IN-Newsletter
Vol 26, No. 9
March 5, 2003
Upcoming Meetings
March 15th in Irving, TX at 8:00am
Executive Committee
April 26th in Kansas City, MO
A&F Committee
Administrative Services
We wish to welcome Jill R. Crevoisier as our new Administrative
Assistant in the Washington office. Jill's position was previously held
by Ana Campa.
Jill will use the initials JRC and will have the e-mail address of
vatro(a)mindspring.com.
Development
Debra Johnson has assumed responsibility for processing acknowledgement
letters, certificates and reports for the 2003 Defense Fund. Thanks to
Monique Levesque and John Proctor for their assistance in the
transition. Responsibility for the other annual giving campaigns will
follow when systems are in place.
A mini-campaign to non-respondents to the 2003 Defense Fund is being
written. The solicitation is scheduled to mail at the end of March.
A followup postcard for the Education & Technology Fund campaign is
planned for mid-March. The postcard will be mailed to donors to the
2002 Education & Technology campaign and donors to other campaigns
(Defense, W1AW).
On the heels of the Direct Marketing Boot Camp, a file of donors to
Development campaigns who are lapsed members will be provided to
marketing for a special personalized membership renewal request.
Amateur Radio Today CD-ROMs were mailed 2/28 to donors, prospects and
Washington contacts.
An artist has been identified to develop a detailed line drawing of W1AW
which will be used as a thank you gift to major donors to the full file
W1AW campaign later this spring. A permanent release for the artwork
has been received.
Invitations to the Major Donor Reception at the 2003 Dayton Hamvention
will be mailed the week of 3/3/2003.
Media Relations
Jennifer and Mary Hobart gave the OK to United Technologies to
distribute hometown press releases for all Connecticut amateurs who
graduated from the emergency communications courses under the UTC grant.
This batch of releases is being sent to weekly papers and smaller daily
papers throughout the state. The larger media outlets will be targeted
once we announce the additional grant money received from UTC.
Mary Hobart talked about the CNCS federal grant with a reporter from the
Orlando Sentinel. Jennifer also supplied the national press release
prior to Mary's interview. Mary also took part in a live radio
interview with the morning host of Connecticut's WTIC-AM. The host
expressed interest in getting into ham radio, and said that he'd like to
do a Saturday morning program on ham radio. We'll be following up on
that opportunity.
Ed Hare wrote an excellent response to a reader's question submitted to
the Q&A column in The Roanoke (VA) Times. The reader's question
involved interference issues with a ham neighbor. Ed clearly explained
the reasons for interference and how the problem could be solved. He
also included information on the RFI Web page and his contact
information here at HQ.
Thanks Ed and Mary!
Jennifer got a call from an Indianapolis Star reporter who is working on
a series of sidebar articles on the space shuttle Columbia and the ISS.
The reporter's father, who is a ham, saw the name of an Indiana ham in a
recent ARRL Web story who had made recent contact with the ISS, and the
reporter was very interested in tracking him down. Jennifer supplied
the ham's contact information.
ARRL will again have a presence at the National Association of
Broadcaster's (NAB) convention in Las Vegas in April. Our booth
coordinator is Bill Cornelius, K8XC. Bill has done an excellent job
representing ARRL over the past several years at NAB. Jim Haynie,
Director Vallio and Vice President Heyn plan to attend. Booth supplies
will be shipped out shortly, and door prizes for the annual ham radio
reception at NAB will be sent out this week. Booth volunteers plan to
run a 90-minute looped copy of Amateur Radio Today.
Several requests for PSAs were fulfilled, and ten or more new people
were added to the PR reflector. Jennifer also assisted three new public
information volunteers who were looking for advice.
Publications
The April issue of QST went to the printer Feb 27 (and was off the press
by the Mar 1-2 weekend). Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, says this marked
the first complete "direct-to-plate" issue of QST (only the editorial
section and some of the advertising sections of the magazine have gone
"computer-to-plate" in the past). He notes that most of our
publications are now sent electronically and that we don't produce much
film here at HQ anymore.
Work is wrapping up on the Extra Class Q&A. Work continues on The ARRL
Repeater Directory, Now You're Talking! and Tech Q&A. Blues were
checked for NCJ.
Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, reports that distribution of
The ARRL Letter reached a new all-time peak on February 28 of 65,681
subscribers--topping the old record by 72.
During February 24 week, Rick filed Happenings for April QST plus news
stories on ARRL's comments in ET 02-305; FCC enforcement actions,
including a license revocation; plans to return current three-man,
all-ham crew and deploy two-person ISS crew using the Soyuz and impact
on the ARISS contact schedule; and In Brief. In addition to other
incidental items, he edited and filed stories on "Hams Aid Columbia
Debris Search in Western States" (drafted by Dave Hassler, K7CCC); the
National Hurricane Conference (info from Steve Ewald, WV1X, and Julio
Ripoll, WD4JR), and SATERN/ARES NYC recognitions (info from Frank
Fallon, N2FF), plus feature columns by Gary Hoffman, KB0H (The Amateur
Amateur) and by Anthony Luscre, K8ZT (QRP Community). He compiled The
ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 09, and produced ARRL Audio News with assistance
from Brennan Price, N4QX, and Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, for distribution
February 28.
During February 23 week, Dave Hassler, K7CCC, wrote the "Hams Aid
Columbia Debris Search in Western States" news story, wrapped up "ARRL
in Action" and worked on other QST material. He also edited the Web
feature "A Field Day Mountaintop Is the Destination for the 'Big Event
Together'" for posting Feb 25 as well as the Web version of "ARRL In
Action: What Have We Been Up To Lately?" the weekly Web column "Surfin'"
(by Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU) and the new Web crossword puzzle for posting
February 28.
Brennan Price, N4QX, wrapped April "Product Review" for QST and
continues work on The ARRL Repeater Directory.
Membership Services
Awards Branch
WAS Certificates (200 QSLs F/C) 4
WAS Certificate (50 QSLs ES/C) 1
5 Band WAS Certs. (750 QSLs F/C) 3
A-1 Operator Nominations 3
L/T Member Inquiries 6
40-Year Member Awards 18
25-Year Member Awards 37
VUCC Initial Apps. 9
Grids 945
VUCC Endorsement Apps. 1
Grids 171
Awards Mailed 46
VHF Awards Manager Appt: Jason Baack, N1RWY, Frankfort, ME. Processing
Status: Current or up to three weeks. For the coming week-WAS QSL card
checking, Basic WAS awards for February, VUCC award processing, compile
the latest congratulatory list of 50-, 60-, and 70-year members for May
QST, and package and mail the 25- and 40-year member awards.
DXCC Branch
Weekly Report
March 2, 2003
Beginning Cards 162,741
Cards Received 13,455
Cards Processed 19,351
Ending Cards 156,845
Applications Pending 1,476
Processing Time 17.3 Weeks
Year-to-date (2003)
Cards Received 75,021
Cards Returned 123,037
QRPs Issued this week 2
QRP's Issued total 278
DXCC is currently mailing applications received on October 30, 2002.
DXCC is currently entering cards received on December 2, 2002.
Contest Branch
The November Sweepstakes CW online article was proofed and corrections
made. It is in preview now and should be open to the public this week.
Data entry continued for the January VHF Sweepstakes. The DX databases
were initialized for upcoming data entry for the CW and Phone contests.
Numerous member queries about the DX Phone contest were handled.
QSL Branch
QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 03/02/2003
- 247,400. No Cards were mailed this week. Heather Dzamba spent 2
hours conducting tours around HQ.
W1AW
Thanks to Bill Moore, NC1L for handling the morning code practice shifts
on Wednesday through Friday, while Joe Carcia worked the early afternoon
and night shift on these days for a vacationing Scott Gee. Joe Carcia
updated the web code practice files. He also created the texts for the
March W1AW Qualifying Runs. He also handled evening phone sales calls
in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW telephone sales year to date
(2003): $1,173.
Field & Educational Services
Rosalie assisted FEMA District X with new contact information for ARRL,
and worked with the National Convention chairman on possible keynote
speakers. She attended the all-day seminar on marketing.
Regulatory Information
John Hennessee responded to the usual number of regulatory questions,
including assisting the City Manager of the Town of Weston, WV with
zoning questions.
Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program
Jerry Hill has received a "pileup" of inquiries or school applications
for review from teachers who wish to be part of The Big Project in the
future. Jerry is also handling logistics for the Connecticut Science
Fair, where we will sponsor, as a pilot project, two awards at the
junior high level.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Chuck Skolaut learned of an unidentified signal at 14002.4 kHz, and
asked the monitoring team to document it. At last report, the signal
stopped and an association with the military seemed likely. This week,
Chuck worked with over 25 OOs and/or OOCs on various matters. He also
provided back-up coverage for John.
Leona Adams reports that Maryland-DC SM Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, and Victor
Curtis, WA3YUV, have submitted nomination petitions to run in the
upcoming Section election. Petitions for terms starting July 1, 2003
are due March 7. Over 25 new appointments and respective supply
packages were handled and sent out.
Steve Ewald reports that over the past month or so all but the following
Sections have shown activity through their Section Web pages:
Maryland-DC, Montana, Virgin Islands, West Central Florida and Wyoming.
Over the past couple of weeks, 12 Section Managers have sent 22 messages
via the e-mail relay service.
EmComm Grants
Dan Miller announces that registration for Level I students will open
Monday at 12:01 AM EST. Dan will offer the ARECC Seminar at the Roanoke
Division Convention next week, and a shortened version of the seminar at
Timonium, MD on March 29.
Field & Education Services Team
Mary Lau processed contributions acknowledgements; shipped scholarship
applications to the Scholarship Committee; forwarded a grant proposal to
the Proposals Committee; and, worked on "At the Foundation" for May QST.
Margie Bourgoin processed 7 SSC applications, both new and renewals.
She sent hard copy monthly reports out to clubs, and she notes that two
additional clubs were Director-approved for ARRL-affiliation.
Jean Wolfgang sent out two Eagle Scout congratulations letters to young
men who are also hams. She handled several emails pertaining to the
Instructor of the Year award letters that she sent out last week. This
week she has also been working on the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award.
Linda Mullally registered 6 volunteer instructors and 3 schoolteachers.
She updated 53 club records and 4 reactivations, and mailed out 30
initial appointment supply packages.
Gail Iannone sent 21 hamfest and 2 convention approval letters to the
sponsoring committees confirming the Division Director's approval of the
events to be ARRL-sanctioned; processed 18 door prize orders and sent 10
handout packages for upcoming hamfests; she also coordinated travel for
Wayne Mills, N7NG, to be the HQ rep at the Roanoke Division Convention
to be held on March 8-9, 2003 in Charlotte, NC.
C-CE
Howard Robins reports that our Web host has posted our new course,
VHF/UHF, Beyond Repeaters on their site for his review. After some
edits, Howard's beta testers began work, and Alex, N2PIG, and Debra,
K2PIG, have already sent high praise and some valuable suggestions.
They've taken all our courses and are Life Members, VEs, OOs, CIs, CEs
and registered instructors.
Jerry Ellis fine tuned procedures for certificates, and these are now
printed from the same data used for the reimbursement check process.
Jerry assigned mentors to, and opened, a Level 3 course and HF Digital
classes that started on Monday. CNCS grads were mailed printed
certificates, ID cards and refund checks.
73,
Sincerely,
Mark Wilson, K1RO
Chief Operating Officer
MW: lk
Staff Absentee List
Name Date(s) Reason
Dan Miller 3/8-3/9 Roanoke Div. Conv., Charlotte,
NC
3/29-3/30 Atlantic Div. Conv., Timonium,
MD
