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Vol. 32, No. 6
February 11, 2009 -- Covers the period February 1-7.
Regulatory Information
Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND
The release of the ARRL Executive Committee's policy statement on mobile Amateur Radio operation has generated a bevy of activity. At this time, we are aware of proposed bills in Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. An article was prepared for the ARRL Web announcing the statement, as well as an article written for the April issue of QST. The statement was forwarded to all SMs, SGLs, PICs and members of the DLAC. Information about the statement was also included in the ARRL news, and will be included in the next ARES and club e-letters.
A California Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Alec Zubarau, WB6X, of Palmdale, CA and his effort to retain his tower. The judge ruled that the city improperly revoked his building permit. While the ruling will allow Zubarau to re-install his tower, it stopped short of addressing the extremely tough antenna ordinance, which the town has proposed. Several ARRL Volunteer Counsels have assisted Zubarau in his fight as well as ARRL Division Vice Director Marty Woll. In addition, the ARRL Antenna Defense fund contributed to this case.
The usual member queries on reciprocal operation (CEPT and IARP) were handled along with queries on general Part 97 topics.
We had several contacts with new FCC Special Counsel Laura Smith during the week, including a ninety-minute teleconference with ARRL Lab staff to discuss procedures on handling power-line noise cases. We are aware that she has started digging through the significant (7-month) backlog of email and written complaints. She seems to have a good handle on how she wants to proceed and our initial contact with her has been positive.
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
Allen attended the SC State Convention in Charleston, SC last week and had a very good time meeting people there. Meanwhile, many projects are all in development at the same time. PR-101 materials are slowly coming in from volunteers (who promised them by the end of January). The goal is to have the course fully written and initial edits completed by the end of February. Matt Aaron says that the new video PSA is "on the board" for final editing at FNC. "They are working on it. I sent a email building a fire if you know what I mean." Kevin Pauley says that the spin-off of it for a Field Day video PSA is complete except for the inclusion of this year's logo (expected next week). More clubs are joining in by aiding in the DTV conversion help for the FCC and now, with the delayed date, discussion is being held on possibly quickly creating or modifying a volunteer training piece for our use. Requests for department summaries of 2008 to be included in the Annual Report have been sent out. These need to be completed and in before the end of the month.
Development
Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH
Invitations for the 2009 Donor Reception in Dayton will be mailed this week to major donors including Diamond Club members at the Gold Level and above, legacy Circle members (planned giving) Maxim Society donors and ARRL Board members.
Letters to donors requesting permission for the 2009 listing in the ARRL Annual Report, in QST and on the web will be mailed next week.
Diamond Club gross revenues for January came close to target bringing in $21,353 contributions. The net revenue after membership dues were subtracted was nearly $17,000. The Diamond Club added 37 new donors in January.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
The second printing of Low Power Communications has been released to the printer.
Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 28, No. 5, for February 6, 2009. She also produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for February 6.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
ARRL membership climbed to 155,010; a gain of 383 members over December-and exceeding this month's goal of 154,902 members. Contributing to the gain this month is better-than-anticipated returns on a recent mailing which targeted a segment of lapsed and 'never' members based on age and license class. Some newly produced analysis was introduced to the monthly membership report. The report now includes a breakdown of renewal returns by month and based on membership expiration.
January product sales were $289,366, ending the month close to the $294,640 sales forecast. Direct sales were $183,039; dealers sales were $106,236. Among the top sellers in January were Basic Antennas and 50 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation. The response to recent direct mail and email has been brisk. An email follow-up to a recent mailing group contributed an additional $17k in gross sales during the final weekend of the month.
Updates were submitted to Amateur Electronic Supply to help update ARRL publications featured in their upcoming spring/summer 2009 catalog.
We were happy to support the YCCC Meeting held at HQ on Saturday. The lobby store was 'open,' and a special publication promotion was extended to our visitors.
The Warehouse crew fulfilled 840 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 745 membership premiums, and mailed February QST supplements.
Upcoming Conventions:
Date Event Name Division City State Staff Representative
Feb 13-15 Southeastern Division Southeastern Orlando FL Mark Spencer, WA8SME & Mary Hobart, K1MMH
Feb 21 Arkansas Section Delta Hoxie AR
Feb 28 Vermont State New England Colchester VT Mike Gruber, W1MG & Bob Allison, WB1GCM
Mar 7 South Texas Section West Gulf Rosenberg TX
Mar 7-8 Santa Clara Valley Section Pacific Monterey CA Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Mar 13-14 Oklahoma State West Gulf Claremore OK
Mar 14-15 Roanoke Division Roanoke Charlotte NC
Mar 21 Nebraska State Midwest Lincoln NE Ward Silver, N0AX
Mar 21 West Texas Section West Gulf Midland TX
Mar 21 MicroHAMS Digital Northwestern Redmond WA Steve Ford, WB8IMY
Mar 27-28 Maine State New England Lewiston ME
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
Contest Branch
Sean Kutzko, KX9X, gave a presentation on Radiosport to the Hampden County Radio Association in Agawam, MA on Friday, February 6. The meeting had about 40 members in attendance and the event was well-received, with about 5 members asking detailed questions about how to participate in the upcoming ARRL DX SSB Contest.
The ARRL was pleased to host the Yankee Clipper Contest Club meeting on Saturday, February 7. Randy, K5ZD, gave his talk on Contest Ethics, which was a hit with the group. Sean, KX9X, reported the decision of the CAC and the ARRL Board that the use of CW Skimmer constitutes assistance, and the ARRL Awards Committee has been given the VUAC's recommendations on updated EME rules and Rover rules for the VHF contests.
We have received 1,550 logs for the 2009 RTTY Roundup. The log-submission deadline has passed.
We have received 517 logs for the 2009 January VHF Sweepstakes; the log-submission deadline is Wednesday, February 18.
Club Competition gavels have been ordered for the 2008 ARRL DX Contest through the 2008 September VHF Contest, which is the most recent Club Competition event we have official results for.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Editorial work for the April QST Public Service column was compiled, written and turned into the Production Department.
A clarification on ARRL's role in the FCC/ARRL project to help educate local communities about the upcoming DTV conversion was obtained, thanks to General Counsel Chris Imlay and Media/Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts. This clarification was shared with Section Managers. Several more Section Managers are now hearing from their respective FCC District Offices with regard to this program, and the Amateur Radio community is helping with favorable responses.
A monthly summary was initiated this week regarding Official Observer activities around the country. It was sent to all OOs, OOCs, and Section Managers. Official Observers in the southern U.S. were asked to verify complaints about interference to a 75 Meter round table group while other OOs are checking on bad language coming from a group that meets on 75 meters in the mornings. There are intruder reports of an unidentified CW station sending random words on 3810 kHz for a brief time and a Spanish broadcast station on 18144 kHz. A report of a steady carrier on 145.250 was believed to be CATV leakage from CH 18. In addition, fishermen have been heard using 440 MHz in the San Francisco area. HQ has already received good feedback from Laura Smith, the new FCC staff member in charge of Amateur Radio rules enforcement.
Education Services
Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ
The past few weeks have been a very busy time! During Kim Mancuso's extended illness we've been able to provide service to members and service CEP students with some extra help from China Chaney. To name a few specific projects, during the past few weeks I've revised copy for HQ tour guides, developed a concept for a banner about our Education Outreach programs--which Diane Szlachetka has transformed into a visual feast!--coordinated with Bob Inderbitzen over planning for the project booth at the Dayton Hamvention, followed up on actions related to the Emergency Communications training program discussed with the PSC, and revised web pages to include information about the revised BSA Radio Merit Badge.
Education & Technology Program
Mark Spencer WA8SME followed up with ETP grant recipients about returning the grant award letters, initiated bids for equipment and has placed the orders for the requested resources and equipment. He is preparing his presentations for the Hamcation convention. Mark is also busy building the kits needed for the now 7 TIs we will be holding this summer. DARA notified us that they want to sponsor another TI in Dayton this year. We confirmed details with them and updated the TI application, brochure and ad to add the seventh session. Mark authored and sent an information article on the TI-II to AMSAT Journal for publication. The formal announcement notice for the TI-II has been sent to the ETP e-mail list and has already generated interest. We have already received 10 teacher applications for TI sessions to be held this summer.
ETP instructor Nathan McCray K9CPO has been busy installing antennas at his school, West Elementary in Zion, IL. His students are going to build multiple wire antennas and are really getting excited about the prospects of talking to people all over the world. Students are also assembling Boe-Bots and programming them. Nathan reports that the ETP enrichment program at West school is generating interest throughout the district. The district superintendent wants to expand the scope of the program and Nathan has been asked to present a proposal to the school board in April that would put introduce the ETP in each of the six schools in the district.
ARISS
Rosalie White K1STO reports that ARISS recently gained another volunteer: a ham faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Space Systems Lab, in Prescott, AZ, wants to have the school's satellite station support ARISS school QSOs.
The ARISS Team distributed ISS 2009 calendars to 50 schools that recently had an ARISS QSO or will have one soon. Calendars were sent to ARISS volunteers to thank them for their hard work and dedication.
The ARISS program recently passed the 400th QSO mark! Recent ARISS contacts include:
- Technopolis, a science museum in Belgium
- Tongfu Road Primary School in Guangdong, China. The school has over 1000 students, established an Amateur Radio club in 2007, and won a national youth ham radio contest. Elective courses include Amateur Radio and space technology.
- Castor Valley Elementary School, Ontario, Canada. Students learned about the ISS, and learned correct ham radio protocol and how to track and plot the course of the ISS.
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. The seriously ill young patients learned about space and ham radio.
- Ecole & College Jean XXIII in France. Radio operators from "l'Institut de Développement des Radiocommunications par l'Enseignement" introduced radio technology to the students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade and to the second year of secondary school. Topics incorporated into the subjects of astronomy, history of space, geography, and writing included remote command use, introduction to Morse code and SSB, distress beacon search, electronic kits, and different ham station possibilities.
The team closed down the official ARISS activities commemorating the 25 years of ham radio in space on January 19. Mike Fincke KE5AIT is now regularly switching around the radio configuration from packet to crossband repeater to SSTV.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
All Staff 2/16 Holiday
Leona Adams 2/20 Vacation
Margie Bourgoin 4/14 Vacation
`` 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention
Steve Ford 2/17 Vacation
`` 3/20 Microhams Conference, Seattle, WA
`` 4/2-4/3 AES Superfest, Milwaukee, WI
`` 4/20-4/24 Vacation
Scott Gee 3/4-3/6 Vacation
`` 4/15-4/17 Vacation
`` 4/27-4/28 Vacation
`` 5/14-5/15 Vacation
Mike Gruber 2/27-2/28 Vermont State Convention, Colchester VT
Dan Henderson 4/10-4/12 North Carolina State Convention, Raleigh, NC
Mary Hobart 2/13-2/16 Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, FL
`` 4/17-4/20 Visalia
`` 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention
Bob Inderbitzen 2/13 Vacation
`` 4/13-4/15 Vacation
Joel Kleinman 3/2-3/11 Vacation
`` 3/26 Vacation
Harold Kramer 3/5-3/10 Vacation
Rose-Anne Lawrence 2/13 Vacation
`` 3/17 Vacation
Dave Sumner 2/6 Vacation
Dave Sumner 2/27-3/2 IARU Reg.1 EC Meeting, London England
Alex Tara 3/10 Vacation
