IN-Newsletter
Vol. 29, No. 2
January 11, 2006 -- Covers the period January 1-7.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Annual Board Meeting
January 20-21, 2006 in Windsor, CT
Administration &Finance Committee
January 19 in Newington, CT
Programs & Services Committee
January 19 in Newington, CT
Development
In the first week of the new year Development continues to receive
contributions to important campaigns. The 2006 Spectrum Defense fund
has received more than $9000 from 113 donors with a robust average
contribution of $80. The Year End campaign has received more than $5900
from 152 donors with a healthy average contribution of $39. The Diamond
Club continues to attract new donors from the monthly member renewal
process.
The 2006 application for the Combined Federal Campaign has been
completed. ARRL has achieved the CFC target level of 25% in
administrative and fund raising expenses.
Draft letters for the new W1AW Endowment and Ham Aid test campaigns are
in preparation.
Media & Public Relations
During the past week the PR department did an interview about BPL status
with Amy Schatz, a technology and regulatory reporter for the Wall
Street Journal. Later she was provided copy of the Briarcliff Manor
complaint renewal. I did the audio news for Rick Lindquist. I spoke
about the PR function and plans for the Hello! campaign in Springfield,
MA at the New England Division cabinet meeting (distributing 30 copies
of the beta test version of the 2006 Swiss Army Knife for PIOs) and also
spoke about the ARRL role in Katrina events at the Ham Radio University
in Bellmore, Long Island. I published the January issue of Contact,
published a release and information for Kids' Day, provided hometown
releases for Board members and visited Anderson Productions Co. to check
on their special effects video capabilities which may be used in a PSA.
And I wrote an article for QST to summarize the Toy Drive.
Production/Editorial
Rick Lindquist spent last week in New Orleans working with a group of
fellow New Englanders to help restore the homes of those whose homes
were damaged by Katrina.
In Rick's absence, Joel Kleinman handled Web news and The ARRL Letter,
(Vol. 25, No. 01 distributed to 66, 462 members on January 6), while
Allen Pitts pitched in to record ARRL Audio News. Thanks, Allen!
Sales and Marketing
The Business Services team has started working on March QST and
March/April NCJ and QEX advertising. Also, a reminder has been sent to
advertisers regarding the 2006-2007 Repeater Directory. March QST will
feature an 8 page Icom advertising tear-out.
Approximately 35 advertisers (large and small) have taken advantage of
our offer to charge them 2005 advertising rates for the first 6 months
of 2006. In order to do so, they have had to place their insertion
orders with us for 2006.
New advertising rate cards for QST, NCJ, and QEX have been posted to the
web.
ARRL ended 2005 with 2,850 fewer members: 148,877 total. On an
encouraging note, the result was ahead of plan which predicted a loss of
3,498. Our planning for 2006 encompasses new efforts and new
opportunities that hold promise in turning around this disconcerting
trend that has seen mostly membership decreases in the last 10 years.
We coordinated implementation of the Board's new ARRL policy for
deployed members of the US military. Members in active US military
deployment outside the US and its territories may request to temporarily
suspend dues payments and/or delivery of QST for the duration of their
deployments. The objective is to ensure that members in active duty and
deployed overseas can maintain their League memberships in the midst of
being away from their homes or permanent duty stations. Some experience
difficulties with, or interruptions in, mail delivery or other
disruptions.
On Friday, Bob Inderbitzen gathered a group of key personnel involved in
various aspects of our product fulfillment process: order placement,
order processing, warehouse, accounting, etc. The session was
facilitated by a third-party growth strategy advisor who helped managed
the all-day session. The process involved documenting the time and
effort of each step in the process, and value stream mapping the steps
and the relationships to create a visual map. A summary report is being
prepared, which will include a high level action plan. Thanks go to
everyone who participated: Zoe Belliveau, Jon Bloom, Kathy Capodicasa,
Steve Capodicasa, Ann-Marie Pinto, John Proctor, and Barry Shelley.
New ham information packages were mailed to 14 prospects this week.
Online Courses
Jean has sent course completion certificates and IDs to EmComm students
who graduated between 9/1 and 12/31 who where not covered under the UTC
grant (over 200). Included with the mailing was a $10 graduation
reward, for use towards the registration fee in a future course.
ON-LINE COURSES Registrations
During this week Graduations
Antenna Modeling (EC-004) 5 0
HF Digital (EC-005) 0 0
RFI (EC-006) 0 0
VHF/UHF (EC-008) 0 1
Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009) 1 0
Technician Licensing (EC-010) 5 1
Propagation (EC-011) 2 0
Analog Electronics (EC-012) 0 1
Digital Electronics (EC-013) 0 0
Emergency Comm. Level 1 (EC-001) 9 39
Emergency Comm. Level 2 (EC-002) 19 11
Emergency Comm. Level 3 (EC-003) 7 5
Membership Services
Awards / DXCC Branch
WAS QSL Cards Checked 250
Extra Class Certificates 10
Replacement Award 1
A-1 Operator Nominations 8
Proofed the VUCC data entry completed by DXCC staff. Processing Status:
Current or up to three weeks.
For the coming week-WAS and WAC QSL card checking, VUCC, A-1 Operator,
and Basic WAS awards for December, and do the orders for the latest
batch of various DXCC plaques.
For the Week of:
January 8 2006
Beginning Credits 60,186
Credits Received 2,148
Credits Processed 12,087
Ending Credits 50,247
Applications Pending 377
Processing time 5.5 Weeks
Year-to-date (2005)
Credits Received 620,392
Credits Returned 643,629
DXCC is currently entering credits received on December 8, 2005. DXCC
is currently mailing applications received on November 30, 2005.
Contest Branch
We spent significant time responding to accumulated email from when N1ND
was on vacation. We prepared the QST versions of the 2005 September VHF
QSO Party and 2005 10 GHz and Up articles received from the authors for
production. Data entry for November Sweepstakes Cups and Pins orders
was done, as well as beginning data entry for the 2005 160-Meter
contest.
Logbook of the World
QSO records entered into the system 88,323,884
QSL records have resulted 4,526,849
Logs Processed 175,431
Active Certificates 17,055
Users registered in the system 11,314
Hybrids Pending Mail 110
QSL Branch
There is a 5 day processing time delay. This week, 131 pounds of cards
were received from members. The next scheduled mailing is Friday,
January 20th.
Field & Educational Services
Field Organization/Public Service Team
With the deadline for receipt of 2005 expenses upon us, Leona Adams
received and handled 55 section-related expense forms from Section
Managers. Section Leaders also sent in 25 new Field Appointments and
the same number of cancellations. A number of these new appointments
came from the three new Section Managers who have just started their new
terms of office.
Joe Phillips, K8QOE, has been nominated to run for another term as SM of
Ohio.
Chuck Skolaut collected and organized the nominations for the
International Humanitarian Award, and he forwarded them to members of
the Programs and Services Committee for their consideration. The
Nebraska OOC provided an good follow-up on an interference report and
possible intruder on 30 meters. Other intruder reports included two on
40 meters and one on 75 meters, including Deutsche Welle, the digital
German shortwave station. One report received indicates that radio dog
collars in North Carolina are using 2 meters. This past year, 42 radio
amateurs joined the ranks as Official Observers.
Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, and Louisiana Section
Manager Mickey Cox, K5MC, visited with the HQ staff on Friday, January
6, to discuss their experiences during and after Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita. Steve Ewald served as HQ their tour guide in the morning prior to
the afternoon meetings. Steve also kept in touch with Section Leaders
in Texas and Oklahoma whose sections had experienced wildfires. ARES
has been helping in some of these situations.
ARISS
PR: The Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree QSO hosted reporters from 3
newspapers, 3 TV networks and 1 radio station. The audio was fed to the
Echolink, AMSAT, and EDU_Net conference room servers; 64 connections
were made including with 5 repeater nodes.
ARISS News Update: Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, made random QSOs during the
holiday week. US hams reported working the cosmonauts in the Space
Patrol Russian holiday operating event. For 2006, US schools will have
two windows of opportunity to submit ARISS applications - the first
window runs from now until April 1, and this will be announced soon in
QST and a Web story.
Member Aid: Rosalie answered a member's question about using the ARISS
logo on his QSL card. She shared news updates with Rick Lindquist Allen
Pitts. At NVOAD's request, she shared updated ARRL F&ES contact
information.
ARISS' Effect on Schools: Astronaut Bill McArthur was asked to operate
during ARRL Kid's Day if his schedule allows it.
ARISS-International: Rosalie submitted agenda items for the upcoming
monthly ARISS-International teleconference meeting. The ARISS Team
networked with the Brazilians about astronaut Marcos Pontes' soon being
on the ISS; they hope to get him licensed, the US will give him radio
training, and the Russians will schedule his school QSO.
Amateur Radio Education & Technology Program-Mark Spencer
Now that the schools are back from their winter break, the tempo of
activities has increased. A number of the pending grant recipients have
made inquires about the latest grant awards and are anxious for word
back from the Executive Committee so that they can continue their
program efforts. There were a number of local news press releases about
their anticipated programs. I am working with two teachers from last
summer's institutes on developing a space related curriculum for their
school with the goal of their becoming an NASA explorer school. This
school is in a remote and economically depressed area and the program
they are developing will be a great boost to their school's offerings.
The teacher's participation in the TI is directly related to their
taking on the initiative for this school improvement program. There has
been a flurry of e-mail traffic asking about the Sunday Kid's Day
operating event. The bulk of the questions involve clarification of
control operator responsibilities. I believe the theme of my next Kid's
Day announcement article in QST should address this issue (I frankly am
surprised that this question is coming up in this volume considering
that control operator responsibilities are covered in excruciating
detail in license preparation and testing materials). I will be
operating Kid's Day. I also will be working this Saturday with a Reno
school that is scheduled for an ARISS contact later this month. They
have antenna tracking system problems that I hope I can cure so that
they can continue with the preparations for the contact.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
Dave Sumner 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Barry Shelley 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Harold Kramer 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Mary Hobart 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Ed Hare 1/9-1/13 IEEE Committee Meeting,
LasVegas, NV
`` 3/12-3/17 ANSI Committee Meeting,
Piscataway, NJ
Kathy Capodicasa 2/8-2/17 Vacation
Bob Inderbitzen 2/6-2/10 Vacation
Eileen Sapko 1/13 Vacation
Sharon Taratula 1/13 Vacation
Steve Capodicasa 2/13 Vacation
`` 3/3 Vacation
Jean Wolfgang 1/20-1/23 Vacation
Dennis Motschenbacher 2/14-2/21 Vacation
Dave Patton 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Wayne Mills 1/19-1/21 Committee/Board Meeting
Lisa Kustosik 1/19-1/21 Board Meeting
