you live in one of those districts, please take a minute to phone the Representative's local office and say "thanks" for supporting amateur radio. If you live in another Ohio district, your help is needed right now to get your member of Congress to become a co-sponsor.

Without messages from constituents, they just won't do it. Please, today, phone a local office, e-mail the office, and/or write a letter sent c/o ARRL HQ. Full how-to information is on the ARRL web site at http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act. To find your Representative's web site for e-mail and local phone numbers, Google your district, such as Ohio 1st congressional district. To find your Senators' web sites, Google on Senator Rob Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown.

In little more than the time it's taken to read this post, you can make your voice heard not just for ourselves but for the youth whose photos are shown in posts on this page. They will be the active hams of tomorrow if we do our job today.

Thanks and 73, Kay N3KN, President, ARRL

****

Open Internet Rules now in force..

FCC..

An Open Internet means consumers can go where they want, when they want. This principle is often referred to as Net Neutrality. It means innovators can develop products and services without asking for permission. It means consumers will demand more and better broadband as they enjoy new lawful Internet services, applications and content, and broadband providers cannot block, throttle, or create special "fast lanes" for that content. The FCC's Open Internet rules protect and maintain open, uninhibited access to legal online content without broadband Internet access providers being allowed to block, impair, or establish fast/slow lanes to lawful content.

The Rules:

Adopted on February 26, 2015, the FCC's Open Internet rules are designed to protect free expression and innovation on the Internet and promote investment in the nation's broadband networks. The Open Internet rules are grounded in the strongest possible legal foundation by relying on multiple sources of authority, including: Title II of the Communications Act and Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. As part of this decision, the Commission also refrains (or "forbears") from enforcing provisions of Title II that are not relevant to modern broadband service. Together Title II and Section 706 support clear rules of the road, providing the certainty needed for innovators and investors, and the competitive choices and freedom demanded by consumers.

The Open Internet rules went into effect on June 12, 2015. They are ensuring consumers and businesses have access to a fast, fair, and open Internet.

The new rules apply to both fixed and mobile broadband service. This approach recognizes advances in technology and the growing significance of mobile broadband Internet access in recent years. These rules will protect consumers no matter how they access the Internet, whether on a desktop computer or a mobile device.

Bright Line Rules:

No Blocking: broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.

No Throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.

No Paid Prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind—in other words, no "fast lanes." This rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates.

To ensure an open Internet now and in the future, the Open Internet rules also establish a legal standard for other broadband provider practices to ensure that they do not unreasonably interfere with or disadvantage consumers' access to the Internet. The rules build upon existing, strong transparency requirements. They ensure that broadband providers maintain the ability to manage the technical and engineering aspects of their networks.

The legal framework used to support these rules also positions the Commission for the first time to be able to address issues that may arise in the exchange of traffic between mass-market broadband providers and other networks and services.

****

eof..

Let's Talk - Additional Important Information..

Hey Gang,

Just have a couple of very important items to give to you..

First..  If you have pictures from the Columbus Hamfest / Great Lakes Division Convention, please forward them over to me so that I can get them up on the website..

Now, speaking of the website, I have already started a photo gallery of the pictures that I took and a few that were sent to me already.. 

Go take a look..  http://arrl-greatlakes.org/convention_files/2015_pix/ 

***

Now on another subject..

K2BSA/8 operating from NOAC.

Boy Scouts of America’s National Order of the Arrow Conference Special Event Amateur Radio Station, K2BSA/8, is coming to Michigan State University August 3rd to 7th in East Lansing Michigan.

The National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) is the premier event for the Order of the Arrow (OA), (Scouting’s Honor Society) and is the second largest national gathering of Scouts. 15,000 Arrowmen will gather from across the nation at Michigan State University in East Lansing Michigan Aug 3rd to the 8th to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Order of the Arrow.

To celebrate this unique event the Michigan State University Amateur Radio Club, (MSUARC) W8MSU will be sponsoring a special event Amateur Radio station, K2BSA/8. The station will be located close to the exhibitor’s tents and will be operating on 20 and 40 M, the local repeater (442.900 + 77) and IRLP node (7930) in addition to Echolink (289654). The station will be manned by ham radio operators from across the nation Monday through Friday 9-12 and 1- 5 EDT. This event is supported by ICOM radio.

If you are one of the lucky ones attending NOAC, stop by and guest operate or if you can’t make it in person, please listen and contact us on the airwaves. We are attempting to have contacts from all 50 states in addition to as many Scouts, Scouters and Brother Arrowmen, past and present, as we can. There will be a special K2BSA/8 NOAC QSL card email available. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime QSL.

Our goal is to get as many Scouts on the air as possible locally and at a distance and share the exciting world of Radio Scouting with them. We’ll share how they can integrate Amateur Radio into their outings, high adventure treks and Merit Badge advancement for fun, education and safety.

For additional information contact Fred Donkin, KA7MMM, fredrick.j.donkin@L-3com.com <mailto:fredrick.j.donkin@L-3com.com> or Don Kunst W3LNE, W3LNE@ARRL.NET <mailto:W3LNE@ARRL.NET>.

That’s it for now.. 

73, Scott, N8SY..

***

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2015 Ohio Section Awards..

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to pop into your emails quickly to let you all know how the Columbus Hamfest / Great Lakes Convention went yesterday..

First off let me thank each and everyone one of you that attended for help make this a fantastic success!

Let me also thank Debra Johnson, K1DMJ from the ARRL, for coming to the Convention.

I want to also thank Dale Williams, WA8EFK and Tom Delaney, W8WTD our Great Lakes Director/Vice Director, for all of their support and leadership in making this event happen.

Last, but certainly not least, let me thank all of those folks that help put on the Hamfest / Convention.
It was great and ALL of you did a fantastic job pulling it altogether. A special "thanks" goes to those folks that were asked, and came through to do the Wouff Hong. By the way, I was told at the end of the ceremony that our Wouff Hong presentation would be the very last event done on that stage. It will soon be torn down to become part of the Easton Mall complex.

And, one final note about the Wouff Hong, there were 40 people indoctrinated into the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong yesterday. That's absolutely fantastic as well.. Congratulations to all who attended and went through the ritual.

Preliminary reports from the hamfest people state that there was over 500 folks in attendance.. The final numbers will be announce at a later time.

Now for the Newsletter awards..

Take it away John Ross, KD8IDJ, the Ohio Section Public Information Coordinator and Manager of
the Ohio Section Newsletter Contest..

"WOW! What a time the judges had with this. I just came from one of the liveliest discussions/debates that journalists have had since Watergate!!!

All of the talk was about the Ohio Section 2015 Newsletters. It was incredible, insightful, and unpredictable.

At the end of the night, almost simultaneously, the judges used the word...EVOLVE! They were surprised that, in just a year, our newsletters were changing, evolving and adapting to both their audiences and to technology. They all thought that after last year the judging would be easier...but our folks made it harder...in a good way by raising the bar and showing why Amateur Radio is what it is...the greatest hobby in the world!

The newsletters reflect what hams do every day...evolve with the technology, experiment with new ideas and concepts, and push the limits of communications to new heights. It's a great explanation point for our member's efforts and a reflection of their passion and dedication.

So, here are the 2015 ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter Contest winners:

1st Place...DELARA NEWS. Great graphics, easy to navigate, draws you in and easy to read.

2nd Place...The TM&K. Informative, unique, "smooth" graphics and easy to find special sections. One of the judges commented that if he were looking to learn more about amateur radio, the TM&K would be a great start.

3rd Place...a three way tie!!! The MVARA Voice Coil, the Mount Vernon Radio Club and the PCARS Radiogram. All slick publications, well organized, great layouts and easy to read articles and information.

Honorable Mention...The CARA Communicator. Well thought out, well laid out and good use of BOLD headlines to separate stories and articles.

After looking at all these newsletters, it's easy to see why the Ohio Section has the best and most talented crop of editors, writers and newsletters. There was no doubt in the judge's minds that Ohio newsletters win hands down against any other section! I knew what to expect. I read every newsletter and it was hard to hide my enthusiasm and joy watching the judges actually get excited about this contest!!!

That's it for me. It's been a blast and an honor to be a part of this process.

John, KD8IDJ.."

Thanks John.. Now as I was the Manager of the Great Lakes Division Newsletter contest, my judges even had a harder time at picking a winner.. You see, they were judging the "Best of the Best" that the Division had.. and that's a really tough job for sure..!!

I won't leave you in suspense.. The winner of the 7th Great Lakes Division Newsletter Contest was none other than.........    DELARA News from the Delaware ARA Club in Ohio.. Stan Broadway, N8BHL is the editor.

Now.. There was one more very prestigious award given out by me.. That was of the Allan Severson Memorial Award. This was awarded to Bob Dixon, W8ERD.

On the Division Level, there was one award given, and that was for DX Achievement Award. It was presented to Jay Slough, K4ZLE.

My good friend and counterpart in Michigan, Larry Camp, WB8R also had several awards to distribute as well.

As I said earlier, this was a fantastic day for all who attended, even the outside sales were great. The weather for the day was sunny and bright and warm.. You couldn't have asked for a better day for a hamfest and convention.

If you missed it, you really missed out on a great day for sure..

73, for now..

Scott, N8SY..

eof..