[UPDATED 2015-05-16 1902 UTC] Large crowds are jamming the aisles in the Hara Arena complex for Day 2 of Dayton Hamvention® 2015. ARRL Publications Manager and QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, described the indoor atmosphere as “tropical” — very warm and humid.

On Saturday afternoon Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) President Don Dubon, N6JRL, presented two $10,000 checks to ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. One was a gift to support the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology. Past Teachers Institute sessions have been held at Dayton and sponsored by DARA, and a class will be held this summer as well, July 13-16. The second check was a donation to the ARRL Foundation Scholarship Fund.

Earlier today, ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK, moderated the ARRL Member Forum, during which President Craigie discussed “The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 — H.R. 1301 — and encouraging members to recruit supporters among their US House members.

ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, talked about ARRL and Amateur Radio’s interests at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), which he will attend in November. High on the list was the possibility of a contiguous 5 MHz secondary allocation somewhere within the range 5250 kHz through 5450 kHz. He also discussed the issue of vehicular radars in the 76-81 GHz range. An FCC proceeding is currently under way.

ARRL Second Vice President Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF, discussed ARRL Strategic Planning.

ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, announced that the League has experienced its 9th straight year of membership growth. He also shared the news of FCC movement on Amateur Radio MW and LF allocations; the Commission recently proposed Amateur Radio bands at 136 kHz and at 472-479 kHz. He also noted that May 17 marks the 150th anniversary of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

ARRL First Vice President Rick Roderick, K5UR, gave a rousing presentation encouraging ARRL membership renewal. He also spoke of the need to revitalize clubs.

Hamvention continues through Sunday afternoon. It is offering live coverage of selected forums on its website. Several other webcasters, including Tom Medlin, W5KUB, and Icom America, also will be making live video streams available.