[Ham-News] Amateur Radio Newsline 1492 - March 17, 2006

Sat Mar 18 09:59:24 EST 2006

Amateur Radio Newsline 1492 - March 17, 2006

The following is a QST.  Dayton honors Gordon West WB6NOA, Riley 
Hollingsworth K4ZDH and Richard Illman AH6EZ with the highest awards in 
Amateur Radio.  Also, hams are there as floods and tornadoes hit the mid-
West, Amateur Radio Newsline expands eligibility for the Young Ham of the 
Year Award and the ARRL says that its time to say "hello."  All this and 
more on Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1492 coming your way right 
now. 

**

WEST, HOILLINGSWORTH AND ILLMAN NAMED AS 2006 DAYTON HAMVENTION AWARD 
WINNERS 

It's likely that there is almost not a ham alive who has not heard the name 
Gordon West, or the call letters WB6NOA.  Gordo -- as West perfers to be 
called -- is probably responsible for recruiting and training more new hams 
than any other person alive today.  And now, the Dayton Hamvention has 
chosen him as the 2006 Radio Amateur of the Year.  And when he got word 
that he had been named to receive this honor, Gordo decided to spread the 
joy around:

--

West:  "Well, it made me feel proud.  Not only for me but for the fellow 
ham radio instructors.  The thousands of the Elmers and instructors that 
are out there giving their time and their expertise in helping ham radio to 
grow.  So I am going to share this award with those fellow instructors."

-- 

Shareing, especially sharing ham radio with the non ham radio world has 
been a lifelong passion with West.  Like so many of the baby boomers who 
became hams, WB6NOA was first licensed while in high school in the late 
1950's.  And soon Gordo was actively involved in many aspects of the hobby 
including helping to develop several innovative pieces of equipment. 

But it was not until the 1980's that West realized that his real passion in 
ham radio was sharing it with others.  And with his wife Suzy, N6GLF, Gordo 
began teaching ham radio classes at local schools, colleges and marine 
venues.  He also began writing some ham training books which were 
eventually picked up by the nations largest electronics chain.  West 
credits another ham, Bob Miller, K2RM, with making that happen:

--

West:  "Bob Miller was with Radio Shack.  He and Radio Shack were great 
proponents for seeing the ham radio service be spread to the general 
public, and indeed it did.  And from Radio Shack it continued to grow and 
its been a great relationship with all the ham radio dealers and 
distributors throughout the country."

--

But writing books is only one aspect of Gordon West and his lifelong 
dedication to the service.  Among other things, Gordo volunteers with the 
American Red Cross communications team in Orange County , California , and 
regularly offers free kids classes and free classes for cities to support 
their CERT members.  In fact, when we caught up with WB6NOA, he had just 
come in the front door from running a training session for the police in 
the very famous zipcode of 90210:

--

West:   "We just finished one with the city of Beverly Hills training their 
DCS and CERT folks.  I just get a huge kick out of it and it keeps me 
motivated."

--

And if there is any one secret as to why Gordon West has such a success in 
getting people into ham radio it is not just his being motivated.  Rather 
it is his uncanny ability to motivate others.  To get people he never met 
before to follow his training system and in short order become licensed 
radio amateurs.  
For this reason and so many more, the Hamvention Awards Committee has named 
Gordon West, WB6NOA, as its 2006 Radio Amateur of the Year.  

Another very recognizable name and call is Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH.  He 
was named to receive the 2006 Special Achievement Award for his efforts in 
helping eliminate many of the problems that had been increasing on the ham 
bands. 

Riley Hollingsworth is a Special Counsel for the FCC Enforcement Bureau's 
Spectrum Enforcement Division.  He was given the responsibility for 
coordination of Amateur Radio Service enforcement after that program was 
transferred to the Enforcement Bureau in October 1998.  

Things on the air were bad back then, but as his nominator stated, 
Hollingsworth was able to reverse an almost a decade and a half long period 
of Commission inattention and government apathy directed toward the Amateur 
Radio Service.  Speaking at the 1991 Dayton Hamvention three years after he 
began the new wave of enforcement, Hollingsworth set out his final goal:

--

Hollingsworth:  "We wont stop or even slow down until you can be perfectly 
comfortable leaving the rig on in the house or the car.  Until you can be 
perfectly comfortable demonstrating it to your niece or yoour neighbor 
without sweating bullets over what you are going to hear on it.  
(Applause)"

--

In the ensuing years, Hollingsworth has made good on most of his promise.  
Complaints are way down and with a few isolated exceptions, the hobby has 
been returned to law abiding ham radio majority to enjoy.  And these days 
radio amateurs across the U-S credit Hollingsworth with helping to reduce -
- and in many cases to eliminate -- malicious interference and other 
problem behavior.  This, both on and off the air.

But his responsibilities do not end with getting the ham radio bad boys to 
change their life.  His other obligations include interference resolution 
in the Land Mobile and Public Safety Services.  He was also co-chairman of 
the FCC's PCS Broadband and Narrowband Licensing Task Force, for which he 
received the "Reinventing Government" Award in 1994.  He also organized an 
FCC's enforcement program in which underutilized land mobile radio channels 
were recovered for reassignment in major cities. 

Rounding out this years winners is Technical Excellence Award recipient 
Richard Illman, AH6EZ, of St. Charles, Illinois.  He was selected based on 
his ability to influence his employer, Motorola, to deliver his solution in 
the field of Broadband Over Powerline operations.  One that was proven at 
ARRL Headquarters and other locations to not cause any interference to or 
from amateur radio.  Why did he do it?

--

Illman:  "Im both a ham radio operator and an engineer for Motorola which 
made an interesting fence to to walk at times.  Certainly we were trying to 
come up with a good, profitable solution for Motorola and the last thing I 
wanted to do was to have us create interference,

--

Illman, who has a BSEE and a 31 year career with Motorola Systems 
Engineering, was responsible for  a set of hardware notch filters to be 
included in the Motorola BPL equipment to protect amateur radio beyond the 
traditional technique of just turning off specific carriers.  This is a BPL 
industry first and it has proven extremely effective.  So much so that the 
ARRL subsequently used the Motorola system as an example to the FCC on how 
BPL can be designed without interference with amateur radio. 

But Illman's passion for ham radio goes back long before he went to work 
for Motorols.  He began in high school as a Novice class licensee in 1969 
and has continued over 37 years on all bands and all modes.   He is an avid 
DX'er, Illman has also worked ham radio satellites from moving Amtrak 
trains and demonstrated contacts to the International Space Station to the 
Boy Scouts.

All three of this years winners will receive their awards at a ceremony at 
the 2006 Dayton Hamvention.  Its slated for May 19th to the 21st at the Hara 
Arena in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood, Ohio.  We at Amateur Radio Newsline 
will see you there.  (ARNewslineT)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  WB6NOA ON THIS WEEKS RAINREPORT

And less we forget to mention, 2006 Radio Amateur of the Year Gordon West, 
WB6NOA, will be a special guest on this weeks RAIN Report.  On it, Gordo 
discusses not only the award, but his overall career in ham radio and what 
the hobby means to him.  You can hear it on-line right now at 
www.rainreport.com or over the phone at 847-827-7246.  That's 
www.rainreport.com on-line or by phone at 847-827-R-A-I-N.  (RAIN)

**

YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR AWARDS:  EXPANDED TO ALL 50 STATES AND 12 CANADIAN 
PROVANCES

Still with ham radio honors, we have some great news for young radio 
amateurs  living outside the 48 contiguous United States.  Thanks to the 
generosity of corporate underwriter Vertex-Standard Corporation, the 
eligibility for nominating candidates for the annual Amateur Radio Newsline 
"Young Ham of the Year Award" is being extended.  Effective immediately 
Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and all 12 Canadian Provinces are included 
along with the 48 contiguous United States.  This makes the  "Young Ham of 
the Year Award" program  first-ever truly international ham radio youth 
award.  

The decision to open up nominations to these additional locations is the 
result of listener requests over the past few years.  The number of those 
asking us to extend the geographic area covered by the award has been 
growing and this seems to be the right time to make the change.  As a 
result any ham age 18 or younger living in any of the regions mentioned is 
eligible for consideration for the  "Young Ham of the Year Award" award.

Complete information along with the rules governing the award and 
nominating forms are at the special website created for the award program 
by 1993 award recipient Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH.  The site is hosted by his 
company Web Design by Kevin at www.yhoty.org  Just click on the words 2006 
nominations found at the top of the page

Again that's www.yhoty.org to file your nomination for this years Amateur 
Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year award.  Now the first ever 
international award for young radio amateurs across all of North America.  
(ARNewslineT)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  MIDWEST TORNADOES

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt asked President Bush to expedite federal 
assistance to areas of his state .  This, after it is damaged by the 
supercell storms that hit on Sunday, March 12th.  

The weather system killed nine people and injured dozens of others.  
Hundreds of homes were damaged and a number totally destroyed.  The storms 
also knocked out electric mains power and telephone service in several 
locations.

According to reports from a number of Newsline listeners, there was at 
least one ARES voice net and several data operations set up.  The data 
connections are  using widelky adopted Winlink 2000 protocol.  While the 
voice operations were associated with the search for victims of the storms 
the data circuits were and are being used to pass along damage reports from 
the field to state and county relief officials.  

And Missouri is not the only state hard hit.  Over the past few days 
violent weather has stretched from the Great Plains eastward to the Ohio 
valley.  In Indiana the problem is rain and flodding.  Water levels are 
still rising in in the Hoosier state and ham radio volunteers are reported 
to be on stanbdby in case they are needed.  

Also reported to be on stand-by were ham radio emergency coimmunications 
groups in Oklahoma and Arkansas which were also hit by the severe weather 
outbreak.  And hams in northern Wisconsin were also on alert as that area 
began thawing out from 32 inches of show coming from that same winter 
weather system.  A storm that the National Weather Service says cut a 400 
mile long path across the mid-section of the nation.  (Listener reports, 
ARNewslineT)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  NEW MEXICO FUNDS E-COMMS NETWORK THAT INCLDES HAM RADIO

I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, with some late breaking news.  Dateline, New 
Mexico, on Thursday March 16th.  That's where Governor Bill Richardson has 
signed a bill that creates a state-wide emergency communications network.  
It also earmarks a cool half million dollars to fund Amateur Radio's 
participation in the project.

State Representative Tom Anderson of Bernalillo sponsored the bill into the 
2006 session of the New Mexico Legislative session.  Anderson, who holds 
the cal sign KB5YSG, said that following hurricane Katrina, its been seen 
just how valuable Amateur Radio can be in a disaster. He called the funding 
of the network an investment by New Mexico in the protection of lives, 
property and public lands in the event that a catastrophe might hit that 
state.   

Preliminary plans call for state purchased equipment to be installed in 
strategic locations as an interlinked VHF and UHF voice and data repeater 
network.   This means communications will be available anywhere in the 
state when hams are working along side first responders during disaster 
situations.  

In recent years New Mexico hams have been called out to respond to 
wildfires in several parts of the state.  These firestorms that have 
consumed thousands of acres of valuable timber and watershed while taxing 
existing ham radio lines of communications to the maximum.  The New Mexico 
Emergency Management Association, State Department of Homeland Director Tim 
Manning and many of the states ham radio groups worked very had to make 
sure the emergency network funding made it past Governor Richardson's desk.  
(Information via WA5WHN)

**

RESCUE RADIO:  HAM RADIO BEFORE THE FCC ON HURRICANE KATRINA E-COMMS

Meantime, a ham who was there has told the FCC about the role of ham radio 
during and after Hurricane Katrina.  Amateur Radio Newsline's David Black, 
KB4KCH, is at our South-East bureau in Birmingham, Alabama, with the rest 
of the story:

--

If any lessons needs to be learned about dealing with disasters like 
Hurricane Katrina, one of the main ones would be that amateur radio needs 
to be part of the response plan. That's the message members of an FCC panel 
heard during a two day meeting 
looking at Katrina's impact on communications networks.

--
Sarratt: "I think amateur radio played a huge role."

--

Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, is the A-double-R-L's Section Manager in Alabama. He 
has a pretty good idea of amateur radio's value during Katrina's aftermath-
-Sarratt spent 37 days helping the Red Cross coordinate disaster 
communications from Montgomery, 
Alabama. Sarratt addressed the panel members meeting in Mississippi March 
7th and 8th. He told the members about the huge role hams played:

--
Saratt:  "My message was mainly awareness of the Amateur Radio service.  A 
message of what we did during Katrina to help out thousands of displaced 
people, public service agencies, the Emergency Management and all the 
different relief organizations"

--

Sarratt helped coordinate over 200 hams involved in disaster 
communications. In many cases, Sarratt says hams did a lot more than just 
communicate to help:

--

Sarratt:  "We went in and set up communications where there were none.  We 
assisted other public service agencies with communications and people.  The 
technical aspect of Amateur Radio really shone throughout.  We had Amateurs 
that were fixing fork-lifts; repairing phone systems; repairing antennas, 
repeaters and lots of systems down there."

--

Sarratt says many hams coming in to help from other states and even Canada 
ran into a problem--because they lacked local identification, their access 
to disaster areas was often hampered. Sarratt gave panel members a 
suggestion on how to fix that problem:

--

Sarratt:  "Credentialling, especially a federally recognized or other well 
known credential like an FCC credential will help Amateurs when requested 
to go into an area.  They'll be able to get in easily and be immediately 
recognized by the folks in the disaster area.:

--

Because of Katrina, Sarratt believes disaster officials have a more 
positive impression of amateur radio:

--

Sarratt: "I believe their awareness and their view of Amateur Radio has to 
be much greater because in every panel where there are meetings and 
discussions, Amateur Radio comes up in a positive light."

--

When it comes to assuring that disaster officials will always think of 
amateur radio during emergencies, Sarratt suggests that the biggest work is 
up to hams themselves. Practice disaster scenarios constantly, he says, and 
work to keep amateur radio visible for the help it can during crisis times.

>From Birmingham, Alabama, I'm David Black, KB4KCH, for the amateur Radio 
Newsline.

--

Sarratt agrees with other experts in the field of emergency communications 
who say that training and practice are the only way to be ready for any 
disaster.  Hurricane Katrina proved that to be true and it seems that hams 
were the only communicators really ready when that killer storm came 
ashore.  (ARNewslineT)

**

THE BPL WAR:  CHICAGO TO BUILD CITYWIDE WI-FI SYSTEM

Chicago Illinois already has hundreds of Wi-Fi hotspots where anyone can 
connect to the World Wide Web  Now city planners are hoping to extend that 
wireless blanket to all of its 228 square miles.

Chicago has announced that it will as technology companies to submit 
proposals for the project. While it's too soon to say how the system would 
operate, officials say that the goal is to make Internet access "broad and 
affordable" for residents and heighten Chicago's appeal for businesses and 
tourists alike.  

The city did not specify goals for how much the system would charge for 
access or if Broadband Over Powerline will be considered as any part of the 
system.  As previously reported Philadelphia is working with Earthlink to 
build a citywide network that will not use BPL and will only charge a 
wholesale rate of $9 a month to Internet service providers.  They will then 
resell access to the public at a still undetermined price.  (Science 
OnLine)

**

THE CHANGING SCENE:  SONY EXITING THE CRT BUSINESS

Call this another sign of the times.  This with word that Sony Electronics 
will close its television picture tube factory in San Diego, California, in 
the not far distant future.

According to news reports, the move reflects the sagging fortunes of 
cathode-ray tubes that were once the only way to see television.  These 
old-style sets are being quickly replaced by flat panel monitors using 
plasma and LCD display technology that can be hung on a wall.  

About 400 jobs will be phased out when the plant ceases to manufacture C-R-
T''s.  Sony will continue to employ about two thousand people at its San 
Diego headquarters and continue making Vaio personal computers at that 
facility.  (Published reports)

**

HAM HAPPENINGS:  MARCONI DAY IS APRIL 22

The 19th International Marconi Day takes place on April 22nd. Organised by 
the Cornish Radio Amateur Club over in the U-K, the event celebrates the 
life of the man widely credited with being the father of radio.

Although International Marconi Day is not a contest, awards will be made 
available to stations that operate from a site that either used Marconi 
equipment prior to his death in 1937 or where Gugliemo Marconi carried out 
experiments during his lifetime.  (GB2RS)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  N6TX NAMED DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION FOR AMSAT-NA

Dr. H. Paul Shuch, N6TX, has accepted the position of Director of Education 
for AMSAT North America.  Shuch, who received his Ph.D. from the University 
of California, brings to the AMSAT External Relations Team an extensive 
background in teaching, curriculum development, communications, and 
engineering.  As  Director of Education his primary responsibility will be 
integrated curriculum development at all levels with an emphasis on using 
satellites in the classroom.

Dr. Shuch was first licensed in 1961 and has since been operational in 20 
different ham bands between 1.8 MHz and 24 GHz.  In years past he has 
chaired the VHF/UHF Advisory Committee of the American Radio Relay League, 
and served as Technical Director and Board Chairman of Project OSCAR.  He 
currently serves on the Boards of Directors of AMSAT, The SETI League, and 
the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, has served as a Director of the 
Central States VHF Society, is an Executive Committee member and former 
Membership Officer for Central Pennsylvania Mensa.  

Dr. Shuch was the Banquet Speaker at the 1996 Dayton Hamvention, and in 
2000 was named recipient of the events Technical Excellence award.  (AMSAT-
NA)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  KB2GSD HONORED BY NASA WITH MOON ROCK

Veteran CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD, has been honored by NASA with 
a moon rock.  This, in  recognition of his decades covering the space 
program. 

The moon rock is part of 842 pounds of samples brought back to Earth during 
the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972.  Cronkite, who anchored 
the CBS Evening News from 1962 until his retirement in 1981, is the first 
non-astronaut and only non-NASA individual to receive the Ambassador of 
Exploration Award. KB2GSD plans to donate the lunar sample to University of 
Texas at Austin's  Center for American History, which houses the Walter 
Cronkite papers. The rock will be displayed in the center's exhibit 
gallery.

Cronkite covered the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, including Apollo 
11 and subsequent moon landings. His marathon, live coverage on July 20, 
1969, of the first moon landing brought the event into the homes of 
millions of Americans and observers around the world.  In recent years he 
donated his talent to to the American Radio Relay League to host a pair of 
videos about ham radio.  (ARNewslineT from published reports)

**

NAMES IN THE NEWS:  WORLRADIO FOUNDER LEO I MEYERSON W0GFQ TURNS 95

And birthday greetings go out to Worldradio Labs and Galaxy Electronics 
founder Leo I. Meyerson, W0GFQ, who is celebrating his 95th birthday on 
April 28th.   (QCWA)

**

SCIENCE CORNER:  FIRST NORTHWEST WOLVERINE RADIO TAGGED

A very wiley creature is now being tracked for the first time by radio.  
Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the elusive story:

--

The U.S. Forest Service has trapped its first wolverine in the Pacific 
Northwest and fitted it with a radio collar.  Biologists are hoping to 
learn more about the habits and range of the elusive creatures known for 
their ferocious nature.

Biologists caught their first one just over three weeks ago in a forest 
northwest of Mazama in north-central Washington. While sedated, biologists 
fitted her with an ear-tag, and a radio collar that will permit her being 
tracked through July 2007.  During that time scientists hope to  find out 
how far she travels and what elevation she covers.

--

The largest land-based member of the weasel family, wolverines sport a 
thick, brown coat with a light stripe down their backs.  (US Forrest 
Service)

**

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:  ELECTRONICS LETS YOU DRIVE IF YOU PAY

Automobile dealers specializing in sales to high-risk customers are turning 
to dash-mounted electrical devices and two way radio to insure that monthly 
payments are made.  One device is the PayTeck Smart Box.  It uses a monthly 
five-digit operator code in exchange for each payment.  No payment and the 
car's ignition is locked preventing the vehicle from starting. One dealer 
says the system has cut the repossession rate from 45% to just 15%.  (CGC)

**

THE EMI CORNER:  STUDY SUGGESTS MORE LIMITS ON CELLPHONES ON AIRCRAFT

Talking on cellphones or using laptops on an airplane could disrupt cockpit 
operations.  This is especially true with global positioning devices that 
are increasingly being used to help guide flights across the skies.  
Amateur Radio Newsline's Evi Simons has more:

--

According to a new study from Carnegie Mellon University, researchers 
monitoring flights in the United States north-east corridor found that 
several cellular phone calls are typically made on commercial flights 
during takeoff or final approach to landing. They say that these are two 
critical flight stages when accidents could occur.

The study was led by Bill Strauss. He is an expert in aircraft 
electromagnetic compatibility at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Maryland. 
Researchers on his team monitored radio signals from passengers phones on 
three airlines with the support of the Transportation Security Agency. The 
emissions were tracked using a broadband antenna that was attached to a 
portable spectrum analyzer in a piece of carry-on baggage.

Granger Morgan, head of Carnegie Mellon's Department of Engineering and 
Public Policy Department, said the activity recorded shows that the use of 
electronic devices should be limited on airplanes. He claims that the 
disruptions discovered by the study are enough to impact a plane's 
navigation or other critical systems.

The researchers at Carnegie Mellon have recommended that the FAA and FCC 
work together to investigate in-flight use of cellular phones. They also 
say that on-board radio emissions be monitored regularly by flight data 
recording devices.

The Federal Communications Commission has commissioned a private firm to 
study the in-flight use of cellphones. The results of that investigation 
are due out by the end of the year.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons in New York. 

--

The study, which received support from the Federal Aviation Administration, 
was published in the March issue of the technology journal I- triple E 
Spectrum.  (RW)

**

WORLDBEAT - ANGUILLA:  VP2EB AWARDED MOST EXCELLENT  ORDER

Famed optometrist and radio amateur Dr. Louis Bardfield, VP2EB, has 
recently been presented with a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the 
British Empire.  This, by His Royal Highness Prince Charles  at a recent 
ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Dr. Bardfield was awarded the M-B-E for his work in providing eye care in 
the Caribbean island of Anguilla.  He has been a practicing optometrist on 
the island for the past 20 years and is vice president of Anguilla Chamber 
of Commerce and Industry.  He's also a past president and current vice 
president of Anguilla Rotary Club and a board director of several companies 
including Eyecare Express.  His sister-in-law is also a radio amateur and 
holds the callsign G3YL.  (RSGB)

**

DX

In DX, word that W7YW, is operating as P40TW from Aruba until 24th March.  
He plans to be active on all bands running SSB, RTTY and CW from the P-40-L 
contest station. QSL direct to W7YW.  

And DL3KWR, and DL3KWF, will be active portable CT3  from the Madeira 
Islands until 23rd March.  Activity will be mostly on CW and on the WARC 
bands. 

Also, UR8UC will be using the special callsign EM1UC from the Ukrainian 
Antarctic DX Club station at the Akademik Vernadsky Base station until 
February 2007. His activity will be on CW, SSB and some of the popular  
digital modes.

Lastly keep an ear open for UA3FDX, and  RA3AUM, will be active from 
Azerbaijan as 4J0DX and 4J0AUM.  The duo will be operational between 17th 
and 27th of March on 80 through 10 meters on  SSB and CW.  Some 160 meter 
operation is also a possibility. QSL all three of these operations as 
directed on the air.

(Above from various DX sources)
**

THAT FINAL ITEM: THE ARRL SAYS ITS TIME TO SAY "HELLO"

And finally this week, wod that the ARRL has embarked on a major campaign 
to publicize ham radio.  A campaign based on one simple word. That word is 
"hello."  Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramovich, NT3V, spoke to the man 
behind the idea and got a glimpse of what the world of Amateur Radio can 
expect over the next several months: 

-- 

Allen Pitts, W1AGP, the American Radio Relay League's media and public 
relations manager, says his vision is simple - getting people to know what 
amateur radio is and what kind of people hams are. 

"We are launching a campaign which is intentionally going to be very 
friendly, very open and celebrating the friendships and the fun that can be 
happening on amateur radio," Pitts says. 

Pitts, who has a background in psychology, says he put together a simple 
exercise which he administered to groups to test his theory that people 
really couldn't put a face on amateur radio. 

"I had a set of flash cards built up kind of like the kind school children 
use. And each one had a different activity or occupation on it," Pitts 
explains. "And I would ask the groups not to tell me what the person looked 
like but what their personality was. And there were teachers and ministers 
and lawyers and carpenters. 

"The last card was amateur radio operator or ham radio. And, it was 
interesting, the groups could always tell me what they imagined the 
personality of each of these people was until we got to the last card." 

So, Pitts says he came up with a basic mission. 

"The 'Hello Campaign' is designed to create the image of amateur radio 
being friendly and being able to make friends through amateur radio around 
the country and indeed, around the world," Pitts says. 

To attract a wider audience, Pitts says he needed a "hook" or an event to 
help draw attention. He found it in the 100th anniversary of the first 
voice transmissions over radio. 

"Christmas Eve 1906, a guy named Reginald Fessenden, who normally was 
transmitting in Morse Code weather reports to ships up and down the East 
Coast - the radio operators aboard the ships had been told to expect 
something unusual," Pitts says. "But nobody expected what he was about to 
do. And, what he was able to do was to actually broadcast and say hello and 
wish them Merry Christmas." 

"He played the violin, he played some off the Edison cylinder phonograph. 
He wife was supposed to talk but the wife got mike fright. But it was the 
very first broadcast of voice over radio." 

Pitts says the campaign is now relying on those on the front-line in 
amateur radio who can and do deal with the public. 

"We've prepared an incredible set of tools for the public information 
officers, group leaders, club leaders, other hams to be able to take to 
their local television and radio stations, newspapers and promote amateur 
radio," Pitts says. 

Those tools include bumper stickers, brochures, buttons, a series of radio 
public service announcements, video clips for television and a website. And 
while the first goal of the campaign is to raise public awareness, Pitts 
says there is another motive. 

"Bring interested people into contact with their local amateur radio groups 
or a ham," Pitts says. "The way you make a new ham is through some 
relationship with a person who already is a ham. And, on the special 
website which is www.hello-radio.org

"One section there is specific to bring people into contact with local 
groups who are either special service clubs or mentoring groups or groups 
that have said yes, they absolutely do want to have new people referred to 
them and they will give a warm welcome and a hello." 

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.

-- 

The Hello campaign began March 15 and will climax with the centennial of 
the very first radio broadcast during all of Christmas week.  More 
information is on-line at www.hello-radio.org.  (ARNewslineT)

**

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ 
Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the 
RSGB and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio 
Newsline(tm).  Our e-mail address is newsline at arnewsline.org.  More 
information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only official 
website located at www.arnewsline.org.  You can also write to us or support 
us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 
91066. 

A reminder that the nominating period for the 2006 Amateur Radio Newsline 
Young Ham of the Year Award is now open. This award seeks to honor hams age 
18 or younger for their outstanding contributions through Amateur Radio. 
The cuttoff date for entries this year is May 30th. Full information on the 
award along with on-line and downloadable nominating forms are at the 
awards own wesite created and maintained at Web Designs by Kevin by our 
1993 recipient Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH.  Its in cyberspace at www.yhoty.org.  
Again. that's www.yhoty.org