NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 23, 2003--As it does each year at its July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors has announced its list of award winners to recognize excellence, achievement or innovation in several areas. This year there was one new award--the Joe Knight Distinguished Service Award. The Board named 2002 award recipients when it met July 18-19 in Windsor, Connecticut.
The Knight Distinguished Service Award
The inaugural ARRL Knight Distinguished Service Award was given to the citation's namesake, retired New Mexico Section Manager Joe Knight, W5PDY. Knight, who stepped down July 2, served as New Mexico's SM for 27 years and is one of only a few Field Organization volunteers to have served as an SM for more than 20 years. The Board created the Knight Distinguished Service Award during its July meeting to recognize "exceptionally notable contributions" by an SM to the League's "health and vitality."
ARRL Field and Public Service Team Supervisor Steve Ewald, WV1X, said Knight has provided a fount of valuable experience that he was happy to share with others. "For several years, Joe helped with the ARRL Section Manager's Workshop for new SMs," Ewald said. "Through his participation at the workshops, he lent valuable insight into managing Amateur Radio programs at the section level from his deep perspective and vast experience."
Knight guided a New Mexico section that is high on public service and emergency preparedness, helping to maintain the WA5IHL Megalink Repeater System and advocating for Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) and SKYWARN ties into the system. The WA5IHL Megalink allows a ham with an FM handheld radio to communicate anywhere in the state. In addition, Knight oversaw many HF nets and tirelessly promoted the ARRL Field Organization and the League, helping to create a cadre of knowledgeable and enthused volunteers in New Mexico.
The Hiram Percy Maxim Award
Eighteen-year-old Ben Schupack, NW7DX of Sammamish, Washington is the winner of the 2002 ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award. The HPM Award recognizes an exceptional ham under age 21. An avid CW operator, Schupack won first place in the 2001 World Wide WPX Contest in the low-power category, copying CW at speeds near 45 wpm. He also has assisted his father in studying for an Amateur Radio license and has gotten his sister and a friend interested in ham radio as well.
An Extra class licensee and ARRL member, Schupack is the Northwest Division manager for the League of Young Radio Amateurs (LYRA). He belongs to several Western Washington radio clubs. He enjoys QRP radio construction and recently designed an HF bicycle mobile station. Accomplished at euphonium, trombone and piano, Schupack was accepted into the United States National Honor Band and the Washington All-State Honor Band. He is also involved with running and community service work.
In May, Schupack became the first recipient of the William R. Goldfarb Memorial Scholarship. He will attend Whitman College this fall and plans to major in chemistry on his way to a career in dentistry.
As the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award winner, Schupack will receive a cash award of $1500 and an engraved plaque.
2002 ARRL Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year Award.
Edmund Weiss, W1NXC, of Ashland, Massachusetts, has been chosen to receive the 2002 ARRL Herb S. Brier (W9AD) Instructor of the Year Award. The award, named for the late, long-time CQ Novice column editor, honors an individual who represents the spirit of Brier's effective and caring Amateur Radio instruction. The Lake County Amateur Radio Club of Crown Point, Indiana, cosponsors the award.
After years of teaching CW and several license classes, Weiss is now the director of training for the Framingham Amateur Radio Association. In 1995 he organized and held a "License-in-a-Weekend" class for prospective Technician licensees. Students attended Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday until 2 PM when the examinations were administered. More recently, he's conducted similar "crash courses" for Advanced, Extra, and General upgraders.
Prior to teaching ham radio, Weiss taught elementary and high school. "What was especially challenging in teaching Amateur Radio was the wide age divergence," Weiss said. "During my earlier Novice classes students ranged from 9 to 80. The teaching style had to be adjusted to compensate for this difference in not only learning ability but also of attitude."
Past students credit Weiss's "positive attitude," "dedication to the hobby" and "upbeat, attentive and encouraging style."
"He is a gem and a wonderful ham!" one former student exclaimed.
As the 2002 winner of the Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year Award, Weiss will receive an engraved plaque.
Professional Educator of the Year Award
Bruce Watson, AA3LX, of Butler, Pennsylvania, is the 2002 ARRL Professional Educator of the Year. This award goes to a teacher who uses Amateur Radio within the curriculum. The Lambda Amateur Radio Club of Philadelphia is the award cosponsor.
A seventh-grade science teacher at Mars Area Middle School, Watson "actively involves students in hands-on activities and incorporates many activities in interdisciplinary units," said the school's principal, Richard Cornell.
Watson has used Amateur Radio in his curriculum for about nine years. At school, he's incorporated SKYWARN information during his class's weather studies. He also started a "lend-a-radio" program at his local club to temporarily provide new hams with equipment to get on the air.
Currently, Watson is designing a presentation showing the positive effects of teaching and using Amateur Radio in the classroom. This will include US and Pennsylvania standards for science, communications, foreign languages, geography and math.
Watson will receive an engraved plaque.
Excellence in Recruiting Award
Joseph Giraudo, N7JEH, of Elko, Nevada, is the recipient of the 2002 ARRL Excellence in Recruiting Award. The award, cosponsored by the Carson Valley Radio Club of Minden, Nevada, is presented to an Amateur Radio operator for outstanding volunteer work in recruiting newcomers to Amateur Radio.
"Joe has done more to recruit new hams and ARRL members in Eastern Nevada than anyone else," said ARRL Nevada Section Manager Dick Flanagan, W6OLD. "From installing highway signs, publishing newsletters, working with the Boy Scouts, setting up public displays, arranging for PSAs and newspaper coverage, Joe does it all."
A member of the Elko Amateur Radio Club, Giraudo edits his club's newsletter and is active at many public service events. He also promotes the value of Amateur Radio while teaching Red Cross Disaster Classes and participating in the annual Scouting Jamboree On The Air (JOTA).
The Excellence in Recruiting Award winner receives a $100 ARRL gift certificate and an engraved plaque.
The Doug DeMaw, W1FB, Technical Excellence Award
Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG, of Austin, Texas, is the recipient of the 2002 Doug DeMaw, W1FB, Technical Excellence Award. Youngblood was recognized for his groundbreaking articles, "A Software-Defined Radio for the Masses," in the July/August and September/October 2002 issues of QEX. The articles describe the development of the SDR-1000, one of the first multimode software-defined transceivers with HF capability.
First licensed in 1967, Youngblood returned to active hamming in 1997 after upgrading to Amateur Extra. Youngblood is a member of the ARRL SDR Working Group and currently enjoys software radio development, 6-meter DXing and satellite operation.
Now the CEO of Sixth Market Inc, a hedge fund that trades equities using artificial intelligence software, Youngblood founded FlexRadio Systems in April to market software-defined radio products to the Amateur Radio market. Youngblood previously founded and ran five technology companies spanning hardware, software and electronic manufacturing.
The DeMaw Award consists of an engraved nine-inch pewter cup.
The Technical Innovation Award
Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, is the winner of the ARRL 2002 Technical Innovation Award. Taylor is the developer of the EchoLink voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) Amateur Radio repeater linking system. EchoLink boasts more than 94,000 registered users in 136 countries. Registration is free, and 1500 stations typically are on-line enjoying 300 QSOs at the same time.
Taylor built EchoLink from the ground up, including the VoIP, digital mixing, user interface and Web server facets. The optimized software runs on any soundcard-equipped, Windows-based computer with dial-up Internet access.
EchoLink has proven its value in public service and emergency communication applications by allowing repeaters not within range of each other to link in an ad-hoc network. EchoLink also allows hams unable to erect outdoor antennas to still make station-to-station contacts worldwide with other amateurs. A handheld FM rig within range of a linked repeater is all that's required. The system also will link computers.
The ARRL Technical Innovation Award carries a cash award of $500 and an engraved plaque.
The Technical Service Award
Wade D. "Danny" Hampton Jr, K4ITL, of Raleigh, North Carolina is the recipient of the ARRL 2002 Technical Service Award. Hampton is the architect of the Piedmont Coastal Repeater Network, established in the early 1970s. Today the network sports more than 40 machines in North Carolina.
The system is heavily used for public service work. Hampton has enhanced the network's utility with custom audio processing boards and RF components. The North Carolina Office of Emergency Management and SKYWARN have recognized the network's vital role in emergency communication. Recently, Hampton helped coordinate the development of a local hospital-based Amateur Radio emergency repeater system that ties 10 facilities together.
A ham since 1958, Hampton is SouthEastern Repeater Association (SERA) technical committee chairman as well as ARRL North Carolina Section Technical Coordinator. "Danny's extensive knowledge of the two-way and broadcast radio industries in this state have enabled him to assist many repeater owners," said North Carolina SM John Covington, W4CC. "His advice in resolving RFI problems between repeater and commercial services, and other technical matters, has been extremely valuable to the Section."
The winner of the Technical Service Award receives a $100 ARRL gift certificate and an engraved plaque.
The Microwave Development Award
Barry Malowanchuk, VE4MA, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the winner of the ARRL 2002 Microwave Development Award. The award recognizes his many contributions to microwave equipment design and development. On August 18, 2001, after several years of hard work, Malowanchuk and Al Ward, W5LUA, completed the world's first 24-GHz Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) contact (see "The Journey to EME on 24 GHz," Oct 2002 QST).
Notable among his technical achievements, Malowanchuk developed the VE4MA Feedhorn, which, when coupled to a standard TVRO satellite dish, allows good efficiencies from 1.2 to 47 GHz. He has also made contributions in the field of preamplifiers and high-power amps for 1.3, 2.3 and 3.3 GHz. Malowanchuk and Ward are currently working on completing an EME contact at 47 GHz.
Above all of his technical achievements, Malowanchuk said he cherishes his work in EME. "What really impressed me about this aspect of the hobby were the close relationships formed with so many people with similar interests all over the world," he said. First licensed in 1962, Malowanchuk has a longstanding interest in VHF-and-higher operating. His first EME contact was made on 423 MHz in 1975.
The Microwave Development Award recipient receives a $100 ARRL gift certificate and an engraved plaque.
The Lifetime Achievement Award
At the recommendation of the ARRL Public Relations Committee, the Board granted a Lifetime Achievement Award to well-known DXer and filmmaker Dave Bell, W6AQ, of Hollywood, California, citing his many significant contributions to the ARRL, including his recent work as director on the Amateur Radio Today CD-ROM presentation, released earlier this year, and his production on the ARRL films The Ham's Wide World, Moving up to Amateur Radio, The New World of Amateur Radio and Ham Radio Olympics. He made his first film for the League, This is Ham Radio, in 1970.
Bell has also produced a number of television shows, documentaries and TV movies, including LAPD--Life on the Beat, and he originated the series Unsolved Mysteries. He served as executive producer on the 1985 feature film The Long Walk Home and produced the 2002 Danny Glover-directed film Just a Dream.
An Emmy and Peabody award winner, Bell has
also served the League as chairman of the Public Relations Committee and has
written many articles in support of Amateur Radio. Licensed since 1951, he has
operated from many exciting DX locales and had the opportunity to work with
hams such as King Hussein of Jordan, JY1 (SK), and Sen Barry Goldwater, K7UGA
(SK).--Jean
Wolfgang, WB3IOS; Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and Dave Hassler, K7CCC
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