The Dayton Hamvention® Awards Committee has announced the recipients of the 2012 Hamvention’s four annual awards. QST Technical Editor Joel Hallas, W1ZR, was named the winner of the Technical Achievement Award. The recipient of the Amateur of the Year is S. Suri, VU2MY. Steven Betza, WZ2V, was selected as the recipient of the Special Achievement Award. The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club -- Germany’s IARU Member-Society -- was selected as the Club of the Year.

Technical Achievement Award

Technical Achievement Award winner Joel Hallas, W1ZR, is perhaps best known for his monthly QST column, “The Doctor Is In.” According to the Awards Committee, this lively column “answers many of the basic and not-so-basic technical questions of ham radio. Joel answers these questions in an easy-to-read format that has a low ‘intimidation factor.’ Many amateurs worldwide appreciate his help.”

“I am deeply honored to have been selected to receive this year’s Hamvention Technical Achievement Award for my writing efforts at the ARRL,” Hallas said. “Since I’ve been a licensed ham since I was 13, I can truly say that Amateur Radio has shaped the direction for both my personal and professional lives. I feel an obligation to provide a helping hand to those who come after me so that they have the opportunity to appreciate the same rewards that I have obtained. My ARRL writing assignments provide my most recent outlet for this objective.”

Hallas is the author of Basic Radio, Basic Antennas, The ARRL Guide to Antenna Tuners and ARRL’s Hamspeak: A Dictionary for Radio Amateurs, as well as the soon-to-be-published Care and Feeding of Transmission Lines and Understanding and Using Your Antenna Analyzer. “Joel has garnered many technical awards and remains one of the top technical authors in our avocation,” the Awards Committee noted. Hallas has written more than 150 articles for QST in his tenure at the ARRL. The Technical Achievement Award is given to a radio amateur who has made an outstanding technical advancement in the field of Amateur Radio.

Amateur of the Year

In selecting S. Suri, VU2MY, as the Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year, the Awards Committee said he was “instrumental in establishing the art and science of Amateur Radio in India, as well as leading that country’s effort to establish the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR). Suri has also lead search-and-rescue and recovery efforts in many natural emergency events throughout India and elsewhere." The Amateur of the Year Award is given to a radio amateur who has made a long-term commitment to the advancement of Amateur Radio and who has contributed to the hobby in some outstanding way.

Special Achievement Award

Steven Betza, WZ2V, of Endicott, New York, was named the recipient of the Special Achievement Award for 2012. Betza, an ARRL Member, enjoys teaching a wide range of students through live experiments and missions. “Through a project called Blue Horizon, he caused the licensing of 38 new hams, set the world record for the highest amateur balloon vehicle (125,000 feet above ground level) and demonstrated many technical feats relating to the flight,” the committee noted. “Steve has contributed in a major way to college and high school education programs in electronics engineering.” The Special Achievement Award is given to a radio amateur who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Amateur Radio, spearheading a single significant project.

Club of the Year Award

The Annual Club Award goes to Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC). “DARC has organized the country of Germany into one unified national radio organization,” the Awards Committee explained. “It can be compared to the ARRL in the United States. DARC provides educational and technical support for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. Prior to formal regulations in Germany, DARC provided guidance in terms of frequency and power. DARC plays a major role in training and licensing and is well respected throughout the European Union.”

The 2012 Dayton Hamvention is scheduled for May 18-20 at Hara Arena, located just outside Dayton in the town of Trotwood, Ohio.