Inducted May 2019
Dean Straw, N6BV, is an outstanding contester, a talented writer, editor, presenter, and educator. Straw has advanced the state of the art in antennas, computer modeling, propagation, and contest planning and preparation. As an ARRL staff member for 15 years, he edited multiple editions of The ARRL Antenna Book and several other publications. He also developed the High Frequency Terrain Analysis (HFTA) software, which revolutionized antenna system planning by linking antenna design, installation height, tower location, surrounding terrain, and the expected angles of propagation to target regions. His work with the propagation prediction program VOACAP revolutionized contest planning, allowing specific band opening predictions dependent on solar conditions to indicate optimal times for band changes and operations.