US Ham Possible Oldest Active Radio Amateur

ARRL member 105-year-old Cliff Kayhart, W4KKP, of White Rock, South Carolina, is claiming the title of “World’s Oldest Operating Ham.” 
 
No official record of such milestones exists, but ARRL is not aware of any radio amateurs senior to Kayhart, and he is now quite likely the oldest active ham at least in the US.
Early this year, Charlie Hellman, W2RP, died at 106; he also may have been the longest licensed. Hellman outlived the former “oldest US ham,” Harry Wolf, W6NKT, by 8 days. Wolf was a couple of weeks shy of turning 108. Kayhart now lives at The Heritage at Lowman Home.
 
“I have had to get help getting set up after moving here from Tennessee,” he said in his QRZ.com profile. “Two local clubs, Dutch Fork Amateur Radio Group and Columbia Amateur Radio Club, have been there to help. It has been slow going. They tell me I may be the oldest operating ham.” Kayhart is active on 80 meters.
 
Born in 1911, Kayhart was first licensed in 1937 as W2LFE in New Jersey. He then was W9GNQ before becoming W4KKP.
 
ARRL Story - http://www.arrl.org/news/centenarian-arrl-member-claiming-oldest-active-radio-amateur-crown

Asteroid named after Radio Ham

The International Astronomical Union has rewarded the space physicist and radio amateur operator Asta Pellinen-Wannberg SM3UHV by designating a celestial body in her name, Asteroid 11807 Wannberg
 
Asta Pellinen-Wannberg is a professor at the Department of Physics at Umeå University. She has made a groundbreaking effort to use scattering radar when studying meteors that are activated when small particles penetrate into the atmosphere.
 
The method is now applied to about ten stations around the world. It increases the ability to study different large flows, smaller particles and details in their interaction with the atmosphere, says Asta Pellinen-Wannberg.
 
Asta is chair of the Swedish National Committee for Radio Science SNRV and has researched together with Gudmund Wannberg SM3BYA, who served as Technical Manager at EISCAT Radar in Kiruna and Associate Professor at Umeå University.
 
SSA in Google English - http://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA

Spring Section Manager Election Results

Northern New Jersey Section ARRL members have elected a new Section Manager, while members in Utah have re-elected their Section Manager for another 2-year term. Ballots for contested seats in the spring election cycle were counted on 23rd May 2017 at ARRL Headquarters.

Northern New Jersey Section Manager Election

In Northern New Jersey, Rob Roschewsk, KA2PBT, of Washington, outpolled incumbent SM Steve Ostrove, K2SO, 399 to 307 votes.
 
Roschewsk has been licensed since 1982 and is a computer server/network engineer. In his candidate statement, Roschewsk said his goal is "to promote the diverse facets of Amateur Radio, with a special focus on youth activities, building-making, contesting and public service."
 
Ostrove has been the Northern New Jersey Section Manager since September 2016, when he was appointed to complete the remaining term of Rich Krohn, N2SMV, who stepped down midterm.

Utah Section Manager Election

In Utah, incumbent SM Mel Parkes, NM7P, was re-elected to a ninth consecutive term. In a very close race, Parkes received 351 votes, and Pat Malan, N7PAT, of South Jordan, received 332 votes. Parkes has been the Utah Section Manager since 1999.

West Texas Manager Election

Elsewhere, in the West Texas Section, H. Dale Durham, W5WI, of Buffalo Gap was an uncontested nominee for the SM position. He has been serving as Section Emergency Coordinator under current Section Manager Ron Harden, KB5HGM, since 2015, and as Assistant Section Manager since 2016. Harden did not run for a new term after serving since 2015.
 
These incumbent Section Managers were unopposed in this election cycle and were declared elected. Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM (Maryland-DC); John Bigley, N7UR (Nevada); Peter Stohrer, K1PJS (New Hampshire); Bob Beaudet, W1YRC (Rhode Island), and Dan Pruitt, AE6SX (San Joaquin Valley).

All new terms of office begin on 1st July 2017.