The organizer of the Young Ham Contest Program, a retired leader in the nation’s ham radio community and the developer of a digital amateur television scheme have been named as recipients of this year’s Hamvention® awards.
David Kopacz, KY1V, is being honored as Radio Amateur of the Year for his effort in creating and funding the Young Ham Contest Program. This program provides an opportunity for a licensed radio amateur under the age of 18 to apply for an expenses paid dream come true chance to go on a DXpedition to North Caicos Island.
The Young Ham Contest Program was developed by KY1V in 2003 to encourage teen and pre-teen hams to tell their friends about the fascinating possibilities associated with Amateur Radio with regards to contesting and DX-peditions. In a posting at his website, Kopacz says that as a teenage ham, he always dreamed of going on a DX-pedition, especially during a major contest weekend. He goes on to note that it was not until 30 years later that he had had first opportunity and he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring along a young ham and make his dream come true.
Kopacz continues by saying, “It is my desire to foster this program into an annual event by which young hams around the world can have a chance of making their dream come true. I hope to get other hams involved in the program and eventually sponsor kids for every major contest. Could you imagine the impact we could have on young hams sending them on expeditions around the world? We may even give away radios to the winners”.
Young hams worldwide can apply for the Young Ham Contest Program by sending a 500+ word essay describing how he/she got started in ham radio, naming his/her elmer (mentor), and telling why he/she should be selected for a particular years contest operation. One winner is selected each year from the many world-wide entries. The Hamvention® Awards Committee feels that it is this kind of support for young people that will assure the future of Amateur Radio.
A resident of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Kopacz is married and has four children. He holds an Extra class license and has been radio amateur since 1976, noting that his mentor was Dr. John Berry, DDS., W0NXU, whom Kopacz says: …had the courage and patience to assist a hyper-active, bored young teenager in becoming a proud federally licensed amateur radio operator. His other interests include hockey (he played with the 1995 Chicago Blackhawks and 1995 Chicago Cheetahs RHI), barefoot water skiing (trained by world champion Mike Siepel), snow skiing, motorcycles (dirt bikes), computers and playing guitar. (Note: For more information on this project, please visit www.vp5x.com in the World-Wide-Web.)
Special Achievement
George S. Wilson III, W4OYI It is hard to know even where to begin to describe all that has been accomplished by Special Achievement Award recipient George S. Wilson III, W4OYI, of Owensboro, Kentucky. The Awards Committee selected Wilson based on more than five decades of service to Amateur Radio through the American Radio Relay League, his work in public service and emergency communications and his determination to overcome the debilitating effects of a stroke that has left him partially paralyzed.
It was on February 11, 1995, that then ARRL President George Wilson, W4OYI, suffered a massive stroke while in Washington D.C to represent the needs of all United States radio amateurs to the government of the United States. He was immediately transported to a Washington-area hospital’s Intensive Care unit where the prognosis was far from good. But miracles do happen and George S. Wilson III, W4OYI, is living proof of this.
First licensed in on his 16th birthday 1948 a young George Wilson rode a bus from Owensboro KY. to Nashville TN. to take the “Class B” test before the FCC examiner. 7 months later he learned that he had been assigned the call letters of W4OYI (the same call that he holds to this day). Not long after W4OYI got his first taste of a real life communications emergency during a flood. George and his comrades installed CW rigs on two ferries and one at the local courthouse to act as a “dispatch. The system worked flawlessly and made rescue of those stranded by the flooding more efficient. The die was cast and George Wilson, W4OYI, was hooked on public service. An area of ham radio that he is still active in to this day.
In the early 1960’s George and his fellow Owensboro hams began “playing” with the emerging world of VHF operation. It was during that time that George devised the “envelope drill.” This is a highly effective method of training individuals in emergency communications response as the operators involved are never sure what they will find at a scene or what role they will have to play.
During this period George became an Assistant Emergency Coordinator and an Official Relay Station in the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Corps.(the predecessor to the current ARES). Wilson worked closely with then Section Communications Manager Lawrence Jeffrey, WA4KFO (later K4HY) and also served as an SEC during WA4KFO’s tenure. When Jeffery unexpectedly died in the mid-1970’s, Wilson, who had gained a reputation as being a top-notch organizer and skilled emergency communicator was appointed to replace him.
In the 1980’s, George and the Owensboro Amateur Radio Club were involved in numerous public service activities. They were on-call 24 hours a day to handle emergency communications for anything including tornadoes, blizzards, lost children, downed planes, water main breaks, and drownings, etc. The Owensboro hams had a great relationship with local disaster officials, thanks in great measure to George Wilson’s easygoing manner and his ability to deliver when the chips were down.
Wilson held the post of Kentucky SCM for close to 6 years. He only stepped aside when he was asked by the then Vice Director who was not standing for re-election to run for his post in the 1980 elections. George Wilson was unopposed. He later became Division Director when his predecessor, Leonard Nathanson, W8RC, was elected as ARRL First Vice President. When incumbent ARRL President Larry Price, W4RA, announced that he would not run for another term, George Wilson was elected to succeeded him. George was re-elected in 1995, but had the stroke in February of that year.
After that illness forced his retirement, George Wilson was named President Emeritus of the American Radio Relay League based on his lifelong commitment to Amateur Radio and the League — one of only three people ever granted this honor. He continues his service to ARRL in the voluntary position of Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division. In 1999 George accepted a position as a judge for the Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award program and was deeply involved in choosing the last five recipients of this honor.
In 2003, the hams in the Great Lakes Division created the George S. Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award. Its presented to a Division member who has contributed greatly to the overall vitality of the Amateur Radio Service. George Race, WB8BGY, of Albion, MI, also a former Great Lakes Division Director was the first recipient.
George Wilson and his wife Marion still reside in Owensboro. They have two grown children and one grandchild. When he is not directly involved in ham radio related activities, George Wilson can be found on a number of Internet legal round-tables and forums, providing his expertise freely for those in need.
Technical Excellence
Barry Sanderson, KB9VAKIndianapolis, Indiana resident Barry Sanderson, KB9VAK, is being named as recipient of the Technical Excellence Award for the development of a multi-channel, multiphase modulation scheme known as Redundant Digital File Transfer (RDFT). Not only did Sanderson perform the mathematical computations to develop the system. He also wrote the core software routines that allow RDFT to run on personal computers using sound card DSP capabilities. This allows error-free transmission of computer files via standard amateur radio equipment.
Sanderson, who holds a Technician class license is also credited for the development HDSSTV. This is a method for transferring exact copies of binary files to multiple recipients over a 460 – 2300 hertz bandwidth audio channel. This technology has been proven very powerful in the area of digital slow-scan television. He was a 2003 Hamvention® forum presenter.