The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) -- host of the Dayton Hamvention® -- has announced the winners of its four annual awards for 2013: the Amateur of the Year, the Technical Excellence Award, the Special Achievement Award and the Amateur Radio Club of the Year. These recipients will be honored at Hamvention in May. Each year, DARA invites the amateur community to nominate hams who have made significant contributions to the Amateur Radio Service.

Amateur of the Year
Mustapha Landoulsi, DL1BDF, was named the Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year for 2013. Landoulsi -- for many years a fixture at the DARC table at Hamvention -- has been instrumental in promoting Amateur Radio all over the world. Fluent in Arabic, French, German and English, Landoulsi has worked tirelessly to bring radio amateurs together in the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world. He established six Amateur Radio stations in Tunisia and continues to help re-establish them after the Arab Spring, the pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa that began in December 2010. As a pilot for Lufthansa Airlines, Landoulsi has organized the delivery of emergency medical equipment and medicine to African countries. The Amateur of the Year Award is given to an well-rounded radio amateur who has contributed to and made a long term commitment to the advancement of Amateur Radio.

The Technical Excellence Award
DARA named two radio amateurs -- Dave Witten, KD0EAG, and David Rowe, VK5DGR -- as the recipients of its 2013 Technical Excellence Award. Recognized for their FreeDV software -- a GUI application for Windows and Linux systems that allow any SSB radio to be used for low bit rate digital voice -- Witten and Rowe developed FreeDV using open source Codec2 software. The Technical Excellence Award is given to an amateur or amateurs who have made an outstanding technical advancement in the field of Amateur Radio.

The Special Achievement Award
George Thomas, W5JDX, was named the winner of the 2013 Special Achievement Award for his work on Amateur Logic TV and Ham Nation, both Internet-only broadcasts featuring Amateur Radio. Thomas -- who co-founded Amateur Logic TV in August 2005 – serves as the show’s producer and co-host. He has produced the “Smoke and Solder” segment on Ham Nation for more than 80 episodes. The Special Achievement Award is given to an amateur or amateurs who have made an outstanding contribution, usually spearheading a single, significant project, to the advancement of Amateur Radio.

Amateur Radio Club of the Year
The West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group in West Palm Beach, Florida was named the 2013 Amateur Radio Club of the Year. The club was selected based on its contribution in mitigating the effects of disaster situations, support of public service events, Amateur Radio education and recruitment, youth programs, years of service and number of members. The selection committee noted the club’s work with the South Florida Science Museum, youth recruitment, ARISS participation in the ARISS program and training classes.

The 2013 Dayton Hamvention is scheduled for May 17-19 at Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio, located just outside Dayton.