IN-Newsletter
Vol. 28, No. 29
July 20, 2005
CEO
CEO staff is working on wrapping-up another successful and
smooth-functioning Board meeting. A special thank you to Greg
Kwasowski;and Maty Weinberg for helping with the Board books; to Penny
Harts for helping with the goodie table in the lobby; to Debra Johnson
for helping at the hotel; and to those who made hotel runs during the
day on Friday.
Special acknowledgement and thanks to Joe Carcia for working with the
Marriott technicians in making all presentation and computer equipment
run like a charm.
Lisa Kustosik would like to thank staff, especially Penny Harts, Zoe
Belliveau, Ann Marie Pinto, Di Szlachetka, Sue Fagan, Mary Hobart, John
Proctor, Dave Pingree, Greg Kwasowski and son Paul, and to Lisa'a
husband Hossain and son Adam for the spectacular team effort to make the
picnic a success. There was plenty of food, drink and laughs. Kudos!
John Hennessee assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems
in Polk Township, PA (K3PH); Eighty Four, PA (WB4GCS) where the amateur
is taking this case to court; and Concord, CA (ND6H) where the City
requires an excessive permit fee. He also assisted amateurs with
covenant restrictions in Peoria, AZ (W9YMB) and West Boynton Beach, FL
(KI4GTI). Other matters he dealt with include: An amateur in Iraq who
reported interference from US Government stations on 15 meters (ARRL has
received no such reports of actual interference); an amateur, AC3A, is
concerned that the Dry Tortugas National Park required that he obtain a
Park permit to transmit (ARRL is responding), an amateur in North
Carolina was stopped for speeding and having "too many antennas" on his
used police car and there are extenuating circumstances; and on the
Florida statute effective last year which regulated RF and contains
penalties. Last February, ARRL filed with the FCC a request for a
declaratory ruling All of these matters continue to resurface after
appearing on amateur reflectors with incomplete information.
CDO
The summer Spectrum Defense campaign is experienced some initial
strength in returns. Through July 20 the campaign receipts total more
than $44,600 in contributions from 979 donors. The follow up letter
will mail July 25 to 30,000 members, including members that have been
recognized for loyal support of 40 years or more.
ARRL did not received a CNCS grant for training citizen with
disabilities. We will continue to seek a source for this program.
First Diamond Club returns from Life Members from the special mailing
have been received.
ARRL Foundation scholarship awards have been mailed to the winners'
schools.
Production/Editorial
Rick Lindquist reports The ARRL Letter, Vol. 24, No. 27 (successfully)
distributed to 66,272 ARRL members on July 15. That's up by 200 from
the previous week. Rick edited and filed "Happenings" for September
QST. He also prepared/edited stories on a Citation of Additional
Authority filing by ARRL in the BPL proceeding, an article in The Hill
by US Senate Spectrum Protection Bill sponsor Michael Crapo (R-ID)
lauding Amateur Radio and urging support from his colleagues, Ham radio
activities regarding Hurricanes Dennis and Emily, Jack Gerritsen
(ex-KG6IRO) sentencing on state threatening charges, shuttle Discovery
flight (to carry six amateur licensees), FCC Amateur Radio enforcement
letters, the Amateur Amateur column for July and various announcements
and news briefs. Rick voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News for
July 15.
Lab
BPL
Once again, Ed Hare played "road warrior." Ed took Chris Imlay for a
personal tour of the BPL system in Shelton, CT. They saw severe
interference on two ham bands, and strong interference on two others.
On 40 meters, there was S9 interference for almost a half mile along the
power lines. Ed and Chris rode in the BPLMobile, which Chris reported
as a smooth ride, much like riding a boat. Ed also met with the Western
Massachusetts Electric staff operating the small BPL system in Feeding
Hills, MA. Although they have cleaned up most amateur interference, Ed
was able to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of their notching on the 30
Meter band. On WWV and international shortwave broadcast frequencies
the interference was severe.
RFI
The lab took advantage of the Board Meeting to meet with the EMC
Committee Chairman, Dennis Bodson. Mike Gruber and Ed Hare went over
the EMC Committee report. Mike not only got Ed and Dennis up to speed
on the status of FCC interference cases, but gave Dennis a demonstration
of power line noise locating equipment.
Lab Facility Maintenance
Zack Lau discovered that the belt sander no longer worked-the pulley had
worked away from the shaft and was binding against the housing. A
little work by the Mike Gruber and Mike Tracy and the sander was
functioning properly. If you notice any problems with Laboratory
equipment or facilities, please report problems to the lab staff for
maintenance-it may take weeks before we notice that something is broken.
Technical Information Service
21 hours of TIS, which includes answering 21 phone calls and 62 emails.
Sales & Marketing Department
Details are being finalized for the product launch of the 2006 ARRL
Handbook. This edition marks 80-years of The ARRL Handbook--originally
titled The Radio Amateur's Handbook. The book builds on the extensive
rewrite of the previous edition. An impressive addition for 2006 is a
brand-new, high-power HF linear amplifier project using the new Eimac
3CX1500D7 power triode.
The 2006 ARRL Handbook will make its worldwide debut on October 1.
September QST will carry the first advertisement for the new edition,
and will feature a very special pre-order promotion. Customers placing
orders for the book before September 30 will get an anniversary
reproduction of the First Handbook--originally published in 1926 and
authored by the late Francis Edward Handy, W1BDI. The 224-page
reproduction is a facsimile of the author's own signed personal copy. A
limited supply will be produced. The offer will be made available from
ARRL and Select ARRL Publication Dealers.
The 2006 ARRL Handbook advertising goal has been exceeded, with another
week of solicitation still ahead.
The advertising team is wrapping up work on September QST. Page count
target has been met; dollar target will fall short by approximately
$7,000.
Work continues on September/October NCJ and QEX advertising.
The next publication "Dealer Newsline" (mailing next week) will include
an offer of a desk copy of Amateur Radio on the Move to those dealers
who pre-order the books. Also, dealers will be included in the
pre-order special of the 2006 ARRL Handbook.
Online Courses
A solicitation was prepared and distributed to course mentors, offering
them an opportunity to take the new Analog Electronics and Digital
Electronics courses at a reduced rate. We hope, as a byproduct of this
effort, we'll increase the pool of eligible mentors for these new
courses.
Course mentors are required to be ARRL members. This week (and from
time to time) email was sent to mentors whose membership has
lapsed--encouraging them to renew.
Registration has opened for the newest online course: Digital
Electronics. This is a 12-week course. Notice of the course opening
has been posted to the news crawl, and other news outlets.
ON-LINE COURSES Registrations
During this week Graduations
Antenna Modeling (EC-004) 3 1
HF Digital Comm (EC-005) 0 0
RFI (EC-006) 0 1
VHF/UHF (EC-008) 0 0
Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009) 1 0
Technician License Course (EC-010) 4 3
Propagation (EC-011) 3 1
Analog Electronics (EC-012) 2 0
Digital Electronics (NEW!!) (EC-013) 6 0
Emergency Comm. Level 1 (EC-001) Not open, 2 by US mail 50
Emergency Comm. Level 2 (EC-002) 42, 2 by US mail 23
Emergency Comm. Level 3 (EC-003) Not open, 3 by US mail 12
Membership Services
Awards Branch
5-Band WAS Plaques 4
Extra Class Certs. 6
Replacement Awards 2
A-1 Op. Noms. 3
A-1 Op. Certs. 1
VUCC QSL Cards Checked 12
VUCC Initial Apps. 2
Grids 150
VUCC End. Apps. 4
Grids 162
Awards Mailed 35
Processing Status: Current or up to three weeks.
For the coming week-WAS QSL card checking, WAS Specialty, WAS/90th, and
VUCC awards, plus mail out all of this week's processed awards.
Contest Branch
Paper entries for the June VHF QSO Party resumed. Sorting and initial
processing of Field Day related mail began. Data entry of paper Field
Day logs began. Twice-daily updates to the Field Day applet logs
received list were prepared. First draft editing of the DX Phone QST
article was done, with about one page of cuts having to be made to meet
space allocation. Several data projects were done for the Membership
Services Manager in preparation for the Board Meeting at the end of the
week.
DXCC Branch
For the week of:
July 17, 2005
Beginning Credits 114,612
Credits Received 2,929
Credits Processed 14,466
Ending Credits 103,075
Applications Pending 912
Processing Time (Conventional) 7.7 Weeks
Processing Time (LoTW) 1-2 Working Days
Year-to-date (2005)
Credits Received 342,940
Credits Returned 327,990
DXCC is currently entering and mailing applications received on May 24,
2005.
Logbook of the World
QSO records entered into the system 75,416,207
QSL records have resulted 3,502,754
Logs Processed 132,617
Active Certificates 15,099
Users registered in the system 10,017
Hybrids Pending Mail 40
QSL Bureau
There is a 1 day processing time delay. This week, 106 pounds of cards
were received from members. No cards were mailed this week.
Field & Educational Services
The ARISS Team reports that the Expedition 12 crew is being considered
for deploying SuitSat during one of their scheduled space walks. The
crew will need to be trained in how to safely do the deployment. Frank
met with the team from Space Adventures about the possible ISS flight of
space tourist Greg Olsen; discussion was on training (licensing and
equipment operation) in Russia and at Johnson Space Center for the 4 or
so school QSOs. The A31 computer is scheduled to fly on the next Soyuz
flight with the crew.
Field Education Team
Norm Fusaro attended the Arizona State Convention as ARRL's rep. He
assisted the Director and SM at several forums and at the ARRL booth.
Norm brought home 36 membership applications from the convention. He
finished a Web story about a mother-daughter ham team who are very
active in their club in Raleigh, NC. Thanks goes to Tom Hogerty who
posted the story along with another one edited by Norm, submitted by a
member, about hams setting up stations in retirement communities.
Margie Bourgoin updated 20 affiliated club records, and processed 3
Special Service Club renewals. She registered 5 new volunteer
instructors. She thanks Cathy Scharr and the Mailroom for handling a
postcard reminder mailing to clubs about updating their records. This
is the semi-annual reminder to update their records in order to stay
actively affiliated. Margie conducted the monthly inventory of supplies
and the revenue report for the department. Starting July 18, Margie
became Accounts Payable/Payroll Administrator. Margie replaced Karen
Isakson, who replaced Christi Grondzik, in the Staff Accountant
position.
Gail Iannone wrote 48 hamfest announcements and 11 convention
announcements for September QST. She sent five hamfest approval letters
to the sponsoring committees confirming the Division Directors' approval
of their events as ARRL-sanctioned, processed 16 handout and door prize
orders and one label request for upcoming events. She sent one new club
seeking ARRL-affiliation to the Division Director and Section Manager
for their approval as well as an acknowledgement letter to the club
official. She coordinated travel for Harold Kramer to be the HQ Rep at
the Southeastern Division Convention on August 20-21 in Huntsville, AL.
Bill Barrett reports that the Community Education Project is in its
wind-up phase. He reviewed the original grant document in order to map
out the reporting process. He scheduled things for his last trips
during the last two weeks of the grant period--one in Old Hickory,
TN--August 8, and the other in Concord, NH--August 12. A statewide
Connecticut meeting will be held on July 30, and it is now fully
arranged with volunteers.
Amateur Radio Education & Technology Program
Mark Spencer spent the week in Ohio doing an off-site Teacher's
Institute. He prepared reports and submitted photos of the successful
event.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
After Hurricane Dennis struck Florida and Alabama, ARES members and
others were activated. Steve Ewald kept in touch with the Section
Leaders in those areas. He reported ham radio news at the National
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster daily teleconferences. NFL
SM Rudy Hubbard reports that the Santa Rosa EOC was impressed by the
hams; the EOC serves four western panhandle counties. Steve and Mary
took part in a Citizen Corps Region I and II monthly teleconference to
discuss ways ARRL can develop partnerships, especially for September's
National Preparedness Month. Steve submitted updated files for the ARES
Field Resources Manual.
Section Managers recently received their Field Organization appointment
reports from Leona Adams. They, in turn, sent her an increased number
of appointment-data changes and cancellations. Over 20 new supply
packages to Field appointees were sent out. HQ received a nomination
for incumbent Santa Barbara SM Rob Griffin, K6YR, for a new term of
office starting in January, 2006.
Chuck Skolaut kept a watchful eye on Hurricane Emily and monitored the
Hurricane Watch Net; he reported their plans to activate to gather
reports for the National Hurricane Center. Chuck received and reviewed
documentation on a California 2-meter repeater operation; he forwarded
this to the FCC. Good progress has been reported in an interference
case involving a Southern Florida repeater. A new member of the ARRL
Monitoring System/Intruder Watch program has been added to the roster.
EmComm Grants
Dan Miller prepared for, and traveled to, the Citizen Corps Council
Western Region Conference (in Montana) as ARRL's representative. Grant
statistics for the year 2002 up until now are:
CNCS - 2002-09-01 to 2005-09-01
Course Reg Grads Grad %
EC-001 5316 3782 71
EC-002 1222 811 66
EC-003 598 420 70
Total 7136 5013 70
UTC - 2002-10-31 to 2005-10-31
Course Reg Grads Grad %
EC-001 1582 1146 72
EC-002 1337 1035 77
EC-003 774 658 85
Total 3693 2839 76
Sincerely,
Dave Patton, NN1N
Special Assistant to the
Chief Executive Officer
DCP:lk
Staff Absentee List
Joel Kleinman 7/22-7/29 Vacation
`` 8/10 Vacation
Harold Kramer 8/19-8/21 Southeast Division
Convention, Huntsville, AL
Bob Inderbitzen 7/25-7/29 Vacation
Dennis Motschenbacher 7/29-7/31 Rocky Mountain Division
Convention
John Hennessee 7/27-8/9 Vacation
Barry Shelley 7/17-7/22 Vacation
`` 8/4-8/5 Vacation
`` 8/15-8/19 Vacation
Monique Levesque 8/1-8/5 Vacation
Joe Carcia 7/22 Vacation
`` 7/29-8/5 Vacation
Karen Isakson 8/6-8/15 Vacation
Perry Williams 7/7-9/6 Vacation
Dave Patton 8/10 Vacation
Lisa Kustosik 7/22-7/25 Vacation
Maria Somma 7/22-7/23 NCVEC Conference,
Gettysburg, PA
`` 7/25-7/29 Vacation
Perry Green 7/22-7/23 NCVEC Conference,
Gettysburg, PA
Norm Fusaro 7/22-7/23 NCVEC Conference,
Gettysburg, PA
Pam Dzamba 8/1-8/5 Vacation
Janet Rocco 8/1-8/5 Vacation
LouAnn Campanello 7/18-7/22 Vacation
Allen Pitts 8/4-8/8 Texas State Convention
Joel Hallas 8/12-8/26 Vacation
Steve Capodicasa 9/5-9/12 Vacation
Rosalie White 7/29-8/3 ARISS Int'l
Meeting
Bob Inderbitzen 7/25-7/29 Vacation
Scott Gee 7/25-7/26 Vacation
Dan Henderson 8/1-8/5 Vacation
`` 8/10 Vacation
Wayne Mills 8/5 Pacific Northwest
Convention
8/8-8/12 Vacation
Ed Hare 8/8-8/12 IEEE EMC
Symposium, Chicago, IL
`` 8/15-8/17 Vacation
`` 8/25-9/2 Vacation
Steve Ford 8/30-9/5 Vacation
