ILLW - International Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend Organization

Not to confuse matters, but ILLW registrations at the faux ILLW.NET web site are not valid for certified awards and certificates from the ILLW Organization nor from the ARLHShttp://arlhs.com (Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society). The original Organization web site is at http://illw.orghttp://illw.org -- click on the "Weekend Participants" tab to register.

The registrations on the Organization web site are running well over previous years and are exceeding even those listed on the ILLW NET list (which, after all, is not the true, accurate, or complete list).

 

The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW) is not, has never been and never will be a contest with awards, certificates, prizes etc. It is a fun weekend despite the confusing efforts of some to make it otherwise.
The guidelines, entry form and participants list are all where they have been since 2001 at http://illw.net

 

Work it out yourself.

I know this is an old thread....just found it.
I've entered GB2ELH or GB2LHI every year from the Shetland Islands since 2001 and always register with ILLW.net. How come my details are on ILLWE.com? I never put them there?
That .org site appeared from nowhere in 2007.
Work it out for your self.

 

International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend

K2JXW is off base.

I have operated in the ILLW since 1999 and the information and registration site has always been the illw.net site. K2JXW's (the leader of the ARLHS) makes the statement "... ILLW registrations at the faux ILLW.NET web site are not valid for certified awards and certificates from the ILLW Organization nor from the ARLHS..." is the only correct statement I read.

The Ayr Amateur Radio Group,who originated the event, and all the other dedicated amateurs who have since contributed to to the event through the illw.net effort, work hard to ensure this is a fun event, free from the pressures of contest rules, awards and certificates. If K2JXW who runs the ARLHS and the new illw.org site wants to give awards and certificates that is his perogative, but to use the guise of a 'faux' illw.org site as an attempt to hijack the efforts of the Ayr group and all other participating amateurs is a travesty.

I was told I was listed on the illw.org site, checked and sure enough, there I was. I NEVER registered with the .org site. I asked to have my information removed several weeks ago via the site contact point. It has not happened and I never even received the courtesy of a response. The only way my information could have gotten to the illw.org site is by copying it from the illw.net site, which I would not doubt where most of the other listings originated.

There is no reason for the leader of the ARLHS to attempt to hijack a already well run event under the guise of a 'new' organization. We do not need this kind of mockery in amateur radio. It helps no one.

 

I also registered 3 intended Lighthouse activations via ILLW.net.

These have appeared on the unofficial ILLW.org site.

These have obviously been plagiarised by someone struggling to get their own registrations.

 

ILLW Organization responds to detractors

Let's clear the air and get the facts straight:

1) Without exception, the negative commentators above were either one-time members of the ARLHS and were asked to resign or quit, hence their disgruntled attitude, or they have a vested interest in the faux illw.net.

2) We have written documetation showing that the ARLHS, along with GM4SUC, organized the ILLW in 1997, well before the 2001 date claimed by VK2CE for his illw.net web site, which, internet records show, was registered by him in 2001 after he bolted the ARLHS to form his own group.

3) The ILLW.ORG list of participants has more than 20 addtional registrants over the NET list. Who is copying whom?

4) Listings on the ILLW.ORG list are taken from direct submissions by the participants themselves or from public information available to anyone on the internet. We resent the implication by MM5PSL (our former European representative) that we have plagiarized. This is libelous.

5) The ILLW.ORG site remains the most valid and most referred-to site for the ILLW event, as evidenced by its ranking on the www.lighthousesites.com list of the Top 25 International Lighthouse Sites. The ARLHS and ILLW.ORG sites consistently rank in the #1 and #2 spots, well above the meager interest shown in the illw.net site.

6) The ILLW.ORG list contains much more information than the faux NET list; for example, for each light activation the recognized ARLHS number is given, latitude and longitude coordinates are cited, IOTA references are listed, photos of the light are given where available, and a Google map showing the location of the light is shown. Now, are these features something we copied from VK2CE's list? We think not! The invalid VK2CE illw.net list has none of these features.

7) The ARLHS, along with the ILLW Organization will continue to support the ILLW event, in spite of its detractors. Our almost 1600 paid members worldwide take an active interest in promoting and sponsoring lighthouse restoration and expeditions, with financial contributions to such groups as the CQ9U activation of the Madeiras Island light (ARLHS MAD-001), the HandiHams group for handicapped hams, and the rehabilitation of numerous lighthouses.

The VK2CE group has done nothing of this sort and is in this only for the glorification of VK2CE. The original ILLW Organization has been and will remain at http://illw.org

 

Illw

The Internationa Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend is and always has been the original concept of a group of British Hams that is open to all hams worldwide. The official website is illw.net. ARLHS, a private American for profit Corporation, is the owner of the ARLHS society and as of last year received the website illw.org. The owner of the corporation is trying to steer additional business to his company by grabbing this website and increase his membership base for ARLHS. His intentions of ARLHS is a good sidebar for amateur radio but it has no place in amateur radio as a for profit corporation.

 

Illw

Not sure why K2JXW is using his club call KC2HOU in responding, guess it could have been Harvey or the faux VK call he sometime uses but it really doesn't matter . . .

My recollection of the 'contract' is that one must agree, before being allowed to join K2JXW's group to a contract that in part states "..."Welcome to the User Agreement for the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, a division of The Weidner Publishing Group." (available on the web at
http://arlhs.com/contract/ARLHS-Contract.html). I have been involved in billion dollar company contracts that weren't as onerous as this one. I also would bet The Weidner Publishing Group is a for profit company. All control of the ARLHS appears to solely vest in K2JXW and individuals in the company or family; the members have little or no say on the 'contract' or ARLHS policies unless approved by K2JXW. This is the reason that many 'quit' the ARLHS - meaning did not continue paying dues into a 'non-profit' organization which provided no accountablility of the finances associated with the organization.

I notice that some funding (from member dues I suppose) was granted recently to a European group wanting to put a LH on the air. I think this is a fine gesture, but in the amateur clubs I belong to, doing so would be put up to a vote of the membership.

I think it fair to say that many who 'quit' (I don't know who might have been asked to 'resign' and how this would be accomplished) did so because it became obvious that their questions and input about the ARLHS finances (where were my dues going) or policies were squashed by the ARLHS owner, K2JXW and the members essentially called troublemakers.

I also recollect that the ARLHS was founded in 2000 so don't understand how something that didn't exist could have been a part of any 1997 or subsequent year ILLW activity (I grant that the 'K2JXW Lighthouse page' was listed as a link along with several other sites in '97). The illw.org site of K2JXW was not created until 2007 and the ARLHS members have been constantly bombarded with messages to visit the new site and 'vote' for it. Strange behavior. This 'renegade' site hardly precedes the original SUC/ZDH list site or the site turnover to VK2CE and the reorganized site in 2001, does it.

 

Oh! Has he gone? Pity, wanted to ask him some questions..
I'll ask them anyway. He might be back to answer them.

Individuals on this thread categorically state, their entries for ILLW were sent to, and intended for ILLW.net, The owners and organisers of this event are, and always will be as far as I am concerned, the Ayr Radio Group. Those entries and many more like them, were never intended for ILLW.org. Therefore, the only way these entries could arrived on the ILLWE.org web page is by copying from ILLW.net. Do you not agree Mr Weidner, K2JXW? More to the point, many do not want their details on ILLW.org. I too asked for my entry to be removed in 2007 and was ignored. Why were these requests ignored? Could it be to imply all entrants registered with ILLW.org? Or prevent a dramatic loss of numbers compared with ILLW.net?

Perhaps you can also explain why a handful of entries including the one from Oman are not on ILLW.net? Could it be because these entries willingly or unwittingly registered with ILLW.org? If ILLW.net were doing the copying, surely they would appear there also?

Incidentally, you should really be sure of your facts before making wild accusations. I have never in my life used the word 'plagiarise' in any of its forms until this very moment.

Have a good day

 

K2JXW posted "1) Without exception, the negative commentators above were either one-time members of the ARLHS and were asked to resign or quit, hence their disgruntled attitude, or they have a vested interest in the faux illw.net."

WRONG.

I have never been & never will be a member of said organisation, nor do I have a vested interest in illw.net.. I registered with them & with them ONLY. SOMEONE has copied my entry without permission to the 'other' site.

 

Over the past few days I have been watching the input to this forum and I feel it is now timely to make some comment.

I am GM3CSO and the Secretary of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, which initiated, designed, developed and now run the ILLW - we own the event on behalf of Amateur Radio enthusiasts world wide.

The Ayr Amateur Radio Group also owns the ILLW.net web site, which is the only web site used by our group to run the ILLW - any others are not valid. Our webmaster for the site is Ayr club member VK2CE, who is assisted in this task by several other members of the Ayr club.

Earlier this year our group was approached by Mr Weidner looking to create a partnership with us to jointly run the ILLW. After careful consideration we felt (rightly or wrongly) that the move would soon turn to commercialisation and we declined his offer. We concluded that turning the ILLW into a business would substantially change its core "amateur" values and its wide appeal to the whole Amateur Radio community.

During these discussions, Mr Weidner confirmed his understanding that the owner of the ILLW is Ayr Amateur Radio Group. With this in mind, we expected him to accept our wishes and let us get on with running the event. However, since then he has pursued the promotion of his ILLW.org web site and has on many occasions degraded the ILLW work of our club - and VK2CE in particular.

Over the past months the Ayr Amateur Radio Group has tried hard to stay above the pettiness that is being circulated by Mr Weidner about the ILLW. However, with his latest outburst, we feel it is important that we clarify the status of the ILLW event and, in particular, the web site ILLW.net.

We hope the above facts are helpful and it is good to see the proportion of ILLW.net supporters on this forum.

 

ILLW - who was here orginally

Mr. Weidner is right - to count for awards you must be registered as a paid member of his organization - ARLHS. However the orginal ILLW was conceived to mix the fun of lighthouses and amateur radio - not for awards or contests.

ILLW was created over 10 years ago by the British Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society and the website ILLW.net was created on 8/14/2003 in Australia by Kevin. Mr. Weidner suggested the combination of his organization with ILLW and was turned back. So he acquired the website ILLW.org on Aug 23, 2006. This is all public record by checking the who is database.

As far as ex-members go Mr. Weidner is correct. I can not say that they are disgrunted. They are ex-members because they questioned where all the money goes that is given to ARLHS. He has refused to dislose it since it is part of the Weidner Publishing Corporation. It is not against the law to make money off of amateur radio but there is a question of ethics when you hide the purpose of the organization.

 

Another correction to K4NTO

This simply must not pass uncorrected:

Awards issued by and under the ARLHS Awards Program are open to everyone. It is not necessary to be a member of the Society to qualify for and receive an award. See their awards page at http://arlhs.com/page9.html

 

Response to ARLHS Statement - post 16

Further to my previous post (#15) and the Statement by Mr Weidner.

Thanks for the statement on behalf of Mr Weidner.

I could rebut the various points within the document but I know that would make little difference to the efforts he and his organisation are making to acquire the ILLW event. Nor do I want to give the statement the credence of a detailed reply.

But I will say this - contrary to Mr Weidner's example that nobody owns Christmas, somebody does own the ILLW and it is the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. As I said in my previous posting, the Ayr Group initiated, designed, developed and now run the ILLW - if that's not ownership I don't know what is!

We operate and administer the ILLW (voluntarily and free of charges) for Hams everywhere and have an excellent track record for delivery of the event.

Earlier in the year, after we declined Mr Weidner's merger request, it was hoped that he would have the integrity to accept our position and leave us to get on with our ILLW activities. That was too much to hope for and it is now abundantly clear that in rejecting his request we did the right thing.

I am not going to ping-pong claims and counter claims about the ILLW via this forum. The members of Ayr Amateur Radio Group are keen to leave this issue behind and get on with the work of delivering a superb ILLW. We welcome all participating stations, new names and old friends, and wish everybody a great ILLW.

To take part (16th and 17th August) and have some fun, please see our web site - www.illw.net

GM3CSO - Secretary, Ayr Amateur Radio Group.

 

Lifted lighthouses not the way to go

Thank you for publicly admitting that listings on ILLW.ORG list include those taken from the ILLW.NET website.

I would estimate that the majority of lighthouses on your website have been lifted from the ILLW.NET list. Add a few who stumbled on your website or have been directly recruited, of course your total will be higher.

Shame on you! This is not amateur radio!

Jim Linton VK3PC
PS: Please remove from your website the VK3WI listing due to the embarrassment is it causing by appearing to support the antics of ILLW.ORG