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Vol. 31, No. 4
January 24, 2008 -- Covers the period January 13-19.
Regulatory Information
Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND
The ongoing antenna case of Alec Zubarau, WB6X, in Palmdale, CA went to
the full City Council on Wednesday January 16. In the words of the ARRL
Volunteer Counsel spearheading Alec's case it was "An interesting but
not very fruitful night." Thanks to the work of Southwestern Director
Dick Norton, N6AA, a good support team is working the issue, but is
apparently up against a majority of the Council who continue to look at
the RFI area of this case as (again in the VC's words) "it is merely on
attorney's opinion that RFI is the exclusive domain of the FCC".
Unfortunately the next step may well involve litigation.
We continue to work the PAVE PAWS problem, which also appears to be a
long way from resolution. The ARRL role will continue to be to work
with any individual repeaters owners newly identified (or who become
identified in the future) but the FCC is now taking the lead interfacing
with repeater owners.
With the various state legislatures starting back up, we did some
research on bills in several of them, including hands-free legislation
for electronic communications devices in Massachusetts and a cellular
phone bill introduced in Virginia. We are also now receiving the
monthly legislative summaries from Janet Worthington at Chwat & Company.
We continued to support the Contest Branch with changes necessary for
the 2007 EME Contest, as well as teaching the mechanics for processing
several sets of certificates and labels. We also began work on the 2008
Field Day packet, scheduled for release around February 1.
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
PR events kept percolating during Board meeting week. Notable were the
SEVEN large, coordinated newspaper articles praising amateurs that
blanketed the Newport News, VA region. They generated from Emergency
Management Appreciation Day, and were very well done. The monthly PR
Committee call was held on Jan 16 with Katie Breen as a "guest" as the
Membership and PR functions jointly plotted effective ways to achieve
30,000 new hams in 2008. Text, video and related materials are slowly
being collected for the technical campaign, initial work began on the
annual report and the 2008 Swiss Knife has gone out for duplication.
New and outgoing PRC members and the Leonard Award winner are being
contacted.
Development
Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH
ARRL Development concluded 2007 a healthy $90,000 over the original
plan. This success was fueled by the success of the Diamond Terrace
project of the Diamond Club, and substantial end of year contributions
from Major donors put the Education & Technology Fund over its goal.
The challenge in 2008 will be to continue the growth of the Diamond Club
and secure the renewals of those who participated in the Diamond Terrace
in 2007.
Here is a lesson for all of us in the importance of member/donor
relations: Early last week we were notified that an estate gift was
pending from a member from VA. We had previously been notified that
ARRL would receive 25% of the gentleman's estate but had no information
as to the value of the estate. This member was 90 years old when he
passed away and had been a member for 70 years! His total contributions
to ARRL over the life of his membership was $425 with no single donation
over $100. ARRL is scheduled to receive 25% of the $2.547 million trust
which equals approximately $630,000. So our individual efforts to build
good relationships with any member may yield results like these. You
just never know!
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
The March 2008 issue of QST, the annual Antenna Issue, was released to
the printer January 23.
Steve Sant Andrea prepared three feature articles for publication on the
ARRLWeb and several items for the March issue of QST.
Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 2,
for January 18, 2008. It went out to 66,463 subscribers. She also
voiced and produced ARRL Audio News for January 18.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Congratulations to Jackie Cornell (Product Marketing Specialist). She
earned her first Amateur Radio license: KB1PWB.
Membership Update
The major membership campaign that mailed in December has quickly topped
a 2.2% return--and continues to climb. As part of our 2008 planning, a
test mailing is being prepared to help fine-tune a large membership
campaign planned for March/April.
The online membership application integration went LIVE during the week.
Online applications are now processed directly into the Siebel
membership/CRM system. The change-over went very well-and included an
initial processing of more than 1,000 applications. The customer
service team is using new software tools to review, correct and/or
approve the small percentage of applications that fall outside of the
system's criteria for auto-processing. The integration is a huge leap
forward, providing near-instant application acknowledgement, processing,
and member-access to services and benefits.
Sales Update
Direct and dealer sales have topped $179k through Jan 18. The customer
service and warehouse teams have caught-up from the backlog attributed
to the year-end inventory/audit and holiday demand. Orders are being
processed at our normal service standard--fulfilling orders within 2 to
3 business days.
The Warehouse crew fulfilled 1,204 packages for publication and product
orders, shipped 477 free book membership premiums, and sent QST mailing
supplements for January and February issues.
A handful of new ARRL products are being readied for roll-out: ARRL's
Hands-On Radio Experiments, ARRL's VHF Digital Handbook, and The ARRL
Instuctor's Manual for Technician and General Class Courses.
A recent mailing that featured a TravelPlus for Repeaters upgrade offer
has returned 79 orders over the last two weeks.
The 2007 ARRL Periodicals on CD-ROM is now available and pre-orders have
all been shipped.
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
W1AW
Thanks to Katie Breen, W1KRB and Dan Henderson, N1ND for operating W1AW
in the 2008 North American QSO Party. They made 237 QSOs with 62
multipliers on 40, 20 and 15 meters for an initial claimed score of
14,694.
Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He also
processed regular QSL card requests. And, Scott worked on fast and slow
code practice files for the latter part of the month of January.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Team members have been hearing from ARES and Section Leaders in the
Midwest on recent emergency-response activations for tornadoes in
Wisconsin and Missouri and flooding in Illinois. Work has also been
completed on the Public Service column for March QST.
Leona Adams has been concentrating on ARRL section budget expenses and
administrative matters. She has also been sending out informational
supplies to newly-appointed Field Organization members while updating
the data base as needed. San Diego Section Manager election ballots are
starting to arrive in the postal mail. Members in San Diego have until
February 15 to return their marked ballots.
There has been good follow-up action taken by the FCC direction-finding
station after ARRL forwarded several complaints regarding radar-type
signals heard in New England on 75 and 160 meters. This seems to have
resolved the problem. The FCC forwarded two monitoring requests for
Official Observers to assist with. After initial investigation by an OO
in East Bay, several reports of CODAR interference on 75 meters off the
California coast have been forwarded to the FCC. Chuck Skolaut
continued to back up Dan Henderson by answering some regulatory-type
inquiries.
An on-going interference problem on 75 meters in the Houston area that
was reported earlier was finally eliminated when a power line
transformer was replaced after the original one exploded!
Education Services
Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ
Continuing Education Program
Rose-Anne Lawrence continued to provide support for a heavy volume of
phone inquires about courses in the Continuing Education Program, while
I handled the email volume and administrative duties. On January 16,
Nancy Hallas joined the Education Services Department as part-time
Continuing Education Program Administrator. Welcome Nancy!
Of the 2,119 student enrollments in on-line courses in 2007, 1,253 (59%)
were enrolled in Emergency Communications courses and 587 (28%) in the
Technician Licensing course. In addition to the on-line enrollments, we
processed 490 field registrations for Emergency Communications exams in
2007.
HQ volunteers, Grant Warner, Bob Allison and Roy Johnson assembled 50
more Basic Electronics kits to re-supply inventory that is being sold
off to clubs, teachers and individuals who are interested in exploring
the basic fundamentals of electronics. This course was developed by
Mark Spencer WA8SME, head of our Education & Technology Program. The
course and kit is also one of the curriculum tools that is part of the
Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.
Education & Technology Program
Mark Spencer has completed the construction and testing of a newly
designed BOE-BOT Instructor's Board. He forwarded updated copy for the
Teachers Institute brochure and flyer to HQ, which has been sent to
Graphics to revise for Web posting and download. Mark reports that he
has received a request for the Sat688 Rotor Control interface from the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (under the umbrella of University of
California). The Sat688 also continues to generate a lot of interest
among the ham community.
Mark reports a strong early interest in the 2008 Teachers Institute
summer sessions. He has already received a substantial number of
inquiries about the TIs as well as requests for applications. Also, as
schools spool back up after the holiday break, there has been an up-tic
in the number of requests for advice and technical assistance. Bid
requests have been sent to retailers for the ETP grant equipment
purchases that will be executed upon budget approval.
ARISS
Rosalie White is working with a ham who is a leader of a two-week Mars
simulation project run by the Mars Society's Desert Research Station
which is attended by hundreds of university students and the general
public. Plans are in the works for an ARISS contact. ARISS volunteers
have been busy with other outreach activities including mentoring
teacher Sheila Malloy and assisted her in winning an ARRL grant through
the Education & Technology Program for a club station for her school in
Honeoye, New York. ARISS Mentor Steve Michalski, KB9UPS, has been
working with the Fassett Middle School in Oregon, OH. He reports the
Toledo Mobile Radio Association will buy and set up a ham station in a
nearby NASA Challenger Center where ham license classes will be offered
to area students. ARISS Volunteer Barry Cohen, K2JV, helped sponsor
Kid's Day in Berkeley Heights, NJ, and got good PR via a large marquee.
He also sent some great pictures showing beaming kids enjoying their
adventure on the air. Rosalie's home club, Bloomington ARC, was active
too and received nearly a full page of newspaper coverage that included
color photos.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
Katie Breen 2/7-2/8 North Florida Section Convention,
Orlando, FL
Steve Capodicasa 1/21-1/25 Vacation
Joe Carcia 5/23 Vacation
Scott Gee 2/14-2/15 Vacation
`` 6/30 Vacation
Dave Sumner 2/8-2/13 Vacation
