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Hello was linked to the centennial of voice transmissions over the airwaves. In 1906 Reginald Fessenden was experimenting with voices over radio. There had been a report that he had been heard across the Atlantic, and his plan was to make a formal voice contact from Brant Rock, Massachusetts across the Atlantic to Machrihanish, Scotland. But a storm blew down the antenna at the Scottish site. Fessenden, in true ham spirit, went to "plan B." Instead of transmitting to Scotland, he used the Brant Rock station to transmit Christmas greetings to ships of the United Fruit Company. (More about this is at http://www.hello-radio.org/historyofradio.html). In 2006, hams will complete what Fessenden failed to do in 1906 and achieve Plan A with special event stations.
Please join in the fun!
Information is changing rapidly, and the latest info is being updated to www.hello-radio.org/event
There will be three primary special centennial event stations operating from 2000 GMT on Dec 29 to 2000 GMT on Dec 30. Representing the past are W100BO/W1F at Brant Rock with Steve Barreres, K2CX, as team leader. GB1FVT will be at Machrihanish with Duncan MacArthur, GM3TNT, as team leader. Representing the future will be W1AW in Newington, CT.
In addition to the site locations showing the past and future of radio, the voice modes used will also reflect both traditional and new technologies. The stations will be operating AM from the early 1900's. SSB, FM, and Echolink/IRLP will bring the voice technologies through the 1900's and into the computers of the 21st century. IRLP/Echolink will also allow those whose licenses limit them to VHF/UHF to join in the fun.
You can see the latest information posted at www.hello-radio.org/event as we will try to keep it updated as we go along.
First there was the 30 second PSA, and then there came audio PSAs for your use. Now there is a 4 minute special video - which CAN be broadcast or put on cable stations etc! Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW and a member of the ARRL's PR Committee, has completed the video - and it's good! You may need Quicktime to play mp4 files, but this is a free download and a good program to have: (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html)
The new Hello video [Windows Media, 13.5 MB]
The new Hello video [MPEG, 43 MB]
This can be shown on TV, cable, at meetings, used as a stand-alone video presentation, shared with schools and churches - all sorts of possibilities! Standard DVD copies will be available very soon by writing to hello@arrl.org. In the meantime, download it and enjoy!
Free PIO course online
This course is intended for PIOs/PICs who need to improve their skills in communicating with the public during an emergency. The Iowa Department of Public Health course focuses on writing effective news releases, public service announcements, news advisories, and preparing for and conducting news briefings and news conferences. http://tinyurl.com/ycdk8a
January
1 ARRL Straight Key Night
6 ARRL RTTY Roundup
7 ARRL RTTY Roundup
7 Kid's Day
13 North American QSO Party--CW
14 North American QSO Party--CW
20 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
20 North American QSO Party--Phone
21 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
21 North American QSO Partyâ€"Phone
27 CQ WW 160-Meter Contest
28 CQ WW 160-Meter Contest
In the past month, many people have rediscovered the music video by the Hamband. Hanging onto a tower, singing about making friends and sipping champagne is quite a feat (even if they ARE harnessed in under their clothing)!
It helps to know good people. I know Bill Pasternak, and Bill knows Andrew and Lissa of the HamBand. Put it together and Bill got us the permissions to use their video in Amateur Radio promotions!
Dear Bill,
Great to hear from you again. OF COURSE we
give our permission for you
and the ARRL to use the video AND the
CD for any purposes which
promote amateur radio. Please consider
this e-mail as a confirmation
of our permission for
this.
Both the CD and the video are still
"alive" in the sense that our
various websites
get a lot of visitors and we answer several e-mails
every
day.
The ham radio station is also on the way to being as good as it can get - the 2 element 80 metre beam goes up next week after the extra 2 Beverage antennas (so that we now have 4 directions on the LF bands).
Hope we soon can hear you on the air. Kindest regards from your old friends
Andrew and Lissa
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/03/19/2/?nc=1
www.hamband.com/html/video.html
There's a new 4 min audio interview on EmComm operations by Richard Harris, W3HP that we now have on the PIO page. This is an excellent piece and I encourage those who have websites to post it there as a way to introduce people to Amateur Radio.
As the Hello campaign heads to a climax in December, I would like you to go back and remember some of the people who have made all this possible for you. In just this one issue of CONTACT! there's
Steve Barreres, Duncan MacArthur and many, many more working on the Dec 29-30 event;
Kevin O'Dell providing you a Hello video,
Bill, Andrew and Lissa providing the HamBand music video,
Richard Harris getting us the audio presentation
Every month, there are really good people who are working hard to provide you with first class materials for free. As we go into the season of Thanksgiving, please remember these and all the volunteers who are helping you promote ham radio. The highest honor you can give them is to stay aware of PR events and USE the materials in your areas.
-Allen