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Hamvention 2020 Award Winners

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W8HJR, Mar 4, 2020.

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  1. W8HJR

    W8HJR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Five amateur radio (ham) operators and one ham radio club who have made significant contributions to the Amateur Radio Service, will be honored guests when Hamvention® 2020 opens at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia Ohio, May 15. Recipients of this year's Hamvention® awards are Amateur of the Year Yasuo Zorro MIYAZAWA, JH1AJT; Special Achievement Award, Jordan Sherer, KN4CRD; Technical Excellence Award, Steve Franke, K9AN, Bill Somerville, G4WJS, and Joe Taylor, K1JT; and Club of the Year, South Canadian Amateur Radio Society.

    Hamvention Awards Committee Co-chairs Michael Kalter, W8CI, and Frank Beafore, WS8B, thanked all those who submitted nominations. They also thanked the selection committee for its efforts, "The awards team gave the applications much deliberation and thought to make sure the best were selected."

    An honors convocation and award presentation will be held on Saturday evening of Hamvention. Presentations of the award winners will also be made at the general Hamvention audience on Sunday afternoon prior to the prize award activity.

    The Club of the Year is honored for clearly demonstrating members involvement in varied aspects of Amateur Radio for the greater good of their community and/or their nation.

    South Canadian Amateur Radio Society (SCARS) is an ARRL Special Services Club based in the Cleveland County, Oklahoma area. No, it is not a Canadian club; the name references the South end of the Canadian River that runs west of town. Formed in 1977, the club works hard to grow and support the amateur radio operators in the area. Through their https://w5nor.org website, Facebook presence, YouTube channel, and weekly newsletter, their reach has expanded to reach thousands of hams monthly, from around the globe.

    Based in the center of Tornado Alley, they take emergency communications very seriously. NWS Skywarn training and weekly ARES nets allow hams in the central Oklahoma area to practice their skills before the next big tornado rolls through

    Other activities include an Elmer Night, monthly license tests using the LARC VEC system. The club covers the expenses, providing a free test session that provides same-day, or next-day FCC action.

    Community service events include assisting communications for the OKC Memorial Marathon, and the state Bike MS ride. They manage stations all over town; at libraries, National Weather Center, Emergency Operations Centers for the city and county, and at the Norman Red Cross. For more about the club's activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/

    The Amateur of the Year Award is given to a ham that has made a long-term commitment to the advancement to amateur radio. This individual will have a history of ham radio contributions and has had a dedication to service, professionalism and the advancement of the avocation of amateur radio.

    It was in 1964 when JH1AJT Yasuo MIYAZAWA ---also well know as “Zorro”--- obtained his first JA license for ham radio operation when he was 15 years old. As a high school student, he didn’t own good equipment, but he enjoyed operation with radios and antennas handmade by himself. At that time, there were not many operators on 10m band and many foreign DXpeditioners called Zorro every day. This experience led him to the DX world, and his international humanitarian activities as well.

    Since then, Zorro has earned a DXCC World Ranking, No. 1 on the 10 meter band and lead many successful, difficult DXpeditions. In 2015, he was inducted into the DX Hall of Fame. However, the most distinctive feature of his DXpeditions is that he doesn't focus on the radio operation only, but he cooperates with local people and implements humanitarian activities that are needed in the community.

    In 2010 he established the Foundation for Global Children which has been continuously supporting children and youth in Africa, Asia, and other areas in a wide range of fields, including education, health promotion, medical care, sports, and other activities. His efforts have help revolutionize education in Japan, by creating the learning systems for children who had difficulties in ordinary schools because of dyslexia, developmental disabilities, and other issues.

    He is currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SEISA Group, Chairperson of FGC, and Chairperson of SEISA Group's Kokusai Gakuen Education Institute. He is also a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy. For more about JH1AJT's activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/


    The Technical Achievement Award is given to a selected amateur radio operator who has achieved technical excellence in the world of amateur radio. Examples are inventions, processes, discoveries, experiments and other technical accomplishments or any other outstanding technical achievement that contributed to amateur radio.

    Steve Franke, Bill Somerville, and Joe Taylor have been licensed radio amateurs for a combined total of 154 years. Over the past seven years they've worked closely together on all aspects of the ham-radio software package WSJT-X -- and in particular the digital protocol FT8 and its younger brother, FT4. FT8 was introduced in July 2017, soon accounting for a large fraction of all ham radio activity on the HF bands. FT4 is a closely related mode designed especially for digital contesting. For more about the winners' activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/

    Steve Franke, K9AN, was first licensed in 1971 and has previously held call signs WN9IIQ and WB9IIQ. An early and abiding fascination with radio science led him to a position as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, from which he retired last year. He enjoys chasing DX, studying HF and VHF propagation, and playing with radio-frequency circuits and antennas.

    Bill Somerville, G4WJS, earned a Chemistry degree at the University of Bristol and has worked in computer software and hardware in a variety of industries including defense, software development, and financial services. Most recently he's a freelance consultant providing systems programming and related services to mid- to large-size software tool vendors. An active radio amateur since 1981, Bill enjoys HF and VHF bands, contest operating, and DX chasing using CW, phone, and data modes.

    Joe Taylor, K1JT, is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Princeton University. Steered into science by a boyhood fascination with radio and electronics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 for discovery of the first orbiting pulsar. Since retirement he has kept busy developing and using digital protocols for weak-signal communication by Amateur Radio.

    The Special Achievement Award is given to a deserving amateur who made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the radio art and or science. This award is usually given to a respected amateur who spearheaded a single significant project.

    Jordan Sherer, KN4CRD, is an experienced software engineer by day and digital amateur radio operator by night. After becoming licensed in 2017, Jordan started his journey into ham radio exploring PSK31, JT65, and soon after FT8. Fascinated by the ability to connect with others using low power, Jordan set out to experiment with developing a protocol for weak signal mesh networking and communication. After many hours of programming while holding his newborn daughter, what resulted was JS8Call.

    JS8Call is an open source and free platform, inspired by WSJT-X and FLdigi, that allows amateur operators the ability for keyboard-to-keyboard, store-and-forward, and network relay based communication. Since it's release, JS8Call has been used by thousands of operators for making local and DX QSOs, running digital nets, testing NVIS propagation and communication by the military, and adoption by some state ARES for coordinating emergency situations. JS8Call is a communication tool that shines under weak signal conditions, but which also has something for everyone.
     
    WJ4U likes this.
  2. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    Congrats to all the winners for their outstanding accomplishments!

    We are PROUD of your efforts on our behalf, and your amazing innovations!

    Hope to see you at Hamvention:)

    73
    Chip W1YW
     
    W7UUU likes this.

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