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SCHEDULE:

9:30 AM Ham Radio Supports Chicago Marathon, presented by Rob Orr K9RST
10:30 AM ARRL Town Hall - What's Going On At The ARRL, by George "Dick" Isely W9GIG, ARRL
11:30 AM IRLP / Echolink, presented by Dick Illman AH6EZ

Ham Radio Supports Chicago Marathon, presented by Rob Orr K9RST

For the past three years, ham radio operators have played an increasingly important role in supporting the medical operations of the Chicago Marathon. The event has drawn ham radio operators from three states to provide communications from the 21 Aid stations in the field to the headquarter support Center in Grant Park. Managing the field of 40,000 runners with 12,000 volunteers and 1.5 million spectators, makes this event a monster logistics challenge. Add the fact that the event runs through 13 Chicago neighborhoods, shutting down traffic and impacting lives along the way, only adds to the complexity. This presentation will explain the challenges and opportunities of providing ham radio support to such an enormous operation. In 2011, 120 hams, 13 Clubs, and 7 repeater groups volunteered their equipment and services to the cause.


ARRL Town Hall Forum - What's Going On At The ARRL, presented by George R. Isely W9GIG


A brief talk about one or two current issues facing the Amateur Radio community and the ARRL, will be followed by a question and answer period about anything concerning ARRL projects, services, programs, FCC activities, and ARRL government lobbying activities - primarily at the federal and international level.


IRLP and Echolink - Overview and How-to, presented by Dick Illman AH6EZ


Dick will be explain how you can enhance Ham Radio with Internet connectivity using IRLP and Echolink:
- Providing detailed comparisons of the two modes
- Showing how you can use both modes to increase your fun and public service capabilities
- Describing how you should operate both modes
- Explaining how you can set up your own node
- Providing live demonstrations of the software applications on a Windows PC, an Android SmartPhone, and RF connections to an UHF EchoIRLP Repeater.

Biographical Information:
Rob Orr, K9RST, is President of the North Radio Club and has helped organized ham radio special event stations, Field Day operations, and sponsored events, like the Chicago Marathon, for a number of years. His passion for ham radio started as a teenager, but with a long interruption due to family moves and changes, found his way back into the hobby in the early 90’s and has been trying to make up for lost time ever since. He is a member of the Disaster Services Technology team for the American Red Cross, and has been deployed to numerous national disaster responses. He was most recently the manager for the Chicago based ECRV, the Red Cross’s communications vehicle. When he is not working with amateur radio project, he is active in Scouting and managing his own video production company.

George R. (Dick) Isely, W9GIG, ARRL Central Division Director, was first licensed as WD9GIG, Technician Class, in August, 1977. he joined the ARRL January 1, 1978 and is now licensed: W9GIG, Extra Class. He helped organize the Illinois Repeater Association (IRA) and held various officer positions from 1987 to 2003. He helped organize the National Frequency Coordinators' Council (NFCC) and held various officer positions - 1995 thru 2001. He was elected to ARRL Board of Directors - January, 2001 and has served on the following committees: Membership Services, Admin & Finance, Executive, (2004 thru 2011), and the Foundation Board of Directors. He is a member of FRRL, NIDXA, NCDXF, ARRL Diamond Club and Maxim Society, and a Life Member: ARRL, AMSAT, and 10-10 International. Dick's Operating activities and awards include ARRL DXCC with 283 countries, ARRL A-1 Operators Club. He was one of the first individual Amateur Radio Operators to conduct 2-way video communications with the Space Shuttle .

Dick Illman, AH6EZ, was first licensed as a Novice in 1969 in California and started out with a borrowed National NC57 receiver (still has one) and a Heathkit DX40 transmitter (still has one). Over the last 42 years, he has enjoyed operating pretty much all bands and all modes. He operated from Micronesia in the late 1980's, Hawaii for 12 years, and South Korea for 3 years. Since moving to Saint Charles in 1998, Dick has been an active member, Repeater Chairman (for the last 10 years), Program Chairman (for the last 10 years), Director (over 4 years), Vice President, and President (for 2 years) of the Fox River Radio League (FRRL) based in Aurora. He installed one of the first IRLP nodes in Illinois in 2002 when there were only 300 nodes on the whole system. Now there are over 1500 nodes. Although learning Linux was a challenge, Dick managed to setup and customize the FRRL IRLP node 4850 which has been in almost continuous operation with over 10,000 connections since 2002. He has installed EchoIRLP on several nodes and continues to provide support for the systems. One of Dick's memorable moments using IRLP was arranging a successful QRP contact with Antarctica on 20 meters SSB and hearing the wind howling while the operator walked with his portable from his living quarters to the ham shack.