CQ Amateur Radio February 2023

FEBRUARY ORLANDO, FLORIDA — The Orlando Amateur Radio Club will hold HamCation 2023 and the 2023 ARRL Southeastern Division Convention from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, February 10; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, February 11; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday, February 12 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park, 4603 West Colonial Drive. Phone: (407) 841-0874. Email: <info@hamcation.com>. Website: <www.hamcation.com>. VE exams, special event station K1AA. DANVILLE, INDIANA — The Hendricks County Amateur Radio Society will hold the Hendricks County Hamfest 2023 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, February 11 at the Hendricks County 4-H Fair Grounds Conference Center, 1900 E. Main Street. Website: <http://n9hc.org>. FAYETTEVILLE, OHIO — The Olivia Digital DXers Club will hold the first ever Ovilia Digital Mode Weekend QSO Party will be held…

Two Ham Radio Bills Introduced in Congress Two bills aimed at helping hams were introduced in the waning days of the 117th Congress. The ARRL reported that H.R. 9670, introduced by Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson, would pre-empt most antenna restrictions imposed by homeowners’ associations, and H.R. 9664, introduced by Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko, would instruct the FCC to replace symbol rate limits in HF amateur radio communications with bandwidth limits, a topic on which the ARRL has had a rulemaking request pending for several years without Commission action. HOA antenna restrictions, of course, have been the subject of ARRL lobbying efforts over several decades. As both bills were introduced in the final days of the 2021-22 Congressional session, they died without action at the end of the year. At press time in…

Do we really talk to each other on the radio anymore? As in having real conversations with our fellow hams? Making friends over the airwaves? Ragchewing? Or have our frenetic lifestyles made the art of conversation a luxury of time that we don’t think we can afford? This magazine’s subtitle is “Communications and Technology.” We sometimes fall into the trap of focusing on the technology part of that phrase to the exclusion of the communications part. But the technology exists primarily to allow us to communicate. And if we aren’t communicating, are we getting all we should be out of our hobby? Several things got me thinking about this topic and before I say anything else, I confess to being as guilty of this as anyone else. I consider myself very lucky…

Mourning Two Members of the CQ Family The pandemic may have quieted down, but COVID-19 continues to exact a toll, including the recent passing of two members of the CQ “family,” one of whom may be familiar to you and the other whose work may be familiar even though his role here was always behind the scenes. Both succumbed to complications of the COVID virus. Alfred “Fred” Laun, III, K3ZO CQ Contest Hall of Famer and longtime member of the CQWW Contest Committee Alfred “Fred” Laun, III, K3ZO, became a Silent Key in early January at age 85. He was also a director of the YASME Foundation. Fred served for many years in the U.S. Foreign Service at posts around the world, at one time being kidnapped and shot by rebels in Argentina…

How do you find out what motivates today’s young hams? Well, the Intrepid DX Group figures the best way is to ask them. The group sponsors an annual “Dream Rig Essay Contest,” with a different theme each year and a “dream rig” prize to the winner. We are pleased to present this year’s three winning essays. The Intrepid DX Group <http://intrepid-dx.com> sponsors an annual essay contest for young amateurs called the “Dream Rig Essay Contest” because the top prize is a brand-new ICOM IC-7300 transceiver. The topic for this year’s competition was, “How amateur radio factors in my career plans.” Group president Paul Ewing, N6PSE, recently announced this year’s winners: “We received essays from young amateurs from all over the world,” he wrote. “Each essay was unique in thought and very well…

You might think that an essay contest is outside the “wheelhouse” of a DXing organization, but the Intrepid DX Group recognizes that excellent communication skills, along with technical abilities, are important both for ham radio and for encouraging young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Here is an excerpt from the group’s website: The mission of the Intrepid-DX Group is: • To conduct and support amateur radio DXpeditions. • To conduct scientific research exploring electromagnetic wave propagation. • To promote interest and proficiency in amateur radio communications with respect to improving operating and technical skills. • To help educate students and to enhance reading, writing, mathematics, geography, and communications skills. • To perform classroom instruction to help students learn about electronics and radio communications techniques. • To promote goodwill and cross-cultural understanding. • To…