Volunteers On The Air (VOTA) – South Dakota

2023 is being celebrated by ARRL as “The Year of the Volunteer.” The first adventure has been announced as a project called “Volunteers On The Air (VOTA).” ARRL members get ‘points’ for each contact they make with another ARRL volunteer or member. So, if two ARRL members contact each other, they will each receive a point for that QSO. No special codes are required, no sequence numbers need to be exchanged, and no section information needs to be passed. Make contact with a fellow ARRL member, and you each receive a point. Both of you must upload the QSO to the Logbook of The World (LoTW) to receive the points. Your points are calculated when the QSO is matched. This could be an FT8, CW, simplex 2M FM, RTTY, or an SSB rag-chew contact.

To add more interest to the year-long operating event and help demonstrate the ARRL volunteer value, each level of volunteer activity has been assigned a point level which is shown in the table below. For example, if you contact Matt Holden K0BBC, the South Dakota Section Manager, you’ll get 175 points for that one contact.

I’m hoping you will be able to get some certificates, or wallpaper, for your efforts. More details on this as they are fleshed out.

So, get your HF gear running, make sure your LoTW connection is working, and see you on the air!

VOTA Program Rules

These rules will be extended or revised, so please return here to check for updates. This operating event starts January 1, 2023, at 0000Z and ends December 31, 2023, at 2359Z. This event is for ARRL members. You can join or renew online at https://arrl.org/join/. All QSOs must be uploaded to the ARRL QSO matching system, Logbook of The World (LoTW). No repeater contacts are allowed. Contacts can not be made on the 12 M, 17 M, 30 M, 60 M, 630 M, or 2190 M bands. All other bands can be used. Contacts can be made on any legal mode of operation. You receive ‘points’ based on the volunteer level of the ARRL member you contact. Points range from 1 point for an ARRL member to 300 points for ARRL President Rick Roderick K5UR. The point levels are listed below. Each QSO will get only one point value. For example, someone who is a member, a life member, and an Assistant Section Manager will be worth the value of the highest role, 35 points, for the ASM role. Stations can contact each other once per band per operating mode: CW, Digital, Voice. So, each operator pair can count up to 3 QSOs on each band, one per mode.

Logbook of The World (LoTW)

The reporting for this VOTA effort will be handled automatically by the ARRL Logbook of The World (LoTD) QSO matching system. If you already log your QSOs from your favorite logging software and it uploads them to LoTW, you will automatically be participating. Your QSOs will be verified normally, and the callsigns of the hams you work will be searched to find the appropriate points (table shown below) that you receive for each QSO.

Setting up Logbook Of The World

If you aren’t set up to use LoTW, now is the time to set it up. The LoTW quick-start page is a great place to start, and the “What is LoTW Document” explains the whole process. You must authenticate yourself with the system by receiving a postcard mailed to your FCC-registered address. The TSQL program is used by your logging program, N3FJP, N1MM, DX Lab Suite, or something else to authenticate and upload to LoTW.

If you need help setting up your LoTW account, watch some YouTube videos, or contact your Elmer, or a local club.

W1AW/0 Portable Operations

As a part of the Year of the Volunteer celebration, the mystical callsign W1AW will be used portably to the corners of ARRL-land. Members in each state/territory will be asked to operate their stations for two different weeks using the callsign W1AW/x where x is one of the local regions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, KL, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH7, KH8, KP2, KP3, or KP4. For example, South Dakota’s first week starts February 1, 2023, at 0000z and will run through February 7, 2023, at 2359z, using the callsign W1AW/0. Each state coordinator will approve the time/band/mode slots throughout the week, and hams can operate their stations using W1AW/0. You can schedule your South Dakota operating time by clicking this link at https://ok.arrl.org/w1awsd/.

Traveling W1AW rules include:

  • Remember that each operator must follow the rules for their license class. Stay in the sub-bands that you’re legally allowed to operate in.
  • Operators can operate from anywhere in the state/territory.
  • Members that contact the portable W1AW stations will receive 5 points for those QSOs.
  • Each band/mode combination can be activated simultaneously. For example, N5OP could be working on 20 M SSB, N5OK could be working on 20 M CW, N5AZQ could be working on 20 M FT8, and N5HZR could be on 40 M SSB, all at the same time.
  • State operations start at 0000z each Wednesday.
  • State operations stop at 2359z the following Tuesday.
  • Operations should not happen on the 12 M, 17 M, 30 M, 60 M, or 2190 M bands.
  • All operation log files for the week must be consolidated into one ADIF file and sent to the state coordinator, to be uploaded to LoTW.

Volunteers Point Value Table

Note: These appointments are for current appointees unless otherwise noted. Eg: Assistant Director (AD) is only for the current Assistant Directors. Past office-holders and appointees are only eligible if the title listed includes the word “Past,” such as “Past Section Manager (PSM).”

Abbreviation Full Position/Title Name Point value
PRES ARRL President 300
PE President Emeritus 275
PP Past President 275
HVP Honorary Vice President 250
VP ARRL Vice President 250
DE Director Emeritus 225
DIR Director 225
PVP Past Vice President 225
VD Vice Director 200
SM Section Manager 175
OFF Staff Officer, Treasurer, Counsel 150
PD Past Director 150
PV Past Vice Director 125
ARRL W1AW ARRL HQ Station 100
CLM ARRL Charter Life Member 100
PSM Past Section Manager 100
DM ARRL HQ Department Manager 75
HQ ARRL HQ Staff Member/Volunteer 50
MAX Maxim Society Member 50
AC CAC/DXAC/ECAC Advisory Members 40
AD Assistant Director 40
ARDF Direction Finding Coordinator 35
ASM Assistant Section Manager 35
EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility Committee 35
LOTW Logbook of the World Committee 35
PRC Public Relations Committee 35
RF RF Safety Committee 35
YC Youth Committee 35
ACC Affiliated Club Coordinator 30
DEC District Emergency Coordinator 30
NCJ NCJ Editor 30
PIC Public Information Coordinator 30
QST QST Columnist 30
SEC Section Emergency Coordinator 30
SGL State Government Liaison 30
STM Section Traffic Manager 30
SYC Section Youth Coordinator 30
TC Technical Coordinator 30
DC Diamond Club Member 25
LAB W1INF Lab Museum Operations 25
LC W1HQ HQ Operations 25
CM Contest Managers/Log Checkers 20
QSM Incoming QSL Bureau Manager 20
VC Volunteer Counsel 15
VCE Volunteer Consulting Engineer 15
ADC Area Digital Coordinators 12
ADEC Assistant District Emergency Coordinator 12
ANM Area Net Manager 12
ASEC Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator 12
ASTM Assistant Section Traffic Manager 12
BM Bulletin Manager 12
EC Emergency Coordinator 12
LGL Local Government Liaison 12
OBS Official Bulletin Station 12
OES Official Emergency Station 12
ORS Official Relay Station 12
PIO Public Information Officer 12
RNM Region Net Manager 12
TCC Transcontinental Corps Directors 12
TS Technical Specialist 12
TA Technical Advisor 10
NM Net Manager 7
AM Awards Manager 5
CC Card Checker 5
INST Registered Instructor 5
State Abbrev W1AW/x around the USA (work each state twice) 5
VE Volunteer Examiner 5
QSL Incoming QSL Bureau Sorters 3
LM ARRL Life Member 2
AFF ARRL Affiliated Club Call Sign 1
MEM ARRL Member 1

South Dakota Volunteers

Code First Name Last Name Call
EC Donald Schwemle AA0F
OES Thomas Jones AB0TV
EC Terry Angle AE0XI
PIO Matt Holden K0BBC
EC Matt Holden K0BBC
PIC Matt Holden K0BBC
DEC Matt Holden K0BBC
ASM Matt Holden K0BBC
PIC Matt Holden K0BBC
TC Gary Peterson K0CX
OES Donald Jarvinen K0DAJ
ASM Brad Bradfield K0FB
OES Lee Boyles K0LGB
TS Brian Palmersheim KB0ETC
SEC Bryan Anderson KC0MYX
PIO Jerry Hawley KC0WC
DEC Jerry Hawley KC0WC
EC Rodney Huisman KD0AKN
DEC James Zahradnicek KD0S
STM James Zahradnicek KD0S
ASEC James Zahradnicek KD0S
EC Harvey Hofstee KD0YNO
OES Michael Schaff KD0ZIP
EC Michael Schaff KD0ZIP
TS Glen Wittrock KD0ZP
EC Scott Winegar KD0ZSM
EC Carol Katz KD6CLK
SM Christian Stallkamp KI0D
EC Randall Pratt KJ0RE
DEC Kurt Narveson N0VEK
TS John Kyriazis N6VEG
DEC Phillip Knapp W0FUI
EC Gregory Anderson W0GUS
EC Robert Ewing W0RE
OES Robert Ewing W0RE
LGL Robert Ewing W0RE
ASEC Robert Ewing W0RE
DEC Edward Gray W0SD
OES Edward Gray W0SD
ASEC Edward Gray W0SD
EC Joseph Cirone W1SPY
EC Fred DeRoos WA0GMH
ACC Lloyd Timperley WB0ULX
PIO Donald Darcy WK2RP