Ria's Ham Shack News - Dayton 2023 Day 1
D75 and the future of Kenwood, IC905 up close, ARRL talks legislation, ARDC grantees meet and greet, CQ DX hall of fame inductees, DXpedition of the year, and more!
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Special Dayton coverage
In this issue:
Kenwood’s TH-D75 and the future of Kenwood amateur radios
A close look at the Icom IC-905
ARRL talks legislation
ARDC grantees meet and greet
New inductees to the CQ DX Hall of Fame and DXpedition of the year 2022 named
Katie Campbell KE8LQR at the YLRL forum
Kenwood’s TH-D75 and the future of Kenwood amateur radios
Kenwood has once again resurfaced at Dayton hamvention and has the new TH-D75 in its booth. However, it had little else, and other radios such as the TS-590 are long in the tooth. Kenwood representatives had indicated that parts shortages had caused them to pause production of new radios and that they were ramping back up.
The D75A features USB type C, APRS digipeater capability, simultaneous D-STAR receive, APRS string in D-STAR and a few other tweaks.
Unfortunately, the battery is the same so we can expect the same battery life.
The final production version is expected to be released at Tokyo Ham Fair later this year. Production, delivery timing and pricing were all unknown at this time.
HF radios?
Kenwood’s HF lineup was unchanged, and representatives indicated that it would be “a while” before they had any new HF radios.
Icom’s IC-905 up close
Here are a few photos if the new IC-905. According to Ray Novak, N9JA, the radio uses external 12v power and the 2.4GHz band is used as the IF (Intermediate frequency) for 10GHz. It will operate on a number of SHF bands up to 10GHz and 2m and 70cm.
ARRL talks legislation
ARRL’s legislative advocacy committee was on hand at the “Protecting amateur radio” forum to talk about legislation that the ARRL hopes that Congress will enact. This includes legislation to solve the issue of the symbol rate restriction, and to address covenant codes and restrictions (CC&Rs) that restrict radio amateurs from putting up effective antennas at their homes. Director John Robert Stratton, N5AUS and committee member Fred Hopengarten, K1VR were on hand to discuss the legislative efforts. The bills have been introduced, and co-sponsors are being sought. Radio amateurs will soon be asked to contact their Congresspersons.
ARDC grantees meet and greet
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) held a gathering of grantees at its forum at Dayton Hamvention. ARDC staffers as well as Board members Phil Karn, KA9Q and Ria Jairam, N2RJ were on hand. Several grantees expressed appreciation for grants received. An open Q&A session was also conducted with attendees asking about ARDC grants and 44-net.
(The author, N2RJ is on the Board of ARDC, just thought you should know)
New inductees to the CQ DX Hall of Fame
At the SWODXA DX dinner, Arecio Hernandez, K3VN and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA (also YO8SCA) were inducted to the CQ DX Hall of Fame. Adrian also gave the keynote speech about his prior DXpeditions.
DXpedition of the year
TN8K to the Congo was also awarded DXpedition of the year for 2022.
Katie Campbell KE8LQR at the YLRL forum
Katie Campbell, KE8LQR is 14 years old and a rising star in amateur radio. She gave a wonderful talk about her school club and how she gets youth, especially girls into the hobby. She runs a successful school club (Columbiana Clippers Amateur Radio and Electronics Club) and teaches Morse Code to youth with the Long Island CW Club.
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QRX until tomorrow
That’s all for today! Our special Hamvention coverage continues tomorrow, May 21 for our final.
If you’re at the show, be sure to say hello. Email ria@n2rj.com.