In Brief... Canadian Mounties special event VE3RCMP will be on for Field Day, plus other news shorts from all over!
06/24/2014
- Canadian Mounties to Mount Special Event Station During Field Day: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Amateur Radio Group in Ottawa will operate special event station VE3RCMP during Field Day weekend, June 28-29. The group also plans to activate the call sign during the RAC Canada Day Contest on July 1. The special event commemorates the 75th anniversary of the first RCMP owned and operated radio-to-patrol-car dispatch system, commissioned in the fall of 1939, which used the call sign VY8T. During Field Day VE3RCMP will be operated by current and retired members of what is currently known as the RCMP National Radio Services Directorate, Ottawa. The VE3RCMP was last used during Field Day for the 50th anniversary of the RCMP dispatch system in 1989. — Thanks to Norm Rashleigh, VE3LC, via Radio Amateurs of Canada
- AMSAT-NA Announces 2014 Board of Directors Candidates: AMSAT-NA has announced the 2014 candidates for its Board of Directors. In alphabetical order by last name, they are Jerry Buxton, N0JY; Tom Clark, K3IO; Steve Coy, K8UD; Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; Frank Griffin, K4FEG; Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO; Lou McFadin, W5DID, and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM. In addition to the three Board seats to be filled this year, plus two alternates, there will be an additional Board seat to fill the remainder of the term of Tony Monteiro, AA2TX, who died earlier this year. The top three recipients of votes will have 2-year terms, the fourth highest vote recipient will serve for 1 year, and the fifth and sixth highest vote recipients will serve as first and second alternates, respectively. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by July 15, 2014, and must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2014, to be counted. There are approximately 3000 AMSAT members. — AMSAT
- Elettra Marconi Makes Amateur Radio Contact Between Historic Radio Sites Princess Elettra Marconi — the radio pioneer’s youngest daughter — was at the microphone on June 20 for an Amateur Radio contact between KM1CC at the Marconi Cape Cod station in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and the former Marconi Belmar Receiving Station in Wall Township, New Jersey. The contact between KM1CC and WA2GM, the club station of the Marconi Chapter 128 of the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) took place on 40 meter SSB. The Ocean-Monmouth Amateur Radio Club (OMARC) hosted the New Jersey station from its facility at the InfoAge Science History Museum Learning Center — the “Project Diana” moonbounce site, formerly known as the Marconi Wireless Belmar Receiving Station. Princess Elettra read a brief message, which the WA2GM operator, OMARC President Jeff Harshman, N2LXM, reciprocated. Also on hand were Steve Rosen, KB2PGA, of the QCWA, and OMARC members KB2RR and KA8SAF. The Ocean-Monmouth Amateur Radio Club has occupied Building 9116 on the Project Diana site since 2002. — Thanks to Jeff Harshman, N2LXM
- Past IARU Region 1 PZK Liaison Officer Wieslaw “Wes” Wysocki, SP2DX, SK: Wieslaw “Wes” Wysocki, SP2DX, of Sopot, Poland, died unexpectedly on June 15. He was 82. Wysocki was an honorary member of the PZK, Poland’s International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society. For 10 years he served as IARU Region 1 Liaison Officer for the PZK, attending many Region 1 meetings and conferences. He also was the oldest living founder of the Old Timers Club of the PZK and served for many years as vice president. Wysocki got into Amateur Radio in the mid-1940s. His father was a ham, and they operated together from the PZK, which he joined in 1947. “He was very involved in the growth and development of Amateur Radio in Poland,” said OTC President Ryszard Czerwinski, SP2IW, who called Wysocki “a seasoned CW operator” and avid contester. Wysocki helped to revive the PZK in 1956, after years of inactivity during the Stalin era. According to Czerwinski, Wysocki had 330 DXCC entities confirmed, operating with 100 W and wire antennas. “We remember him as a knowledgeable and friendly colleague,” Czerwinski said. “Wes was an icon and an example to follow for future generations of Amateur Radio enthusiasts.”
- Amateur Radio Newsline Will Not Name a 2014 Young Ham of the Year: Amateur Radio Newsline has announced that it will not name a 2014 Young Ham of the Year (YHOTY). Newsline Editor Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, told ARRL that not enough nominations were received by the May 30 deadline. “We initiated the award in 1986, so this would have been the 28th year it would have been presented,” Pasternak said. Young Ham of the Year Award Judging Committee Chair Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, said the committee's decision to defer this award this year due to the low number of nominees “does not in any way reflect on the quality of the nominees we did receive or on their nominators. It's simply the decision of the judges that more nominations and documentation would be needed to make a fair determination of the Young Ham of the Year.” Abramowicz said the committee hopes potential nominators will start thinking about whom they may want to recommend for the 2015 award. Newsline said it plans to open nominations as usual in February of 2015.
- Volunteer Examiner Recognized by Governor of Tennessee: ARRL VEC Volunteer Examiner Butch Smith, N4TK, has received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Governor of Tennessee, on behalf of the Nashville VE Team. Smith is one of the founding members of the team, which has been continuously offering Amateur Radio exams since 1986. Smith maintains the VE team website and delivers the “official opening remarks” at test sessions. — Thanks to Jiro Oi, KW6A
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