Joel,
Interesting Foxboro report. One point I found interesting is the fellow who
complained about coverage of MARS in QST, etc. Of course, I realize MARS
isn't a ham radio service which is all one needs to know about his
complaint, but neither is RACES. But, I digress . . .
The interesting part is that yesterday I received an E-mail from a GLD
member asking why ARRL doesn't seem to want to associate more closely with
MARS. This was in response to a report he'd read by Mary Hobart about
developing close ties with different organizations. I suggested he write to
Mary or to NN1N with his thoughts.
Incidentally, I for one appreciate the effort you take to keep the Board, et
al, informed of your activities.
Jim
Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director
Great Lakes Division, ARRL
5065 Bethany Rd.
Mason, OH 45040
Tel. 513-459-0142; E-mail k8je(a)arrl.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 10:00 AM
To: arrl-odv
Subject: FW: Trip Report - New England Division Convention
_____
From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org]
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 9:21 PM
To: 'arrl-odv'
Subject: Trip Report - New England Division Convention
Greetings,
This weekend I attended the New England Division Convention in Boxborough,
Massachusetts with Director Frenaye and Vice Director Raisbeck. Also
attending on their own were Director Fallon and Treasurer McCobb
The convention was held at the Holiday Inn - Boxboro which is a very nice
convention hotel located on I-495 just west of Boston. This location is
approximately 90 miles east of Hartford, so there was a number of HQ staff
in attendance in either an official or unofficial capacity that included:
Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and Linda, KA1ZD
Harold Kramer, WJ1B
Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Katie Breen, W1KRB
Dan Henderson, N1ND
Bill Moore, NC1L
Steve Ewald, WV1X
Rick Lindquist, N1RL and Jean N1MJC
Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG
Penny Harts, N1NAG
Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
Section Managers in attendance included:
EMA SM Michael Neilsen, W1MPN
WMA SM Ed Emco, W1KT
NH SM Sterling Eanes, AK1K
RI SM Bob Beaudet, W1YRC
CT SM Betsey Doane, K1EIC
NYC-LI SM George Tranos, N2GA
AL Greg Sarratt, W4OZK
Non-ARRL "notables" attending were:
Bob, K9EID, and Sarah Heil
QCWA President John Johnston, W3BE
Chip Margelli, K7JA
I drove from Hartford to Boxboro Friday morning in the pouring rain, hooking
up with Tom just before noon to attend a previously scheduled luncheon with
a potential major donor from the area. Friday afternoon I strolled through
the vendor area where Bob and Katie were setting up the ARRL booth that was
located in a great corner location; one booth space for membership/sales and
an adjacent booth space for chatting up whoever came by. Friday evening I
attended a banquet hosted by the New England DX Association. Fortunately,
the program was not "The 3Y0X Experience", which I previously mentioned I
had now seen four times, but was on the recent K7C DXpedition to Kure
Island..which I've now seen twice! The program was presented by Ann Santos,
WA1S who was a member of the DXpedition team. Also in attendance at the
banquet were Bob and Sarah Heil who I had the pleasure of being seated with.
Bob spoke to the group for about 10 minutes and was in his usual
entertaining mode. This was a very nice banquet with a nice meal and program
and proved to be an enjoyable evening.
On Saturday morning the convention began and the weather was great. The
vendor area did not open until 9:00 AM so I strolled out to the flea market
with Chip Margelli. I didn't see much of a variety of "new" equipment in the
flea market however I was impressed with the amount of vintage gear that was
available. It was probably good that I flew rather that drove. Chip and I
spent some time discussing a very nice Collins KWS-1 that was for sale and
how that would look very nice next to my 75A4. When Chip told how nice his
looked in his shack sitting beside his 75A4 I made an attempt to tell him
that hurt and he wasn't a very good comedian!
The vendor doors opened promptly at 9:00 AM to a very large awaiting crowd.
Business at the booth was brisk. The only complaint I addressed was a member
with a zero call that was upset we didn't slash the zero all the time on
things he receives from HQ. In order to ensure I remained in the booth area,
Tom surprised me with a very large bag of Peanut M&M's (my favorite candy)
that was available only at the ARRL booth.
40 forums were scheduled in five separate meeting rooms Saturday & Sunday
covering every topic imaginable. Notable forums were Bob Heil's "It all
starts at the microphone", the YCCC meeting, the Northeast Weak Signal
Society (NEWS) meeting and technical forum, Winlink 2000, D-Star, Wire &
Cable, AM, Six meter propagation, a power pole workshop, baluns & ferrites,
Skywarn and Slow Scan TV on ISS. The full slate can be viewed at
https:\\www.boxboro.org.
The highlight of the day was meeting Harold Chase, W1EES. Harold is 90 years
old, a Diamond Club Member and has been an ARRL member continuously for 74
years. He wanted to shake my hand because he lays claim to being the only
known person to have shaken the hand of every ARRL President (yes, including
Hiram!). I tried to explain to him it was more of an honor for me to shake
his hand. Harold is a QCWA Director who is retiring this year. Quite an
interesting individual.
There are two ARRL forums at this convention, one on Saturday and one on
Sunday. The Saturday forum began at 10 AM with a crowd of approximately 50
attending. Tom chaired the forum and made comments about a number of items
of importance we are currently involved in. Notable issues raised during the
forum were:
* The movement by state governments to outlaw the use of electronic
devices while mobile and what impact this could have on amateur radio, and
why manufacturers aren't producing any "hands-free" device for amateur
transceivers
* The Hello Campaign - How successful has it been? Are there any
metrics in place to track its success?
* I was asked to comment on my perception of "Main Street USA"
* How many new hams were there in New England last year?
* The Walter Cronkite Video - Get someone younger next time. Today's
young people don't know who he is. Tom and Frank Fallon explained the
purpose of that video was not to recruit new hams/young people but to use as
an intro to congress who does know who he is! The point was well taken,
though.
* Don't just focus on recruiting young people, recruit people of all
ages and don't forget people of retirement age that have time and money for
hobbies
* Tom presented a 75 year club affiliation plaque to the Falmouth
Amateur Radio Club
On Saturday evening a banquet was held that featured a buffet dinner and a
four piece band and a dance floor. I delivered the key-note address on
"Amateur Radio's Crystal Ball". Vice Director Raisbeck was the MC and did an
absolutely fabulous job of facilitating the event. I had the pleasurable
opportunity to meet his wife, Susan, as well as their two sons Andrew and
Daniel.
Sunday morning the doors to the vendor area opened at 10 AM. Before hand I
had a chance to stroll through the flea market one more time. It was much
smaller than Saturday as expected. The crowd inside was good for a Sunday
and action at the ARRL booth began with a person who signed up for a Life
Membership. The second person in the door came up to me and said he had not
been a member for 36 years and wanted to renew because Wayne Green told him
it was imperative that he do so! I wanted to tell him that wouldn't get him
a discount but instead very quickly told him Wayne was a Life Member and we
were very pleased that he was joining! He said their discussion had centered
on BPL and he was pleased with what we were doing to protect amateur radio
and wanted to lend his support. What else could I add to that other than to
say "Thanks!".
Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, stopped by for a nice chat and another member
stopped by to compliment the HQ staff. He said on occasion he has called HQ
regarding a variety of matters and he is always treated "politely,
professionally and efficiently" and even when he had to leave a voicemail he
always received a callback.
N1IN, who is very active in MARS, came by and said he sensed that we were of
the opinion that MARS is in competition with ARES and was disappointed that
MARS never seemed to get any publicity in QST.
The Sunday ARRL forum began at 12 Noon and was attended by about 30 people.
Tom again chaired the forum and began by asking how many had attended the
Saturday session. Only one person raised their hand so this session was
beneficial to those in attendance. Topics from the Sunday forum included:
* ARRL Emergency Communication Courses Level I, II and III are not
compliant with Department of Homeland Security ICS. We were not quite sure
of the ICS requirements but basically our EMCOMM courses were structured
toward amateur radio and not so much government requirements.
* There were some other questions and positive comments about our
EmComm courses
* A question about ARES/RACES - how do we combine the two so there
isn't two amateur radio points of contact for the same effort
* Comment from KB1LQC, a member of the Chelmsford High School Radio
Club (that Mike Raisbeck started), stating that from their experience it was
easy to get kids into amateur radio but they loose interest in VHF FM
quickly, but what really retains their interests is HF activity. This
supports our conclusion which was the basis for our license restructuring
proposal. It was very good to hear this from a high school student that has
had current experience in this area.
The Sunday forum concluded just past 1 PM and convention activities, except
the main prize drawing, were winding down. I headed back to Hartford for my
flight home. It had just started raining again, so I had the pleasure of
driving back in the pouring rain. I'm in Atlanta at the moment awaiting my
connecting flight to Little Rock that is over two hours. I'm schedule to
arrive in Little Rock sometime around 1 AM which should put me home around 2
AM. I don't think I'll be at 8 AM Monday!
I do not have any attendance figures (Saturday estimate was around 2200) or
results from the ARRL booth but if you're interested I'm sure they can be
provided later.
My thanks to Tom and Mike for great accommodations and hospitality. Mike was
the General Chairman of the convention and I congratulate him on a very
successful event. It was an enjoyable weekend.
73 Joel W5ZN
