In Brief -- Dayton Hamvention Attendance Up, Plus News Shorts From All Over!
06/13/2014
- Dayton Hamvention Attendance Up Slightly: Dayton Hamvention® has announced on its website that 24,873 people turned out for Hamvention 2014. That was up slightly from 2013, when 24,542 attended the annual, 3-day international gathering. Hamvention 2014 was a Regional ARRL National Centennial Event. Charles Kaiser, KD8JZR, was the 2014 general chairman. The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has sponsored Hamvention since 1952. Originally called the Southwestern Ohio Ham-vention, the inaugural event, held in March in downtown Dayton, attracted 600 attendees — twice as many as had been predicted. Hamvention attendance peaked at 33,669 in 1993.
- Swiss 60 Meter Beacon Now on the Air: Although radio amateurs in Switzerland do not yet have access to the 60 meter band, the Sursee Amateur Radio Club has received authorization to operate an experimental beacon in JN47be under the call sign HB9AW. The 5291 kHz beacon, which went live on June 1, is primarily to study 60 meter propagation within Switzerland. It will transmit HB9AW in CW at 10 W, followed by five dashes, with the power lowered with each dash. The first dash will be at 10 W, the second at 5 W, the third at 1 W, the fourth at 100 mW, and the fifth at 10 mW (all power levels in ERP). The beacon will transmit every 5 minutes, starting at the top of the hour. The antenna is a half-wave NVIS dipole with its feed point 0.12 λ above ground and its ends slightly lower. A reflector is set beneath the dipole. “We deliberately chose this high-angle radiating antenna to study propagation conditions in Switzerland,” the club said on its website. Conditions for DX contacts are, for now, only of secondary interest.”
- Delaware ARES Team Receives State Council Award: Sussex County, Delaware, ARES has received an Outstanding Service Award from the Delaware Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education. A presentation was held in Dover on June 11. The award goes to businesses, individuals, and organizations that provide exemplary service and contributions to the field of Career and Technical Education and the citizens of Delaware. Recipients are nominated by leaders from business, industry, and education, and are honored for the significant and positive contributions they have made. Nominating Sussex ARES was Joseph Booth, a community leader and staff member of Sussex Technical High School, in recognition of the group’s continued support of the school’s Amateur Radio club, K3STR, and student mentorship. The award also recognized the role that ARES played in arranging the donation of a fully equipped communications van to the school. — Thanks to Herb Quick, KF3BT
- North Carolina Governor Proclaims July “Amateur Radio Recognition and Appreciation Month:” North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has proclaimed July as “Amateur Radio Recognition and Appreciation Month.” Among other things, the governor recognized the ARRL’s Centennial this year. — Thanks to Woody Woodward, K3VSA
- BAOFENG Rebrands to Pofung: Chinese radio manufacturer BAOFENG is rebranding its products under the “Pofung” label in international markets. The company said BAOFENG — a literal Pinyin translation of the company’s Chinese character name — “may be difficult for a hobbyist across the ocean to pronounce.” The company said the new name, Pofung, is easier to pronounce and more customer-friendly, while maintaining the brand’s phonetic symbolism. Products for the domestic market in China will retain their current brand name and identity, and the company’s web domain, www.baofengradio.com, will remain unchanged. — Thanks to Amateur Radio Newsline, Baofeng
- Special Spanish Prefixes to Mark Change of Monarch: To mark the passing of the passing of the crown from King Juan Carlos, EA0JC, to his son, Felipe VI, Spanish Amateur Radio operators may use special prefixes between June 18 and September 18. EA stations may use the AM0# prefix, EB operators may use the AN0# prefix, and EC hams may use the AO0# prefix during the 3-month period. For example EA9CD would be AM09CD, EB7DX would operate as AN07DX, and EC1KR would be AO01CR. — Thanks to The Daily DX
- Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM, appointed as ARISS Regional Representative The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) has appointed Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM, to be the new ARISS Regional Representative, replacing Daniel Lamoureux, VE2KA. “Canadian ARISS representatives have always been a huge benefit to the ARISS team,” said Rosalie White, K1STO, the ARRL’s ARISS delegate and ARISS-International Secretary-Treasurer. “Not only have the Canadians contributed a great deal of sound thinking and hard work, but many have been highly active with IARU long before getting involved in ARISS — this was a huge benefit since ARISS is an international group.” RAC President Geoff Bawden, VE4BAW, pointed out that MacFarquhar has served as RAC Vice President, supervised its successful insurance program, “and has been a pillar in RAC for longer than he cares to remember.” -- Thanks to RAC
Photo Gallery
Back
