2023

YASME FOUNDATION GRANTS AND EXCELLENCE AWARD

June 7, 2023

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grants and Excellence Award at its June 6, 2023, board meeting:

• $5,000 each to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and ARRL Foundation scholarship programs for 2024.
• IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group, Association des Radio Amateurs Tunisiens, and Ethiopian Amateur Radio Association in support of the 2023 YOTA Summer Camp in Hungary.
• Support for the advancement of amateur radio in South Sudan

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipient of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Neil Rapp WB9VPG

In recognition of his many contributions to amateur radio in recruiting, training, and mentoring youngoperators over the years. The initial school radio club sponsorship, followed by managing the Region 2 YOTA Camps, providing administrative assistance for the camps through non-profit organization,and managing the Hamvention’s Ham Radio 2.0 showcase have all made a big impact. Recruiting young operators is key to the survival of amateur radio and his tireless efforts are appreciated.

YASME DIRECTOR FRED LAUN, K3ZO SILENT KEY

January 3, 2023

Yasme is deeply saddened to announce today’s death of Yasme Director, Fred Laun, K3ZO, after a short illness. Fred fell ill in mid-December and his condition steadily worsened as time progressed. At this time, no information about memorials or remembrances is available.

Fred’s service to Yasme and other amateur organisations, spanning decades, was unsurpassed as were his contributions to amateur radio, for which he cared deeply. He will be greatly missed by the Yasme family.

Well-known and respected around the globe, we know Fred’s many friends world-wide will honor his memory, both on and off the air. Very 73, Fred.

Ward Silver, N0AX, President

The Yasme Foundation.

2022

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARD

December 15, 2022

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has
made the following grant at its recent board meeting.

the CW Operators Club (CWops) — in recognition of technical, operating, and organizational achievements in and contributions to amateur radio.  It recognizes the contributions to amateur radio by CWops in support of training and on-the-air activities that promote Morse/CW operation, leading to more interest in and sustained CW activity around the world.

The idea for a mentoring group was created after founding members contacted participants in the 2010 ARRL CW Rookie Roundup.  Those who responded all mentioned the lack of mentoring to help them learn and become proficient with CW.  This quickly evolved into the CW Academy and then to the CW Operators Club, widely known as CWops.

CWops is an international entity, open to operators anywhere in the world, with a focus on keeping CW thriving in amateur radio. It includes a mentoring program to help prospective members attain the level of 25 WPM. It also sponsors and encourages on-air CW activities of all kinds. From its 10 founders, CWops has grown to 2574 active members in over 100 different countries.

More information about CWops is available at http://cwops.org, including on-the-air events, training opportunities, and awards.

YASME FOUNDATION GRANTS AND YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS

July 10, 2022

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has
made the following grants at its recent board meeting.

• Amateurs Radio Algeriens and Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society to attend
  YOTA Summer Camp Croatia 2022
• Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and the ARRL Foundation Scholar-
  ship Program

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce
the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Parks On The Air (POTA) Team — Since the program’s inception, it has
grown enormously and now has more than 6500 “activators” who operate
from the parks and more than 20,000 “hunters” who work them. The core
team consists of W3AAX, WR5B, N3VEM, AB0O, PA0KGB, N0AW, W8MSC, W8TAM and W3SPC. Next to DXCC and IOTA, POTA has become one of the most active
worldwide operating award programs. Even more important, though, is
that more hams are OTA (on the air), especially hams with modest sta-
tions or who cannot get OTA from home for whatever reason. POTA is
making it possible for them to have a great deal of fun, be active on
HF/VHF/satellites, and learn about radio.

Jan Stadman, DJ5AN/PA1TT — In recognition of his efforts organizing
ham radio events. For many years, Jan organized the Dutch HF Convention
and the annual European DX Foundation meeting in Bad Bentheim Germany.
Jan also runs the EUDXF booth at Ham Radio in Friedrichshafen. Together
with other DX associations he invented and shaped the “DX Plaza” that
is now the central meeting point for DXers present in Friedrichshafen.
In 2017 Jan joined the organizing committee of the Dutch German Radio
Amateur Meeting DNAT and took over as committee chair in 2020, just
before COVID. The pandemic didn’t stop him and even with the restric-
tions that were in place he was able to organize several events.

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS

March 31, 2022 

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Dan Marler K7REX
When the COVID pandemic led to cessation of in-person meetings, training sessions and gatherings, Dan converted a small limited-membership Zoom platform to the open presentation forum known as RATPAC.  In the subsequent two years, RATPAC has hosted over two hundred online presentations that have been viewed by thousands of radio amateurs.  Among the wide-ranging topics, half focus on public-service communications, while the rest address technical, operating, scientific and general-interest topics offered by a host of presenters.  The recordings of these sessions are available for public viewing and constitute a valuable resource for the amateur radio community.

Dr. Gordon Gibby KX4Z
Gordon is a retired emergency-room physician turned high school science teacher who demonstrates how amateur radio can benefit our communities in a wide variety of ways.  As an ARES leader in Northern Florida, Gordon promotes and teaches all aspects of preparedness for disasters, from planning and exercises to building and repairing communication hardware to understanding official responders’ needs, methods and organization. He advocates cognizance of the amateur’s role and its limits, building trust and relationships, and constantly improving our individual skills.  He is known around the country for his informative and carefully thought out responses to the many questions from other amateurs seeking to improve their local disaster-response capabilities.

2021

YASME FOUNDATION GRANT AND YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARD

October 8, 2021

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grant at its recent board meeting. Seychelles Amateur Radio Association (SARA) to establish a facility for the recently formed amateur radio club.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipient of the Yasme Excellence Award: Steve Babcock, VE6WZ. Steve is recognized for his contribution to the art of lowband antennas and remote operating. Steve has made available to the amateur community countless hours of instructional videos, for free, on his YouTube channel and QRZ.COM page.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO MARANYUNDO SCHOOL IN RWANDA

July 13, 2021

The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has made an additional grant to the Maranyundo School and their Makerspace program. This grant provides access to material from ARRL’s Virtual TeachersInstitute, and funds to purchase materialand supplies for classroomexperiments. Earlier this yearYasme supplied the school with amateur radio related books for classroom use.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO EXPAND THE REVERSE BEACON NETWORK (RBN)

July 9, 2021

The Yasme Foundation has allocated funds to purchase equipment needed to add fifteen (15) nodes to the Reverse Beacon Network. These new nodes will be added in regions where there is a need for reception reports to support amateur radio operation and where those reports will also have scientific value for geophysical research. Yasme was assisted in this effort by supporting grants from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications team (www.ampr.org) and by scientific advice from the HamSCI (hamsci.org) researchers. Information on the node locations will be available after a final list of hosts is available.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANTS

June 1, 2021

The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has made the following grants at its May 26, 2021 board meeting:

• OscarPancorvo, OA4AMN and PabloValentin Vazquez, OA4AI in support of their youth training program in Peru.
• Maranyundo School (Rwanda) amateur radio books and training material, to help establish a radio club.
• Seychelles Amateur Radio Club (SARA) ongoing support for license exams and fees. Yasme’s 2020 grant helped eight residents pass the RSGB foundation exam. Just last week those eight club members received their S79 callsigns.

VP2VB DANNY WEIL MEMORIAL DXPEDITION RECOGNIZED

April 29, 2021

The 2020 VP2VB Danny WeilMemorial DXpedition was organized to bring the Danny Weil story to today’s amateur radio community. The group focused on lowbands to Japan and Europe, and skillfully utilized CW, FT4,and FT8,achieving more than 5000 QSOs on the 160 & 80 meter bands, including 335QSOs with Japan. We are pleased to acknowledge receipt of the JIDXM (Japan International DX Meeting)2020 DXpedition of the Year Award, presented to teams and individuals making an outstanding contribution to the DX community. Congratulations to the VP2VB Yasme Memorial Expedition Team; Adrian KO8SCA, Martti OH2BH, Niko OH2GEK, and Sandro VE7NY.

DANNY WEIL A Dreamer of Distant Lands Who Took Amateur Radio on the Trip of a Lifetime

April 15, 2021

The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the release of “Danny Weil –A Dreamer of Distant Lands Who Took Amateur Radio on the Trip of a Lifetime”by Martti Laine, OH2BH, AH3D, VP2VB (re-issued). The 21-page article is published at www.yasme.org—click on the “Danny Weil: DXer & Dreamer”menu entry. The page also contains a list of Danny Weil expeditions, a collection of Danny’s QSLs, and an interview with Danny at age 80, with OE1WHC of Dokufunk. Along with OH2BH’s article, the book Yasme: The Danny Weil and Colvin Radio Expeditionsby James D.Cain, K1TN, is also now available for the first time as a free downloadable PDF. Join the Yasme Foundation in recognizing World Amateur Radio Day as we showcase our rich history and celebrate the legacy of a storied DXpeditioner

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

February 21, 2021

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grant at its February 17, 2021 board meeting: $5,000 each to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and ARRL Foundation scholarship programs for 2021.

2020

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS

November 18, 2020

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Brett Ruiz PJ2BR and Helena Ruiz PJ2ZZ
Brett and Helena have been active leaders of VERONA for more than twenty years, including technical activities, disaster preparedness and relief, as well as training potential licensees. They act as liaisons to government and international organizations, as well as contributing to important events such as GAREC and IARU assemblies and meetings. Brett is also active in pursuing long-distance VHF propagation and digital communications.

Bob Wilson N6TV
Yasme recognizes Bob’s technical support to literally hundreds of hams through various radio manufacturer’s user groups, to logging software communities, and the detailed assistance he provides to Reverse Beacon Network hosts, keeping their equipment configured and running. Bob also provides invaluable support to traveling hams worldwide when they most need help. Along with being technically talented he is exceptionally selfless in using that talent to help others, quick to encourage others in many areas.

Jari Perkiömäki OH6BG
Jari has supported the online VOACAP software and website www.voacap.com for almost 20 years, without compensation, making world-class HF propagation prediction and modeling services available to any radio amateur. He believes in team work, acknowledging the contributions and ideas from all of the ham community for further development of the service, but especially from James Watson M0DNS/HZ1JW and Juho Juopperi OH8GLV. He estimates that today VOACAP Online serves thousands of users, with visits from more than 100 countries every month, including integration with the DX Summit and Club Log services. He is part of the Radio Arcala, OH8X team and acts as a propagation specialist, assisting the WRTC community, RSGB and others.

Jim Brown K9YC
Amateurs worldwide have benefited from his extensive contributions to amateur radio regarding ferrite materials and their use in combating RF interference, feed line applications, and transformers. His efforts to improve transmitter performance and operating practices are also greatly appreciated, as are the extensive set of personal publications available to the public and performing reviews of technical material for amateur radio publishers.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANTS

August 30, 2020

The Yasme Foundation announces the following grants made at its August 26 board meeting.

DokuFunk Austria (Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communications and the Electronic Media). Grant to continue hosting Lloyd and Iris Colvin DXpedition material, and to develop a historical presentation from existing pictures, video, and audio. Yasme also supported the transfer of the HZ1AB QSL collection to Dokufunk.

Grant to Seychelles Amateur Radio Association (SARA) for financial support on upcoming amateur exams.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO EXPAND THE REVERSE BEACON NETWORK (RBN)

July 9, 2020

The Yasme Foundation has allocated funds to purchase equipment needed to add fifteen (15) nodes to the Reverse Beacon Network.  These new nodes will be added in regions where there is a need for reception reports to support amateur radio operation and where those reports will also have scientific value for geophysical research.

Yasme was assisted in this effort by supporting grants from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications team (www.ampr.org) and by scientific advice from the HamSCI (hamsci.org) researchers.  Information on the node locations will be available after a final list of hosts is available.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO ESTABLISH REVERSE BEACON NETWORK (RBN) NODES IN AFRICA

June 18, 2020

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation has made a supporting grant to establish Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) nodes in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.  The project will be carried out by youth in the Amateurs Radio Algeriens and Association des Radio Amateurs Tunisiens (http://amateurradiointunisia.org) radio clubs.  The build out of these nodes will increase RBN presence in Africa for both the amateur and scientific communities.

The Reverse Beacon Network is a network of global Software Defined Radio (SDR) receivers, monitoring amateur radio bands and reporting CW, RTTY, and FT8 signals to a central database at www.reversebeacon.net

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO OPEN RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ORI)

June 4, 2020

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation has made a supporting grant to the Open Research Institute (ORI) to enable completion of ORI’s Phase 4 Ground Project.   The Open Research Institute (ORI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research and development organization, which provides all of its work to the general public under the principles of open source and open access to research. The Phase 4 Ground Project is an open source satellite ground station for the amateur radio satellite service. For additional information about ORI and this project visit www.openresearch.institute.

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS AND EXCELLENCE AWARD

May 31, 2020

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grant at its May 20, 2020 board meeting:

$5,000 each to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and ARRL scholarship programs for 2020.

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals and groups who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio.  The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.  The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipient of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB

For his contributions to amateur radio through his kit-building seminars, as seen at the Dayton Hamvention and other ham gatherings.  He is also editor of the Kit-Building column for CQ magazine.  Joe exemplifies the “give back” and “self-teaching” spirit of ham radio, especially in training youngsters.

YASME FOUNDATION GRANTS AND EXCELLENCE AWARDS

February 14, 2020

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grants at its board meeting in Orlando, Florida on February 9, 2020:

• Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society (ET3AA) for VHF equipment.
• Support to the SU8WRC/SU8X demonstration station at the World Radio Conference in Egypt.
• YOTA (Youth On The Air) and HamSCI displays at Dayton Hamvention 2020.
• Contest University at Dayton Hamvention 2020 – support of audio/visual equipment, student materials (handouts and books), and live internet streaming connections.
• Hrvatski Radioamaterski Savez, HRS (Croatian Amateur Radio Association) to support YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) 2020 Region 1 conference.

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals and groups who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio.  The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.  The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

James Sarté, K2QI and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA for their efforts in combining the latest state of the art technology, diplomatic
skills, persistence, and leadership. Additional help with gathering equipment and logistical support was provided by RA9USU, NT2Y, NT2X, K2LE, and N2UN (SK) culminating in reactivation of the United Nations Club Station 4U1UN.

2019

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS, WRTC 2022, AND EXCELLENCE AWARDS

May 18, 2019

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made the following grants:

• $5,000 each to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and ARRL scholarship programs for 2019.
• $5,000 to WRTC 2022 in Italy for general support and, a second grant to once again sponsor the Widow’s Ball during WRTC 2022.

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals and groups who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio.  The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.  The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Angel Vazquez, WP3R– for his work in disaster relief, and as an outstanding ambassador for amateur radio.

Nikola Percin, 9A5W– for his outstanding work in advancing amateur radio in Croatia and the surrounding region.  He is a co-founder of 9A1A.  Nikola started efforts to recruit young amateurs and established youth programs in coordination with local universities.

NEW DIRECTOR – JAMES BROOKS, 9V1YC

February 13, 2019

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has elected James Brooks, 9V1YC, as the newest Yasme Foundation Director.

James was first licensed in the United States in September 1978 but has been active for the last 30 years as 9V1YC in Singapore. A BSEE graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, James owns a television post-production company based in Singapore that produces for networks such as Discovery, National Geographic, and HBO Asia. He’s been a competitor at WRTC and led several DXpeditions to remote areas of the world, some of which are documented in a series of videos he’s been making since 1997. James is on the council of the Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting Society, a co-founder of the Asia-Pacific Sprint, and a member of the CQ DX Hall of Fame.

2018

YASME FOUNDATION SUPPORTING GRANT TO ARISS AND EXCELLENCE AWARDS

October 6, 2018

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announces that it has made a significant grant to ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, www.ariss.org) in support of the Critical Infrastructure Fund. Yasme has supported this important upgrade to the ISS amateur station since the effort began and challenges other organizations and individuals to support it, as well. As of late 2018, ARISS is the only non-commercial entity being considered for NASA’s Deep Space Gateway program, indicating the importance with which the space program views amateur radio. Putting and keeping amateur radio in space is a significant expense and needs the support of the entire amateur community.

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals and groups who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Brian Machesney, K1LI and Michelle Guenard–in recognition of their extraordinary efforts on behalf of Commonwealth of Dominica communities in the wake of the 2017 hurricane season. Their efforts included fund-raising, delivery of communications supplies, on-site support, and application of amateur radio technologies to support the relief efforts, which continue today.

Fred Kleber, K9VV–in recognition of Fred’s leadership and technical skills that support the Virgin Island’s emergency communications capabilities. Fred has been a key player long before hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the islands. He is hard at work today re-building and extending the inter-island communication systems even after his own station suffered extensive damage.

Zorro Miyazawa, JH1AJT—for his extensive promotion of amateur radio in developing counties. Governments and telecommunications administrators in Bangladesh (S2), Bhutan (A5), Cambodia (XU), Eritrea (E3), and Myanmar (XZ) have benefited from Zorro’s patient and skillful efforts, supporting his own government and his fellow amateurs in Japan and around the world.

Stu Phillips, K6TU—for contributions to amateur radio through his Propagation and DX Strategy website, www.k6tu.net. In particular, his innovative tools for accessing and generating terrain profile data make it much easier to use the High Frequency Terrain Analysis (HFTA) program developed by Dean Straw, N6BV, another Excellence Award recipient in 2012. The tools are free for amateurs to use, requiring only that they register on the site.

Randy Wright, W6CUA—in recognition of his long service to the Yasme Foundation as our Awards Manager. His steady efforts and exacting attention to detail and customer service are greatly appreciated.

NEW DIRECTOR – MARTY WOLL, N6VI

August 21, 2018

We are very pleased to announce that Marty Woll, N6VI is the newest Yasme Foundation Director.  Marty brings a wealth of experience in ham radio, including serving as Vice Director for the ARRL’s Southwestern Division for a number of years.  Congratulations, Marty and thank you for supporting Yasme!  Please see the About Us / Contact Info page for more information about Marty.

2017

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND SUPPORTING GRANT

November 6, 2017, St. Charles, MO
The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals and groups who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award:

Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA)–to pick up the world’s largest amateur radio event on a few months notice and move it to a completely different facility is a daunting task. That it went so smoothly was a testament to the extraordinary efforts of the 600 volunteers and event leadership.

Paul Verhage KD4STH and Bill Brown WB8ELK–for their leadership and continued technical innovation in amateur radio high-altitude ballooning (ARHAB – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_balloon). While not the traditional means of introduction, ARHAB is exposing hundreds of students to amateur radio through an interest in science experimentation. Both have written extensively about ARHAB and have contributed material to the ARRL Handbook.

Nathaniel Frissell W2NAF and Magda Moses KM4EGE–for creating and leading the HamSCI (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation) organization that sponsored the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP). The SEQP was the largest amateur radio experiment ever devised and generated the world’s most extensive set of HF propagation observations during an eclipse. Beyond the SEQP, HamSCI is attracting the interest of professional/academic researchers such as from numerous universities, the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico, MIT’s Haystack Observatory, and HAARP facility in Alaska.

The WSJT Development Team–initially the work of Joe Taylor, K1JT, the WSJT software is now maintained and extended by a team of developers led by Bill Somerville, G4WJS; Steve Franke, K9AN; Greg Beam, KI7MT; Michael Black, W9MDB; Edson Pereira, PY2SDR; and Nico Palermo, IV3NWV; along with Joe Taylor. Their latest digital mode, FT8, combines the extraordinary low-SNR performance of JT9 and JT65 with a much faster decoding and exchange process.

Dale Hughes, VK1DSH–for his excellent work as Chairman of the Amateur Working Group in ITU-R Working Party 5A and as Chairman of the sub Working Group dealing with a worldwide 60 meter amateur allocation during World Radiocommunication Conference 2015.

The Board also made a grant to Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, for his production and distribution of videos of interest to the amateur radio community through Ham Radio Now and YouTube.

YASME SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2017

June 12, 2017 St. Charles MO (updated July 6, 2017)

Kevin O’Brien, KK4AXG has been awarded the Yasme Scholarship for 2017 by the ARRL Foundation. Congratulations to Kevin and all ARRL Foundation scholarship recipients!  Special thanks to the ARRL Foundation for administering this excellent scholarship program.  Kevin will be attending Georgia Tech in the fall to being his studies in the field of Computer Science.

Austin Schaller, KDØFAA has been award the Yasme Scholarship for 2017 by the Foundation for Amateur Radio. Austin will be a senior at LeTourneau University this  year, finishing studies in electrical engineering. Afterward, he plans on attending graduate school and is pursuing a career in wireless technology.

YASME FOUNDATION GRANTS IN 2017

June 12, 2017 St. Charles MO

The Yasme Foundation Board of Directors has awarded grants to the following organizations and individuals:

-RSGB (in support of YOTA 2017 sponsorship – see below)

-ARRL Foundation for the Yasme Scholarship (see additional news item above)

–Foundation for Amateur Radio in support of their scholarship program

Yasme congratulates all of the recipients for their work on behalf of amateur radio around the world.

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GRANTS TO SUPPORT YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN AMATEUR RADIO

May 1, 2017 St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce several grants in furtherance of Yasme’s goal of encouraging youth participation in amateur radio and operating activities. The Yasme Foundation encourages amateurs to support activities that promote amateur radio and result in new licensees around the world.

The seventh edition of the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) conference will take place in August 2017 in North London (www.ham-yota.com). Over 100 young amateurs from all IARU regions will gather to participate in a series of programs and workshops about amateur radio as well as inter-cultural exchanges and social interaction. Gatherings such as YOTA exemplify the ability of amateurs to work together across national borders and ethnicities in the best “ham spirit” of friendship. The Yasme Board is pleased to assist in helping young amateurs attend this meeting that otherwise would be unable to attend.
Continuing its support of YOTA that began in 2016, the Board is pleased to announce that it has made grants to young amateur radio operators to support their attendance at the 2017 YOTA conference, as follows:

• A grant to make possible the attendance of two Ethiopian amateur radio operators at the 2017 YOTA conference
• A grant to make possible the attendance of two Tunisian amateur radio operators at the 2017 YOTA conference
• A grant to make possible the attendance of two Kosovo amateur radio operators at the 2017 YOTA conference

The Board has also made a grant to Kevin Richardson, GØPEK, and his daughter Lauren, M6HLR, for the purchase of ARDF and HF, VHF and UHF portable radio equipment in support of their activities to encourage youth involvement in amateur radio in the United Kingdom.

Yasme has been a frequent supporter of Contest University (CTU) (www.contestuniversity.com). Earlier this year the Board made a grant to CTU to facilitate the attendance of Dr. Tamitha Skov at this year’s Dayton Hamvention CTU session. Dr. Skov is a Research Scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, California and is a frequent lecturer in the fields of solar and space physics. She makes regular “Spaceweather TV” presentations on her YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/SpWxfx. Dr. Skov is one of the Professors at the 2017 CTU in Ohio and her talk is entitled “The Wonderful World of Space Weather.”

THE YASME FOUNDATION ELECTS DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

April 28, 2017 St. Charles, MO

At its annual meeting held at the 2017 International DX Convention in Visalia, California, the Board of Directors elected the following directors and officers:

• Ward Silver, NØAX, President and Director
• Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, Vice-President and Director
• Rusty Epps, W6OAT, Treasurer and Director
• Kip Edwards, W6SZN, Secretary and Director
• Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, Director
• Martti Laine, OH2BH, Director
• Fred Laun, K3ZO, Director
• Bob Vallio, W6RGG, Director

The Board welcomed Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, as the new Vice-President and expressed its appreciation to Fred Laun, K3ZO, for his many years of service to Yasme as Vice-President and for his willingness to remain on the Board as a Director.

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NEW WEBSITE, YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND YEAR-END SUPPORTING GRANTS

January 2, 2017 St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has completed a substantial revision of its website at www.yasme.org The new website contains information on Yasme’s history, past recipients of the Yasme Excellence Award, prior grants, the Yasme Awards and an updated listing of eligible call signs. The website also makes available complete copies of The Yasme News published in the late 1950s by Dick Spenceley, KV4AA (SK), all prior Yasme press releases and information about the Yasme book authored by Jim Cain, K1TN. All readers are encouraged to spend a few minutes at the new website.
The Board is also pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award as described below. The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board has awarded the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• Pekka Ketonen, OH1TV, in recognition of his many innovations, such as the Opposite Voltage Feed concept for amateur radio antennas, and for documenting his work in English to make it widely available.
• Hani Raad, OD5TE, in recognition of his work advancing amateur radio in Lebanon and the Arabic Region and his efforts related to the reintroduction of amateur radio examinations in Lebanon.

The Board is also pleased to announce a number of supporting grants in furtherance of its goal of supporting the development of amateur radio:

• A further grant to the Radio Club d’Haiti for the acquisition of radios to be used for emergency communications
• A grant to the Mongolian Radio Sports Federation for the acquisition of laptop computers for use in the Federation’s High Speed Telegraphy competition
• A grant to the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired for the acquisition of amateur radio equipment for the station at the new headquarters in San Francisco, California
• A grant to the Amateur Radio Society of Dominica for the acquisition of amateur radio training materials and the donation of a transceiver, power supply, tuner and headset
• A grant to WRTC 2018 for the sponsorship of the Ham Widows’ Ball
• A grant to the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand for support of the HSØAC club station

2016

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GRANTS TO SUPPORT YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN AMATEUR RADIO

June 15, 2016, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce three grants in furtherance of Yasme’s goal of encouraging youth participation in amateur radio and operating activities. The Yasme Foundation encourages amateurs to support activities that promote amateur radio and result in new licensees around the world.

The sixth edition of the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) conference will take place in July 2016 in Wagrain, Austria (www.ham-yota.com). Over 100 young amateurs from all IARU regions will gather in the Austrian Alps to participate in a series of programs and workshops about amateur radio as well as inter-cultural exchanges and social interaction. Gatherings such as YOTA exemplify the ability of amateurs to work together across national borders and ethnicities in the best “ham spirit” of friendship. The Yasme Board is pleased to assist in helping young amateurs attend this meeting that otherwise would be unable to attend.

1. Amateur Radio Association of the Republic of Kosovo (SHRAK)

The Yasme grant will enable two youth amateur radio operators from Kosovo to attend the YOTA conference. This will be the first time these amateurs will have travelled outside their home country. SHRAK was recently admitted to the IARU as a member society, an additional step toward enabling Kosovo to be added to the ARRL DXCC entity list.

2. Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society (EARS)

Two youth operators from EARS will also be attending the YOTA conference. This extends Yasme’s support of the ET3AA station and the previous grant enabling travel by EARS members to participate in the 2016 ARI International DX Contest from Estonia. EARS member participation furthers amateur radio activity from eastern Africa and encourages interest in amateur radio by other African youth.

3. North American Participants

Three young amateurs from the United States will also attend the YOTA meeting with the assistance of the Yasme grant and a similar grant from the Northern California DX Foundation. As invited members of IARU in ITU Region 2, it is the hope of both Boards that they will return with ideas for extending the successes of YOTA to young North American amateurs.

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS

May 27, 2016, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce a number of supporting grants in furtherance of its goal of supporting the development of amateur radio. The grants announced in this press release are in support of encouraging youth participation in amateur radio and operating activities. The Yasme Foundation encourages amateurs to support activities that promote amateur radio and result in new licensees around the world.

Scholarships and Youth Programs

• A grant to the ARRL Foundation to fund The Yasme Foundation scholarship
• A grant to the Foundation for Amateur Radio in support of its 2017-2018 scholarship program
• A grant to make possible the participation by two Ethiopian young amateurs in the Youth Contesting Program in Estonia

HF Operating Around the World

• A grant to the DX Code of Conduct founder and website operator (www.dx-code.org)
• A grant to the 2016 Friendship Radio Games

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS

May 26, 2016, St. Charles, MO

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• Tim Duffy, K3LR: While Tim is involved in many facets of amateur radio, the Yasme Excellence Award is made in recognition of his adaptation and development of the Contest University (CTU), now in its tenth year. CTU has not only reached hundreds of amateurs around the world, but it has also inspired others to create their own CTU-format training programs in other fields. Tim’s dedication to CTU is in the finest traditions of amateur radio’s self-teaching and training.
• Carole Perry, WB2MGP: The Yasme Excellence Award is made in recognition of Carole’s many years of contributions to teaching and mentoring youth interested in amateur radio and her efforts in organizing and promoting the interests of young operators. This youth-oriented work becomes more and more important to amateur radio with every passing year. Carole’s dedication to this work, including through the Radio Club of America, is in the finest traditions of amateur radio’s self-teaching and training.
• Tom Rauch, W8JI: The Yasme Excellence Award is made in recognition of Tom’s many contributions to the technical advancement of the amateur service. Tom’s willingness to provide education and direction to amateurs through his website (www.w8ji.com) and other communications is a prime example of hams mentoring, teaching and training each other in the finest traditions of amateur radio.

2015

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT OF DIRECTOR CHARLES “MAC” McHENRY, JR., W6BSY

December 21, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation recognizes Director Charles “Mac” McHenry, Jr., W6BSY as he retires from the organization after many years of service. Mac’s association with Yasme spans decades, during which DXing, operating and amateur radio have witnessed many changes. We are honored to have had the benefit of his leadership and wisdom.

Mac’s association with Yasme dates back to the time when Lloyd and Iris Colvin were on their around-the-world DXpedition, visiting 221 DXCC countries and operating in about two-thirds of them. Yasme volunteers answered over 750,000 QSL requests. If you are lucky enough to have a handwritten Yasme QSL card, chances are very good that Mac was the one who filled out the card, stuffed it in an envelope and sent it off to you.

On behalf of Yasme and of the many amateurs Yasme has assisted or recognized over the years of your directorship, the Board of Directors conveys upon Mac the title of Director Emeritus, a first for our organization. We wish him smooth sailing in the future — thank you, Mac!

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS

December 21, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce a number of supporting grants in furtherance of its goal of supporting the development of amateur radio.

Our grants fall into several areas as shown below. The Yasme Foundation encourages amateurs to support activities that promote amateur radio and result in new licensees around the world.

Scholarships and Youth Programs

• A grant to the ARRL Foundation to fund the Yasme Foundation scholarship
• A grant to the Foundation for Amateur Radio in support of its 2016 scholarship program
• A grant to the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) program to support programs aimed at promoting amateur radio among those under age 26 throughout IARU Region 1
• A grant to the ARRL Teacher’s Institute to fund one teacher’s attendance at the 2016 Teacher’s Institute on Wireless Technology

Scientific and Technical Programs

• A grant to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program in support of its effort to place higher power amateur radio equipment on the Columbia Module and standardize the equipment configuration
• A grant to the Northern California DX Foundation Beacon Project to update the beacon station in Sri Lanka
• A grant to the Reverse Beacon Network to build and install a node that will provide coverage in an area identified as both underserved and of particular interest to propagation studies

HF Operating Around the World

• A grant to a representative of the Haiti Amateur Radio Club for the purchase of amateur radio training materials to be used for training sessions of future licensees in Haiti and the donation of a Kenwood TS-440S transceiver for use by the new licensees
• A grant to the International Amateur Radio Club at ITU-Geneva (4U1ITU) for station maintenance and the acquisition of needed equipment
• A grant to WRTC-2018 in support of ongoing expenses and to encourage organizations and individuals to support this important event
• A grant to the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society club station ET3AA to acquire a new computer, interfaces and programs to be used for logging and operating digital modes and to purchase new headsets

Organizations Supporting Amateur Radio

• A grant to the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) in support of their ongoing activities
• A grant to Dokufunk, the Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communications and the Electronic Media in Vienna, Austria, in support of its activities to preserve the history of radio communications

We wish all radio amateurs around the world a prosperous and happy new year on the airwaves!

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES YASME EXCELLENCE AWARD TO N1MM+ DEVELOPMENT TEAM

November 13, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has awarded the Yasme Excellence Award to the N1MM+ Development Team: Tom Wagner, N1MM; Rick Ellison, N2AMG; Steve London, N2IC; John Bednar, K3CT; Nikolay Safronov, NA3M; Pete Smith, N4ZR; Andreas Hofman, KU7T; Larry Gauthier, K8UT; and Richard Ferch, VE3KI. The initial N1MM Classic is a sophisticated logging program offered at no cost to contesters around the world. N1MM+ is a major revision to the original program and was a completely volunteer effort of thousands of programmer-hours to rewrite and test more than 250,000 lines of code. (www.n1mm.com) The program continues to be made available without charge and continues to be refined on a regular basis, supported by an extensive user group and full documentation.

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to those who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS

August 5, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• Mike Mertel, K7IR, for his revolutionary invention of a tunable Yagi antenna that was later made available to the amateur radio community under the brand name SteppIR
• Koos Fockens, PAØKDF, for his investigations, measurements and publications regarding noise in the amateur radio bands that played a key role in the global fight against Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) interference
• James Ying, N2IW, for his creation of an on-line scheduling application that was used by many W1AW/portable operations during the 2014 ARRL Centennial and remains available without charge

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS

July 28, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has made supporting grants in furtherance of its goal of supporting the development of amateur radio, as follows:

• A grant to the Organizing Committee of the 2018 World Radio Team Championship for the organizational and licensing fees associated with two special call sign stations
• A grant to the Reverse Beacon Network for the purchase of the equipment necessary to establish a node at the ET3AA club station in Ethiopia
• A grant to a representative of the Voodoo Contest Group for the purchase of amateur radio training materials to be used for training sessions of future licensees in Liberia

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES ELECTION OF TWO DIRECTORS

March 6, 2015 (Corrected), St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has elected Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, and Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, to the Board, effective with the forthcoming Annual Meeting at Visalia, California. This action brings the number of Directors to nine.

Mr. Claerbout was first licensed in 1977 and is an active DXer and contester. He was the founder of the popular webinar program, initiated while he was serving as President of the Potomac Valley Radio Club. Mr. Claerbout has been instrumental in working with the students of the ET3AA club station who regularly activate Ethiopia on the HF bands.

Mr. Blondeel Timmerman was first licensed in 1980. He served as IARU Region 1 President for six years beginning in 2008 and is President and Board Member of the European DX Foundation. Mr. Timmerman is an active DXer and contester and has operated from 80 DXCC countries.

THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND OTHER ACTIONS FOR 2014

January 5, 2015, St. Charles, MO

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the following actions and awards:

The Yasme Excellence Awards

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper.

1. Yasme Excellence Awards have been made to the following individuals during 2014:

• Kimo Chun, KH7U, for his 20 years of behind-the-scenes support to DXpeditions to Pacific entities, including logistics, organization, equipment, local contacts and planning
• Dick Flagg, AH6NM, for his years of working with the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) and Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) groups and in supporting NASA’s Radio Jove project , all designed to introduce amateur radio to the public, particularly students of all ages
• Florin-Cristian Predescu, YO9CNU and Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, for their work in organizing and promoting Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) and amateur radio youth activities

2. California Historical Radio Society

• The Board made a grant of $ 9,500 to the California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) to fund the Maxwell Library and Maxwell Archives Room in support of Jim Maxwell’s, W6CF (SK) efforts to maintain the history of amateur radio.

3. Foundation for Amateur Radio

• The Board made a grant of $ 5,000 to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) to be used in FAR’s scholarship program.

4. International Amateur Radio Union Region 1

• The Board made a grant of $ 5,000 to IARU Region 1 in support of youth activities in amateur radio.

5. Bruce Horn, WA7BNM

• The Board made a grant of $ 2,000 to Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, for providing Web-based services to the Amateur Radio community. The Board encourages others to add their support of online services which are often freely provided to the amateur community by individuals who develop and maintain the services at their own expense.

6. Egyptian Radio Amateurs Society for Development (ERASD)

• The Board made a grant of $2,000 to IARU Region 1 earmarked for the support of the Egyptian Radio Amateur Society for Development (ERASD).

7. World Wide Radio Operators Foundation

• The Board made a grant of $ 2,000 to the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) in recognition of their support for The Yasme Foundation and other amateur radio groups, its support of international radiosport activities, and for providing webinars to the amateur radio community.

8. ARRL Foundation

• The Board made a grant of $ 3,000 to the ARRL Foundation in support of the Foundation’s scholarship program.

9. ARRL Second Century Campaign

• The Board made a grant of $ 4,000 to the ARRL Second Century Campaign for the support of Amateur Radio in the next 100 years.

2014

THE YASME FOUNDATION ELECTS DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

April 18, 2014, St. Charles, MO (corrected April 21, 2014)

At its annual meeting held at the 2014 International DX Convention in Visalia, California, the Board of Directors elected the following directors and officers:

• Ward Silver, NØAX, President and Director
• Fred Laun, K3ZO, Vice-President and Director
• Rusty Epps, W6OAT, Treasurer and Director
• Kip Edwards, W6SZN, Secretary and Director
• Martti Laine, OH2BH, Director
• Mac McHenry, W6BSY, Director
• Bob Vallio, W6RGG, Director

The Yasme Foundation is sponsoring a two-page insert in the July-August 2014 Special Edition of the National Contest Journal that will describe the mission of The Yasme Foundation; acknowledge the work of its Webmaster, Awards Manager, and QSL Manager; and invite non-participants in WRTC-2014 to a party to be held in their honor at the opening of WRTC-2014.

YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS

January 7, 2014, St. Charles, MO

The Yasme Foundation makes supporting grants to individuals and organizations providing or creating useful services for the amateur radio community. Regardless of originality or novelty, Yasme supports these programs in order to further the development of amateur radio around the world.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has made supporting grants as follows:

• WRTC-2014 — to assist in defraying the expenses of the World Radio Team Championship to be held this coming July in the Boston area of the northeastern United States (www.wrtc2014.org)
• Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) — to purchase a receiver and the necessary accessories to upgrade the node presently operational in Bangalore (www.reversebeacon.net)
• CWOps CW Academy — to assist in defraying the expenses of providing on-line CW training courses (www.cwops.org)
• ARRL Second Century Fund — to support the goals of the ARRL’s Second Century Campaign (www.arrl.org/arrl-second-century-campaign)

2013

YASME FOUNDATION EXCELLENCE AWARDS

December 16, 2013, St. Charles, MO

The Yasme Excellence Award is presented to individuals who, through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication, have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• Tom Roscoe, K8CX: Tom is recognized for his dedication to collecting and publishing current and historical photos and other documents on his Hamgallery web site at www.hamgallery.com. Hamgallery is an excellent amateur radio resource provided free of charge to the online community.  Tom is also the manager of the W3 QSL Bureau, contributing many hours to ensuring cards are delivered properly and promptly.
• Lee Sawkins, VE7CC: Lee’s software is widely used worldwide to manage and filter DX cluster spotting output.  Without such filters, the output of the spotting network would be overwhelming and unusable.  Lee’s filtering software enables logging programs to integrate with the spotting network for contesting and general-purpose operation around the world.  Lee supports the local DX and contesting community in British Columbia and will be representing Canada in WRTC 2014 as the Team Leader from the NA-12 region.
• John Devoldere, ON4UN: Along with building one of the premier amateur stations in the world, John’s contributions to the DXing community have been extensive.  Beginning with “80 Meter DXing,” published in 1978, his book expanded to “Low-Band DXing,” which in its fifth edition has become the definitive handbook for operating and building antenna systems on the bands at 7 MHz and lower frequencies.  This has facilitated a number of important advances in HF amateur technology and encourages operation on these bands.
• Michael Carroll, N4MC; Eldon Lewis, K7LS; Dean Gibson, AE7Q; and Joseph Speroni, AHØA: These gentlemen have been instrumental in providing convenient access by amateurs to information maintained in FCC databases.  In the case of N4MC, his Vanity HQ site became the single most popular resource for U.S. amateurs seeking to obtain a desired call sign, which is a fundamental element of amateur radio. He continues to maintain the National Silent Key Archive at www.silentkeyhq.com. K7LS and AE7Q have created similar online services that can be found at www.radioqth.net and www.ae7q.com. AHØA was a pioneer in accessing the FCC databases and providing useful summaries of licensing information.  The services made freely available by these four individuals greatly enriched and educated U.S. amateurs.
• Ken Claerbout, K4ZW: Ken is recognized for his work in support of the series of videos produced in association with the Potomac Valley Radio Club.  Initially focused on contesting, the scope has broadened to include a variety of operating and technical topics.  More importantly, the videos have encouraged others to publish similar “webinars” and archive them for viewing at any time.
• Ashraf Chaabane, 3V/KF5EYY: Ashraf has become an energetic representative on all fronts of amateur radio in Northern Africa and globally. He presents a positive role model for amateur radio across the entire Arab world with his enthusiasm and competitive spirit. His mission is to see the day when the administration in Tunisia issues him the first personal license in that country.  Ashraf will also be representing Africa as the Team Leader for the African team in WRTC 2014.

YASME SUPPORTS DEVELOPER OF VIEWPROP

July 26, 2013, St Charles, MO

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce that it has made a grant to support further development of ViewProp (www.zl2ham.wikispaces.com), a new utility for propagation visualization developed by Rick Kiessig, ZL2HAM. ViewProp integrates information from the Reverse Beacon Network and worldwide spotting networks with station location information from QRZ.com and mapping through DXAtlas. The result is a real-time, worldwide view of amateur radio signals and operation. ViewProp also supports a “playback” function to review historical data and provides the user with a number of options to configure both the input data stream and the way in which the information is displayed. Currently in beta testing by a global user’s group (www.groups.yahoo.com/group/viewprop), the Yasme grant will enable ZL2HAM to complete development with appropriate networked software tools and release it for public use.

YASME SUPPORTS EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION FOR NEW ETHIOPIAN AMATEURS

July 18, 2013, St Charles, MO

Ethiopia came back on the air  May 30, 2011 with the re-opening of the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society station ET3AA. To support the re-establishment of amateur radio in Ethiopia, The Yasme Foundation made a grant to pay for the fees associated with the license examination for 25 club members. Many were successful but under Ethiopian regulations could not receive a license without proof of ownership of an amateur radio station.

To further support amateur radio in Ethiopia, the Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has made an additional grant to be used to purchase amateur radio transceivers for three club members so that they can satisfy the requirements of the Ethiopian licensing process. The Board acknowledges with appreciation the substantial efforts of Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, in facilitating the acquisition of the equipment and mentoring the EARS members, as shown here with club member Adula at the microphone during the 2013 IARU HF Championship contest.

YASME BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT AND HONORS OUTGOING PRESIDENT WAYNE MILLS, N7NG

May 9, 2013, St Charles, MO

At its annual meeting held at the International DX Convention in Visalia, California, the Board of Directors elected Ward Silver, NØAX, as its new President. The remaining officers were re-elected. The necessity of an election for a new President was occasioned by the resignation of Wayne Mills, N7NG. Wayne has founded DX University (www.dxuniversity.com) and takes over as the new DX Editor for CQ Magazine.

The Board also decided to acknowledge Mr. Mills’ many years of service to The Yasme Foundation by making a contribution to DX University in support of the goals shared by the two organizations.

YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND SUPPORTING GRANTS

January 14, 2013, Temple Hills, Maryland

[The following revision of our original award announcement clarifies the relative contributions of award recipients G3PLX and SP9VRC.  The Yasme
Foundation apologizes for creating any confusion about the origins of PSK31.]

The Yasme Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• George Fremin, K5TR; Tree Tyree, N6TR; Trey Garlough, N5KO; and Scott Neader, KA9FOX for their contributions to many infrastructure projects that benefit the ham community at large
• Mark Spencer, WA8SME for his instrumental work in the ARRL Teachers Institute and other training efforts, development of PIC microcontroller projects and books for amateurs, and work with leaders in student and scientific teams applying amateur radio to scientific projects and experiments
• Champ Muangamphun, E21EIC and Pornchai Semjang, HS2JFW for leadership in the Thai amateur community, especially during the recent flooding which helped open the door to the new Thai HF licensing and enhanced the stature of amateur radio with the Thai government
• Tomas Hood, NW7US and Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA for sustained education of the amateur community regarding propagation, solar and geomagnetic physics
• David Freese, W1HKJ for creating and maintaining the freeware software package FLDIGI, probably the most widely used digital communication software in ham radio and a frequent gateway for new hams who are more familiar with computer-based communications
• Dean Straw, N6BV for his contributions to amateur antenna system design and the development of software tools such as HFTA to optimize system design
• Peter Martinez, G3PLX and Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC for their individual and distinct contributions to digital communications technology.  Peter Martinez is recognized for his invention of PSK31, a widely used digital mode that enables many amateurs to successfully communicate on HF with very modest stations
• Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC is recognized for his contributions to the field of digital signal processing as applied to communications systems that are used by amateurs, such as the mode Olivia
• Arie Kleingeld, PA3A; Ad Van Ginneken, PA8AD; and Arie, PA3AN for their sustained contributions to the Mercy Ships Project

Thank you for your fine work and congratulations to you all!

The Board of Directors also announces supporting grants to the following:

• WRTC 2014 (www.wrtc2014.org)
• World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (www.wwrof.org)
• Club Log (www.clublog.org)
• NCDXF Beacon Project (www.ncdxf.org)
• Yasme Scholarships (administered by ARRL) (www.arrl.org)
• Amateur Radio Association of Kosovo (SHRAK)

2012

YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND SUPPORTING GRANTS

December 7, 2012, Temple Hills, Maryland

The Yasme Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals:

• George Fremin, K5TR; Tree Tyree, N6TR; Trey Garlough, N5KO; and Scott Neader, KA9FOX for their contributions to many infrastructure projects that benefit the ham community at large
• Mark Spencer, WA8SME for his instrumental work in the ARRL Teachers Institute and other training efforts, development of PIC microcontroller projects and books for amateurs, and work with leaders in student and scientific teams applying amateur radio to scientific projects and experiments
• Champ Muangamphun, E21EIC and Pornchai Semjang, HS2JFW for leadership in the Thai amateur community, especially during the recent flooding which helped open the door to the new Thai HF licensing and enhanced the stature of amateur radio with the Thai government
• Tomas Hood, NW7US and Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA for sustained education of the amateur community regarding propagation, solar and geomagnetic physics
• David Freese, W1HKJ for creating and maintaining the freeware software package FLDIGI, probably the most widely used digital communication software in ham radio and a frequent gateway for new hams who are more familiar with computer-based communications
• Dean Straw, N6BV for his contributions to amateur antenna system design and the development of software tools such as HFTA to optimize system design
• Peter Martinez, G3PLX and Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC for the development of PSK31, a widely used digital mode entirely invented by amateurs that is enabling many amateurs to successfully use HF with very modest stations
• Arie Kleingeld, PA3A; Ad Van Ginneken, PA8AD; and Arie, PA3AN for their sustained contributions to the Mercy Ships Project

Thank you for your fine work and congratulations to you all!

The Board of Directors also announces supporting grants to the following:

• WRTC 2014 (www.wrtc2014.org)
• World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (www.wwrof.org)
• Club Log (www.clublog.org)
• NCDXF Beacon Project (www.ncdxf.org)
• Yasme Scholarships (administered by ARRL) (www.arrl.org)
• Amateur Radio Association of Kosovo (SHRAK)

YASME AWARDS AND EXPANDED LIST OF ELIGIBLE CALL SIGNS

June 15, 2012, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Yasme Foundation has for many years offered two Yasme Awards, available at no cost to qualifying applicants. The first Yasme Award, in the form of a handsome plaque, is offered to those amateurs who submit proof of 30 QSOs with Yasme officials and DXpeditions that have at least one Yasme official as a participant. The second, the Yasme Supreme Award, is in the form of a representation of the YASME boat used by Danny Weil in his around-the -world DXpedition and is available to those who submit proof of 60 QSOs with Yasme officials and DXpeditions with a Yasme official as a participant.

After a year-long evaluation of the rules for qualifying call signs, the Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the rules for qualifying call signs have been revised. As a result, many call signs have been added to the list. The revised list of call signs eligible for both awards is available at The Yasme Foundation website.

YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS AND SUPPORTING GRANTS

January 2, 2012, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Yasme Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a monetary grant and an individualized engraved crystal globe.

The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to Roger Balister, G3KMA, and Martin Atherton, G3ZAY, for their many years of dedicated service to the Islands on the Air (IOTA) awards program. Thank you for your fine work and congratulations to you both!

The Board of Directors also announces supporting grants to the following:

• The DX Summit
• HSØAC, Radio Society of Thailand (RAST) Headquarters Club Station
• ClubLog
• NCDXF Beacon Project
• N4MC’s VanityHQ callsign database project

2011

YASME GRANT HELPS ETHIOPIAN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY

August 29, 2011… Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Ethiopia came back on the air May 30, 2011 with the re-opening of the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society station ET3AA. Professor Heiko Schroeder, head of the technical faculty of the University of Addis Ababa and PB2T, Hans Blondeel Timmerman, President of IARU Region 1, cut the ribbon in a reopening ceremony. The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation became aware that 25 club members were scheduled to take the amateur radio license examination in late July and that the fee for taking the exam was about one month’s salary in Ethiopia. Accordingly, the Board voted unanimously in favor of a grant to cover one-half of the examination fees for all 25 applicants, the remaining one-half having been previously committed from the Radio Society of Great Britain.

Yasme Vice-President and Director Fred Laun, K3ZO, was instrumental in making possible this grant.

YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS

January 4, 2011

The Yasme Excellence Awards are given to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Foundation recognizes the following individuals in order to inspire them and others on behalf of amateur radio now and in the future.

The Awards have been given to the following amateurs:

• Ramón Santoyo V, XE1KK who is recognized for his work in advancing Mexican ham radio and representation within the international radio community. In addition, Ramón serves as IARU Region 2 Secretary. He has been a tireless advocate of amateur radio in Central America and a strong proponent of radiosport and the World Radiosport Team Championships. Voices like Ramón’s help the amateur community work together worldwide, strengthening our position and reputation as important members of the wireless community.
• Makoto (Mako) Mori, JE3HHT who deserves much credit for popularizing RTTY by writing the MMTTY software modem and making it available for integration into logging software. He also wrote MMVARI, which implements other popular digital modes, and several other digital mode software products. MMTTY is a great product and Mako has exhibited great ham spirit with a huge effect as can be observed as RTTY operation continues to be the fastest growing mode of HF digital operation.
• Bruce Horn, WA7BNM who continues to generate useful and innovative web sites including a complete upgrade of his excellent contest calendar Web site. Bruce supports contesting with a web site that enables contesters to convert paper and other forms of contest logs to Cabrillo format. His 3830 score reporting and compilation service has changed the nature of radiosport. Bruce was also a key player in the initial efforts to develop methods of exchanging scoring information in the web-friendly XML format.
• Rick Meuthing, KN6KB for developing the new WINMOR sound-card digital mode software now gaining wide use in the worldwide Winlink 2000 system. Many attempts at approaching the performance of the proprietary PACTOR III protocol and hardware failed before WINMOR, attesting to the difficulty of the problem. Rick also invented an improved “channel busy” detector that senses many different types of modulation and will drastically reduce the inter mode QRM common from other semi-automated digital protocols.
• Mikael Styrefors, SM2O who has developed the Remote Radio Interface. The ability to connect radios and operators transparently and robustly over the Internet is a key technological element of putting top-grade remote HF stations on the air – something more common every day. Remote stations will undoubtedly be important and popular in making and keeping amateur radio available to urban and suburban amateurs as they deal with mounting antenna restrictions and an increasingly noise-filled and interference-prone electromagnetic environment.
• Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA for developing DX Atlas, Morse Runner, HAM-CAP, CW Skimmer, Rocky and other innovative software. Alex’s products are making a remarkable impact on the competitive HF operating environment. The quality of the software is remarkable, and having it available to the amateur community at little or no cost demonstrates excellent ham spirit. Programs like these are rapidly expanding the technological frontier of radio in general and are prime examples of how amateurs can continue to make contributions.
• Pepe Ardid, EA5KB who makes it possible for many Latin American DXers, who are in many cases saddled with deficient postal services and QSL Bureaus, to confirm contacts with attractive and unique QSL cards. Confirmations are rapid and he confirms not only direct but via bureau as well. Pepe contributes countless hours of service in support of his fellow amateurs so they can continue to participate in one of amateur radio’s most cherished traditions.

2010 and Earlier

WINNERS – YASME EXCELLENCE AWARDS

January 18, 2008

The Directors of The Yasme Foundation are proud to announce the first winners of the recently announced Yasme Excellence Awards. These awards are given for service and dedication to amateur radio as recognized by the foundation’s Directors. The prizes are in the form of a plaque and a monetary award. The winners of the first Yasme Excellence Awards are hereby introduced to the public.

• Joseph L. Arcure, Jr., W3HNK – $2,000 for his long service to DXers as a QSL manager. Joe’s efforts on behalf of DXer’s everywhere promote international goodwill by facilitating cultural exchanges between operators that may never meet in person, yet share a common bond of DX operation.
• Sheldon C. Shallon, W6EL – $2,000 for his work with propagation prediction software. By making propagation more accessible, Shel has done much to advance the technical skills of HF operators in understanding the physical environment of radio.
• James Brooks, 9V1YC – $2,000 for DXpedition organization and videography. James’ professional videos make the skills and excitement of DX operating and expeditioning more accessible to hams that haven’t yet tried DXing and to non-hams alike.
• Jukka Salomaa, OH2BUA and Antti Kantola, OH5TB – $2,000 (shared) for conceiving, operating, and maintaining the DX Summit, the first widely-used Web-based spotting network portal. They created a tool that fundamentally changed the nature of HF operating, a true advancement of the radio art.

These amateurs have given unselfishly their time and expertise. On behalf of all amateurs, we would like congratulate these winners and thank them for their service.

NEWS SUMMARY: AMATEUR RADIO TO PUBLISH HISTORY

May 2, 2001, Manchester, CN

A husband-and-wife team who took ham radio to some 200 countries will be the main subjects of a book soon to be published. The Yasme Foundation has commissioned a full-length history of the foundation and a biography of its two principal luminaries, Lloyd Colvin, W6KG (who died in 1993) and Iris Colvin, W6QL (who died in 1998).

The assistance of radio amateurs and others around the world is sought in this effort. The foundation has retained freelance writer Jim Cain, K1TN, to write the book. Anyone with information to share (reminiscences, anecdotes, photos, etc.) may contact him at yasmebook@mybizz.net.

“The foundation is pleased to have the services of Jim Cain, a writer well-known and respected among radio amateurs and a licensed ham since 1961, to research and write this important history of the organization.” – Wayne Mills

The Yasme Foundation is an exempt, private operating foundation. Its purpose is to promote amateur radio DXing (long distance communication) and DXpeditioning (visiting and operating amateur radio from remote locales) by channeling resources to projects which enhance these activities. The foundation does not ordinarily fund DXpedition operations directly, although it may make contributions to these activities from time to time through other organizations.

The foundation also encourages the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in underdeveloped countries.

Lloyd and Iris Colvin visited more than 200 ARRL DXCC Countries, including nearly every member-country of the United Nations. Other amateur radio operations under the Yasme banner were conducted by Danny Weil, VP2VB; Martti Laine, OH2BH; and the late Dick McKercher, W0MLY, among others.

The Yasme Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation. Its officers and directors are Wayne Mills, N7NG (president); Rusty Epps, W6OAT; Bob Vallio, W6RGG; Charles “Mac” McHenry, W6BSY; G. Kip Edwards, W6SZN; Martti Laine, OH2BH; and Fred Laun, K3ZO.