June 2009 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:17818] RE: [arrl-odv:17815] EmComm Advisory Committee?
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Let me provide some history, just for background; it's a new day and what happened in the past doesn't tell us what's right now and for the future. The Board created an Emergency Communications Advisory Committee (ECAC) in January 1973. In those days, advisory committees were organized on the basis of call area rather than by division. The initial committee appointments were announced in October 1973 QST. (By the way, in April 1973 QST, pages 72 and 73, you will find observations by George Hart, W1NJM, some of which relate to issues we are still grappling with today.) At the 1987 Second Board Meeting the ECAC was renamed the Public Service Advisory Committee and its scope was expanded to include non-emergency traffic handling and other public service communications. At the 1998 Annual Board Meeting the PSAC, having become moribund, was disbanded. Dave K1ZZ From: Mickey Cox [mailto:mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net] Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 9:37 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:17815] EmComm Advisory Committee? ODV, I've pasted below some comments I recently received from K4CJX. Steve is an Assistant Director for the Delta Division and he is, no doubt, very enthusiastic (and sometimes sarcastic!) in expressing his opinions. However, I believe Steve is essentially correct in his observation that we (the BOD) should do more to show our support of emergency communications. One suggestion I want to throw out to the ODV is the creation of an EmComm Advisory Committee similar in structure to the three existing advisory committees (the DXAC, CAC, and VUAC). I enjoy chasing DX and playing in some of the contests, but I believe practically all of us would agree that EmComm is at least as important, if not more so. The creation of such an advisory committee would help signal to the membership that the BOD is very serious about emergency communications. More importantly, however, I think the advice that the Board would receive from the EmComm experts who would serve on the committee would be quite valuable. I have discussed this topic with a number of Delta Division folks (particularly the Section Managers and Assistant Directors) and they agree that the BOD should have an EmComm Advisory Committee equivalent in stature to the DXAC, CAC, and VUAC. Thanks and 73, Mickey K5MC Mickey, This After Action Report obviously is NOT for publication, although it is the one report I can release. What it does illustrate is that not all communications resources consider Winlink 2000 a "lightning rod," a term used by one of our ARRL senior staff. That negative connotation is reserved for the naysayers on QRZ forums, and their followers on the ARRL staff and, unfortunately, certain members of the ARRL Board of Directors. After all, look at the push for EmComm by the ARRL during Dayton Hamvention. Right on target. Attached is one of the agencies involving Winlink 2000 during DICE 09. Much use of Winlink 2000 was involved on the Amateur side as well, especially in South Texas, but, "we certainly don't want to start any negative momentum," so let's keep all that on the QT. I still have July, 2004, minute 21 in mind, and how the Staff jumped right on top of their mandate. Fascinating how they evade BOD actions! On a personal note, I am sorry I could not get to Knoxville this year to meet with you. FYI , Steve

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[arrl-odv:17817] D-STAR Meeting Report
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

On rather short notice, President Harrison received a request from JARL President Shozo Hara, JA1AN, for the ARRL to participate in an organizational meeting of the D-STAR International Coordination Council on June 14 in the Dallas area. While ICOM is most closely associated with the marketing of D-STAR, JARL was the principal developer and maintains a strong interest in D-STAR's promotion and further development. After consultation, Joel and I decided that we needed to honor Mr. Hara's request and that Dan Henderson, N1ND would be the best person to represent the ARRL because the group had concerns about regulatory issues with which Dan was familiar. (I was in the area the previous day for the West Gulf Division Convention, but could not stay for the Sunday meeting.) Dan's report is attached. He has been candid, so please keep the report confidential. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ <<090614 D-STAR Henderson.doc>>

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[arrl-odv:17816] Northwestern Division Convention Report
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Trip Report ARRL Northwestern Division Convention Seaside, Oregon - 6-7 June 2009 By David Sumner, K1ZZ This was my second trip to Seaside, the first being in 2004. I left from Boston to get a good fare at convenient travel times, and flew on Thursday (staying Thursday night in Portland) in order to arrive in time for a Friday night social event (spaghetti supper at a firehouse). Seaside is a 90-minute drive west of Portland, which required a rental car. The spaghetti social is a joint venture of the Sunset Empire Amateur Radio Club (SEARC) and the Seaside Tsunami Amateur Radio Society (STARS). STARS is a new club that has just applied for ARRL affiliation. Its emphasis is on mentoring new hams, particularly for emergency communications (Seaside is in a tsunami zone and the locals take alerting and evacuation very seriously). A couple of hundred people were there when we were, and others had been and gone before we arrived. I enjoyed conversations with, among others, the attendee who beat me out for the distinction of having come the farthest, Glyn, GW0ANA, and his host Frank, KB7NJV. Frank is a municipal judge in the state capital of Salem. The ARRL stand at Seaside is in the lobby of the Convention Center. Director Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF was in the midst of moving and was unable to bring his usual complement of ARRL display material, but no one had trouble finding us. Jim, his wife Shirley, W7SAF, Vice Director Bill Sawders, K7ZM, Bill's wife Vicki, K7VKI, and several other volunteers did a great job covering the booth. The Convention Center was right across the street from my hotel, the Inn at Seaside, so I was able to stay connected to their WiFi network and made good use of the ARRL Web site; for some reason, several members wanted to check their membership expiration date. W1AW/7 was operated across the lobby from the ARRL stand; they didn't set any records but provided a couple of hams with their first opportunity to make HF QSOs. On Saturday morning I spent more than an hour in a private discussion with four SMs: Mark Tharp, KB7HDX (EWA), Jim Pace, K7CEX (WWA), Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ (OR) and Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV (SF). I have passed my notes along to Harold Kramer and Dave Patton for followup as appropriate. I think it was time well spent. The SMs seemed to appreciate the face time. Mark, who is active on the SM "private reflector," kept checking his notes and said all of the concerns expressed there recently had been covered. The ARRL Forum lasted 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon. Jim, K9JF brought members up to date. He asked me to cover HR 2160. I also did a presentation about the FCC BPL redactions. The banquet Saturday night was well attended; I didn't think to count heads but there were more than 200. I did my "Not Your Grandfather's Ham Radio" presentation as the warm-up act for the main speaker, a Portland TV and radio personality who was very entertaining and worked in a couple of good ham radio references. Sunday morning was a bit slower than Saturday, which gave me the chance to visit a few of the exhibitors. They seemed very pleased with the weekend's traffic and business. There were about 40 exhibitors and 2200 attendees, both figures comparable to recent years. Jim and Shirley invited me to dinner at their Vancouver, WA home before my red-eye flight Sunday night back to Boston. My overall impression is that Amateur Radio is pretty healthy in the Northwest, the principal positive influences being (1) an awareness of our role in emergency communications resulting from recent serious storms and flooding, and (2) the LDS Church, which is an active sponsor of licensing classes. The evident challenges are similar to other areas: organizational and regulatory issues relating to emergency communications, socialization of new licensees, and the need to persuade them that ARRL membership is relevant and valuable to them. From what I observed, when it comes to socialization and mentoring of newcomers the Northwest is doing pretty well, which may help explain the growth in membership in the Northwestern Division (currently running second only to Rocky Mountain). _____

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[arrl-odv:17815] EmComm Advisory Committee?
by Mickey Cox 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

ODV, I've pasted below some comments I recently received from K4CJX. Steve is an Assistant Director for the Delta Division and he is, no doubt, very enthusiastic (and sometimes sarcastic!) in expressing his opinions. However, I believe Steve is essentially correct in his observation that we (the BOD) should do more to show our support of emergency communications. One suggestion I want to throw out to the ODV is the creation of an EmComm Advisory Committee similar in structure to the three existing advisory committees (the DXAC, CAC, and VUAC). I enjoy chasing DX and playing in some of the contests, but I believe practically all of us would agree that EmComm is at least as important, if not more so. The creation of such an advisory committee would help signal to the membership that the BOD is very serious about emergency communications. More importantly, however, I think the advice that the Board would receive from the EmComm experts who would serve on the committee would be quite valuable. I have discussed this topic with a number of Delta Division folks (particularly the Section Managers and Assistant Directors) and they agree that the BOD should have an EmComm Advisory Committee equivalent in stature to the DXAC, CAC, and VUAC. Thanks and 73, Mickey K5MC Mickey, This After Action Report obviously is NOT for publication, although it is the one report I can release. What it does illustrate is that not all communications resources consider Winlink 2000 a "lightning rod," a term used by one of our ARRL senior staff. That negative connotation is reserved for the naysayers on QRZ forums, and their followers on the ARRL staff and, unfortunately, certain members of the ARRL Board of Directors. After all, look at the push for EmComm by the ARRL during Dayton Hamvention. Right on target. Attached is one of the agencies involving Winlink 2000 during DICE 09. Much use of Winlink 2000 was involved on the Amateur side as well, especially in South Texas, but, "we certainly don't want to start any negative momentum," so let's keep all that on the QT. I still have July, 2004, minute 21 in mind, and how the Staff jumped right on top of their mandate. Fascinating how they evade BOD actions! On a personal note, I am sorry I could not get to Knoxville this year to meet with you. FYI , Steve

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RE: [arrl-odv:17813] West Gulf Convention
by K8JE 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

David, great work! Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org, Tel.: 513-459-1661 ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio _____ From: Dr. David Woolweaver [mailto:k5rav@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 4:48 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:17813] West Gulf Convention HamCom was held June 12-13, 2009 in Plano, TX. There were 46 commerical vendors and the two day attendance total exceeded 4,000. The attendance was up 20% from last year. The ARRL forum was standing room only. Dave Sumner's PowerPoint presentation on the FCC BPL redactions was well received by the members. There were a lot of, "I told you so's" rumbling through the crowd. Coy Day, N5OK, was present to receive his DXAC membership certificate. The Lone Star DX Association's W5DXCC DX dinner was sold out several weeks in advance. Bill Allphin, K4UEE, presented a slide and video show on the KP5, Desecheo Expedition. Bill, as usual, did a great job. The ARRL booth processed 113 membership applications with one life membership and several multi year memberships. Thanks to Assistant Director Doug Loughmiller, W5BL, the booth was also active in soliciting support for HR2160. Using the web site provided by Dick Norton, 147 signed letters were generated. David, K5RAV

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[arrl-odv:17813] West Gulf Convention
by Dr. David Woolweaver 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

HamCom was held June 12-13, 2009 in Plano, TX. There were 46 commerical vendors and the two day attendance total exceeded 4,000. The attendance was up 20% from last year. The ARRL forum was standing room only. Dave Sumner's PowerPoint presentation on the FCC BPL redactions was well received by the members. There were a lot of, "I told you so's" rumbling through the crowd. Coy Day, N5OK, was present to receive his DXAC membership certificate. The Lone Star DX Association's W5DXCC DX dinner was sold out several weeks in advance. Bill Allphin, K4UEE, presented a slide and video show on the KP5, Desecheo Expedition. Bill, as usual, did a great job. The ARRL booth processed 113 membership applications with one life membership and several multi year memberships. Thanks to Assistant Director Doug Loughmiller, W5BL, the booth was also active in soliciting support for HR2160. Using the web site provided by Dick Norton, 147 signed letters were generated. David, K5RAV

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[arrl-odv:17812] RE: [arrl-odv:17811] FCC people
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

The hearing was yesterday. He may be confirmed today. Further information is at http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing& Hearing_ID=bca080f3-15a0-4d05-8abd-77f5327a2cb7 Dave K1ZZ -----Original Message----- From: Tom Frenaye [mailto:frenaye@pcnet.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 3:22 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:17811] FCC people Looks like the Senate Commerce Committee is currently assessing Julius Genachowski, President Obama's nominee for FCC Chairman, and current member Robert McDowell, nominated for another term. Not sure if any of it has been available on CSPAN or not, but I found a short article with a little detail: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348893,00.asp -- 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

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[arrl-odv:17811] FCC people
by Tom Frenaye 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

Looks like the Senate Commerce Committee is currently assessing Julius Genachowski, President Obama's nominee for FCC Chairman, and current member Robert McDowell, nominated for another term. Not sure if any of it has been available on CSPAN or not, but I found a short article with a little detail: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348893,00.asp -- 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

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[arrl-odv:17810] WRC-11 is now WRC-12
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

This won't affect your schedule, but since you may occasionally refer to the next World Radiocommunication Conference in speaking with members it's worth your knowing that the 2011 WRC has been shifted a couple of months and will now take place early in 2012: 23 January to 17 February 2012 in Geneva, to be precise. So, any references to WRC-11 should now be to WRC-12. Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:17809] Fwd: Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, Appointed as Vice Director
by Bob Vallio 13 Jun '09

13 Jun '09

Here's the message that I sent to my members, today. I am confident that Jim will do an outstanding job as my Vice Director, and that he will be an excellent addition to the Board Family. 73, Bob -- W6RGG ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ARRL PC Division <memberlist(a)www.arrl.org> Date: Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 8:02 PM Subject: Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, Appointed as Vice Director To: w6rgg(a)arrl.org ARRL President Joel Harrison, with the approval of the ARRL Ethics and Elections Committee, has appointed Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, to serve the remainder of Andy Oppel's, N6AJO, term as Pacific Division Vice Director. Jim is an attorney in private practice in Oakland. He plans to attend the Board meeting next month. Jim was deeply honored to be chosen to fill the vacancy left by Andy Oppel's resignation, and because Amateur Radio certainly has enriched and added value to many aspects of his life, he is elated to have the opportunity to contribute something back to the hobby. Jim believes that the future of Amateur Radio is at a critical crossroads which will involve our appeal to youth. (Jim and his XYL, Lilah, KE6EHD, have twin boys, Robert, and Matthew, who is licensed as KI6IHP.) An Amateur Extra class licensee and ARRL Diamond Club Member, Jim was first licensed in 1970 as WN9ELU. Since then, he has also held the call signs: WB9ELU, N6OIK, V26JAT and 3D2TJ. Presently, he is the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) of the ARRL's East Bay Section. Jim's favorite Ham Radio pastimes are contesting (more wallpaper than wall, he says), DXing (the easy 300 confirmed), and Dxpeditions (a poor, but adequate excuse for a vacation). He has operated as 3D2TJ, PJ2/K6JAT and KH6/K6JAT, and from V26DX. However, he has long been involved in the public service aspects of the hobby. As a member of the Oakland ARES group, Jim responded to the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989) and Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991) disasters. He worked with Oakland Hams and City officials to gain RACES recognition and was instrumental in forging a formal Letter of Understanding (LOU). In addition, he assisted Oakland ARES/RACES in successfully championing a proposal to use post-firestorm, bond Measure I funds to acquire and install amateur radio equipment in the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and each of its 30 fire stations, dubbed the Emergency Communication Ham Operation (ECHO) system. Jim served as Oakland's RACES Radio Officer for over 14 years. In 1998, Jim acted as the incorporator of the Oakland Radio Communication Association (ORCA), an ARRL affiliated club, was a founding director and became its first president. Presently, he remains a member of ORCA's board of directors and trustee of the club's callsign: WW6OR. In addition, Jim is a member of the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC), the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA), contributes to the Northern California DX Foundation and holds 10-10 membership number 7686. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Pacific Division Director: Robert Vallio, W6RGG w6rgg(a)arrl.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- This message is being sent to you via the ARRL Members Only Web site. If you do not want to receive further messages, go to the site at: http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html?modify=1 Log in with your username and password and change your email options. Unchecking the "News and information from your Division Director and Section Manager" box will prevent messages such as this one from being sent to you. -- webmaster(a)arrl.org

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