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Between the Federal Register printing by the FCC that Morse code will no longer be required for Amateur Radio licensing, to the February 23 date when the rules take effect, are 30 days to get the word out to both hams and non-hams alike of the changes. This also includes the new privileges for Technician class licensees on the HF bands. The ARRL HQ immediately launched a "Code Blitz" for this window of opportunity. Many materials are posted on www.arrl.org/pio for use in proclaiming the changes. If you have not gone there, please do!
In addition, many clubs are holding "Last Code Test" events on the night of Feb. 22-23 as well as special VE sessions throughout the weekend. These are good opportunities for media coverage in your local areas!
Some test session stats:
The ARRL VEC normally averages 5,500 test sessions per year.
4,314 test sessionshave already been registered for 2007.
Hundreds more pour in every week!
... And Feb 23rd is still to come!
"RJ" Harris, W3HP, is the winner of the 2006 Bill Leonard Award for professional coverage of Amateur Radio in 2006. RJ, as he prefers to be known, is the Operations Manager of the Clear Channel AM properties in Harrisburg, PA and morning show host on WHP -580. His station is Arbitron ranked #1 in Harrisburg, Lebanon, Lancaster, York, and Carlisle, PA. With about 148,000 listeners according to the fall 2006 Arbitron report.
"It is a true honor to receive such a prestigious award. Amateur Radio has been an important part of my life for nearly 40 years and a catalyst for my career as a professional broadcaster. I'm blessed to be able to highlight the fine work of a great group of Americans, radio amateurs. Hams truly are our country's stealth first responders."
Harris will use a portion of his $500 cash award to purchase a new 2-meter transceiver to be used as a prize for an essay contest for students at Trinity High School's Amateur Club (KB3JAG.) The club has been responsible for helping well over 50 young hams earn their licenses. One lucky ham will win his first radio.
In addition to being the station Operations Manager, RJ is a member of the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club - K3IEC, Harrisburg Radio Amateur Club - W3UU, Central Pennsylvania Repeater Association - W3ND, and South Mountain Repeater Association - N3TWT.
A persistent promoter of Amateur Radio on the air, you can hear one of RJ's 4 minute interviews on emergency operations at: audio interview or go to www.arrl.org/pio/W3HP-audio-ARRL.mp3
The ARRL's national Public Relations Committee is a group appointed annually at the Board of Directors meeting in January. The committee aids and advises the Media & PR Manager in planning and executing public relations activities for the ARRL as well as often holding activities in their own home areas. The members of the committee for 2007 are:
Sherri Brower, W4STB--Chairman
Vero Beach, FL 32968
w4stb@yahoo.com
Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF--Liaison
Ridgewood, NJ 07450-2918
Ka2anf@arrl.org
Allen Pitts, W1AGP--Staff Liaison
Newington, CT 06111
apitts@arrl.org
Rich Moseson, W2VU
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com
Jim McDonald, KB9LEI
Muncie, IN 47304
kb9lei@arrl.net
Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO
Philadelphia, PA 19136
wa3pzo@verizon.net
Bill Morine, N2COP
Wilmington, NC 28409
n2cop@ec.rr.com
Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW
Ardmore, OK 73401
N0irw@arrl.net
Gordon West, WB6NOA
COSTA MESA, CA 92626
SWMEOW@aol.com
Kids love codes, and even if the FCC is dropping the code requirements, the use of Morse and other codes will not disappear! Here's a government website for kids who like to play with code! (It's also for those of us who are "still a kid" inside.)
http://www.nsa.gov/kids/home.cfm
In the past months, there have been times when people on the PR reflector wished to have a place to passionately discuss and debate ideas. The PR reflector is not the right place for that use as it has developed into a resource for news and media people. This development is a good thing, and we lose them if the reflector floods their email boxes with threads and comments that are not new information. At the same time, we understand the desire to bash ideas and impressions against the experiences of others in the field.
There is a very new web forumfor EmCommat www.emcommforum.org and ithas adiscussiongroup specifically for PIOs discussions on dealing with the press and media. Maybe some of those interested in postings that would be considered off-topic or generic chatterhere may want to use it for those discussions. Forums are a better format for those discussions because there is no flooding of anyone's E-mail inbox and no one is forced to sort through them unless they wish to do so.
The Sacramento Bee reported on a high school student's tale of the federal government's questioning of him because he asked for a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's "Little Red Book" through the library loan program. He was writing for a paper on communism.
Well, it seems the student was lying about his encounter with federal agents. It never happened. To make matters worse, another local paper had published an article showing this was a total hoax earlier that week before the Bee had gone to print.
Another example is more recent; the early report that 12 miners had survived the coal fire that trapped them under in a West Virginia mine was quickly told and retold nationally by many reporters on TV and in print. Hopes were raised and there was joy for the families. But that too was false.
What does this mean for PIOs? In reporters' rush to get out the story, it's your job to be timely AND correct, not first but incorrect. It is perfectly acceptable to say the following: "I don't know. Let me check on that and I will call you by ____."
Recently there was the story of the sailor "saved" by a California ham. But there was no solid information for two days. Despite attempts to confirm information, parts of the initial story just did not fit. Thankfully, most folks waited until there was clear information. Some of the initial story checked out, and some did not.
In the pressure of an interview, when your head is going a mile-a-minute, it is easy to get caught up and say something which sounds right, but is not correct. Slow down. Your value as a source of good, solid, correct information will lead to many more press contacts faster than any "seat of the pants" response.
Larry Wolfgang, WR1B says:
These are a couple of those questions that seem to return every time someone thinks they have "set a record" (or someone they know has). Going back to early editions of Tune in the World with Ham Radio, and then Now You're Talking!, there were stories of the supposed youngest ham.
The earliest story I've ever found was Guy Mitchell, WD0DVX, who passed his 5 wpm code test at 4 years old. He turned 5 by the time he passed the theory test, though. The story was that he started kindergarten 6 months after passing his Novice code exam!
Later, I'm sure there was a story about someone who earned a license at 4, but I don't have the details handy. Five-year old Novices, and then Technicians became so common they didn't seem like a story anymore. Nine and 11 year old Extras may not be common, but there have been a few.
We also had some stories about elderly hams in Now You're Talking! Bill Bliss, KD6AHF earned his Novice license 3 weeks before his 82nd birthday. (He still shows up in the FCC database.) After including that story in NYT, we heard from Herb Kline, KB2QGD, (now SK, I believe) who passed his Novice exam just before his 83rd birthday. They may well be two of the oldest people to get their first ham license.
The oldest active ham we know about was more than 100 at the time.
One of the more common questions we get is, "How many hams are there in _____"
That can be a time consuming question, but now there are two websites to aid you in the answer process.
http://hams.mapmash.com/hammap.php is good for information on the state to local scene
http://www.ah0a.org/AH0A.html is good for national and international statistics