Organization

Town Hall Recap, January 25, 2024

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ARRL logoApproximately seventy people attended last night’s New England Division Town Hall Zoom meeting to hear and ask questions about the results of the recent ARRL board meeting on January 19-20, 2024 in Windsor, Connecticut. The Town Hall panel consisted of Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI; and invited guest ARRL First Vice President Kristen McIntyre, K6WX.

Among the topics discussed from the ARRL member bulletin: 

  • the establishment of a committee to review By-Laws 42 (Ethics and Elections Committee)
  • a vote to make the ARRL Director’s Workbook publicly available on the ARRL website
  • the reintroduction of ARRL Life Membership and 70+ Life Membership
  • free associate membership for full-time students age 21 and younger
  • an ARRL student coding competition
  • efforts to combat the threat from the “Shortwave Modernization Coalition”

and more. The complete minutes of the 2024 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors will be available soon on the ARRL website.

 


You can view the discussion and the Q&A via the video presentation below.

 

2024-01-25 New England Division Town Hall v3

ARRL Board Approves Free Membership for Students. New Vice Presidents Elected.

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ARRL logoFrom ARRL Member Bulletin:

The ARRL Board of Directors met in Windsor, Connecticut, for its Annual Meeting, January 19 – 20, 2024. ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, presided over the meeting, and the Board welcomed Great Lakes Division Vice Director Roy Hook, W8REH, as a newly elected member to the Board.

Here are highlights of some of the actions taken at the meeting:

  • Board members discussed proposed changes to By-Law 46, the Board’s Conflict of Interest Policy, and decided to consider revisions at a later date. The Board unanimously voted to approve the establishment of a committee appointed by the ARRL President to affirm the set of ethics guidelines and standards for the Board. In addition to the guidelines, the committee will review By-Laws 42 (Ethics and Elections Committee) and 46 for possible revision. The committee will also engage with a competent legally qualified independent third party to handle all Ethics & Elections inquiries in the future.

  • The Board voted to make the ARRL Director’s Workbook publicly available on the ARRL website.

  • The Board approved the reintroduction of ARRL Life Membership and 70+ Life Membership (for members of age 70 and over) on a revenue-neutral basis. At its July 2023 Second Meeting, the Board had suspended the Life Membership Program, pending the approval of an adjusted revenue-neutral program.

  • The Board approved two motions aimed at engaging young hams with a strong start to their lifelong journey with amateur radio and ARRL:

    • FREE ARRL Membership for Students. For decades, ARRL has offered a reduced dues rate for young hams, currently priced at $30 per year. At this meeting, the Board established a new option for a no-cost Associate membership for full-time students of age 21 and younger.

    • ARRL Student Coding Competition. The Board approved the creation of a coding competition that will challenge students 21 and younger to design a software application that meets the specifications established by ARRL. Awards of up to a total of $25,000 will be granted by an awards committee to the winning student(s). The terms and schedule for the competition will be determined by the committee.

  • With a goal of recruiting and developing greater participation in the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®), the Board has approved, at the recommendation of the Emergency Communications and Field Services Committee, a commitment to expand messaging and marketing for the program.

  • Government Relations.

    • The Board issued its strongest rebuke of efforts by the ad-hoc group “Shortwave Modernization Coalition” (SMC) to introduce high-power signals to the shortwave spectrum, including frequencies immediately adjacent to the Amateur Radio HF bands. The Board made a clear statement that the interests of the SMC are in conflict with those of ARRL and its membership, and has requested that the ARRL Volunteer Monitors explore ways to gather data on SMC station emissions.

    • The Board voted to expand ARRL’s ongoing efforts to help hams who are faced with involuntary limitations that limit their amateur radio operations beyond the regulatory efforts being pursued in Washington.

  • ARRL Foundation. The Board heard a report ARRL Foundation President David Norris, K5UZ. The Foundation, which marked its 50th anniversary last September, provides philanthropic support for amateur radio by way of the ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program, Club Grant Program, and through other grands and funds. In 2023, the Foundation awarded 113 scholarships totaling over $600,000, through the generosity of individuals and clubs. Norris also recognized the generous commitment made by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) which will fund over $2.1 million, over three years, to support scholarships, radio technology for classroom teachers, and amateur radio club grants.

  • Elections.

    • Officers. The Board re-elected ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, to a fifth 2-year term. The Board also elected Pacific Division Director Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, to be First Vice President, succeeding Michael Raisbeck, K1TWF. Northwestern Division Director Mike Ritz, W7VO, was elected Second Vice President, succeeding Bob Vallio, W6RGG. International Affairs Vice President Rod Stafford, W6ROD, was re-elected.

      The elections of McIntyre and Ritz to the Vice President positions mean that incumbent Vice Directors Anthony Marcin, W7XM (Pacific), and Mark Tharp, KB7HDX (Northwestern) will succeed as Division Directors, creating vacancies for Vice Director in those Divisions, which will be filled by appointment.

    • Executive Committee. As First Vice President, Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, will remain on the Executive Committee (EC), succeeding former Vice President Raisbeck. Directors re-elected to the EC include Dr. Jim Boehner, N2ZZ (Roanoke); Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC (New England), and Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ (Midwest). Newly elected members include Jeff Ryan, K0RM (Rocky Mountain), and Bill Lippert, AC0W (Dakota).

The complete minutes of the 2024 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors will be available soon on the ARRL website.

The next meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors is scheduled for July 19 – 20, 2024.

Town Hall Recap, January 10, 2024

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One hundred people attended last night’s New England Division Town Hall Zoom meeting, where discussion centered on several important motions that are before the ARRL board for consideration, including a draft proposal to change ARRL Bylaw 46, entitled “Board Member Statement on Authority, Responsibility, and Expectations.”

A Town Hall panel consisting of Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI; and invited guest Pacific Division Director Kristen McIntyre, K6WX (one of the “Bylaw 46” related motion authors) explained the need for the bylaw as well as changes to printed QST to attendees. 

Some questions related to the Bylaw 46 discussion involved the ARRL Standing Orders, which can be found here, and the Electronic Recording Policy for ARRL Meetings can be downloaded from here.  

You can view the discussion and the Q&A via the video presentation below.

 

 

 

Maine Section e-News December, 2023

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Maine Section Manager Philip W Duggan, N1EP, writes on the ARRL Maine Members list:

On behalf of the Maine Section Cabinet, I wish you all a great Holiday season! Hopefully you all have your power back after that big blow last Monday. Is it just me, or does it seem that Maine is windier all year round now, between wind storms and just plain windy days? And there is no doubt it has been wetter this year; the ground is saturated!

Maine Section 2024 Goals

Please provide your input on what you think the Maine ARRL sections goals should be. You can send suggestions to n1ep@arrl.org. One of our primary goals will be reversing that staggering statistic that 80 percent of newly licensed hams disappear from the amateur radio scene
before their 1-year license anniversary. We need to find out why this happens and take steps to change that trend. It would help if more hams monitored or scanned their local repeaters and VHF/UHF simplex frequencies and answered someone when they put out their call sign on the air. There is nothing more frustrating than earning your amateur radio ticket and then you find there is minimal activity on the bands you can use. We are hams, let’s ham it up!

Maine VOTA Update

As the ARRL Volunteers-On-The-Air program wraps up at the end of this month, Maine just completed the second week-long stint operating as W1AW/1. Many kudos to John Huffman, K1ESE, Maine VOTA Coordinator, and all the operators who did such an outstanding job representing our section on the air in September and December. During the two week-long events, we racked up 13,372 QSOs! The top two prolific ops were Joe Blinick, K1JB and Dave Larrabee, K1BZ. Congrats all and thanks so much for your remarkable efforts!

Hamfest in Augusta

The Boat Anchor Hamfest is scheduled for Saturday, February 10 from 8am until noon. This is a great opportunity to abate the winter doldrums and get out and meet other hams and find some great deals. If you are a vendor or have gear to trade or sell, please plan on attending. The more the merrier. Many thanks to all who support Maine’s hamfests.

Straight Key Night

If you are a cw operator, don’t forget that New Year’s Eve and Day is Straight Key Night. Put your favorite straight key or bug on the air. I plan on using my Navy flameproof key. I will be calling CQ primarily on 80m and 40m. If you hear my QRS signal, give me a shout!

Simplex Challenge

Put Saturday, March 16 on your calendar now so you do not forget about the Maine 2-meter FM Simplex Challenge. It is sponsored by the Wireless Society of Southern Maine. Details are at http://www.ws1sm.com/2-Meter-Challenge.html

Statewide POTA!

Reminder that we are asking all Maine clubs and hams interested to activate a qualified park on Saturday, May 18 for Parks-On-The-Air. You can find a list and map of qualified parks and rules on the official POTA web site: https://parksontheair.com/

Speaking Of Volunteering

Why not make 2024 the year you volunteer for some important task that benefits amateur radio. Run for president or treasurer of your local club or help out with a club newsletter. Become a member of your local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) or become an ISS ARES operator. Don’t get excited, we will not send you to the International Space Station. ISS in this case stands for Independent Support Station. Learn how to originate and relay radiograms and participate in the National Traffic System (NTS). Become a Volunteer Examiner. Volunteer to serve as a net control station for a VHF or HF net. Organize a ham radio demonstration for your local scout troop, 4H, or school. Opportunities are abundant. There is a big need for hams to help out in a wide variety of ways. And you know what? It is most often fun and very rewarding.

Favorite Antenna

What has been your favorite antenna in your time as a ham? Even though I have fond memories of my HF yagi which broke last year, I still am a fan of dipoles. Simple lightweight dipoles for portable use, and I also have had great success with fan dipoles at my home station. What is your favorite antenna?

73 and wishing you all the best in this coming new year!

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ARRL Maine Section
Section Manager: Philip W Duggan, N1EP
n1ep@arrl.org
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