Northwestern News Volume one, June 2024
Welcome to June Northwestern Division!
Jo and I attended the Spout Springs swap meet in Kennewick (WA) on the
4th. It was a rainy day at times, but overall turned out great. Good
attendance and it was nice to see folks from that area.
Boise Idaho held a Hamfest on the 11th which I was not able to make but
reports are that it was well attended and a good time was had by all.
Northwestern Division Convention
SEA-PAC was another success this year. President Roderick along with
others staffed the ARRL booth and a good time was had by all. At the
forum, among other things, we received an update on CSI (Clean Signal
Initiative) from 2nd VP Ritz and we brought in Director Stratton from
the West Gulf Division via ZOOM for an update on the legislation we have
been working on to allow antennas in HOAs.
The weekend of the 8th of June, was the Wenatchee Hamfest and the
weather was fantastic. Apple Valley ARC did its normal great job and it
is sure nice to go to an event that has food! Hard to beat a BBQ Ribs
and pulled pork and brisket dinner for 10 bucks! N7CFO even made
homemade Raspberry and Strawberry Ice Cream Friday and Saturday nights!
On to serious matters, as most are aware, the ARRL was the unfortunate
target of a cyber attack on or about the 12th of May. Updates are being
posted on the ARRL web as they become available and I have been using
alternate ways to push those out as I can including the use of various
club reflectors and a few Facebook pages as well as our division
webpage. Your patience is appreciated during all this and with time and
lots of continued work by staff we should have everything back to normal
very soon.
The student and youth membership program is fully active now. If you
know a young amateur (under the age of 26) they can join the league for
only 30 dollars per year. Better yet, is a FREE membership for those
still in school and under the age of 21. (this is an associate
membership so not eligible to vote in ARRL elections)
The Life membership option is back with changes. See the ARRL web for
details.
REMINDER
Registration is now open for the PNW DX Convention which will be held on
August 9th 10th and 11th in Everett, WA.
https://pacificnwdxconvention.com/ This is always a great event. For
those new in the group, the convention rotates around the Division.
WWDXC (Seattle) WVDXC (Portland) SDXA (Spokane) and ORCA (Vancouver BC)
are the hosting groups.
This has been a busy month with all that is going on. And we have an
upcoming board meeting in July Michael and I will be attending. I
don’t expect to have another letter out until after that meeting.
I hope everyone has a great month and fun Field Day which is around the
corner.
Confirmed ARRL sanctioned Hamfests and Conventions:
July 20th Chehalis, WA Valley ARS Tailgate Swap
https://cvars.org/Swapmeet_2024.pdf
July 20th Coos County Radio Club hamfest / swap
http://www.coosradioclub.net
August 3rd KARS, ARRL Idaho State Convention http://k7id.org
August 9 -11th Pacific Northwest DX Convention
https://pacificnwdxconvention.com
Check the N7CFO Pacific Northwest Hamfairs & Events webpage often for
the most up to date information. http://www.n7cfo.com/amradio/hf/hf.htm
or https://arrlnwdiv.org/ and click “PNW Events”
73..
Mark J. Tharp – KB7HDX
Director, NW Division
+++++++++
From the shack of Vice Director Sterba
Hello Northwestern Division,
Welcome to the month of June! Time fly’s when we are having so much
enjoyment on the air. On May 10th, we were greeted with a category G5
geomagnetic storm which was noted to be the most extreme in 20 years.
While the lower HF band propagation was decimated, 10 meters and above
came alive with aurora (AU) conditions. It was both amazing and
rewarding to work through the challenges that this propagation type
presents.
I had the privilege of attending the Stanwood / Camano Island Annual
Electronic Flea Market and hamfest and am happy to report a great
turnout with all sellers’ tables filled, high attendance levels and a
highly successful VE session to boot! I had well over a dozen
individuals visit the ARRL table seeking information about amateur radio
and how to proceed forward to achieve licensing. I mention this as the
visitors ranged from teen through retiree aged, balanced between male
and female. Through my decades as Assistant Director manning tables, I
had never experienced this magnitude of interest from such a wide range
which was inspirational. My hope is that the knowledge shared has
planted the seeds encouragement for them to continue forward into the
art and hobby.
As of this writing, I’m attending the ARRL Northwestern Division
Conference at SEAPAC. A heartfelt shoutout for the hosts and all the
volunteers who selflessly make this event possible. Observing all the
efforts reminds me of a choreographed production with each individual
playing a critical supporting role. To each, THANK YOU! An additional
shoutout to our ARRL staff who spent long hours assisting with member
services and fielding challenging questions.
Director Tharp and I received additional support at the ARRL table from
President Rick Roderick, K5UR, 2nd Vice President Mike Ritz, W7VO,
visiting Dakota Director Bill Lippert, AC0W and Section Managers Jo
Whitney KA7LJQ ,& Bob Purdom AD7LJ. The experience they brought greatly
enhanced our abilities to field some of the more challenging thoughts
shared by our members. It is enjoyable to interact and learn from this
team while serving the many attendees who visited.
Speaking of the attendees… please accept a heartfelt thanks to each of
you who stopped by the ARRL table. It was personally enriching to be
able to meet and exchange experiences. I learned about early setups and
rare DX contacts while fielding concerns and questions. One individual
expressed the excitement from communicating with US politicians through
to Royalty from distant lands reminding me that you never know who you
will meet on the air. Each who I interacted with brought forth personal
histories of what amateur radio means with the reminder why it is so
important to support the ARRL’s efforts to advocate on your behalf.
Thank you for your continuing membership!
Populations at the time of this writing (Lagging Indicators):
Northwestern Division Membership:
- 11,545 (Decrease from 11,618)
- 81 (New)
- 53 (Lapsed that re-joined)
National Membership:
- 145,133 (Decrease from 146,265)
License Counts: - 72,285 (Division total)
- 230 (New)
- 155 (Upgrades)
- 748,352 (National total)
Reminder – This represents a great opportunity to educate about the ARRL
and member benefits!
Mark and I are always open to input, good and bad, (we prefer good) from
members. If you have anything you would like to talk about, shoot us an
email or call on the phone. In addition, we are always looking for
information to share with the Division. If you have a news item you
would like to offer, please send us a note and we would be glad to
include it here.
It is always great to hear from members.
73,
Michael A. Sterba, KG7HQ
ARRL Vice Director
Northwestern Division
kg7hq@arrl.org
ARRL Northwestern Division
Director: Mark J Tharp, KB7HDX
kb7hdx@arrl.org