<<031010.doc>>
IN-Newsletter
<<Microsoft Word Picture>>
Vol. 33, No. 10
March 10, 2010 -- Covers the period February 28-March 6.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Executive Committee: March 13, 2010 @ 9:00am in Denver, CO
Technical Relations
Reported by Brennan Price, N4QX
Jon Siverling is attending the CITEL assembly in Mexico City. Brennan
Price, in addition to continuing drafting on efforts at LF and MF,
introduced a no change proposal on Agenda Item 1.14 (VHF radiolocation)
to Informal Working Group 1 of the FCC WRC-12 Advisory Committee. The
proposal generated no negative comment when introduced and is being held
for appropriate input from the maritime and land mobile services.
Regulatory Information
Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND
During the week, we became aware of Recon Robotic units being offered
for sale on eBay. After contacting the office of eBay General Counsel,
the units appear to have been removed from their site. As part of the
work on this, we also learned that the FCC Enforcement Bureau is looking
into several other sales of Recon Scout units before the release of DA
10-291 permitting their sale on a limited basis.
The grassroots legislative action program was active during the week. A
letter was sent to the DLAC-reflector asking they contact their ARRL
membership and request letter be sent to US Senators and Congressmen in
support of S 2881 - FCC Commissioner's Technical Resource Enhancement
Act. A report on state legislative activities was received from Chwat &
Co. Most of the 191 listed bills deal in some way with distracted
driving / cellphone & texting while driving. Several states also have
legislation on license plates. Michigan has a pending state PRB-1 with a
90-foot by right provision. Ohio has a proposed PRB-1 law with the
height of 75-feet being considered a "reasonable antenna structure
height." South Carolina's bill codifies the basic elements of PRB-1
without reference to a specific height. Finally, the state of Washington
has a state level PRB-1 pending with a 70-foot by right provision. One
other bill of note is a Wisconsin bill that prohibits the sale or
installation of a radio in a vehicle unless the radio includes a weather
alert./radio system. It does include new car sales and satellite radio
subscriptions but excludes amateur radio equipment.
A good amount of time during the week was spent dealing with the ROS /
spread spectrum controversy. After looking into an alleged "new
interpretation" from the FCC, it was discovered that the FCC had not
reassessed its earlier statements in spite of statements on the program
developer's blog reporting otherwise. Working with the FCC, a web story
on the current FCC statements on ROS was written and posted. As part of
this, we were in contact with VA Section Manager Carl Clements, W4CAC,
about the use of another low-baud spread spectrum technology CHIP64 that
was being used by a Virginia Section ARES digital net. Those
discussions have led to the net discontinuing the use of CHIP64 in favor
of OLIVIA during the week.
We have received about a dozen phone calls and / or emails on DA-10-365,
the AHA request for a blanket waiver for hospital employees using
amateur radio as part of drills at their facilities. To date there has
not been a single comment to the Regulatory Information office in
support of granting a full blanket waiver.
A PowerPoint presentation was prepared on the ARRL Legislative Action
Program and Regulatory Affairs for the South Texas Section Convention,
held March 6 in Rosenberg, TX. A couple of queries were received about
where is the "banned countries" list - that is, countries that US
amateurs can't contact via amateur radio (such a list has not existed
for many years.) Finally, to round out the week, the usual weekly
activities and queries were handled - ranging from Field Day and VC
referrals to reciprocal operating in the Caribbean.
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
More additions have been made to the new Web pages. With help from
Kevin Odell, N0IRW, and Don Carlson, KQ6FM, a computer based (used for
websites and email) Field Day 30 second promotional video has been
created by re-mastering the technology video and is ready for
distribution with the initial press release for 2010. A great deal of
time focused on reestablishing an appropriate panel for the presentation
of Amateur Radio at the RTDNA. Second requests were sent to ARRL
managers involved in submitting reports for inclusion in the Annual
Report.
Development
Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH
Major contributions have been received for the Spectrum Defense Fund
($4,878) from the St. Paul Amateur Radio Club and the General Fund
($1,785) from the Dixiefest Committee.
The Diamond Club continues to attract strong results in March bringing
the year to date gross revenue total to $68,778 from 524 donors with an
average contribution of $131. These results are mainly from the mailing
sent to all Diamond Club participants in mid-February.
The W1AW Endowment mailing is in production. The piece will have a
different look from our standard format and will go to 50,000 prior
donors and a selection of other ARRL members.
Responses to our request for recognition permission for the Annual
Report, in QST and on the web have been strong. Margie Bourgoin is
handling this operation.
Work has begun on the annual recognition mailing of certificates and
pins to ARRL members of 40 years or more.
Mugs and pins for the 2010 Spectrum Defense Fund are expected in about a
month.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter for March 4, 2010.
Lab
Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI
RFI
Two ARRL letters involving power line noise cases were issued during the
week. There was also a third ARRL letter involving an electric fence
case. One power line noise case was sent to the FCC. The power line
noise cases were in New York and West Virginia. The power line noise
case sent to the FCC is in Missouri.
Mike Gruber continued reviewing material for the new edition of the RF
Book. So far, he has been very pleased with the changes and
improvements.
Product Review Testing
Bob Allison appeared in the latest monthly video clip of "What's New in
Product Review" which will be featured in the latest "ARRL Letter" and
on you-tube.
QST
Bob Allison completed testing of the latest entries for the Homebrew
Challenge. Data sheets were compiled for the presentation to the panel
of Judges on Thursday. Joe Carcia, Zack Lau, Sean Kutzko, Joel Hallas,
Ed Hare and Bob Allison were the judges. Winners were selected and
prizes awarded.
Travel
Scheduling of volunteers and staff for the kit building exhibition at
the Dayton HamVention has been completed. An inventory of items needed
for the class was taken. We will be re-using last year's soldering
stations, most of the tools and other materials.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Bob Inderbitzen attended the Atlantic Division Cabinet Meeting in
Binghamton, New York. He offered a presentation to help spotlight
resources available to represent Amateur Radio and ARRL in an exhibit or
at various events. The presentation included effective tips for
organizing displays and suggestions for volunteers interacting with
event attendees and booth visitors.
Diane Petrilli attended a conference organized by the American Society
of Association Executives involving membership and marketing
development-with a strong emphasis on e-social networking. The
experience is timely, especially with the new web site introduction in
planning.
The US Postal Service is anticipating a postage increase in early 2011
of 4-7% involving all mailing classes. The increase is a response to
forecasting that suggests the USPS will experience billions of dollars
in losses from a decrease in mail volume already happening and expected
to continue over the next 10 years.
Member Service Representatives are completing their online training in
customer service techniques this month. The interactive training is
contributing to new and improved ways of interacting with members and
customers, and providing the staff with key talking points to work
through difficult situations.
During the last week, the warehouse crew fulfilled 658 packages for
publication and product orders, 1,088 membership premiums, and QST
mailing supplements.
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
Field Organization/Public Service Team
There will one Section Manager election this Spring, and that will take
place in Illinois. Michael Schulz, W9MJS, of Wayne, submitted a
nominating petition, and he will be running against incumbent Section
Manager Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN.
Leona Adams also kept in touch with incumbent Section Managers Paul
Eakin, KJ4G (Northern Florida) and Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ (Oregon) who
submitted their respective petitions to run for new terms of office
starting July 1. The receipt deadline for petitions for this upcoming
election cycle was Friday, March 5. There were no nominations received
from the Santa Clara Valley Section, and Bill Dale, N2RHV, has decided
not to run for another term of office. This position will be
re-solicited in July QST.
Steve Ewald prepared the Public Service column for May QST and
acknowledged a few nominations that have been submitted for ARRL awards
such as the Herb Brier Instructor of the Year Award, the Technical
Service Award, and the Technical Innovation Award.
>From the Amateur Auxiliary side of the program, Chuck Skolaut reports
that one radio amateur from the San Francisco Section successfully
completed training to become an Official Observer. A steady carrier on
14.200 MHz has been heard in Arizona, South Carolina, and New Jersey.
This information was forwarded to the FCC.
Documentation has been gathered on a jamming condition on 75 meters, and
several new reports have cropped up about NL7R's bootlegged call sign.
Some questions that were handled this week included overseas operation,
participation in emergency drills, and several inquiries on the new ROS
mode.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
All Staff 4/2 Holiday
Leona Adams 3/18-3/19 Vacation
Steve Capodicasa 3/15 Vacation
Joe Carcia 5/28 Vacation
Steve Ford 3/11 Seminar
`` 3/22 Vacation
`` 4/22-4/23 Vacation
Norm Fusaro 3/12-3/14 Louisiana State Convention,
Rayne, LA
Scott Gee 4/14-4/16 Vacation
`` 5/13-5/14 Vacation
Mike Gruber 4/30 Vacation
Ed Hare 3/10-3/12 IEEE Standards Dev. Committee meeting,
San Diego, CA
`` 3/15-3/19 Vacation
`` 4/19-4/22 ANSI asc C63 EMC Comm. meeting,
Piscataway, NJ
Mary Hobart 3/12-3/14 Roanoke Division Convention,
Charlotte NC
`` 4/2-4/7 Vacation
`` 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention,
Dayton OH
`` 6/11-6/13 HamCom, Dallas, TX
Bob Inderbitzen 4/8-4/9 AES Superfest, Milwaukee, WI
`` 4/19-4/23 Vacation
Joel Kleinman 3/9-3/11 Vacation
Lisa Kustosik 3/19-22 Vacation
`` 5/14-5/18 Vacation
Zack Lau 3/25-3/26 Vacation
Maryann Macdonald 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH
Barry Shelley 3/25-3/26 Vacation
Jon Siverling 3/8-3/12 CITEL Assembly & associated
Meetings, Mexico City
Dave Sumner 3/12pm-3/14 Executive Committee Meeting,
Denver, CO
`` 3/25-3/26 Washington
`` 3/27-3/28 Maryland State Convention,
Timonium, MD
