HRU 2008 Moderator Biographies

hru.gif (2197 bytes)

ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Convention

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Briarcliffe College
Bethpage, NY

"A day of education to share ideas, experiences, knowledge and fellowship among Amateur Radio operators"

Featuring
Spreading Ham Radio Knowledge and Know How

2008 Biographies

Time Forum Moderator Biography

9:00am - 9:50am Young Ham Forum
Lew Malchick N2RQ Lew Malchick, N2RQ, was first licensed in 1959 as WV2FBX while in 8th grade. He is a past president of the Erasmus Hall HS ARC – W2ANU and Brooklyn College ARS – K2APZ. He was faculty advisor at Brooklyn Technical HS – W2CXN from 1977-2003 and continues as station trustee. He has administered the School Club Roundup (SCR) since its inception more than 20 years ago. Lew is a VE, has taught classes and has mentored students mostly at BTHS. He is a life member of ARRL & QCWA, is active in ARES & RACES, is a LIMARC director, Hudson Division Assistant Director and also served more than 30 years in Army MARS. Personal experience as a student, with students and feedback from SCR participants provide knowledge of a wide variety of successful approaches to attracting younger operators to ham radio. We hope the young ham forum will help you to be more effective in rejuvenating our beloved hobby.

9:00am - 9:50am Young Ham Forum
Martin Smith KA2NRR Marty Smith KA2NRR of Wantagh, NY, was first licensed in 1972 as WN2IAV. He held that license until 1974. He earned his Novice license again in 1980 as KA2NRR. He achieved his Extra Class Amateur Radio License in 1995. He has served as an Assistant Director of ARRL, Hudson Division and was a member of its Educational Task Force. He has been an ARRL Volunteer Examiner and has served as a volunteer radio operator and Mile Captain for the New York City Marathon as well as the Long Island Marathon in past years. He is the co-founder of the School Club Roundup Contest which is sponsored by ARRL and was co-editor of the New York City Board of Education 90 page manual entitled “You’re On The Air-Amateur Radio in the School Curriculum” which was published in 1990. He has worked closely with Lew Malchick, N2RQ in regard to school-related amateur radio activities over the past twenty five years. Marty has served as president of the Rockaway Amateur Radio Club, president and co-founder of the Council for the Advancement of Amateur Radio-New York City Schools and president and co-founder of the Big Apple Chapter (Tapuach Gadol) of the Chaverim International Radio Club. He was also Second Vice President of the Chaverim International Radio Club. During his many years in amateur radio he has been a member and active participant with these clubs as well as LIDXA, Electchester ARC, MAARC, and LIMARC. He has been Newsletter Editor of the LIDXA, CAARS-NYC and the Rockaway Amateur Radio Club. He also holds membership in the International Amateur Radio Society, International DX Association, the YLISSB, OMISS, 3905 Century Club and the Certificate Hunters Club. His amateur radio interests are rag chewing, DXing, contesting and working Echolink. He has spoken on amateur radio topics at workshops, organizational meetings and religious groups.

9:00am - 10:30am ARRL Forum
Tom Carrubba KA2D Tom Carrubba KA2D of Babylon, New York was first licensed in 1978 as KA2DFO and holds an FCC Extra Class Amateur Radio license. Tom is presently the Section Manager for NLI. KA2D has served as ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator and Assistant Section Manager for New York City-Long Island, since 1998. Tom served on the 2006 ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee. Besides emergency communications, Tom has been web administrator for Great South Bay ARC, NLI Section and Hudson Division webpages. He is an active DXer, DXCC CW, RTTY and SSB, Island Chaser and Contester. He has coordinated various Special Event Stations from the New York/Long Island area such as Montauk Point and Fire Island Lighthouses, The Long Island Air Show, National Weather Service/ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day and ARRL Field Day. He has been an officer, past President and the ARRL Volunteer Exam Liaison for the Great South Bay ARC and South Shore ARC.

9:00am - 9:50am Transmitter Hunting
Larry Berger WA2SUH Larry Berger was first licensed in 1961 and has been involved with transmitter hunting for many years, first on 10 meters and later on 2 meters. He is a member of the Plaza Repeater Group and participates in Nassau County RACES activities. He serves as the Vice-President of the 10-10 International Net. Larry heads up the Transportation Division of the Nassau County Planning Commission. The presentation will focus on what transmitter hunting is, why hams hunt, different types of hunts, hunting strategies, different types of hunting equipment and how to get involved. A demonstration of some of the equipment used on local hunts will be part of the presentation.

9:00am - 9:50am Transmitter Hunting
Andy Kirschenbaum WA2CDL Andy Kirschenbaum, WA2CDL, will co-moderate the Hidden Transmitter Hunting forum with Larry Berger, WA2SUH. Andy has been licensed since 1970 and holds an Extra class license. His involvement in amateur radio has included everything from public service thru RACES, to building and experimenting. Many people know Andy from his radio repair activities. He has conducted “tune up clinics” at various hamfests in the NYC area since 1985. Andy is a member of LIMARC and the Plaza Repeater Group. Andy works in the field of radio communications systems.

9:00am - 9:50am QRP low power fun
Norm Wesler K2YEW sk In memorium - Norm passed away on December 20, 2007. This year's QRP forum is dedicated to his memory Norm Wesler K2YEW has been licensed since 1957 as K2YEW and has led ostensibly a CW life. Norm says he got into a rut running 1500 watts on CW. In 1990, Norm became a "born again" QRP operator [from 1500 watts to 5 watts - overnight]. Now, he runs mostly at 1.5 watts using his Elecraft KX-1. He hangs out mostly on 7.040 MHz CW. Norm is a member of the Long Island QRP Club, is an ARRL Hudson Division assistant director, an ARRL NYC Long Island Assistant Section Manager. He is a member of Radio Inc. regarding amateur radio tower saving group, regarding zoning board applications (with N2GA, N2FF, W2QUV, K2RIW). He is Past President of the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club. Norm works as Professional Engineer [his hobby]. He has been a volunteer instructor for the Amateur Radio 5 WPM and Technician class license at Huntington High School for over 20 years.

9:00am - 9:50am QRP low power fun
Preston Douglas WJ2V Preston Douglas, WJ2V was first licensed as WV2VPN in the early sixties, when Novices had one year licenses. He became WA2IFZ in the 70s and WJ2V in the 80s, when he became an Extra. He was one of the four founders of the famous FDIM QRP seminars at the Dayton Hamvention in 1995. He has spoken at FDIM about the theory of zerobeating QRP radios. He took first prize at Atlanticon for homebrew construction for his scratch-built 2N2/40, which was the second one ever built (after the designer's prototype). He has consulted and alpha tested QRP kits from Norcal, SWL Labs and others. He has published reviews of QRP radios and numerous other articles in the QRP Quarterly. He taught the Novice course in Lawrence Public Schools Adult program for many years in the 80s and 90s. Preston is a member of QRPARCI, GQRP, Norcal, and LIQRP (though he hasn't made a meeting in three years!) He retired from teaching science in 1975 to become a trial lawyer in NYC, where he practices today. In honor of Norm Wesler, Preston will demonstrate current QRP technology, including the Altoids-boxed subminiature ATS-3A by Steve Weber, as well as current portable antennas for QRP. He will have the 2N2/40 for inspection, as well as an older Radiokit QRP20.

9:00am - 9:50am DSTAR - digital Amateur Radio
Gene Niemiec K2KJI K2KJI and WA2RMZ will give a DSTAR presentation

9:00am - 9:50am DSTAR - digital Amateur Radio
Randy Gutentag WA2RMZ Randy Gutentag WA2RMZ has been licensed since 1971. He is currently holds an Extra Class license. He is a life member of the ARRL and QCWA. He is also a member of the Cherryville Repeater Association. Randy was very active in vhf/uhf contesting and traffic handling in the late 70's and early 80's. For the last 15+ years he has been active in Emergency Management in Middlesex County NJ. Randy is the President of the Central NJ D-Star Group and a trustee of the NJ2DG D-Star repeater system in Martinsville, NJ.

10:00am - 10:50am What now? Your first station
Phil Lewis N2MUN Phil Lewis is the originator of the HRU concept.Phil envisioned a day of education for and about Amateur Radio and with the help of other hams in the NLI section, put together the first HRU in 2000. Phil has beed chairman of the event three times, in 2000,2001 and 2002. Phil is past president of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, and currently is the Affiliated Club Coordinator for the NY City/ LI Section. Phil was ARRL Hudson Division Amateur of the year in 2000. Radio and electronics run in his blood (Father, Uncle and Cousin) Phil is in his 40th year at BAE Systems in Greenlawn producing military hardware for our troops . His forum will be how to setup your first Ham Radio Station and have fun doing it! Phil enjoys DXing and contesting and is a member of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York contest club and the YCCC.

10:00am - 10:50am Into to Emergency Communications
Mike Lisenco N2YBB Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, is the new Section Emergency Coordinator for NYC/LI. He replaces long term SEC Tom Carrubba, KA2D, who became Section Manager on January 1, 2007. Prior to that date, Mike was the ARES District Emergency Coordinator for New York City, supervising an organization made up of the 5 borough (county) organizations that comprise the metropolis. Mike was first licensed in January 1994, having passed the Novice, CW and Technician exams one cold evening in December 1993. He quickly upgraded to General and then Advanced, but waited until last year to upgrade to Extra. Besides emergency communications, Mike's passion is DX; having worked nearly 300 countries (294 confirmed and 290 approved). You can find him trolling the bands on SSB, CW and RTTY searching for that elusive 300th DXCC entity (he needs another endorsement sticker). A professional actor, Mike has appeared in countless films, tv shows and commercials over the past 25 years. He is married, has two children and lives in Brooklyn where he grows antennas in his backyard farm.

10:00am - 10:50am Power Supply Technology
Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP Bob was licensed as W2ILP since 1951. He has had his Extra class since 1988. Bob is a member ARRL, QCWA, Mensa, Grumman Amateur Radio Club (GARC), Radio Central Amateur Radio Club, Life member IEEE. BSEE, MSEd. GARC Board Member and editor of GARC Newsletter. He is the contact VE for GARC, has operated RTTY, PSK-31, MFSK and Hellschreibrer digital modes and served as Mentor for ARRL Digital Mode Course. Bob has over 40 years experience as technician, field service engineer, design engineer, technical writer and electronics instructor.

10:00am - 10:50am Antenna Forum
Walter Wenzel KA2RGI Walter Wenzel, KA2RGI, has been licensed in the Amateur Radio Service since 1983 and is an Amateur Extra Class Operator. His whole family, wife and 4 children, are licensed amateur radio operators. His major involvement in Amateur Radio is Emergency Communications. Walter is a past NYC/LI Section Manager and has held almost all of the ARRL Leadership positions over the years. He has also held the position of Assistant Director for the Hudson Division. Walter worked with the New York State Emergency Management Office as a volunteer as their Regional Radio Officer for years under Regional Director, Wayne Georgia. Today, Walter is the Radio Officer and ARES EC for the Township of Babylon Amateur Radio Emergency Services (TOBARES). KA2RGI is also active with the National Weather Service as the Skywarn Coordinator for Suffolk County and is a past Regional Skywarn Coordinator for the OKX Forecasting Office at Upton, NY on the grounds of BNL. He also part of a committee to update radio communications for the American Red Cross in Suffolk County and Long Island. Walter has long been involved with The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club. He served as President multiple times, and has held various other positions on the Executive Board and other committees which have included Field Day Coordinator, Volunteer Exam Liaison for their VE sessions, and the Trustee for club call, W2GSB. Today he is part of their board as their Secretary. Walter has always enjoyed instructing persons in the various levels of amateur radio classes and maintains the VE Sessions for GSBARC. He has been instructing Amateur Radio Licensing Classes (Novice through Extra) since January 1983, and have been an ARRL Certified Instructor since 1984. He has also instructed classes on introduction to computers, soldering, kit building, basic repeater techniques and etiquette, repeater maintenance, packet radio protocols, BBS operation, basic antenna building, basic contesting. Walter is an Awards Manager for the ARRL for HF and VHF/UHF Awards, but not DXCC. Walter is also certified to give ARRL ARECC Hybrid Classes for EC-001, EC-002, and EC-003 plus administer the exams. Walter has been part of HRU since its conception. Walter has also been involved in other "Ham Radio" clubs and organizations such as the Suffolk County Radio Club, South Shore ARC, Larkfield ARC, LIMARC, and the Packteers of Long Island. Walter, KA2RGI is also on the board for the Suffolk County Half Marathon.

10:00am - 10:50am Intro to DXing Long Island DX Association Join members of the LIDXA discuss the why and how of DXing. This forum is for you whether you are new to DXing or a seasoned pro. Discussed will be DXing techniques, QSLing, HF propagation and upcoming DXpeditions.

11:00am - 11:50am Wireless History
Connie Currie Connie Currie is President of the Long Island Wireless Historical Society. A Novice Ham from 1956 to 57, her father was an electrical engineer who loved radios and fixing them, and she has melded her love of history with radio. Connie has tried to save the Telefunken Wireless site in West Sayville for posterity, but went down in burning defeat. Now she's hoping to see radio history remain in the minds and hearts of Long Islanders, by writing, publishing, exhibiting and talking about it.

11:00am - 11:50am EMCOMM - the next step
Dennis Dura K2DCD Dennis Dura K2DCD is the ARRL Director of Emergency Preparedness. We are pleased to have Dennis here to represent ARRL Headquarters and discuss emergency communications on a national level.

11:00am - 11:50am VHF Propagation
Ken Neubeck WB2AMU Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU, has an extra class license and has been a ham since 1971. He writes regularly on VHF propagation for CQ VHF and Worldradio. He has written the book, SIX METERS, A GUIDE TO THE MAGIC BAND put out by Worldradio books and it is now in its third edition. He is co-author with Gordon West of the book, VHF PROPAGATION, A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RADIO AMATEURS, put out by CQ Magazine.

11:00am - 11:50am DX Forum
John Reiser W2GW John Reiser, W2GW, was first licensed in 1958 and upgraded to Amateur Extra twenty years later. His primary ham radio activity is HF DXing and his preferred mode is CW. However, he also enjoys building electronic gear, restoring vintage equipment, and operating QRP portable outdoors. John serves as the official ARRL DXCC field checker of QSL cards for the New York - Long Island Section. He makes himself available in that capacity at several ham fests in the area. You can contact John for an appointment to have your QSL cards checked at his home in West Hempstead or another agreeable venue. (w2gw@arrl.net). John is currently President of the Long Island DX Association which meets at Briarcliffe College on the third Friday of the month at 8:00 PM (all are welcome). He is available for card checking before these meetings as well. John is also active in LIMARC and QCWA Chapter 81, where he serves as Secretary.

11:00am - 11:50am Dealing with RFI during reception
Steve Barreres K2CX Steve Barreres K2CX is the ARRL NYC/LI Technical Coordinator

12 noon - 1:00pm Keynote Speaker
Gordon West WB6NOA Noted speaker and author, Gordon West WB6NOA, is our keynote speaker this year.

1:30pm - 2:20pm SATERN and Go-boxes
Jeff Schneller N2HPO Jeff Schneller N2HPO is the senior SATERN Amateur Radio liaison officer for New York City. Jeff was the primary Amateur Radio contact for the Salvation Army during the World Trade Center disaster at Ground Zero in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Jeff also was active for SATERN in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Jeff has developed a number of self-contained Amateur Radio stations in "go-boxes" that are useful for portable and emergency operations.

1:30pm - 2:20pm Join a club, join the fun
George Tranos N2GA George Tranos N2GA, was ARRL NYC/LI Section Manager from 1998 through 2006. He was president of LIMARC from 1996 to 1997. George was past chairman of Ham Radio University in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. N2GA is a member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, the Order of Boiled Owls DX and Contest Club and LIMARC. He is an ARRL life member, Assisant Director of the ARRL Hudson Division and NYC/LI Section State Government Liaison. George has chaired meetings of division club presidents and helped work out problems between clubs. Along with Phil Lewis N2MUN, George will discuss reasons to join a club, brainstorm how clubs can become more interesting for members, describe activities that help clubs grow and discuss the fun of club involvement.

1:30pm - 2:20pm Join a club, join the fun
Phil Lewis N2MUN Phil Lewis is the originator of the HRU concept. Phil envisioned a day of education for and about Amateur Radio and with the help of other hams in the NLI section, put together the first HRU in 2000. Phil has beed chairman of the event three times, in 2000,2001 and 2002. Phil is past president of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, and currently is the Affiliated Club Coordinator for the NY City/ LI Section. Phil was ARRL Hudson Division Amateur of the year in 2000. Radio and electronics run in his blood (Father, Uncle and Cousin) Phil is in his 40th year at BAE Systems in Greenlawn producing military hardware for our troops . Phil enjoys DXing and contesting and is a member of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York contest club and the YCCC. Along with George Tranos N2GA, Phil will discuss reasons to join a club, brainstorm how clubs can become more interesting for members, describe activities that help clubs grow and discuss the fun of club involvement.

1:30pm - 2:20pm Echolink
Jonathan Taylor K1RFD Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD, of Ridgefield, Connecticut is the developer of the EchoLink voice-over-IP (VoIP) linking system. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he has been a licensed ham since 1974, holding the Amateur Extra license since 1979. Jonathan is also the author of the ARRL book, "VoIP: Internet Linking for Radio Amateurs", the standard reference for both the IRLP and EchoLink systems. Now in its fifth year of operation, the EchoLink system has grown to nearly 200,000 registered Amateur users in 162 nations worldwide. This HRU seminar features an update on the latest developments in EchoLink, and a discussion of some exciting ways Amateur Radio stations can be interconnected via the Internet to provide essential public service and emergency communications in the 21st century. Jonathan's favorite on-air activities are CW DXing and contesting, traffic handling, FM and repeaters, and HF/VHF digital modes. He has received the ARRL Technical Innovation Award and the Dayton Hamvention Special Achievement Award, and was named to the CQ Magazine Hall of Fame in 2005.

1:30pm - 2:20pm Packet Radio Primer
Charles Alfano WA2GUG Charles Alfano was licensed in 1966 one year after getting his First Phone License. He was a transmitter and audio engineer at WRFM and WNYW. Charles had served in USA Signal Corps operating High power HF [60kw] transmitters and microwave. After leaving the service, he became interested in Emergency communications and public service. Charles retired from AT&T after 28yrs of service working on digital and analog transport services. He is currently the Emergency Coordinator of Queens County and maintains 2 Telpack nodes and an APRS digipeater. He likes to operate PSK31 on the low bands and lives for field day. Charles has been involved in emergency responses such as 9/11, American Airlines and the blackout. He is also a member of SkyWarn and RECWA. Charles has help train beginners on Packet, FlexNet, Winlink2000 and APRS for the last 4 years. He is also a CERT team member in his spare time ;-). The forum will be geared to the beginner interested in a reliable digital mode and to the old guy who forgot what a TNC is ;-)

1:30pm - 2:20pm Maximizing contest scoring and fun when there's "no propagation"
Mel Granick KS2G First licensed in 1977 as a Novice, Mel Granick upgraded to Technician, General and Advanced class licenses within six months and has been an Amateur Extra since 1981. He’s been active in numerous aspects of Amateur Radio ranging from traffic handling to the early use of packet radio. With a modest station consisting of a 100 watt transceiver, 3-element tribander and 40/80 dipole up just 35 feet, he’s been successful as a DX’er (DXCC-200+), awards chaser (5BWAS) and one of the leading contesters in the 2nd Call Area, repeatedly placing in the top ten among U.S. low-power single operators in the CQ World Wide DX, CQ World Wide WPX and ARRL 10-Meter contests.

2:30pm - 3:20pm Communicating with hams in space
Roberta Keis N2RBU Roberta Keis N2RBU, as President of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club, has been able to coordinate three successful school district contacts with the International Space Station. The contacts were made from Quogue School in 2002, Westhampton Beach Elementary School in 2004, and Riverhead Central School District in 2005. Roberta takes care of the "school" stuff" and Don Fisher, N2QHV, coordinates the technical aspects. Close to 30 members and friends of PARC have participated in these exciting events. Come and find out from Roberta and Don how you can provide this "once in a life time experience" to children in your community. The ARISS program promotes ham radio, space and science careers to the youth we can influence.

2:30pm - 3:20pm Communicating with hams in space
Don Fisher N2QHV Don Fisher N2QHV, is Emergency Coordinator for the Town of Southold and a member of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club. He and Roberta Keis N2RBU have been able to coordinate three successful school district contacts with the International Space Station. The contacts were made from Quogue School in 2002, Westhampton Beach Elementary School in 2004, and Riverhead Central School District in 2005. Roberta takes care of the "school" stuff" and Don coordinates the technical aspects. Close to 30 members and friends of PARC have participated in these exciting events. Come and find out from Roberta and Don how you can provide this "once in a life time experience" to children in your community. The ARISS program promotes ham radio, space and science careers to the youth we can influence.

2:30pm - 3:20pm Fun with CW
Neil Heft KC2KY Neil received his first ham callsign (WN2UDP) in 1971 when he was a 12 year old lad living in Stony Brook, NY. In those days, Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High school had a pretty active ham radio club. The club station, WB2LQD, consisted of a Drake Novice line, the 2-NT transmitter and the 2-C receiver - your school taxes at work. Neil spent many a lunch hour (And a few hours when he should have been in class) in the club shack working DX on 15 meter CW. By 1973, Neil was just about able to copy 13 words per minute and upgrade to Advanced, about a month after his Novice license expired. (In those days, the Novice license was only good for 2 years and was non-renewable.) In the middle and late seventies, Ham radio started taking a back seat for Neil. When Neil finished college in 1980 (receiving his B.S.E.E.), his interest in ham radio started to take off again. By then his Advanced call, WA2UDP, had been expired for a year and a half. When Neil renewed his license in 1981, he was issued his present call sign, KC2KY. In 1987 Neil upgraded to Extra Class. Neil works as an Electrical Engineer on Long Island and is an active member of Radio Central Amateur Radio Club. Over the years, he has held various offices at RCARC, starting as Recording Secretary, then Vice President, and was club President in 1993 and 1994. Today Neil is President of Radio Central and is editor of Radio Central's club newsletter, Random Oscillations.

2:30pm - 3:20pm Grounding for the Amateur Radio Station
Don Kane WB2BEZ Donald W. Kane WB2BEZ has been a licensed HAM for 45 years (ARRL Life Member) and a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York with over 35 years of engineering experience including: Product Safety Evaluation; Electric Utility Substation and Plant engineering; Design and Manufacture of Diesel powered generators, including controls and switchgear; rail transit rolling stock and infrastructure engineering and electrical construction and HVAC. This seminar will review the basics of grounding, and then address, in more detail, the areas which are frequently problematical for amateur radio installations.

Time	Forum	Moderator	Biography
9:00am - 9:50am	Young Ham Forum	Lew Malchick N2RQ	Lew Malchick, N2RQ, was first licensed in 1959 as WV2FBX while in 8th grade. He is a past president of the Erasmus Hall HS ARC – W2ANU and Brooklyn College ARS – K2APZ. He was faculty advisor at Brooklyn Technical HS – W2CXN from 1977-2003 and continues as station trustee. He has administered the School Club Roundup (SCR) since its inception more than 20 years ago. Lew is a VE, has taught classes and has mentored students mostly at BTHS. He is a life member of ARRL & QCWA, is active in ARES & RACES, is a LIMARC director, Hudson Division Assistant Director and also served more than 30 years in Army MARS. Personal experience as a student, with students and feedback from SCR participants provide knowledge of a wide variety of successful approaches to attracting younger operators to ham radio. We hope the young ham forum will help you to be more effective in rejuvenating our beloved hobby.
9:00am - 9:50am	Young Ham Forum	Martin Smith KA2NRR	Marty Smith KA2NRR of Wantagh, NY, was first licensed in 1972 as WN2IAV. He held that license until 1974. He earned his Novice license again in 1980 as KA2NRR. He achieved his Extra Class Amateur Radio License in 1995. He has served as an Assistant Director of ARRL, Hudson Division and was a member of its Educational Task Force. He has been an ARRL Volunteer Examiner and has served as a volunteer radio operator and Mile Captain for the New York City Marathon as well as the Long Island Marathon in past years. He is the co-founder of the School Club Roundup Contest which is sponsored by ARRL and was co-editor of the New York City Board of Education 90 page manual entitled “You’re On The Air-Amateur Radio in the School Curriculum” which was published in 1990. He has worked closely with Lew Malchick, N2RQ in regard to school-related amateur radio activities over the past twenty five years. Marty has served as president of the Rockaway Amateur Radio Club, president and co-founder of the Council for the Advancement of Amateur Radio-New York City Schools and president and co-founder of the Big Apple Chapter (Tapuach Gadol) of the Chaverim International Radio Club. He was also Second Vice President of the Chaverim International Radio Club. During his many years in amateur radio he has been a member and active participant with these clubs as well as LIDXA, Electchester ARC, MAARC, and LIMARC. He has been Newsletter Editor of the LIDXA, CAARS-NYC and the Rockaway Amateur Radio Club. He also holds membership in the International Amateur Radio Society, International DX Association, the YLISSB, OMISS, 3905 Century Club and the Certificate Hunters Club. His amateur radio interests are rag chewing, DXing, contesting and working Echolink. He has spoken on amateur radio topics at workshops, organizational meetings and religious groups.
9:00am - 10:30am	ARRL Forum	Tom Carrubba KA2D	Tom Carrubba KA2D of Babylon, New York was first licensed in 1978 as KA2DFO and holds an FCC Extra Class Amateur Radio license. Tom is presently the Section Manager for NLI. KA2D has served as ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator and Assistant Section Manager for New York City-Long Island, since 1998. Tom served on the 2006 ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee. Besides emergency communications, Tom has been web administrator for Great South Bay ARC, NLI Section and Hudson Division webpages. He is an active DXer, DXCC CW, RTTY and SSB, Island Chaser and Contester. He has coordinated various Special Event Stations from the New York/Long Island area such as Montauk Point and Fire Island Lighthouses, The Long Island Air Show, National Weather Service/ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day and ARRL Field Day. He has been an officer, past President and the ARRL Volunteer Exam Liaison for the Great South Bay ARC and South Shore ARC.
9:00am - 9:50am	Transmitter Hunting	Larry Berger WA2SUH	Larry Berger was first licensed in 1961 and has been involved with transmitter hunting for many years, first on 10 meters and later on 2 meters. He is a member of the Plaza Repeater Group and participates in Nassau County RACES activities. He serves as the Vice-President of the 10-10 International Net. Larry heads up the Transportation Division of the Nassau County Planning Commission. The presentation will focus on what transmitter hunting is, why hams hunt, different types of hunts, hunting strategies, different types of hunting equipment and how to get involved. A demonstration of some of the equipment used on local hunts will be part of the presentation.
9:00am - 9:50am	Transmitter Hunting	Andy Kirschenbaum WA2CDL	Andy Kirschenbaum, WA2CDL, will co-moderate the Hidden Transmitter Hunting forum with Larry Berger, WA2SUH. Andy has been licensed since 1970 and holds an Extra class license. His involvement in amateur radio has included everything from public service thru RACES, to building and experimenting. Many people know Andy from his radio repair activities. He has conducted “tune up clinics” at various hamfests in the NYC area since 1985. Andy is a member of LIMARC and the Plaza Repeater Group. Andy works in the field of radio communications systems.
9:00am - 9:50am	QRP low power fun	Norm Wesler K2YEW sk	In memorium - Norm passed away on December 20, 2007. This year's QRP forum is dedicated to his memory Norm Wesler K2YEW has been licensed since 1957 as K2YEW and has led ostensibly a CW life. Norm says he got into a rut running 1500 watts on CW. In 1990, Norm became a "born again" QRP operator [from 1500 watts to 5 watts - overnight]. Now, he runs mostly at 1.5 watts using his Elecraft KX-1. He hangs out mostly on 7.040 MHz CW. Norm is a member of the Long Island QRP Club, is an ARRL Hudson Division assistant director, an ARRL NYC Long Island Assistant Section Manager. He is a member of Radio Inc. regarding amateur radio tower saving group, regarding zoning board applications (with N2GA, N2FF, W2QUV, K2RIW). He is Past President of the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club. Norm works as Professional Engineer [his hobby]. He has been a volunteer instructor for the Amateur Radio 5 WPM and Technician class license at Huntington High School for over 20 years.
9:00am - 9:50am	QRP low power fun	Preston Douglas WJ2V	Preston Douglas, WJ2V was first licensed as WV2VPN in the early sixties, when Novices had one year licenses. He became WA2IFZ in the 70s and WJ2V in the 80s, when he became an Extra. He was one of the four founders of the famous FDIM QRP seminars at the Dayton Hamvention in 1995. He has spoken at FDIM about the theory of zerobeating QRP radios. He took first prize at Atlanticon for homebrew construction for his scratch-built 2N2/40, which was the second one ever built (after the designer's prototype). He has consulted and alpha tested QRP kits from Norcal, SWL Labs and others. He has published reviews of QRP radios and numerous other articles in the QRP Quarterly. He taught the Novice course in Lawrence Public Schools Adult program for many years in the 80s and 90s. Preston is a member of QRPARCI, GQRP, Norcal, and LIQRP (though he hasn't made a meeting in three years!) He retired from teaching science in 1975 to become a trial lawyer in NYC, where he practices today. In honor of Norm Wesler, Preston will demonstrate current QRP technology, including the Altoids-boxed subminiature ATS-3A by Steve Weber, as well as current portable antennas for QRP. He will have the 2N2/40 for inspection, as well as an older Radiokit QRP20.
9:00am - 9:50am	DSTAR - digital Amateur Radio	Gene Niemiec K2KJI	K2KJI and WA2RMZ will give a DSTAR presentation
9:00am - 9:50am	DSTAR - digital Amateur Radio	Randy Gutentag WA2RMZ	Randy Gutentag WA2RMZ has been licensed since 1971. He is currently holds an Extra Class license. He is a life member of the ARRL and QCWA. He is also a member of the Cherryville Repeater Association. Randy was very active in vhf/uhf contesting and traffic handling in the late 70's and early 80's. For the last 15+ years he has been active in Emergency Management in Middlesex County NJ. Randy is the President of the Central NJ D-Star Group and a trustee of the NJ2DG D-Star repeater system in Martinsville, NJ.
10:00am - 10:50am	What now? Your first station	Phil Lewis N2MUN	Phil Lewis is the originator of the HRU concept.Phil envisioned a day of education for and about Amateur Radio and with the help of other hams in the NLI section, put together the first HRU in 2000. Phil has beed chairman of the event three times, in 2000,2001 and 2002. Phil is past president of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, and currently is the Affiliated Club Coordinator for the NY City/ LI Section. Phil was ARRL Hudson Division Amateur of the year in 2000. Radio and electronics run in his blood (Father, Uncle and Cousin) Phil is in his 40th year at BAE Systems in Greenlawn producing military hardware for our troops . His forum will be how to setup your first Ham Radio Station and have fun doing it! Phil enjoys DXing and contesting and is a member of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York contest club and the YCCC.
10:00am - 10:50am	Into to Emergency Communications	Mike Lisenco N2YBB	Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, is the new Section Emergency Coordinator for NYC/LI. He replaces long term SEC Tom Carrubba, KA2D, who became Section Manager on January 1, 2007. Prior to that date, Mike was the ARES District Emergency Coordinator for New York City, supervising an organization made up of the 5 borough (county) organizations that comprise the metropolis. Mike was first licensed in January 1994, having passed the Novice, CW and Technician exams one cold evening in December 1993. He quickly upgraded to General and then Advanced, but waited until last year to upgrade to Extra. Besides emergency communications, Mike's passion is DX; having worked nearly 300 countries (294 confirmed and 290 approved). You can find him trolling the bands on SSB, CW and RTTY searching for that elusive 300th DXCC entity (he needs another endorsement sticker). A professional actor, Mike has appeared in countless films, tv shows and commercials over the past 25 years. He is married, has two children and lives in Brooklyn where he grows antennas in his backyard farm.
10:00am - 10:50am	Power Supply Technology	Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP	Bob was licensed as W2ILP since 1951. He has had his Extra class since 1988. Bob is a member ARRL, QCWA, Mensa, Grumman Amateur Radio Club (GARC), Radio Central Amateur Radio Club, Life member IEEE. BSEE, MSEd. GARC Board Member and editor of GARC Newsletter. He is the contact VE for GARC, has operated RTTY, PSK-31, MFSK and Hellschreibrer digital modes and served as Mentor for ARRL Digital Mode Course. Bob has over 40 years experience as technician, field service engineer, design engineer, technical writer and electronics instructor.
10:00am - 10:50am	Antenna Forum	Walter Wenzel KA2RGI	Walter Wenzel, KA2RGI, has been licensed in the Amateur Radio Service since 1983 and is an Amateur Extra Class Operator. His whole family, wife and 4 children, are licensed amateur radio operators. His major involvement in Amateur Radio is Emergency Communications. Walter is a past NYC/LI Section Manager and has held almost all of the ARRL Leadership positions over the years. He has also held the position of Assistant Director for the Hudson Division. Walter worked with the New York State Emergency Management Office as a volunteer as their Regional Radio Officer for years under Regional Director, Wayne Georgia. Today, Walter is the Radio Officer and ARES EC for the Township of Babylon Amateur Radio Emergency Services (TOBARES). KA2RGI is also active with the National Weather Service as the Skywarn Coordinator for Suffolk County and is a past Regional Skywarn Coordinator for the OKX Forecasting Office at Upton, NY on the grounds of BNL. He also part of a committee to update radio communications for the American Red Cross in Suffolk County and Long Island. Walter has long been involved with The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club. He served as President multiple times, and has held various other positions on the Executive Board and other committees which have included Field Day Coordinator, Volunteer Exam Liaison for their VE sessions, and the Trustee for club call, W2GSB. Today he is part of their board as their Secretary. Walter has always enjoyed instructing persons in the various levels of amateur radio classes and maintains the VE Sessions for GSBARC. He has been instructing Amateur Radio Licensing Classes (Novice through Extra) since January 1983, and have been an ARRL Certified Instructor since 1984. He has also instructed classes on introduction to computers, soldering, kit building, basic repeater techniques and etiquette, repeater maintenance, packet radio protocols, BBS operation, basic antenna building, basic contesting. Walter is an Awards Manager for the ARRL for HF and VHF/UHF Awards, but not DXCC. Walter is also certified to give ARRL ARECC Hybrid Classes for EC-001, EC-002, and EC-003 plus administer the exams. Walter has been part of HRU since its conception. Walter has also been involved in other "Ham Radio" clubs and organizations such as the Suffolk County Radio Club, South Shore ARC, Larkfield ARC, LIMARC, and the Packteers of Long Island. Walter, KA2RGI is also on the board for the Suffolk County Half Marathon.
10:00am - 10:50am	Intro to DXing	Long Island DX Association	Join members of the LIDXA discuss the why and how of DXing. This forum is for you whether you are new to DXing or a seasoned pro. Discussed will be DXing techniques, QSLing, HF propagation and upcoming DXpeditions.
11:00am - 11:50am	Wireless History	Connie Currie	Connie Currie is President of the Long Island Wireless Historical Society. A Novice Ham from 1956 to 57, her father was an electrical engineer who loved radios and fixing them, and she has melded her love of history with radio. Connie has tried to save the Telefunken Wireless site in West Sayville for posterity, but went down in burning defeat. Now she's hoping to see radio history remain in the minds and hearts of Long Islanders, by writing, publishing, exhibiting and talking about it.
11:00am - 11:50am	EMCOMM - the next step	Dennis Dura K2DCD	Dennis Dura K2DCD is the ARRL Director of Emergency Preparedness. We are pleased to have Dennis here to represent ARRL Headquarters and discuss emergency communications on a national level.
11:00am - 11:50am	VHF Propagation	Ken Neubeck WB2AMU	Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU, has an extra class license and has been a ham since 1971. He writes regularly on VHF propagation for CQ VHF and Worldradio. He has written the book, SIX METERS, A GUIDE TO THE MAGIC BAND put out by Worldradio books and it is now in its third edition. He is co-author with Gordon West of the book, VHF PROPAGATION, A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RADIO AMATEURS, put out by CQ Magazine.
11:00am - 11:50am	DX Forum	John Reiser W2GW	John Reiser, W2GW, was first licensed in 1958 and upgraded to Amateur Extra twenty years later. His primary ham radio activity is HF DXing and his preferred mode is CW. However, he also enjoys building electronic gear, restoring vintage equipment, and operating QRP portable outdoors. John serves as the official ARRL DXCC field checker of QSL cards for the New York - Long Island Section. He makes himself available in that capacity at several ham fests in the area. You can contact John for an appointment to have your QSL cards checked at his home in West Hempstead or another agreeable venue. (w2gw@arrl.net). John is currently President of the Long Island DX Association which meets at Briarcliffe College on the third Friday of the month at 8:00 PM (all are welcome). He is available for card checking before these meetings as well. John is also active in LIMARC and QCWA Chapter 81, where he serves as Secretary.
11:00am - 11:50am	Dealing with RFI during reception	Steve Barreres K2CX	Steve Barreres K2CX is the ARRL NYC/LI Technical Coordinator
12 noon - 1:00pm	Keynote Speaker	Gordon West WB6NOA	Noted speaker and author, Gordon West WB6NOA, is our keynote speaker this year.
1:30pm - 2:20pm	SATERN and Go-boxes	Jeff Schneller N2HPO	Jeff Schneller N2HPO is the senior SATERN Amateur Radio liaison officer for New York City. Jeff was the primary Amateur Radio contact for the Salvation Army during the World Trade Center disaster at Ground Zero in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Jeff also was active for SATERN in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Jeff has developed a number of self-contained Amateur Radio stations in "go-boxes" that are useful for portable and emergency operations.
1:30pm - 2:20pm	Join a club, join the fun	George Tranos N2GA	George Tranos N2GA, was ARRL NYC/LI Section Manager from 1998 through 2006. He was president of LIMARC from 1996 to 1997. George was past chairman of Ham Radio University in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. N2GA is a member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, the Order of Boiled Owls DX and Contest Club and LIMARC. He is an ARRL life member, Assisant Director of the ARRL Hudson Division and NYC/LI Section State Government Liaison. George has chaired meetings of division club presidents and helped work out problems between clubs. Along with Phil Lewis N2MUN, George will discuss reasons to join a club, brainstorm how clubs can become more interesting for members, describe activities that help clubs grow and discuss the fun of club involvement.
1:30pm - 2:20pm	Join a club, join the fun	Phil Lewis N2MUN	Phil Lewis is the originator of the HRU concept. Phil envisioned a day of education for and about Amateur Radio and with the help of other hams in the NLI section, put together the first HRU in 2000. Phil has beed chairman of the event three times, in 2000,2001 and 2002. Phil is past president of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, and currently is the Affiliated Club Coordinator for the NY City/ LI Section. Phil was ARRL Hudson Division Amateur of the year in 2000. Radio and electronics run in his blood (Father, Uncle and Cousin) Phil is in his 40th year at BAE Systems in Greenlawn producing military hardware for our troops . Phil enjoys DXing and contesting and is a member of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York contest club and the YCCC. Along with George Tranos N2GA, Phil will discuss reasons to join a club, brainstorm how clubs can become more interesting for members, describe activities that help clubs grow and discuss the fun of club involvement.
1:30pm - 2:20pm	Echolink	Jonathan Taylor K1RFD	Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD, of Ridgefield, Connecticut is the developer of the EchoLink voice-over-IP (VoIP) linking system. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he has been a licensed ham since 1974, holding the Amateur Extra license since 1979. Jonathan is also the author of the ARRL book, "VoIP: Internet Linking for Radio Amateurs", the standard reference for both the IRLP and EchoLink systems. Now in its fifth year of operation, the EchoLink system has grown to nearly 200,000 registered Amateur users in 162 nations worldwide. This HRU seminar features an update on the latest developments in EchoLink, and a discussion of some exciting ways Amateur Radio stations can be interconnected via the Internet to provide essential public service and emergency communications in the 21st century. Jonathan's favorite on-air activities are CW DXing and contesting, traffic handling, FM and repeaters, and HF/VHF digital modes. He has received the ARRL Technical Innovation Award and the Dayton Hamvention Special Achievement Award, and was named to the CQ Magazine Hall of Fame in 2005.
1:30pm - 2:20pm	Packet Radio Primer	Charles Alfano WA2GUG	Charles Alfano was licensed in 1966 one year after getting his First Phone License. He was a transmitter and audio engineer at WRFM and WNYW. Charles had served in USA Signal Corps operating High power HF [60kw] transmitters and microwave. After leaving the service, he became interested in Emergency communications and public service. Charles retired from AT&T after 28yrs of service working on digital and analog transport services. He is currently the Emergency Coordinator of Queens County and maintains 2 Telpack nodes and an APRS digipeater. He likes to operate PSK31 on the low bands and lives for field day. Charles has been involved in emergency responses such as 9/11, American Airlines and the blackout. He is also a member of SkyWarn and RECWA. Charles has help train beginners on Packet, FlexNet, Winlink2000 and APRS for the last 4 years. He is also a CERT team member in his spare time ;-). The forum will be geared to the beginner interested in a reliable digital mode and to the old guy who forgot what a TNC is ;-)
1:30pm - 2:20pm	Maximizing contest scoring and fun when there's "no propagation"	Mel Granick KS2G	First licensed in 1977 as a Novice, Mel Granick upgraded to Technician, General and Advanced class licenses within six months and has been an Amateur Extra since 1981. He’s been active in numerous aspects of Amateur Radio ranging from traffic handling to the early use of packet radio. With a modest station consisting of a 100 watt transceiver, 3-element tribander and 40/80 dipole up just 35 feet, he’s been successful as a DX’er (DXCC-200+), awards chaser (5BWAS) and one of the leading contesters in the 2nd Call Area, repeatedly placing in the top ten among U.S. low-power single operators in the CQ World Wide DX, CQ World Wide WPX and ARRL 10-Meter contests.
2:30pm - 3:20pm	Communicating with hams in space	Roberta Keis N2RBU	Roberta Keis N2RBU, as President of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club, has been able to coordinate three successful school district contacts with the International Space Station. The contacts were made from Quogue School in 2002, Westhampton Beach Elementary School in 2004, and Riverhead Central School District in 2005. Roberta takes care of the "school" stuff" and Don Fisher, N2QHV, coordinates the technical aspects. Close to 30 members and friends of PARC have participated in these exciting events. Come and find out from Roberta and Don how you can provide this "once in a life time experience" to children in your community. The ARISS program promotes ham radio, space and science careers to the youth we can influence.
2:30pm - 3:20pm	Communicating with hams in space	Don Fisher N2QHV	Don Fisher N2QHV, is Emergency Coordinator for the Town of Southold and a member of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club. He and Roberta Keis N2RBU have been able to coordinate three successful school district contacts with the International Space Station. The contacts were made from Quogue School in 2002, Westhampton Beach Elementary School in 2004, and Riverhead Central School District in 2005. Roberta takes care of the "school" stuff" and Don coordinates the technical aspects. Close to 30 members and friends of PARC have participated in these exciting events. Come and find out from Roberta and Don how you can provide this "once in a life time experience" to children in your community. The ARISS program promotes ham radio, space and science careers to the youth we can influence.
2:30pm - 3:20pm	Fun with CW	Neil Heft KC2KY	Neil received his first ham callsign (WN2UDP) in 1971 when he was a 12 year old lad living in Stony Brook, NY. In those days, Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High school had a pretty active ham radio club. The club station, WB2LQD, consisted of a Drake Novice line, the 2-NT transmitter and the 2-C receiver - your school taxes at work. Neil spent many a lunch hour (And a few hours when he should have been in class) in the club shack working DX on 15 meter CW. By 1973, Neil was just about able to copy 13 words per minute and upgrade to Advanced, about a month after his Novice license expired. (In those days, the Novice license was only good for 2 years and was non-renewable.) In the middle and late seventies, Ham radio started taking a back seat for Neil. When Neil finished college in 1980 (receiving his B.S.E.E.), his interest in ham radio started to take off again. By then his Advanced call, WA2UDP, had been expired for a year and a half. When Neil renewed his license in 1981, he was issued his present call sign, KC2KY. In 1987 Neil upgraded to Extra Class. Neil works as an Electrical Engineer on Long Island and is an active member of Radio Central Amateur Radio Club. Over the years, he has held various offices at RCARC, starting as Recording Secretary, then Vice President, and was club President in 1993 and 1994. Today Neil is President of Radio Central and is editor of Radio Central's club newsletter, Random Oscillations.
2:30pm - 3:20pm	Grounding for the Amateur Radio Station	Don Kane WB2BEZ	Donald W. Kane WB2BEZ has been a licensed HAM for 45 years (ARRL Life Member) and a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York with over 35 years of engineering experience including: Product Safety Evaluation; Electric Utility Substation and Plant engineering; Design and Manufacture of Diesel powered generators, including controls and switchgear; rail transit rolling stock and infrastructure engineering and electrical construction and HVAC. This seminar will review the basics of grounding, and then address, in more detail, the areas which are frequently problematical for amateur radio installations.

email us at info@HamRadioUniversity.org