Monday, March 10, 2014

Dayton Simultaneously Honors, Snubs, ARRL


The Dayton Amateur Radio Association honored two long-time leaders of the ARRL with its annual Hamvention® awards, but pointedly snubbed the organization itself in its announcement.
Larry Price, W4RA, ARRL President from 1984 to 1992 and president of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) from 1999 to 2009, is the recipient of the 2014 Amateur of the Year Award. This year's Special Achievement Award goes to ARRL CEO Dave Sumner, K1ZZ. Yet neither man's affiliation with the League is cited in the DARA announcement.

Price is recognized for his "significant and direct impact on the development of amateur radio throughout the world" in his role as IARU President, and Sumner is cited for his work as a member of the "IARU observer team" as well as his ongoing "efforts in crafting broadband over power lines (BPL) regulations in conjunction with the FCC to reduce (harmful BPL) emissions." The fact that he has led the ARRL for the past three decades is completely ignored.

Also honored this year are FLDIGI developer David Freese, Jr., W1HKJ, with the Technical Achievement Award, and the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society in suburban Atlanta with the Club of the Year Award. All awards will be presented at the Dayton Hamvention® on May 16-18.