May 2008 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

RE: [arrl-odv:16741] RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG
by K8JE 09 May '08

09 May '08

Pointe well made and well taken. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 8:22 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16741] RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Jim, my Dad turns 88 in August. He still does the New York Times crossword puzzle with a pen and still beats me at chess. However, since Jack (who was the author of one of my all-time favorite pieces of ham radio fiction, The Templeton Case in January 1963 QST, which coincidentally was the first copy I received as a member) is obviously not being rational about this particular issue, I think his age earns him a more polite handling than if he were a young squirt. That's all I was trying to say, although I may not have said it very well. If he were younger I would be tempted to say something like, "Jack, it's nice to hear from you again. Telling someone they're 5-9 in a contest or a pileup is a polite falsehood -- something like telling an overly persistent correspondent that it's nice to hear from them again." 73, Dave K1ZZ _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 12:54 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Dave, According to current medical science, W5FG's 88 years statistically puts him in only the middle 60's of about 20 years ago! I don't know his specific mental condition, but he statistically falls within a population of fully or nearly-fully functional people. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Jack Najork, W5FG has made a considerable investment in postage stamps to share his views on the importance of accurate signal reports. His most recent letter dated April 28 quotes me selectively, so I thought I should share the complete text of my earlier response to him on Joel's behalf. Obviously, he is making a mountain out of a molehill but bear in mind that he's 88 years old. Dave K1ZZ April 21, 2008 Jack Najork, W5FG 2517 Hiwy 31 Hubbard, TX 76648 Dear Jack: President Harrison has asked me to acknowledge your letter of March 31. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about accurate signal reports. Swapping "59" or "599" does seem a bit silly. The essential piece of information being exchanged in a DX contact is the callsign of each station, but there is a longstanding convention that an additional element of information also must be exchanged in order for a contact to have taken place. For ARRL awards this additional element does not have to be a signal report. It's debatable whether sending a standard signal report that may or may not be accurate rises to the level of a moral or ethical issue. One also might argue that when there are many stations wanting to make a contact, the objective should be to complete each contact as quickly as possible in order to maximize the rate. When pulling callsigns out of a big pileup it is often impossible to gauge the strength of each individual signal. When the pace isn't as frantic there is less excuse for rubber-stamp signal reports. Perhaps your experience is different, but mine is that except for pileups and contests most operators do make an attempt to send an honest report. Thanks again for giving the ARRL officers and directors the benefit of your thoughts. Sincere 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Chief Executive Officer

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[arrl-odv:16744] BPL in Communications Daily
by w3kd＠aol.com 09 May '08

09 May '08

Please don't circulate this anywhere. I got this from WilmerHale just now. Interesting piece on the BPL Remand from today's Communications Daily. Very defensive by Current Technologies, trying to shore up its sagging markets. The part from the ethically bankrupt and borderline incompetent Brett Kilbourne is simply to be disregarded. 73, Chris W3KD ________________________________ Copyright 2008 Warren Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved COMMUNICATIONS DAILY May 09, 2008 Friday SECTION: TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINE: Court Remand of FCC BPL Rules Seen Adding to Uncertainty An appeals court remand of FCC broadband over powerline rules could create regulatory uncertainty for utilities, possibly slowing the technology's already anemic rollout, officials said. For state regulators, who are eyeing BPL as a way of making power utilities more efficient, the remand could be a "bump in the road," said one official. In sending the rules back to the agency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the FCC gave no "reasoned explanation" for an extrapolation factor used to measure BPL emissions (CD April 28 p2). The court wanted the Commission to justify its 40 dB per decade extrapolation factor or use a method it can explain. The court found the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act by blacking out portions of studies it conducted for formulating its rules. The ruling could affect state BPL activities, said Commissioner Tony Clark of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. "It could be a sort of a bump in the road from a timing standpoint," Clark, head of NARUC's telecom committee, told us. But he doesn't "sense" many state commissions delving into BPL now, Clark said. States are focusing on grid, transmission and distribution issues in the "traditional realm," he said. The court action could affect the push to smarten up the electric grid, he said. But BPL is just a "byproduct," he said, and "it's not spoken of in a vacuum." Smart grid research relates to many areas and technologies, including BPL, Clark said. NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsey doesn't expect BPL pilots to be "significantly" affected, he said. The court order involves a technical issue that the FCC has to "go back and explain," he said, adding that he hadn't analyzed the ruling. Ham radio operators could cause trouble by seeking injunctions against BPL pilots, he said, adding that based on what he knows of the decision, "I wouldn't give them a high probability of success." "A little bit more uncertainty" will arise as the FCC studies the rules, said Brett Kilbourne, regulatory director of the United Power Line Council. The UPLC has heard of no rollback in utility plans for deployment due to the decision, he said. Agency handling of the extrapolation factor has to play out, with the resulting changes perhaps leading to some existing systems being grandfathered, he said. Kilbourne expects more movement in the in-home sector, he said, adding that that may arise from factors other than the legal ruling. The verdict won't affect the work of BPL provider Current Communications, whose Dallas BPL deployment is the largest in the U.S., said General Counsel Jay Birnbaum. "The rules are still in effect," he said. BPL deployment in Texas crosses 100,000 homes, with not one interference complaint in the last two years, he said: "At some point of time you got to wake up and realize that this stuff isn't causing interference [and] the rules actually work." Current doesn't worry about the outcome of the new FCC proceedings, he said. All equipment deployed complies with FCC rules, he said, and the Commission hasn't required anyone to change gear complying with rules in place at the time of installation, he said. BPL deployments have lagged in part due to "noise" from ham radio operators, said Naqi Jaffery of Telecom Trends International. The basic FCC rules are intact, so the court decision won't change the dynamics, he said. "BPL will continue to be a niche technology and its growth will be slow and steady," he said, predicting more traction in the home- networking area, which has fewer alternatives. The legal setback will add to the regulatory uncertainty, said analyst Coleman Bazelon. "It's not good for BPL." -- Dinesh Kumar LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2008 Next <JavaScript:goSubmit('UserDisplayFullDocument', '2665', '108080029', 'false', '2', '', '', '', '', '')> Back to Document List <http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayCiteList&org…> Copyright © 2008 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/lncc/about/copyrt.html> Terms and Conditions <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/terms/general> Privacy Policy <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/terms/privacy> [Image Removed] [Image Removed] [Image Removed]

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[arrl-odv:16742] RE: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 09 May '08

09 May '08

Joel, Thanks for your clarifying comments. I agree that "Principal Sponsor of the LoTW Website" is a better and more accurate characterization. We'll put this arrangement and any future such agreements in that context. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860 594 0220 hkramer(a)arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> ________________________________ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:joelharrison.iphone@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Joel Harrison Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 7:55 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship Harold, No one is raising an issue with the excellent work that you and the staff have done is procuring additional revenue sources, particularly in this area. The concern is over what we're actually saying, that Yaesu is the Principal Sponsor of LoTW, which isn't the case. If I read your very detailed comments correctly, Yaesu is actually sponsoring the LoTW web site, not LoTW, and while that may seem like hair splitting to some it doesn't to me. I can accept Yaesu as the Principal Sponsor of the LoTW web site, but I have a problem with them being identified as the Principal Sponsor of LoTW. Something to consider. 73 Joel W5ZN ________________________________ From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:28 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Jahnke, Deb, K1DAJ Subject: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship To:ODV From: Harold Kramer Re: Yaesu and Logbook of the World/ Jay Bellow's email It would be next to impossible for any organization to pay for half the development costs and operation of LoTW that, to date, ARRL has fully funded by itself. I was not here for the original development efforts and costs, but I know that they were considerable. Today, Kathy Allison provides full time Logbook support along with help from Jon Bloom, Dave Patton, Norm Fusaro and others. In the past year, we have also spent money to upgrade the Logbook hardware and software to meet the increasing number of QSOs and users. . Board Members have also directed me to pursue advertising/sponsorship opportunities for LoTW. I accepted this as my charge. This lack of revenue for LoTW was discussed extensively at previous A & F Committee meetings. In the 2008 budget, LoTW revenue from award credits for this year is budgeted at $15,735. We were pleasantly surprised that first quarter revenues were $11,678 about 74% of the total annual goal, so credit revenue is definitely increasing. However, it is no where near what is required to support the service. That's why we were seeking additional revenue. Yaesu has committed to a non-exclusive commitment of $6,000 for one year. Their sponsorship only commits us to displaying a banner ad on the LoTW pages on our web site and lets them hang a banner at Dayton. The Board approved the plan that budgets $50,000 worth of electronic advertising revenue for 2008. This revenue achieves about 12% of that total goal. This advertising/sponsorship purchase is a conduit to, hopefully, some larger advertising support in the future. In addition, we were careful to use similar language, i.e. Principal Sponsor, that we currently use for the Icom sponsorship of Sweepstakes and West Mountain Radio's sponsorship of the RTTY Contest. The term "Principal Awards Sponsor" cannot be easily applied to LoTW. We also used the operational guidelines for sponsorship that we developed for the Icom Sponsorship. If I recall correctly, members of the previous P and S Committee prompted me to draft these guidelines and the Committee consequently reviewed them. There have been other precedents for this type of arrangement. We placed logos, banners and even created unique pages on our web site for United Technologies, Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and CNCS (Corporation for National and Community Service.) for the grant programs that they funded. Yaesu's commitment of $6,000 for one year is the prevailing market rate. By today's standards, a banner ad is a very low impact, ineffective Web ad. There is no interactivity, motion, audio or video. It is not "served" or customized to an individual user like more sophisticated Web ads. The traffic to the site is about 35,000 page views a day. This includes a count of each individual page that is viewed by a user. In terms of advertising numbers, this is a low traffic site with a very targeted audience The trigger for this relationship was the fact that LoTW finally hit 20,000 users. I certainly would have brought this up at the A &F Committee, but we had not begun discussions with Yaesu at that time. Sometimes these opportunities arise quickly and we need to act on them. There is also the continuing issue of confidentiality. Yaesu was adamant that we keep these business negotiations confidential. In addition, there is benefit to us in having a company like Yaesu advertise/sponsor the Logbook site. First, Yaesu will also publicize the LoTW service for us. This is a type of relationship that will benefit ARRL. Yaesu's sponsorship will create more interest in the amateur radio community about LoTW. Yaesu sponsored IOTA in the past, so they have some experience in this area. Given the stiff competition in the amateur radio industry, our having a major manufacturer like Yaesu support LoTW invites other, more risk adverse advertisers to participate. It sets a good precedent for future support from advertisers, individuals and foundations. It says that "Logbook of the World has arrived." All previous funding attempts for LoTW including grants, sponsorships, and advertising have been unsuccessful to this point. The ARRL/Yaesu relationships will l hopefully be a real ice-breaker that will lead us to additional support and recognition. With regard to LoTW updates, according to our Operational goals for 2008, as approved by the Board, we still anticipate that we will add another LoTW award in the third quarter of this year. This plan is in place and moving forward. Finally, I would like to note that Deb Jahnke and her staff in Business Services worked hard to make this happen. For the reasons above, this was not an easy "sell." That have met or exceeded their budget every month this year often "pitching" the same accounts over and over and using creative print advertising techniques (check out the June QST) and a sophisticated, consultative approach to advertising to achieve their goal. As all of you know, the advertising revenue of $2.66 million this year that they generate from Yaesu and other advertisers help us pay for many other programs in ARRL that are not funded by member dues. I hope that this information is helpful. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer(a)arrl.org web: www.arrl.org/ <http://www.arrl.org/>

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[arrl-odv:16741] RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 09 May '08

09 May '08

Jim, my Dad turns 88 in August. He still does the New York Times crossword puzzle with a pen and still beats me at chess. However, since Jack (who was the author of one of my all-time favorite pieces of ham radio fiction, The Templeton Case in January 1963 QST, which coincidentally was the first copy I received as a member) is obviously not being rational about this particular issue, I think his age earns him a more polite handling than if he were a young squirt. That's all I was trying to say, although I may not have said it very well. If he were younger I would be tempted to say something like, "Jack, it's nice to hear from you again. Telling someone they're 5-9 in a contest or a pileup is a polite falsehood -- something like telling an overly persistent correspondent that it's nice to hear from them again." 73, Dave K1ZZ ________________________________ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 12:54 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Dave, According to current medical science, W5FG's 88 years statistically puts him in only the middle 60's of about 20 years ago! I don't know his specific mental condition, but he statistically falls within a population of fully or nearly-fully functional people. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> ; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! ________________________________ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Jack Najork, W5FG has made a considerable investment in postage stamps to share his views on the importance of accurate signal reports. His most recent letter dated April 28 quotes me selectively, so I thought I should share the complete text of my earlier response to him on Joel's behalf. Obviously, he is making a mountain out of a molehill but bear in mind that he's 88 years old. Dave K1ZZ April 21, 2008 Jack Najork, W5FG 2517 Hiwy 31 Hubbard, TX 76648 Dear Jack: President Harrison has asked me to acknowledge your letter of March 31. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about accurate signal reports. Swapping "59" or "599" does seem a bit silly. The essential piece of information being exchanged in a DX contact is the callsign of each station, but there is a longstanding convention that an additional element of information also must be exchanged in order for a contact to have taken place. For ARRL awards this additional element does not have to be a signal report. It's debatable whether sending a standard signal report that may or may not be accurate rises to the level of a moral or ethical issue. One also might argue that when there are many stations wanting to make a contact, the objective should be to complete each contact as quickly as possible in order to maximize the rate. When pulling callsigns out of a big pileup it is often impossible to gauge the strength of each individual signal. When the pace isn't as frantic there is less excuse for rubber-stamp signal reports. Perhaps your experience is different, but mine is that except for pileups and contests most operators do make an attempt to send an honest report. Thanks again for giving the ARRL officers and directors the benefit of your thoughts. Sincere 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Chief Executive Officer

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RE: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship
by Joel Harrison 09 May '08

09 May '08

Harold, No one is raising an issue with the excellent work that you and the staff have done is procuring additional revenue sources, particularly in this area. The concern is over what we're actually saying, that Yaesu is the Principal Sponsor of LoTW, which isn't the case. If I read your very detailed comments correctly, Yaesu is actually sponsoring the LoTW web site, not LoTW, and while that may seem like hair splitting to some it doesn't to me. I can accept Yaesu as the Principal Sponsor of the LoTW web site, but I have a problem with them being identified as the Principal Sponsor of LoTW. Something to consider. 73 Joel W5ZN _____ From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:28 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Jahnke, Deb, K1DAJ Subject: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship To:ODV From: Harold Kramer Re: Yaesu and Logbook of the World/ Jay Bellow's email It would be next to impossible for any organization to pay for half the development costs and operation of LoTW that, to date, ARRL has fully funded by itself. I was not here for the original development efforts and costs, but I know that they were considerable. Today, Kathy Allison provides full time Logbook support along with help from Jon Bloom, Dave Patton, Norm Fusaro and others. In the past year, we have also spent money to upgrade the Logbook hardware and software to meet the increasing number of QSOs and users. . Board Members have also directed me to pursue advertising/sponsorship opportunities for LoTW. I accepted this as my charge. This lack of revenue for LoTW was discussed extensively at previous A & F Committee meetings. In the 2008 budget, LoTW revenue from award credits for this year is budgeted at $15,735. We were pleasantly surprised that first quarter revenues were $11,678 about 74% of the total annual goal, so credit revenue is definitely increasing. However, it is no where near what is required to support the service. That's why we were seeking additional revenue. Yaesu has committed to a non-exclusive commitment of $6,000 for one year. Their sponsorship only commits us to displaying a banner ad on the LoTW pages on our web site and lets them hang a banner at Dayton. The Board approved the plan that budgets $50,000 worth of electronic advertising revenue for 2008. This revenue achieves about 12% of that total goal. This advertising/sponsorship purchase is a conduit to, hopefully, some larger advertising support in the future. In addition, we were careful to use similar language, i.e. Principal Sponsor, that we currently use for the Icom sponsorship of Sweepstakes and West Mountain Radio's sponsorship of the RTTY Contest. The term "Principal Awards Sponsor" cannot be easily applied to LoTW. We also used the operational guidelines for sponsorship that we developed for the Icom Sponsorship. If I recall correctly, members of the previous P and S Committee prompted me to draft these guidelines and the Committee consequently reviewed them. There have been other precedents for this type of arrangement. We placed logos, banners and even created unique pages on our web site for United Technologies, Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and CNCS (Corporation for National and Community Service.) for the grant programs that they funded. Yaesu's commitment of $6,000 for one year is the prevailing market rate. By today's standards, a banner ad is a very low impact, ineffective Web ad. There is no interactivity, motion, audio or video. It is not "served" or customized to an individual user like more sophisticated Web ads. The traffic to the site is about 35,000 page views a day. This includes a count of each individual page that is viewed by a user. In terms of advertising numbers, this is a low traffic site with a very targeted audience The trigger for this relationship was the fact that LoTW finally hit 20,000 users. I certainly would have brought this up at the A &F Committee, but we had not begun discussions with Yaesu at that time. Sometimes these opportunities arise quickly and we need to act on them. There is also the continuing issue of confidentiality. Yaesu was adamant that we keep these business negotiations confidential. In addition, there is benefit to us in having a company like Yaesu advertise/sponsor the Logbook site. First, Yaesu will also publicize the LoTW service for us. This is a type of relationship that will benefit ARRL. Yaesu's sponsorship will create more interest in the amateur radio community about LoTW. Yaesu sponsored IOTA in the past, so they have some experience in this area. Given the stiff competition in the amateur radio industry, our having a major manufacturer like Yaesu support LoTW invites other, more risk adverse advertisers to participate. It sets a good precedent for future support from advertisers, individuals and foundations. It says that "Logbook of the World has arrived." All previous funding attempts for LoTW including grants, sponsorships, and advertising have been unsuccessful to this point. The ARRL/Yaesu relationships will l hopefully be a real ice-breaker that will lead us to additional support and recognition. With regard to LoTW updates, according to our Operational goals for 2008, as approved by the Board, we still anticipate that we will add another LoTW award in the third quarter of this year. This plan is in place and moving forward. Finally, I would like to note that Deb Jahnke and her staff in Business Services worked hard to make this happen. For the reasons above, this was not an easy "sell." That have met or exceeded their budget every month this year often "pitching" the same accounts over and over and using creative print advertising techniques (check out the June QST) and a sophisticated, consultative approach to advertising to achieve their goal. As all of you know, the advertising revenue of $2.66 million this year that they generate from Yaesu and other advertisers help us pay for many other programs in ARRL that are not funded by member dues. I hope that this information is helpful. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer(a)arrl.org web: <http://www.arrl.org/> www.arrl.org/

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[arrl-odv:16739] Re: Web Updates
by Bob Vallio 09 May '08

09 May '08

Thank you, Joel, Jay, and Dick, for asking the questions and making the comments I like to think I would have submitted had I replied before reading this thread. I was away from home for most of today, and am just now (12:22 AM Friday) reading my mail. I am, although you may find it hard to believe, at a loss for words. Bob -- W6RGG On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 10:36 AM, Kramer, Harold, WJ1B <wj1b(a)arrl.org> wrote: > Hi, > > > > > > 1. We have added a link to www.QTH.com <http://www.qth.com/> at the > URL where the Radios On-Line was previously located on our Web site. In > exchange for linking to them, we have made an informal business arrangement > to receive some banner ads on their site. This is a non-exclusive > arrangement. We are willing to work out a similar arrangement with any > other on-line amateur radio sales site. Here's what is on our page now : > http://www.arrl.org/classifieds/ > > > > 1. Yaesu has become the "Principal Sponsor of Logbook of the World." > This essentially means that they get a banner ad at the top of the LOTW Web > pages and some bragging rights. The term of the agreement is for one year. > I did want everyone to know that Yaesu will be posting in a banner with > "Yaesu -Principal Sponsor of Logbook of the World" in their booth at > Dayton. They would like to keep this information confidential until Dayton. > This is the first time that we have been able to seriously pursue > advertising for the LOTW site. The turning point was when we exceeded > 20,000 registered Logbook users. > > > Thanks to Deb Jahnke for working out these arrangements. > > > > 73, > > > > Harold > > > > > > > > > > Harold Kramer, WJ1B > > Chief Operating Officer > > > > ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio > > 225 Main Street > > Newington, CT 06111 > > Telephone: 860 594 0220 > > email: hkramer(a)arrl.org > > web: www.arrl.org/ > > >

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RE: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG
by K8JE 09 May '08

09 May '08

Dave, According to current medical science, W5FG's 88 years statistically puts him in only the middle 60's of about 20 years ago! I don't know his specific mental condition, but he statistically falls within a population of fully or nearly-fully functional people. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16735] W5FG Jack Najork, W5FG has made a considerable investment in postage stamps to share his views on the importance of accurate signal reports. His most recent letter dated April 28 quotes me selectively, so I thought I should share the complete text of my earlier response to him on Joel's behalf. Obviously, he is making a mountain out of a molehill but bear in mind that he's 88 years old. Dave K1ZZ April 21, 2008 Jack Najork, W5FG 2517 Hiwy 31 Hubbard, TX 76648 Dear Jack: President Harrison has asked me to acknowledge your letter of March 31. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about accurate signal reports. Swapping "59" or "599" does seem a bit silly. The essential piece of information being exchanged in a DX contact is the callsign of each station, but there is a longstanding convention that an additional element of information also must be exchanged in order for a contact to have taken place. For ARRL awards this additional element does not have to be a signal report. It's debatable whether sending a standard signal report that may or may not be accurate rises to the level of a moral or ethical issue. One also might argue that when there are many stations wanting to make a contact, the objective should be to complete each contact as quickly as possible in order to maximize the rate. When pulling callsigns out of a big pileup it is often impossible to gauge the strength of each individual signal. When the pace isn't as frantic there is less excuse for rubber-stamp signal reports. Perhaps your experience is different, but mine is that except for pileups and contests most operators do make an attempt to send an honest report. Thanks again for giving the ARRL officers and directors the benefit of your thoughts. Sincere 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Chief Executive Officer

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RE: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship
by John Bellows 09 May '08

09 May '08

To be absolutely clear, my concerns do not in any way reflect on the fine work of Deb Jahnke and her staff in Business Services who no doubt did not make the policy decision to pursue this arrangement. Nor do I believe it is in the purview of individual Board Members to direct the COO to pursue an advertising/sponsorship opportunities for LoTW. My understanding is that if there is such direction it would come from the Board as an entity or from the Administration and Finance Committee. Perhaps some further expansion of the specifics of this Board Member direction would be valuable. Addressing the specifics of this decision it appears that first quarter revenues have already reached $11,678. Apparently that amount is already about 74% of the total annual goal. Moreover, LoTW credit revenue is rapidly increasing. Assuming credit revenues continue at the same pace for the balance of the year, it would appear annual credit revenue would be on the order of $47,000. Even given those encouraging resultso, according to Harolds note that amount it is no where near what is required to support the service. In light of those facts it is perplexing why senior staff would approve a commitment to a non-exclusive commitment of $6,000 for one year to characterize Yaesu as Principal Sponsor of a service with development costs of several hundreds of thousands of dollars and an annual expense in excess of $50,000. Even the most cursory glance at these numbers give lie to the contention Yaesu is Principal Sponsor of LoTW. It is barely a significant contributor to annual operating costs. As a point of reference, if my recollection is correct $6,000 is less than we charge for two full page ads in a single issue of QST. One more thing puzzles me. How can an agreement to name an entity as Principal Sponsor be non-exclusive? Is it possible to have more than one Principal Sponsor? If anyone is surprised by my reaction to this development I should point out that we had a nearly identical discussion a couple of years ago when Icom was initially named Principal Sponsor of ARRL Sweepstakes. In that instance Icom underwrote a substantial portion of the cost of SS Plaques. After some animated Board discussion it was determined that the term Principal Sponsor was not an appropriate term and Icom was identified as Principal Awards Sponsor. I would have thought that consideration for concern expressed at that time would have warranted some discussion with the Board or at least A&F prior committing the organization to use of the term Principal Sponsor. It has been said that (s)ometimes these opportunities arise quickly and we need to act on them. Maybe so, but that doesnt make it a good idea, particularly when there is a history of Board concern on a similar issue. It has also been said there was a continuing issue of confidentiality and Yaesu was adamant that we keep these business negotiations confidential. No doubt this was important to Yaesu. Why would we think the sale or rental of the name and goodwill ARRL has built up over nearly 100 years is any less important or any less valuable? Lets face facts, the only reason Yaesu had any interest in this arrangement is because of the value of the name, reputation and goodwill in the Amateur community that ARRL has built over generations of Amateurs.. We proudly declare ARRL as the national association of Amateur Radio and proclaim ARRL as the leading voice of Amateur Radio in Public Service, Advocacy, Education, Technology. We say we are the voice of our members. How do square that with bartering the name of ARRL for a paltry $6,000? This cant be equated with advertising in QST. It is much more than simply providing a space to promote their products. Identifying Yaesu or anyone else as a Principal Sponsor of an ARRL activity suggests that entity has a relationship with ARRL and prominent role in the creation or operation of the activity. No matter how you view the facts of this action that simply isnt true in the case of Yaesu and LoTW. I believe this is flat out wrong, but even if you feel differently, I cant imagine anyone on this Board believes $6,000 per year is Principal Sponsorship of LoTW. Jay, KØQB -----Original Message----- From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 5:28 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Jahnke, Deb, K1DAJ Subject: [arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship To:ODV From: Harold Kramer Re: Yaesu and Logbook of the World/ Jay Bellows email It would be next to impossible for any organization to pay for half the development costs and operation of LoTW that, to date, ARRL has fully funded by itself. I was not here for the original development efforts and costs, but I know that they were considerable. Today, Kathy Allison provides full time Logbook support along with help from Jon Bloom, Dave Patton, Norm Fusaro and others. In the past year, we have also spent money to upgrade the Logbook hardware and software to meet the increasing number of QSOs and users. . Board Members have also directed me to pursue advertising/sponsorship opportunities for LoTW. I accepted this as my charge. This lack of revenue for LoTW was discussed extensively at previous A & F Committee meetings. In the 2008 budget, LoTW revenue from award credits for this year is budgeted at $15,735. We were pleasantly surprised that first quarter revenues were $11,678 about 74% of the total annual goal, so credit revenue is definitely increasing. However, it is no where near what is required to support the service. Thats why we were seeking additional revenue. Yaesu has committed to a non-exclusive commitment of $6,000 for one year. Their sponsorship only commits us to displaying a banner ad on the LoTW pages on our web site and lets them hang a banner at Dayton. The Board approved the plan that budgets $50,000 worth of electronic advertising revenue for 2008. This revenue achieves about 12% of that total goal. This advertising/sponsorship purchase is a conduit to, hopefully, some larger advertising support in the future. In addition, we were careful to use similar language, i.e. Principal Sponsor, that we currently use for the Icom sponsorship of Sweepstakes and West Mountain Radios sponsorship of the RTTY Contest. The term Principal Awards Sponsor cannot be easily applied to LoTW. We also used the operational guidelines for sponsorship that we developed for the Icom Sponsorship. If I recall correctly, members of the previous P and S Committee prompted me to draft these guidelines and the Committee consequently reviewed them. There have been other precedents for this type of arrangement. We placed logos, banners and even created unique pages on our web site for United Technologies, Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and CNCS (Corporation for National and Community Service.) for the grant programs that they funded. Yaesus commitment of $6,000 for one year is the prevailing market rate. By todays standards, a banner ad is a very low impact, ineffective Web ad. There is no interactivity, motion, audio or video. It is not served or customized to an individual user like more sophisticated Web ads. The traffic to the site is about 35,000 page views a day. This includes a count of each individual page that is viewed by a user. In terms of advertising numbers, this is a low traffic site with a very targeted audience The trigger for this relationship was the fact that LoTW finally hit 20,000 users. I certainly would have brought this up at the A &F Committee, but we had not begun discussions with Yaesu at that time. Sometimes these opportunities arise quickly and we need to act on them. There is also the continuing issue of confidentiality. Yaesu was adamant that we keep these business negotiations confidential. In addition, there is benefit to us in having a company like Yaesu advertise/sponsor the Logbook site. First, Yaesu will also publicize the LoTW service for us. This is a type of relationship that will benefit ARRL. Yaesus sponsorship will create more interest in the amateur radio community about LoTW. Yaesu sponsored IOTA in the past, so they have some experience in this area. Given the stiff competition in the amateur radio industry, our having a major manufacturer like Yaesu support LoTW invites other, more risk adverse advertisers to participate. It sets a good precedent for future support from advertisers, individuals and foundations. It says that Logbook of the World has arrived. All previous funding attempts for LoTW including grants, sponsorships, and advertising have been unsuccessful to this point. The ARRL/Yaesu relationships will l hopefully be a real ice-breaker that will lead us to additional support and recognition. With regard to LoTW updates, according to our Operational goals for 2008, as approved by the Board, we still anticipate that we will add another LoTW award in the third quarter of this year. This plan is in place and moving forward. Finally, I would like to note that Deb Jahnke and her staff in Business Services worked hard to make this happen. For the reasons above, this was not an easy sell. That have met or exceeded their budget every month this year often pitching the same accounts over and over and using creative print advertising techniques (check out the June QST) and a sophisticated, consultative approach to advertising to achieve their goal. As all of you know, the advertising revenue of $2.66 million this year that they generate from Yaesu and other advertisers help us pay for many other programs in ARRL that are not funded by member dues. I hope that this information is helpful. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer(a)arrl.org web: <http://www.arrl.org/> www.arrl.org/

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[arrl-odv:16736] Logbook of the World Sponsorship
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 08 May '08

08 May '08

To:ODV From: Harold Kramer Re: Yaesu and Logbook of the World/ Jay Bellow's email It would be next to impossible for any organization to pay for half the development costs and operation of LoTW that, to date, ARRL has fully funded by itself. I was not here for the original development efforts and costs, but I know that they were considerable. Today, Kathy Allison provides full time Logbook support along with help from Jon Bloom, Dave Patton, Norm Fusaro and others. In the past year, we have also spent money to upgrade the Logbook hardware and software to meet the increasing number of QSOs and users. . Board Members have also directed me to pursue advertising/sponsorship opportunities for LoTW. I accepted this as my charge. This lack of revenue for LoTW was discussed extensively at previous A & F Committee meetings. In the 2008 budget, LoTW revenue from award credits for this year is budgeted at $15,735. We were pleasantly surprised that first quarter revenues were $11,678 about 74% of the total annual goal, so credit revenue is definitely increasing. However, it is no where near what is required to support the service. That's why we were seeking additional revenue. Yaesu has committed to a non-exclusive commitment of $6,000 for one year. Their sponsorship only commits us to displaying a banner ad on the LoTW pages on our web site and lets them hang a banner at Dayton. The Board approved the plan that budgets $50,000 worth of electronic advertising revenue for 2008. This revenue achieves about 12% of that total goal. This advertising/sponsorship purchase is a conduit to, hopefully, some larger advertising support in the future. In addition, we were careful to use similar language, i.e. Principal Sponsor, that we currently use for the Icom sponsorship of Sweepstakes and West Mountain Radio's sponsorship of the RTTY Contest. The term "Principal Awards Sponsor" cannot be easily applied to LoTW. We also used the operational guidelines for sponsorship that we developed for the Icom Sponsorship. If I recall correctly, members of the previous P and S Committee prompted me to draft these guidelines and the Committee consequently reviewed them. There have been other precedents for this type of arrangement. We placed logos, banners and even created unique pages on our web site for United Technologies, Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and CNCS (Corporation for National and Community Service.) for the grant programs that they funded. Yaesu's commitment of $6,000 for one year is the prevailing market rate. By today's standards, a banner ad is a very low impact, ineffective Web ad. There is no interactivity, motion, audio or video. It is not "served" or customized to an individual user like more sophisticated Web ads. The traffic to the site is about 35,000 page views a day. This includes a count of each individual page that is viewed by a user. In terms of advertising numbers, this is a low traffic site with a very targeted audience The trigger for this relationship was the fact that LoTW finally hit 20,000 users. I certainly would have brought this up at the A &F Committee, but we had not begun discussions with Yaesu at that time. Sometimes these opportunities arise quickly and we need to act on them. There is also the continuing issue of confidentiality. Yaesu was adamant that we keep these business negotiations confidential. In addition, there is benefit to us in having a company like Yaesu advertise/sponsor the Logbook site. First, Yaesu will also publicize the LoTW service for us. This is a type of relationship that will benefit ARRL. Yaesu's sponsorship will create more interest in the amateur radio community about LoTW. Yaesu sponsored IOTA in the past, so they have some experience in this area. Given the stiff competition in the amateur radio industry, our having a major manufacturer like Yaesu support LoTW invites other, more risk adverse advertisers to participate. It sets a good precedent for future support from advertisers, individuals and foundations. It says that "Logbook of the World has arrived." All previous funding attempts for LoTW including grants, sponsorships, and advertising have been unsuccessful to this point. The ARRL/Yaesu relationships will l hopefully be a real ice-breaker that will lead us to additional support and recognition. With regard to LoTW updates, according to our Operational goals for 2008, as approved by the Board, we still anticipate that we will add another LoTW award in the third quarter of this year. This plan is in place and moving forward. Finally, I would like to note that Deb Jahnke and her staff in Business Services worked hard to make this happen. For the reasons above, this was not an easy "sell." That have met or exceeded their budget every month this year often "pitching" the same accounts over and over and using creative print advertising techniques (check out the June QST) and a sophisticated, consultative approach to advertising to achieve their goal. As all of you know, the advertising revenue of $2.66 million this year that they generate from Yaesu and other advertisers help us pay for many other programs in ARRL that are not funded by member dues. I hope that this information is helpful. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer(a)arrl.org web: www.arrl.org/ <http://www.arrl.org/>

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[arrl-odv:16735] W5FG
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 08 May '08

08 May '08

Jack Najork, W5FG has made a considerable investment in postage stamps to share his views on the importance of accurate signal reports. His most recent letter dated April 28 quotes me selectively, so I thought I should share the complete text of my earlier response to him on Joel's behalf. Obviously, he is making a mountain out of a molehill but bear in mind that he's 88 years old. Dave K1ZZ April 21, 2008 Jack Najork, W5FG 2517 Hiwy 31 Hubbard, TX 76648 Dear Jack: President Harrison has asked me to acknowledge your letter of March 31. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about accurate signal reports. Swapping "59" or "599" does seem a bit silly. The essential piece of information being exchanged in a DX contact is the callsign of each station, but there is a longstanding convention that an additional element of information also must be exchanged in order for a contact to have taken place. For ARRL awards this additional element does not have to be a signal report. It's debatable whether sending a standard signal report that may or may not be accurate rises to the level of a moral or ethical issue. One also might argue that when there are many stations wanting to make a contact, the objective should be to complete each contact as quickly as possible in order to maximize the rate. When pulling callsigns out of a big pileup it is often impossible to gauge the strength of each individual signal. When the pace isn't as frantic there is less excuse for rubber-stamp signal reports. Perhaps your experience is different, but mine is that except for pileups and contests most operators do make an attempt to send an honest report. Thanks again for giving the ARRL officers and directors the benefit of your thoughts. Sincere 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Chief Executive Officer

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