December 2007 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:16287] Re:RE: KQ6XA & RM-11392
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

Tom, apparently this petition was filed back in March. It appears to have been placed on public notice in August but was somehow incorrectly associated with a Media Bureau proceeding of some kind. (It's nice to know that the FCC doesn't just mishandle ARRL filings.) The first I heard of it was yesterday. I have glanced through the 55-page document from N5RFX. It is not the sort of petition on which we would normally file comments at this stage; we could burn up a lot of Chris's time responding to petitions from individuals and small groups of amateurs that aren't going to go anywhere, anyway. Despite its bulk this seems to me to fall into that category, although it would be appropriate to consider it as an input to our own consideration of what to do about regulation by bandwidth. By the way, N5RFX contributed a very constructive Op-Ed that appeared in May 2004 QST (page 91). Dave K1ZZ -----Original Message----- From: Tom Frenaye [mailto:frenaye@pcnet.com] Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 12:19 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16286] Re: KQ6XA & RM-11392 At 11:58 PM 12/26/2007, Coy Day wrote: >Anyone know what Bonnie is up to now and what her problems are with RM-11392? Your message is the first I've heard of it, maybe it's something being discussed within the Exec Committee? I found nothing on our web site - the one where we wanted to be the best AR news source... why not? A quick google search turned up: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2007/bandwidth_band_plan.htm Is it something ARRL will be filing on? Looks like the deadline for filing is the Friday of our January meeting -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

1 0

[arrl-odv:16286] Re: KQ6XA & RM-11392
by Tom Frenaye 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

At 11:58 PM 12/26/2007, Coy Day wrote: >Anyone know what Bonnie is up to now and what her problems are with RM-11392? Your message is the first I've heard of it, maybe it's something being discussed within the Exec Committee? I found nothing on our web site - the one where we wanted to be the best AR news source... why not? A quick google search turned up: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2007/bandwidth_band_plan.htm Is it something ARRL will be filing on? Looks like the deadline for filing is the Friday of our January meeting -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

1 0

[arrl-odv:16285] KQ6XA & RM-11392
by Coy Day 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

Anyone know what Bonnie is up to now and what her problems are with RM-11392? Coy -- Coy Day, N5OK 20685 SW 29 Union City, OK 73090 405-483-5632

1 0

[arrl-odv:16284] ISP Failure
by Coy Day 23 Dec '07

23 Dec '07

My ISP went down at midnight Thurs night and came back up at 9:20 this morning Saturday. I received no e-mail during that period. So I guess it bounced or went into the bit bucket. Anyone looking for a response from me, might take note. These Winter storms are going to get to me before its over. Coy -- Coy Day, N5OK 20685 SW 29 Union City, OK 73090 405-483-5632

1 0

Full Circle
by Joel Harrison 22 Dec '07

22 Dec '07

I'm always amazed when I look back in ARRL history at how some of the things we are dealing with today that seems like a "new issue" to some really isn't that new at all. We really do come full circle over time! While I was preparing my report on the FMRE Convention I needed to check a reference I made in one of my notes about the May, 1939 QST article. I pulled down my QST's from 1939 and began thumbing through the May issue which, by the way, was the first issue where we transitioned from the red colored cover with one small photo in the lower right corner to a full cover photo with superimposed writing. That style lasted all the way until January, 1976, I believe. Anywho, while perusing the May, 1939 issue I discovered that there were a number of election issues just prior to then with a couple of director candidates being disqualified that caused a brief uproar. There was even a move by one director at that time to pay each ARRL Director a salary $1000 a year! That, by the way, went down in Hindenburg style flames. A big debate of the time was over homebrew vs. commercially built equipment. Guess what? ARRL was being accused of trying to run the homebrew aficionados out of amateur radio! That, of course, was false. I've been able to spend the past two weeks in my office at home, for a change, catching up on a number of work and ARRL backlogged issues and unless I've completely gone brain dead or missed a to-do note I believe I have achieved my objective. Its now time to sit back and think about the new year coming up, enjoy some on-the air activity and do a little antenna work (you can do that in the south in December!). I still owe a couple of you phone calls and I do have notes to do that. This has been quite an interesting year for ARRL. We finished 2006 by getting the FCC off their duffs and acting on 04-140 and 05-235 but then had to weather a number of issues starting early in 2007 dealing with the resultant 80 meter expansion decision, our regulation by bandwidth petition, election issues in both Director and SM areas and the misunderstanding that was created over the IARU Region 2 band plan. Aside from all that, we've experienced growth in the amateur service, growth in ARRL membership and the League is in good fiscal shape. Hams are excited about getting on the air, our HQ staff is more excited and pumped about our mission that I believe I've ever seen and that enthusiasm is being reflected in our membership numbers. Sure, there are problems that arise but I haven't seen one issue with a member this year that wasn't completely addressed and resolved. I listen around the bands quite a bit. The past two weeks I've made it a point to do even more. I've been documenting some things and I'll provide some statistics for you in my board report in a few weeks that may surprise some of you. In all of my listening to date, though, I have not heard one on-the-air complaint about ARRL. Oh sure, I've heard a few comments about ARRL but nothing that I would define as complaining. I've even been listening to some AM QSO the past few days and nothing from those guys either, just regular rag chew chit chat. The ones that are complaining are six guys that can't seem to find how to get out of their AM radio internet chat room and get on the air, or at least I haven't heard them yet. During the next ten days I won't be on email or the phone regularly, but I will be available in case an emergency occurs. Surely things will be quite for a few days! Thanks for your service to ARRL during 2007. I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and I look forward to working with each of you in 2008. C U in SKN! 73 Joel W5ZN

1 0

Trip Report - Midwest Division Convention
by Joel Harrison 22 Dec '07

22 Dec '07

On November 10 I attended the Midwest Division Convention along with Director Bruce Frahm, K0BJ, Vice Director Cliff Ahrens, K0CA, and Missouri SM Dale Bagley, K0KY. Other notable radio amateurs in attendance were: Bernie McClenny, W3UR - QST How's DX and the Daily & Weekly DX editor Dave Anderson, K4SV - Peter 1 DXpedition Stan Stockton, K5GO - Contest Superstation K5GO The event was held at the Cowan Civic Center in Lebanon, Missouri. Lebanon is a town of about 12,000 and is conveniently located on I-44 with easy access from just about everywhere in the division. The Cowan Civic Center is quite an impressive, modern facility that easily accommodates a number of activities. Lebanon is only about a 4 hour drive from my home and the trip was uneventful. I arrived in Lebanon on Friday afternoon around 4 PM and checked in at the Civic Center where a number of pre-convention activities were taking place. The convention began Saturday morning and included a small flea market and a number of amateur radio dealers. A full round of seminars were scheduled throughout the day with excellent attendance. The ARRL Forum was attended by approximately 50 people. I spent most of the time during the forum speaking on a number of ARRL related items and Bruce and I fielded questions. The group was quite interested in the latest BPL news given our recent appearance before the D.C. Court of Appeals and the latest that was occurring at WRC-07. The group was friendly and very supportive of our efforts in all of areas. The convention began to wind down late Saturday afternoon. I departed and arrived home Saturday evening. I want to thank Bruce and Cliff for the invitation and hospitality during the trip. This was an excellent event with a focus on seminars that generated good interest among the attendees. The hot dogs receive an 8 out of 10.very good. I was also able to acquire a piece of vintage equipment in the flea market I had been seeking for a long time...the Collins matching speaker to go with my 75A4 and the best part was since I had driven up I had the means to transport it back! 73 Joel W5ZN p.s. for the new board members on the reflector, I like hot dogs and I always try to have at least one at each event I attend. I like to rate them as well, understanding that ranking hot dogs is like discussion religion. Everyone's opinion differs!

1 0

Trip Report - FMRE 75th Anniversary Convention
by Joel Harrison 22 Dec '07

22 Dec '07

I realize this trip report is late, however it was overtaken by a number of ARRL related events so I apologize for the tardiness. >From October 19-20, 2007 I attended, on behalf of ARRL at the invitation of President Carlos Levy, XE1YK, the 75th anniversary convention of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores, FMRE, in Acapulco, Mexico along with MVP Manager Dave Patton, NN1N and Technical Relations Specialist Jon Silverling, WB3ERA. FMRE is ARRL's sister organization in Mexico. Other notable radio amateurs in attendance were Diego Salom, LU8ADX of AY8A contest fame, Gulli Jonsson, TF8GX from Keflavik, Iceland, Radio Amateurs of Canada President Earle Smith, VE6NM, IARU Region 2 Area D Director Marco Tulio Gudiel, TG9AGD and IARU Region 2 Secretary (and FMRE member) Ramon Santoya, XE1KK. My travel to Acapulco was uneventful and convenient via a one stop connection through Houston's Intercontinental Airport. I arrived in Acapulco early Thursday afternoon, October 18 and took the 30 minute taxi drive into town to the convention hotel, the Best Western Playa Suites. FMRE was officially organized in October, 1932. At the time, there were 32 hams in Mexico. By comparison at the same time there were 24,000 in the U.S., 95 in Hawaii (which was not yet a U.S. state) and 1100 in Canada. The May 1939 QST, in "IARU News", carried a 2 page story on FMRE. The convention officially began Friday morning, October 19 with an impressive ceremony that included a military band and color guard. Attendees included the head of Cofetel, the Mexican FCC, the commander of the Mexican Naval operations in Acapulco and the head of the Mexican Sports Federation. Amateur radio in Mexico is quite interesting and different in many aspects to the United States. An amateur license in Mexico costs about $95 a year and must be renewed annually. A new license costs about $120. If a person does not renew his license annually there is no grace period and the person must retake the exam to obtain a new license. In 2006 about 400 radio amateurs did not renew their license but interestingly 66 of those retested to "re-obtain" a license. Amateur radio is a recognized national sport in Mexico. The Mexican Sports Federation coordinates all sporting activity, including Olympic events, and a few years ago FMRE was successful in having amateur radio officially recognized by the Federation as a national sporting event. That was the reason for the attendance of the head of the Federation at the convention. The amateur service rules have just been revised in Mexico and the new rules will be coming out very soon. FMRE worked closely with Cofetel on the rewrite and basically were given a free hand to provide Cofetel with the revisions they wanted. This convention did not include a flea market of any kind. It contained a wide range of seminars that included the usual topics of emergency communications, contesting, DX'ing, new technology and regulatory matters. All of the seminars were well attended. The average age of the attendees appeared young, I would estimate in the 30's. Approximately 300 were in attendance for this convention. The event concluded Saturday evening with a very elaborate (and exhausting) banquet and awards program that lasted well over six hours. FMRE is a great supporter of ARRL and our relationship has been a very cordial one for many, many years. Not too long ago FMRE encountered the unfortunate situation of a competing organization in Mexico that was becoming quite popular. Many FMRE people, including FMRE President Carlos Levy, work to resolve the issues that existed at the time and it is quite obvious that organized amateur radio in Mexico is unified now. FMRE made arrangements to pay for the hotel rooms for Dave, Jon and I and our accommodations were very nice. All of our meals during the conference were paid for by FMRE. They were very appreciative that we attended their convention and it was good to be able to continue to show support of their activities in Mexico. 73 Joel W5ZN

1 0

[arrl-odv:16280] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

<<121907.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 30, No. 51 December 19, 2007 -- Covers the period December 9-15. Upcoming Meetings and Events Administration &Finance Committee January 17 in Houston, TX Programs & Services Committee January 17 in Houston, TX Annual Board Meeting January 18-19, 2008 in Houston, TX CEO Reported by Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Just a quick note reminding you all that the ARRL will be closed Monday and Tuesday 12/24-12/25 and also on Monday and Tuesday 12/31-1/1. Happy Holidays to all of you and a Healthy and Happy New Year! Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND We continue to wait for the latest California PAVE PAWS repeater update. >From several email exchanges with DoD officials it does not appear the list will be available until after the first of the year. It also appears that the next teleconference will not take place until Sometime after January 11th, due to vacations, etc. We began working with ISD to set-up an email reflector for the Division Legislative Action Chairs. (Thanks Andy). The list will be populated once we have the contact information and should be ready to go after the first of the year. We also spent a significant amount of time during the week working with the Contest Manager on the revised IARU scores and some training on some certificates that need to be processed by that department after the holiday mail rush has subsided. In response to a phone call from a local law enforcement official (who is also an amateur) I spent time bringing myself up to speed on CFR 106-521 which authorizes local and state governments to enforce FCC regulations relating to CB operation if a local ordinance has been passed. It was a pertinent call, as I have received about half dozen queries on CB-related problems in the past month. (Thanks Chris). Finally, there were the routine queries about reciprocal operating, renewals, and traveling with your HT at this time of year. Note: There will not be a weekly report for the week ending December 28 or January 4 as I will be gone on vacation both of those weeks. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The January/February issue of QEX has been released to the printer. Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 49, for December 14, 2007. It went out to 65,509 subscribers. She also voiced and produced ARRL Audio News for December 14. Business Services Reported by Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ We have finished advertising procurement for February QST and will exceed our goal for the month by a small margin. We crafted a proposal to the Dayton Hamvention(r) Chair for advertising and it was accepted. Full page, color advertisements will appear in the February through May 2008 issues of QST. Our first solicitation for March QST (the Antenna issue this year) has already been sent out, and we are already receiving reservations. In addition, the initial solicitation for the 2008 Repeater Directory advertising has been written and will go out on Thursday. Several proposals have sent to see if we can procure inside cover advertising in the VHF Digital Handbook. Lisa Tardette is working on a new edition of the Dealer Newsline to be sent right after the first of the year. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Contest Branch Email logs received for active contests: Contest Name # of Entries Sweepstakes CW (deadline 12/5/07) 1,184 Sweepstakes Phone (deadline 12/19/07) 1,407 160 Meter (deadline 1/2/08) 962 10 Meter (deadline 1/9/08) 1,150 Awards for the ARRL DX Contest are scheduled to be processed the first week of 2008. September VHF QSO Party results have been calculated and sent to the author. A new approach to contest coverage will begin in the February 2008 QST issue. W1AW Joe worked the early afternoon/night shift on Monday through Wednesday for the vacationing Scott Gee. (Thanks to Bill Moore and Chuck Skolaut for handling the early morning shifts these three days.) Joe also processed regular QSL card requests. He also began disassembling the 23cm D-Star system that was installed in the Harris racks. Field Organization/Public Service Team Following the December 7 deadline for Section Manager nominating petitions, five incumbent SMs were unopposed and they will continue when new terms of office start April 1, 2008. The incumbents are Eric Olena, WB3FPL (Eastern Pennsylvania), Pete Cecere, N2YJZ (Eastern New York); Rich Beebe, N0PV (South Dakota), Bob Schneider, AH6J (Pacific), and Tim Slay, N4IB (North Carolina). Carl Clements, W4CAC, will be the Virginia SM. He served previously as SM from 2001 to 2006. Gary Stratton, K5GLS, will become Louisiana's SM in April. Both Carl and Gary were also unopposed. Leona Adams was in touch with all of the successful nominees, and she is also making preparations for the San Diego Section Manager election. Steve Ewald and Dennis Dura heard from Section Managers and ARES leaders in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri during and after these sections were struck by serious ice storms. Steve also worked on the Public Service column for February QST. We confirmed news this week that Bill Zellers, WA4FKI, became a Silent Key recently. Bill was the IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator, and he held that position since July, 2005. He will be missed by all in the volunteer monitoring group. Radio amateurs in Illinois and the Northern Florida have successfully completed certification to become Official Observers. Chuck Skolaut received Intruder Watch reports that included the "M" beacon on 3594 kHz, the Chinese OTH radar on 7010 kHz and unlicensed fishermen off the Oregon coast. Official Observers are studying several interference cases on 2 meters. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 12/24-12/25 Holiday 12/31-1/1 Holiday Kathy Allison 1/14 Vacation Jackie Cornell 12/26 Vacation Steve Ford 12/22-1/2 Vacation Scott Gee 12/26 Vacation Joel Hallas 12/26-12/28 Vacation Dan Henderson 12/20-1/7 Vacation Amy Hurtado 12/26-12/28 Vacation Gail Iannone 12/19-1/4 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 12/26-12/28 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 12/26-12/28 Vacation Zack Lau 12/21 Vacation Bill Moore 12/26-12/28 Vacation Dave Patton 12/26-12/28 Vacation Allen Pitts 12/16-12/22 FEMA PR Training, Emmitsburg, MD Sharon Taratula 12/21 Vacation Mike Tracy 12/26 Vacation

1 0

[arrl-odv:16279] Sarajevo trip
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

Last week I mentioned that I was going to Sarajevo on an IARU-related mission. Here is a description of Tuesday's press conference which was the main event of the trip. The press conference was followed by a three-hour luncheon hosted by the Minister of Communications and Transport. My dinner on Sunday with the newly elected president of the Croatian society HRS, Kresimir "Kreso" Kovarik, 9A5K, was also quite interesting. Kreso is 33 years old and works for an IT firm. He reported increasing participation in the competitive aspects of amateur radio in Croatia, particularly Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) which is especially popular among young people. During his term as HRS president he plans to place greater emphasis on strengthening local clubs. 73, Dave K1ZZ

1 0

[arrl-odv:16278] Small error in ARRL Letter
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 21 Dec '07

21 Dec '07

This week's ARRL Letter contains a small but irritating error in the "In This Issue" header. "ARRL's Logbook of the World Counts More Than 150 Million Confirmed Contacts" is incorrect. The 150 million figure is for the number of raw QSO records that have been entered. It's a significant figure, but does not reflect the number of contacts confirmed via LoTW which is more than 10 million (the equivalent of more than 20 million QSL cards). The reason it's irritating is that the error was caught earlier but apparently not corrected everywhere. I want to flag it for you all so you don't get trapped into a misstatement by quoting the figure. 73, Dave K1ZZ

1 0