Good morning, folks! Hope you’re having a great day! I need to share several things of interest with you today. Let’s hit the ground running….

 Kentucky QSO Party

 The Kentucky QSO Party will be held on Saturday, June 3, 2023, from 0900 to 2100 EDT or 0800 to 2000 CDT. I really hope that you’ll plan to participate. In particular, I encourage club stations to get on the air and participate. The QSO Party is a great prep opportunity for Field Day. Clubs can get their equipment and generators out and make sure they’re ready to go for the last weekend in June by participating in the Kentucky QSO Party. You can find all the details at https://kyqsoparty.org/ Take a look at the site and plan to participate! I’d love to see contacts from all 120 Kentucky counties for this event. And a special thanks to the Kentucky Contest Group for making this event happen.

 Lewis and Clark Trail on the Air (LCTOTA)

LCTOTA will be held from 0000 UTC June 3, 2023, through 2400 UTC June 18, 2023. The goal of this operating event is to attempt to contact at least one club station in each of the sixteen (16) states through which the Trail passes, Kentucky has two (2) club stations participating: Amateur Radio Transmitting Society in Louisville; and Bullitt Amateur radio Society in Shelbyville. Additional information about this event can be found at:   https://lctota.org/

Field Day

The annual ham radio mega-event, Field Day, will be held June 24-25, 2023. I consider this to be the ultimate ham radio operating event of the year. Not only does it give operators the opportunity to sharpen their operating skills and make contacts across the country and around the world, but it gives us the opportunity to showcase our capabilities to the public. I hope that club PIOs will make sure that local media sources have the information needed to get the word out to the public to stop by and visit. Also, this is a great opportunity to come together and fellowship while at the same time, enjoying our hobby. Everything you want to know about Field Day can be found at:  http://www.arrl.org/field-day

These are all excellent operating opportunities. I hope to catch you on the air!

Membership – Please Don’t Skip This Section

 Now, let’s talk about membership. One of my primary goals as Section Manager has been to increase League membership in the Kentucky Section. So far, I’ve failed miserably. Not only have I failed to generate an increase, the Kentucky Section has actually seen a slight decrease in League membership since I took office in January. Why is League membership important to me and why should it be important to you? The League protects our spectrum. If for no other reason, we should support the League’s daily efforts to protect our spectrum. The amateur community has no idea how much the amateur radio spectrum would generate in revenue for the FCC if it were taken away and put up for sale in a spectrum auction. The process of protecting our spectrum is no small feat. It requires daily monitoring of every bureau action at the FCC, daily monitoring of Legislative Committee Agendas on the Hill, and having legal staff ready to respond to any action posted for public response by the FCC or other government entity. I’ve personally worked on the legislative processes at the local, state, and federal levels. I know what a daunting task it can be, and the amount of money that is required to support legislative efforts. If for no other reason, we should support the League so they can work to protect our spectrum. Without it, our hobby would become silent. But if spectrum protection isn’t enough, look at all the other things the League does for the amateur community:

 ·          The League produces high quality, professionally published periodicals that are full of information relevant to new operators, long-term operators, contesters, hobbyists, EMCOMM and public safety enthusiasts alike. I would challenge you to find some component of the hobby that isn’t addressed in a least one of the periodicals published by the League during a publication cycle. The cost of the annual membership is worth receiving one of the periodicals.

 ·         The League maintains a store full of amateur related texts, supplies and gifts that aren’t available anywhere else. The products are high-quality, and texts are written by credentialed authors that have experience in the subject matter about which they are writing. Compare the costs of items available in the ARRL Store against those found in the open market and you’ll see that they are a bargain.

 ·         The League maintains a full compliment of staff that support the amateur radio community across the nation. The Affiliated Club Program, ARES, ARRL Training programs, Awards programs such as WAS and DXCC, sanctioned ARRL Hamfest support and many other missions are carried out daily by Headquarters Staff. Yes, Division and Section staff are all volunteers, but we couldn’t carry out our mission without the support of Headquarters staffers. Your membership helps provide that staff.

 The list of things done by ARRL Headquarters just goes on and on. I have created an initiative called “Be 1, Get 1”. This initiative challenges current League members to keep their membership current (Be 1) and to go recruit one new member or be the force that causes an old member to reactivate their expired membership (Get 1) to help increase our numbers. The Kentucky Section currently has just over 1,600 League members. Let’s get out there and ask a fellow ham to join up and join in. Let’s work together to get our numbers up!

 Hamfest

 ·         Hazard Hamfest

DAV#64, 165 Industry Drive, Hazard, Kentucky

 Date: 10-28-23  Time: 0800-1100 EDT (Setup at 0700)

·         If you have a Hamfest or Tailgating Event, email me!

Section Appointments and Reorganization

Several of you have asked about how the Section would be organized and about Section appointments to a position with my team. Let me share where I’m currently at on these issues. I will be filling the following positions at the Section level.

·         Section Emergency Coordinator

·         State Government Liaison

·         Traffic Manager

·         Assistant Traffic Manager

·         Youth Coordinator

·         Technical Coordinator (Multiple)

·         Affiliated Club Coordinator 

At present, the Kentucky Section consists of ten (10) districts. The Section will soon consist of five (5) districts. Each district will be comprised of one or more Kentucky Emergency Management Area Offices. At a minimum, I will be attempting to fill the following positions in each district.

·         Assistant Section Manager

·         District Emergency Coordinator

·         District Public Information Officer

·         District Government Liaison

·         District Youth Coordinator

Within each county, I will be looking to make the following appointments.

·         Emergency Coordinator

·         Local Government Liaison

·         Public Information Officer

·         Official Emergency Station (Multiple)

·         Official Relay Station (Multiple)

If I were to be able to fill all the listed positions, six hundred and thirty-two (632) individuals would be needed if, there were no duplications. Without additional member recruitment, it is highly unlikely that we would be able to fill all the positions listed – even with duplications.

Early in my tenure, I sent multiple emails to all current section appointees inquiring about their interest in continuing to serve. Some individuals that held positions under Steve Morgan’s administration have chosen to stay on with my administration; some did not, and some chose not to respond to my emails. Since my appointment, I have had some individuals contact me and indicate an interest in positions within the sectional organizational structure. I will soon begin sending out emails to individuals confirming their continuing appointment and begin making some new appointments to fill vacant positions at the Section, District, and County levels. I will also soon have a revised map that outlines the counties included in the five (5) districts. If you are not presently serving in a position and are interested in dong so, please drop me an email and let me know. If you choose to do so, there are a couple of things you should know. First, all county positions will have to be vetted by the President of the local amateur radio club (if one exists) prior to appointment. If you are interested in a county appointment, please coordinate your plans with the local club leadership. Second, if you are applying for a position at the Section or District level, I ay require you to provide me with a current background check through the Administrative Office of the Courts. As an organization, we must maintain our integrity and credibility with the communities we serve. We work with youth through Scouts and school-based amateur radio clubs. As an organization, we need to make certain that individuals that are placed in leadership positions are reputable and trustworthy.

Hamvention

Dayton is coming up soon. If you’re going to be at Hamvention, I hope you’ll stop by the League and Great Lake Division booths and visit with the leadership. I’ll be around trying to assist in both booths on Friday and Saturday. Please seek me out and introduce yourself if you’re visiting.

And That’s a Wrap!

 I know this has been an unusually long post but there was just a lot of information that needed to be shared. Remember, my email and phone number are on the section page, https://www.arrl.org/sections/view/kentucky, if you have a need to contact me. I will also post this article to the Section page for future reference. Thanks for being a member and a part of the Kentucky Section!

Hi Folks!

ALERT!!! Elizabethtown has resurrected their hamfest following the pandemic. It will be held on April 1^st, at the State Fire Training Center, 630 College Street Rd. Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  The doors will open at 0800 hours EDT, and admission tickets are $10.00, door prize tickets are 6 for $5.00, and tables are $7.00. I know it’s short notice, but I hope you’ll plan on joining me for this hamfest. 

The Cave City Hamfest is in the books. As always, it was well coordinated and executed by the Mammoth Cave Amateur Radio Club Hamfest Committee. Thanks to that group for all the work they put in to make it happen. The 2024 dates are already set, and the facility is reserved – March 2, 2024. Be sure to put that date on your calendar We had a very good ARRL Forum during Cave City. It was well attended and we had open discussion on a variety of subjects. It was an honor to have Dale Williams and Scott Yonally, our Division Director and Vice Director, at the Hamfest and to have them join us for the Forum. A special thanks to them for taking the time to come and join us.

Affiliated Clubs – Be sure to take advantage of the membership commission program. Yep – you heard me right! Your club can get a commission for new and renewal memberships for club members. Information can be found here: http://www.arrl.org/affiliated-club-benefits or contact our Affiliated Club Coordinator, Steve Morgan or myself for assistance. Collectively, it can add some cash to the club account.

Lots of thigs on the horizon: Dayton Hamvention, the Kentucky QSO Party, Field Day, and more. Tons of amateur radio related activities are going on. Hope you can plan to participate in some of what’s going on.  And I hope you’ve had time to participate in Volunteers on the Air (VOTA) operating event. Keep making those contacts and racking up those points. Kentucky’s next VOTA week begins August 2, 2023. Hope you’ll look at your schedule and help push out our W1AW/4 call for our next VOTA outing.

I appreciate all that you do to promote the good name of amateur radio in the Section. Keep up the great work!

73,

Charlie, KE4AIE