As a warning to rulebreakers, Riley Hollingsworth wields the dreaded Wouff Hong and Rettysnitch during a visit to ARRL Headquarters.[photo by Rick Lindquist, N1RL].
December 9, 1999
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As a warning to rulebreakers, Riley Hollingsworth wields the dreaded Wouff Hong and Rettysnitch during a visit to ARRL Headquarters.[photo by Rick Lindquist, N1RL]. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 9, 1999--FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, will be the keynote speaker at the 2000 Dayton Hamvention banquet on Saturday, May 20. For the first time ever, the Dayton Hamvention will host the ARRL National Convention, and Hamvention 2000 promises to be the biggest and best ever.
Hollingsworth already is well known to the amateur community, and his appearances at last year's Hamvention drew large and enthusiastic audiences. He says he's pleased to be invited back to Dayton and honored to be the banquet speaker for Hamvention 2000.
In the fall of 1998, Hollingsworth--who's headquartered at the FCC's Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, office--spearheaded an Amateur Radio enforcement initiative that reversed a long period of Commission inattention and apathy. Hams across the US have credited Hollingsworth with helping to reduce malicious interference and other problem behavior, both on and off the air. The result has been a marked upswing in morale within the amateur community.
Hollingsworth says his message is a simple one. "Our communications services in America, whether our telephone system or our computer networks, are the envy of the rest of the world," he said. "Our Amateur Radio Service should be, too. There's no reason why our Amateur Radio Service can't be the finest radio service in the world."
A native of South Carolina and a ham for 39 years, Hollingsworth holds an Advanced class ticket. He's a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Wake Forest University Law School--where he was the president of the Student Bar.
He sports an activist background. While in law school, Hollingsworth was a "Nader's Raider" in Ralph Nader's Center for the Study of Responsive Law, investigating industry response to brown lung disease among textile workers in the Carolinas.
Now an FCC veteran, Hollingsworth, 53, previously served in several prominent positions within the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. In 1987, he managed the FCC 800-MHz Lottery Task Force, in which new 800-MHz spectrum was assigned in 13 cities. He also organized the FCC program to recover underutilized radio channels for reassignment--a program that withstood three US Court of Appeals challenges. From 1989 to 1994, he served as deputy chief of FCC Private Radio Licensing and later was assistant bureau chief in the WTB.
In 1992, Hollingsworth was a member of a US Department of State delegation to Romania to discuss radio licensing in the US and opening markets to US manufacturers. In 1994, he co-chaired an FCC task force on PCS broadband and narrowband licensing.
Hollingsworth joined the former Compliance and Information Bureau as Legal Advisor for Enforcement in 1998. As a result of the FCC reorganization in November, Hollingsworth became Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement within the FCC's new Enforcement Bureau.
In addition to his enforcement duties--which include the Land Mobile Service in addition to Amateur Service--Hollingsworth has been temporarily detailed to the new FCC Consumer Information Bureau to manage the Gettysburg Consumer Center. He also once served on the FCC Customer Service Task Force.
A member of the ARRL, Hollingsworth also belongs to the Quarter Century Wireless Association and the Radio Club of America.
Riley Hollingsworth checks out some vintage Hallicrafters items in the Dayton Hamvention flea market during the 1999 event. [photo by Rick Lindquist, N1RL]. |
Hollingsworth enjoys collecting vintage Amateur Radio equipment and has set up several older transmitter-receiver combinations at his home along with his modern gear.
Dayton Hamvention will take place May 19-21, 2000. As part of the banquet festivities, the sponsoring Dayton Amateur Radio Association will present awards for Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year, Technical Excellence and Special Achievement.
Because it's also the League's national convention, Dayton Hamvention 2000 will include an expanded list of forums. Tentatively on the schedule are a Space and Educational Forum conducted by ARRL Field and Educational Services Manager Rosalie White, WA1STO; a 2020 Vision forum conducted by ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ; an ARRL Technical Forum; a convocation for section managers hosted by White and Ohio Section Manager Joe Phillips, K8QOE. Other forums include Public Service and the traditional ARRL Forum conducted by League officers and directors.
Dayton Hamvention Main Arena. [photo by Rick Lindquist, N1RL]. |
Advanced registration now is available. Call 937-276-6930 or e-mail tickets@hamvention.org. Just in time for Christmas, Dayton Hamvention has been offering Hamvention 2000 ticket gift acknowledgements for those wishing to purchase advance tickets for friends and family members.
For more information on Dayton Hamvention 2000, visit http://www.hamvention.org, e-mail info@hamvention.org or call 937-276-6930 weekdays 10 AM-5 PM.
Make plans now to be a part of Amateur Radio history!
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