<<010709.doc>>
IN-Newsletter
<<Microsoft Word Picture>>
Vol. 32, No. 1
January 7, 2009 -- Covers the period December 21-January 3.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Administration &Finance Committee
January 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT
Programs & Services Committee
January 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT
Annual Board Meeting
January 16-17, 2009 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
The January issue of CONTACT! has been posted on the web. The
department Board Report is done. HD Video clips were sent to Matt Aaron
for editing and Don Carlson has completed the audio track for the coming
video PSA. Sections of the PR-101 course have been delegated to
appropriate volunteer authors with the deadline of Jan 26. George
Dillon, the FCC contact for aiding with their DTV conversion, retired
earlier than expected and Chris Imlay is seeking information on who now
will fulfill his role in the plan which was agreed upon in the FCC
request for aid.
Development
Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH
The year ended on a high note with strong results in revenue of more
than$150,000 for Spectrum Defense, Education and the ARRL Diamond Club.
While Development did not reach its targets for 2008, the December
results took us to revenue of more than $882,000 for operations (75% of
the overall revenue goal) and more than $741,000 added to the ARRL
Endowment.
The application for the 2009 Combined Federal Campaign has been
completed and will be sent to Washington before the January 15 deadline.
Preparations are being made for the May Donor Reception in Dayton on the
Hamvention weekend.
Letters are being prepared to secure permission for public
acknowledgement of major donations of $1000 during 2008.
Final adjustments are being made to the Development budgets for 2009.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
Steve Sant Andrea has moved his call sign to 1-land, thanks to the help
of Perry Green, WY1O. Steve's new call is AG1YK.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
ARRL membership climbed to a year-end total of 154,627; a gain of 293
members over November (153,535 in December 2007)-and ending a second
year of recent membership growth. Membership is at the highest level
since 2003. Gains were achieved in the second half of the year, but
fell short of the original plan of 157,030, largely due to greater than
predicted renewal losses.
December product sales were $370,385, a record breaking total for this
month. The sales forecast was $282,920. We ended the year ahead of
plan by $231,671. Recent direct mail, popular new titles, and a strong
start to the month following some Thanksgiving Holiday promotions all
contributed to a very successful month.
Over 500 orders accumulated throughout the New Year's holiday and end of
year annual inventory audit-starting January off in a positive
direction. We resumed shipping on Tuesday, January 6.
The Warehouse crew fulfilled 958 packages for publication and product
orders, and shipped 415 free book membership premiums and a QST mailing
supplement during the short week.
Business Services
Reported by Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ
Staff is in the midst of solicitations for March 2009 QST. We have
several new advertisers on board and have already exceeded the QST
display revenue target by a small margin. We continue to work on the
Antenna Time pull-out section.
We sent out a solicitation for six available slots in the ARES
E-Newsletter, which will debut in HTML format in January. Within 20
minutes, the top three slots were sold and we continue to pursue
advertisers for the other three spots.
Work also continues on advertising recruitment for the next edition of
the ARRL Repeater Directory. A number of interior pages have already
been sold, as well as all the 4-color covers.
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
Awards Branch
Category Dec 2008 Year End 2008
WAS Cert. (Manual) 16 314
WAS Cert. (LoTW) 30 193
A-1 Op Nominations 18 209
A-1 Op Certificates 21 194
Extra Class Certificates 27 147
WAC Certificates 19 290
VUCC New / Grids 20 / 1,307 146 / 15,294
VUCC Endorse / Grids 17 / 1,392 162 / 9,913
Processing Time Current Current
DXCC Branch
Credits Applications
2007 Carryover 223,515 1,847
2008 Received 789,216 7,322
Cumulative Total 1,012,731 9,169
2008 Processed 931,250 8,418
Remaining 81,481 751
Processing Time 6 weeks
Logbook of the World
Category Year End 2008 Percentage Change
Jan - Year End 2008
QSO Records Entered Into System 197,775,631 26 %
QSL Record Matches 16,930,208 44 %
Logs Processed 773,678 49 %
Active Certificates 35,937 24 %
Registered Users in System 23,459 23 %
Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries Year End 2008
Lost Certificates 1,423
DXCC Status Inquiries 814
Directions Not Followed 641
Additional Certificates 596
Startup Inquiries 459
Total 3,933
W1AW
The Tuesday before New Year's Day saw another annual visit from the "3
Steves and A Kurt" group. This visit marks their 15th year operating at
W1AW during the week between Christmas and New Year's. They made just
over 300 contacts on 80, 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters using CW and SSB.
Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He also
processed two Qualifying Run certificates and one endorsement. Joe
processed regular QSL card requests. He also worked the late
afternoon/night shift on the Friday after Christmas for the vacationing
Scott Gee.
Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the first part of
the month of January. He archived all the 2008 bulletin data (both
email and regular texts). He also worked the early afternoon/night
shift on the Friday after New Year's for the vacationing Joe Carcia.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Another person was nominated for the International Humanitarian Award.
Chuck Skolaut handles the administration part of this award, and
nominations were due by December 31. An ARRL Volunteer Monitoring
station in Michigan ran across an unidentified strong hum on 40 meters,
and there has also been a resumption of activity on 2 meters by
unlicensed bear hunters in West Virginia. We received word that
unidentified RTTY signals on 80 meters are thought to originate from
overseas by military sources.
Chuck Skolaut and Steve Ewald served as back-up tour guides of the
Headquarters facilities for our visitors who were here during the
holiday weeks. As a back-up operator, Chuck also conducted the W1AW
code practice for two of the recent weekday mornings.
Section Manager election ballots and candidate statements for the North
Texas and Arizona elections were first sent to the local printer. Then,
thanks to the Mailroom Staff, the election ballots were mailed out ahead
of the January 2 deadline. Members have until February 20 to return
their filled-in ballots.
Leona Adams continued to receive and handle 2008 expense reports from
Section Managers as the end of the year approached, and Steve Ewald
began work on the March QST Public Service column.
Radio Amateurs in California, Illinois, and North Carolina completed
certification to become Official Observers this past week. Quite a
number of stations reported an unidentified signal on 14250 kHz +/-
sounding like a raspy CW signal. The FCC has verified that is not from
the US but is coming from the Dominican Republic, and appears to be
unintentional. Official Observers are investigating reports of an
unidentified digital signal on 40 meters as well as constant carrier on
a 2 meter repeater in California.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
Steve Capodicasa 1/16 Vacation
`` 1/23 Vacation
Scott Gee 3/4-3/6 Vacation
`` 4/15-4/16 Vacation
Joel Hallas 1/16-1/17 Southern Florida Section
Convention, Ft Myers, FL
Ed Hare 1/5-1/9 Vacation
Mary Hobart 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting
Harold Kramer 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting
Lisa Kustosik 1/15-1/17 BOD Meeting
Dave Patton 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting
Brennan Price 1/6pm-1/8 Fairfax Office
`` 1/12-1/15 Fairfax Office
`` 1/15pm-1/17 BOD Meeting
`` 2/2-2/7 ITU Radiocomm. Advisory
Group, Geneva
Barry Shelley 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting
Dave Sumner 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting
`` 1/29-2/2 Vacation