The following is the ARRL Pacific Section Manager report for part of May and June 2012 by Bob Schneider (AH6J), republished with permission.
First we must acknowledge the passing of Kenichi “Ken” Yamamoto (KH6ATT) at the age of 96. He was a longtime past member of BIARC in Hilo. He had been employed by the former Hilo Electric Light Company which later became Hawaii Electric Light Company. He spent his last days in Hale Anuenue Restorative Care Center so as a result was not too active in Amateur Radio during the last days. He will be missed.
As promised here are some observations of the 2012 Dayton Hamvention which was held May 18, 19 and 20.
Your SM spent some time manning the ARRL ARES booth. Michael Corey (KI1U) was the lead. ARRL had at least 18 booths and a stage set up in the Silver Arena. The Silver Arena is one of four main rooms. Inside displays were set up in these four large halls. Beside the Silver Arena there was the Main amphitheater, the LUSO (East Hall) and the North Hall. Talks were given in one of five Forum rooms. There was also an area inside and out for food concessions.
Attendance was estimated at 25,000. Your SM did not receive any allowances for travel but did get free parking and a couple shirts.
Probably the most important booth was about Emergency Communications (ARES) followed closely by the ARRL store (which was the largest). Other aspects included DXCC, youth, VEC, media, insurance, Visa card, education, scouting, digital, Pacificon 2012 and others. There were almost continuous presentations in the ARRL stage area and several foreign booths such as RSGB, JARL and DARC (German). There were two enormous outside parking areas used for private vendors. It was impossible to see it all. There were many motorized wheelchairs and carts. This was actually somewhat of a problem since everywhere was congested.
We (Esther and I) stayed a few extra days in Dayton and spent quite a bit of time at Wright Patterson AFB. There is a huge display of military hardware (aircraft) and Air Force history. If you go, expect to spend several days.
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott along with many of the other ARRL officials. We were unable to get included in the block of rooms reserved by HQ however we called the hotel directly and they gave us AAA rates which were actually a few dollars cheaper than what ARRL got. The information packet from ARRL arrived two days after we left so the information we got on site was impromptu and sketchy. It all goes back to our postal delay problems. The bottom line is plan early, expect a huge crowd and stay focused on one aspect since it is not possible to see everything. Lastly “bring money”.
There was two really good news items brought out during the conference. Ohio has passed a PRB-1 like law to help mitigate antenna problems due to zoning laws and CC & R regulations.
The second good news is that ARRL is now publishing QST online so members can get instant QST articles that were formerly outdated by the time we got them. This is probably the biggest single incentive to join ARRL in many years.
Young people should consider becoming life members. The savings is enormous. If you are not a member now (after you read this article) go directly to the ARRL page and join on line. Your SM bought a lifetime membership years ago and has never regretted it.
Last month we told about the important mandate in which congress told FCC to prepare a study to assess Amateur Radio’s role in EMCOM. The deadline for comments was May 17, 2012. ARRL has consolidated the 1,500+ letters & e-mails it received and sent in an extensive and lengthy comment to FCC.
The entire ARRL presentation is accessible on the ARRL webpages by going back several weeks. There are also several other interesting past articles such as their synopsis of the Dayton Hamvention. Your SM’s picture with some of the other SM’s (and back of his head) is available on ARRL’s Facebook page. The click-point is available toward the end of the Dayton Hamvention article.
Mayor Billy Kenoi announced that effective February 14th Benedict Fuata became the new County of Hawaii Civil Defense Director. Colonel Fuata is a former member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. His picture is on the Pacific Section Webpage.
The annual Makani Pahili 2012 state-wide hurricane exercise was held Saturday, June 2. From the feedback received, Oahu seems to be the major participant this time. The other counties also participated but at a lesser level. A spokesman for Hawaii County CD said the new Director, Benedict Fuata, didn’t feel fully comfortable having a maximum effort so soon after getting the new job. He expects to have everything up and running very soon. All indications are this exercise was successful.
The next Emergency exercise is Field Day on June 23 followed by the annual SET on October 6. A side note is the siren failure on Oahu in the early morning of Thursday June 14 which was caused by a glitch on the mainland by the siren company. It just shows how quickly this sort of thing can happen.
State CD would like us to continue use of the ICS-213 message format and to be sure and always include the words “this is a test message” in any practice messages. For more details see Ron (AH6RH) Hashiro’s webpage. It gives a lot of good information on EMCOM plans and procedures in Hawaii. It also gives a good after action report on the Makani Pahili exercise.
Again, June 23-24 is the ARRL Field Day. The 2012 Field Day Packet is now available for download from ARRL. Field Day is by definition the fourth full weekend in June. This is not always the last weekend. For example next Year, 2013, there will be five full weekends in June. Be sure to enter your club’s location on the Field Day finder webpage. As of this moment four sites are listed in the state of Hawaii.
The ARRL national convention, Pacificon 2012, will be held October 12 to 14 at the Santa Clara Marriott. Your SM is planning on attending.
The Big Island “International” Hamfest is set for Saturday October 27, 2012. It will be at the Keaau Community Center instead of Waimea this year. The center is already reserved. There are two large rooms and a lanai area. Rent for the hall is $100 with a $200 deposit so donations are greatly appreciated. We expect to have VE testing in the afternoon and perhaps a couple special speakers. As in the past, entrance is free with a mandatory sign in sheet. There will be a donation jar to cover expenses and we expect to have a few door prizes and some refreshments. For more details contact Bob Schneider (AH6J) at 808-966-8146 or co-chair Doug Wilson (WH6DTD) at 808-985-7540.
Dean Manley (KH6B) representing the Hawaii QRP club (KH6AA) reminded us of these coming events:
- July 7 (Saturday): 8AM HCRC Breakfast at 50’s Highway Fountain in Laupahoehoe.
- August 11 (Saturday): Hilo ARC 81st Summer Potluck Picnic Wailoa River State Park.
Check these websites for more information on Pacific Section Clubs:
- Kauai ARC
- Honolulu ARC
- The Emergency ARC
- The Koolau ARC
- Big Island ARC
- The Maui ARC
- The Kona Amateur Radio Society
- The Kohala Hamakua Radio Club
- Marianas ARC
- Waikiki ARC
73,
Bob Schneider (AH6J)
ARRL Pacific Section Manager
ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio
ah6j@arrl.org
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