February 2012 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:20534] State Legislative Report
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

Here is the first state legislative report for 2012 from Chwat & Co. 73, Dave HB9/K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:20532] Fwd: FCC Daily Digest 02/07/2012
by Tom Frenaye 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

> APPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY POOL (CONVENTIONAL) LICENSES FOR MOBILE USE OF RECONROBOTICS VIDEO AND AUDIO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS. Granted, subject to certain limitations, applications for authorization filed by the public safety agencies listed in the Appendix to deploy and operate the surveillance robot known as the "Recon Scout" for public safety purposes. Action by: Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Adopted: 02/06/2012 by ORDER. (DA No. 12-123). PSHSB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-123A1.doc >http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-123A1.pdf >http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-123A1.txt I guess this is one way around our complaints about compliance... -- 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:20531] 472 kHz band clears Committee 4
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

On Tuesday afternoon in Geneva, Committee 4 of the World Radiocommunication Conference approved Option 1 to satisfy Agenda Item 1.23, with minor editorial amendments to the text received from Working Group 4C. An UNOFFICIAL version of the document is attached. Note that additional administrations (probably quite a few, mainly in the former Soviet Union and Arab states) will be adding their country names to footnotes prior to consideration in Plenary. The decision of the conference is not final until after second reading in Plenary. So it's still too early to break out the champagne, but we're a big step closer. Iran proposed to change the 800 km distance cited in Footnote 5.A123 (which incidentally is just a temporary number -- it will be changed once it is incorporated in the Radio Regulations) to 2,000 km. There was no support. Both CEPT (spokesman: Colin Thomas, G3PSM), and CITEL (spokesman: Jonathan Siverling, WB3ERA) spoke up to oppose, along with the Netherlands. Another issue we have been following closely is the introduction of allocations for HF oceanographic radars (Agenda Item 1.15). It is now clear that there will be no impact on amateur allocations, including the 5-MHz channels we are allowed to use in the US. Proposals for agenda items for WRC-15 are still in a state of flux, so there is as yet nothing concrete to report. The agenda item for an amateur allocation around 5300 kHz is still alive, but a positive outcome is by no means certain. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:20499] Final final Board minutes
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 05 Feb '12

05 Feb '12

Here are the revised final minutes. Minute 7 has been modified to conform precisely to the tape. David Sumner, K1ZZ Secretary

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[arrl-odv:20527] Call for formal approval of Board minutes
by Dr David Woolweaver 04 Feb '12

04 Feb '12

I approve as distributed by the Secretary. David, K5RAV

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[arrl-odv:20517] AMSAT ITAR Update
by Richard J Norton 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

Longtime AMSAT member Ray Soifer, W2RS of Arizona, noticed the comments about AMSAT and ITAR in the League's Board Meeting minutes that were recently published. Ray and I have known each other since the 1950's, when we were teenagers active in the NLI CW traffic net. Ray suggested to me that he thought my background might enable me to be of some use to AMSAT regarding ITAR, and asked if I would contact the AMSAT President, Barry Bains, WD4ASW. I first lined up a volunteer who offered to assist AMSAT in understanding the ITAR processes and even in writing Technical Assistance Agreements, a key component in getting permission for technical interchange. I then called Barry Bains to offer the services. It turns out that Bains already has considerable knowledge of the ITAR program, and will not need the assistance I had lined up. The State Department has made some interesting rulings regarding AMSAT's operation. One is that AMSAT cannot make a TAA that covers AMSAT members because they are volunteers and not employees. Each AMSAT member would have to make an application to have interface with each foreign national, and the foreign national would have to agree to, among other things, to be subject to the laws of the USA. AMSAT has made a number of requests that it considered reasonable, and all have been turned down. This has, as you remember, essentially put a halt to the interchange with AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-Germany. Bains believes the most promising solution to the AMSAT dilemma is found in a proposed bill in the House, HR3288, sponsored by Representative Howard Berman of southern California. The bill would transfer jurisdiction of commercial satellites from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce, where export regulations might be more sensible. AMSAT has talked with the Berman staffer responsible for the bill, and they expect him to add university/education satellites and Amateur Radio satellites to the bill. As Berman's district is in the Southwestern Division, we talked about possibly soliciting constituent letters though the ARRL's director E-mailing system. Should AMSAT decide that they desire this type of assistance, I believe I would need ARRL board approval for such action. Right now, it appears that AMSAT needs nothing from the ARRL. Bains said that he would update President Cragie should anything change. If I get any requests for constituent letter help, I'll request board approval before proceeding. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA

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[arrl-odv:20520] 5 MHz Changes Published in Federal Register
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

Here is the Federal Register publication of the summary of the FCC Report and Order on the new 5 MHz rules, which have an effective date of March 5. >From here in Geneva I have not had a chance to review this carefully in order to compare it to the Report and Order as originally released by the FCC, but it appears to have been cleaned up a bit. Dave HB9/K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:20516] Amateur allocation at 472 kHz moves a step closer
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

While two hurdles remain to be cleared, the effort to gain a new amateur medium frequency (MF) allocation reached a major milestone Thursday afternoon, February 2 at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Geneva, Switzerland. In a series of 12 meetings over a ten-day period from the beginning of the WRC on January 23, a Sub Working Group worked to resolve differences among various proposals for an amateur allocation and between the proponents and opponents of an allocation. On February 1 a formulation for an allocation was found that resolved the concerns of nearly all of the opposing administrations. A small number of administrations remained opposed to an allocation, so the Sub Working Group had to report to its Working Group -- the next level up in the Conference structure -- that consensus had not quite been reached and that two options remained: an allocation with conditions worked out by most administrations on the one hand, and "no change" on the other. On February 2 the Working Group made minor adjustments in the formulation and agreed to forward two options to the next level, which is Committee 4 of the Conference. A decision between the two options is likely to be made by Committee 4 early next week. If a positive decision is made it will then be considered by the Plenary, where the proposed modifications to the Radio Regulations that are necessary to accomplish the allocation will be reviewed in two "readings" of the text. Passage on second reading in the Plenary is the last step prior to the signing of the Final Acts at the conclusion of the WRC on February 17. The formulation that has been agreed by most administrations calls for a worldwide secondary allocation to the amateur service at 472 to 479 kHz with a power limit of 1 watt e.i.r.p., but with a provision for administrations to permit up to 5 watts e.i.r.p. for stations located more than 800 km from certain countries that wish to protect their aeronautical radionavigation service (non-directional beacons) from any possible interference. Proposed footnotes provide administrations with opportunities to opt out of the amateur allocation and/or to upgrade their aeronautical radionavigation service to primary if they wish to do so. In addition to these protections for aeronautical radionavigation, the amateur service must avoid harmful interference to the primary maritime mobile service. The International Amateur Radio Union team that has been working on this agenda item since 2007 is cautiously optimistic that the thousands of hours of work that have been devoted to achieving a positive outcome are about to pay off. ITU decisions are made by consensus and success is still not assured, but prospects have brightened considerably since the first week of the WRC. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:20515] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

<<020112.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 35, No. 5 February 1, 2012 -- Covers the period January 22-28. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee: March 24 @ 8:30am - St. Louis, MO Digital QST Reported by Katie Glass, KB1ULQ We have released the February edition of digital QST to members of ODV on Monday. We are getting some very good feedback so far. ARRL staff can access the digital QST by going to this page: www.arrl.org/new-qst. Any feedback can be sent to digitalQST(a)arrl.org. Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND On Friday January 27, I attended a meeting with Lt. Col. Sean Smith, commanding officer of the Cape Cod AFS PAVE PAWS radar, Lou Harris, NIUE, the retiring 70-cm repeater coordinator for NESMC, and Jeff Lehmann, K1ZZ, the incoming 70-cm coordinator held at the radar site. We discussed the ongoing cooperative efforts of the ARRL, NESMC and the Air Force on amateur mitigation to the radar unit. During the conversation, Lt. Col Smith noted a new interference source had appeared in the 448-450 MHz range but did not appear to be amateur radio related. After discussion it was decided that Lt. Col. Smith would ask his superiors if he could utilize volunteer services organized by the ARRL to locate and identify the source of the interference. It was also noted that there will be a change in command at both the Cape Cod and Beale sites sometime in later spring to early summer. There has apparently been some discussions in Colorado on the status of the waiver petition and status of Mototrbo on the amateur band, as four different inquires were made to the Regulatory Information office on the same day. We are still waiting on action by the FCC. At the request of Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ, we provided information on CSCEs to a former USTTI-attendee in Trinidad. We spoke with General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD regarding a request from Director Edgar relating to what appears to be a non-amateur radio dispute between an amateur and his neighbor. Apparently, after significant disagreement between the parties, the amateur has put a beacon on the air with the claim he is doing propagation studies. The neighbor is disputing the claim, saying it is an attempt to harass the non-ham neighbors by causing interference. The twist in this case is that the neighbor has retained an ARRL VC. Mr. Imlay and the neighbor's attorney held a teleconference to discuss the matter. The ARRL is not involved in this matter, as it appears to be a personal dispute between the neighbors. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP Arrangements have been made for the PRC to have a forum at Dayton again. Files and reports are being collected for the ARRL Annual Report. Entries for the contest evaluating PIO plans for 2012 have been collected and will be relayed to the PRC for judging. We have several more PR-101 graduates and I am awaiting the charity choices of the Leonard Award winners to have checks made to go with their plaques. I finalized the arrangements for Sunday, February 12th at 5 p.m. Eastern time, when ARRL and Al Petrunti of The New Day Group, KA1TCH, will webcast a LIVE tour of W1AW - the ARRL flagship station. Amateurs around the country (and the world) will be able to watch it at http://www.awecast.tv/channels/arrl/. Also helping in this are Joe Carcia and Geoff Fox. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The W1AW Endowment campaign mail is in production. The letter has been finalized and the design and layout are close to completion. Thanks to Sue Fagan and Amy Hurtado for their assistance to Lauren Clarke on this project. The plan is to mail before the end of February. The Spectrum Defense materials are being updated with 2012 design for the Spectrum Defense Matters newsletter masthead and certificate revisions, new mug, and pin design and materials for the web. The first issue is planned to mail in March. Letters have been mailed (and being returned) for $1000 donors for permission to list them in QST, on the web and on a poster for Dayton in May. Requests for bound volumes or CDs of the 2011 periodicals accompanied the permission letters to Maxim Society donors. The Maxim Society has added several new members since Jan 1 and the group now totals 96. Who will be number 100? The Member Loyalty program is in production with file preparation and unique letters for each "decade group" - 40-,50-, 60-. 70- and 80- year members. The Second Century Campaign cultivation continues. Thanks to Diane Middleton for her assistance in determining the proper reporting process for gifts and pledges, including the estate portions of some commitments. Certificates have been prepared and mailed to all donors who have made commitments to the campaign. A leader for the Board giving segment of the campaign is under consideration. Production/Editorial Reported by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter and produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for January 26, 2012. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI QST Bob Allison wrote two sidebars for an upcoming Product Review, one on Reciprocal Mixing, how is it relevant to reception, plus an explanation of the two new "At a Glance" color charts at the beginning of the review. The other sidebar is about the Satellite, VHF and UHF operation of the reviewed transceiver. Bob Allison performed more testing on the Homebrew Challenge Winner (not officially announced yet) Bob contacted the builder and shared the data, while suggesting improvements of circuitry for an upcoming QST article. Bob Allison completed building a receiver kit that is a possible candidate for a "Short Take in QST. When time permits, the circuitry will be mounted in its optional case. The receiver is a good match to use with a QRP transmitter. Stop by the Lab and Bob will show it to you. Electronic Publications Zack Lau determined that the 2008 Periodicals CD, if installed first, would block the installation of the 2007 Periodicals CD. The obvious solution that works is to install the 2007 installation first. RFI Brian Cramer continues to investigate a strange RFI source in Illinois. It is intermittent, making it difficult to pinpoint. ARRL Lab Radio Exhibit Mike Gruber assisted Bob Allison in moving and assembling exhibits for the Lab's new Amateur Radio museum. Product Review Bob Allison tested a radio and investigated a potential problem with another-the manufacturer's chief engineer confirmed the problem, with thanks. Bob wrote a sidebar for an upcoming Product Review article, explaining the importance of Reciprocal Mixing and an explanation of the two new additional "At a Glance" color charts. TIS Mike Gruber and Bob Allison attended a two day seminar on how to deal and communicate with difficult people. Overall, the course was useful for a variety of reasons, which in turn, will improve customer service with Lab requests from our members. Web Mike Gruber generated a list of links to be added to the Smart Meter RFI Page. Zack Lau edited and uploaded the February Propagation Forecasts. Membership Contact A group of teenagers and two instructors from Watkinson Prep School stopped by the Lab. Bob Allison explained the Screen Room and its functions, as well as the other exhibits in the Lab. The visit lasted about 40 minutes. Mike Gruber developed a talk for the Yankee Clipper Contest Club to be given on February 3rd. W1HQ Bob, along with Greg Kwasowski, assisted Joe Carcia with the installation prep work of W1HQ's new antenna rotator. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R January ended with 157,852 members-a gain of 39 members over December. The small gain is welcome, as we usually see a loss in January. 73% of January 2012 expirees paid on time (vs. 75% last January). The gains were due in large part to positive responses to mail and e-mail campaigns. January product sales ended the month at $271,043, exceeding the sales forecast of $234,250. Direct sales were $154,021; dealer sales were $117,022. Sales were better than January 2011. The warehouse crew fulfilled 1,057 packages for publication and product orders, plus QST mailing supplements. The mailroom assisted with fulfilling 360 membership premiums. Exhibit materials have been prepared for Orlando HamCation. Bob Inderbitzen is attending the event next week, along with Director Greg Sarratt and Vice Director Andrea Hartlage. Bob Inderbitzen prepared an announcement/article for April QST about our planned exhibits for Dayton Hamvention (May) and the ARRL National Convention at Pacificon (October). Bob solicited an article from The Steamship Historical Society of America to help mark the anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC DXCC paper/fieldchecked application processing time is currently at 7 weeks. Logbook-only application processing time is 3 business days. W1AW On Friday, Rhode Island Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, and Richard Langlois, W1TBR (from Harrisville, RI) visited ARRL and W1AW. The main purpose of the visit was for Rich to perform yearly calibrations to W1AW's test equipment. Specifically, Rich calibrated - traceable to NIST - the HP 5371A Frequency/Time analyzer, HP 5345A Frequency Counter and the HP Z3801A GPS receiver (used to generate a 10-MHz reference signal used by the HP equipment). On Wednesday and Thursday, Matt Strelow, KC1XX, and Andrew Toth - both of XX Towers Inc. - were on hand to make the repairs and replacements to the antennas that were damaged in the October 2011 snow storm. In addition to performing quick inspections to the towers, they also replaced the two (2) damaged 40-meter M-Square antennas with new Cushcraft XM240 yagis, removed the damaged 80-meter cage and straightened an element on the 10-meter yagi on the North tower. For W1HQ, they replaced the Pro-Sis-Tel rotator with a new Yaesu G-1000DXA rotator and also inspected the SteppIR yagi. Joe completed the assembly and preparation of the two (2) new Cushcraft yagis. For W1HQ, he calibrated the Yaesu rotator - to ready to it for installation - as well as preparing the control cable for it. Joe also began assembly of the donated SteppIR vertical. This vertical will also be used at W1HQ. Earlier in the week, Joe also gave a tour of W1AW's facilities to a group of students from the Watkinson School. He also prepared a newer PC to replace the unit that was being used with the weather-satellite decoding system. (This particular PC crashed a week earlier.) Field Organization/Public Service Team At the request and recommendation of ARRL National Traffic System Leaders, ARRL Section Traffic Managers have been added to the ARRL HQ sponsored e-mail reflector for NTS Officials. This has generated additional interest and discussion on the reflector. Steve Ewald is assisting with the administrative duties of the reflector. Thanks to Sue Fagan, of the ARRL Graphics Department, the two award plaques have been ordered for the two winners of the 2011 George Hart Distinguished Service Award. Leona Adams has shared an updated Field Organization Appointment roster with each Section Manager. This project has generated a number of updates and some new appointments to the rosters by ARRL Section Leaders. One radio amateur from Georgia has successfully completed requirements to become an Official Observer during the past week. One radio amateur from Virginia has been approved to become a member of the ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch. Chuck Skolaut notes that documentation was received and forwarded to the FCC regarding interference to a 75 meter net. A radio amateur in Texas first reported a wide band signal. The same radio operator later discovered the noise was emanating from a battery charger in another portion of his home. Also, the San Joaquin Valley Official Observer Coordinator has been following up on several repeaters using improper identification. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 2/20 Holiday Steve Capodicasa 2/6-2/10 Vacation Lauren Clarke 2/10-2/12 Orlando Hamcation Scott Gee 3/21-3/23 Vacation Dan Henderson 2/3-2/5 South Carolina State Convention, Ladson, SC `` 3/2-3/5 Alabama Section Convention, Birmingham, AL Mary Hobart 2/1-2/27 Medical Leave Bob Inderbitzen 2/9-2/12 NFL Section Convention, Orlando, FL `` 2/21-2/22 Vacation `` 3/1-3/5 Radiofest, Monterey, CA Khrystyne Keane 2/21 Vacation Joel Kleinman 2/7 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 2/3-2/6 Vacation Zack Lau 3/22-3/23 Vacation Diane Petrilli 3/22-3/28 Vacation/ASAE Conference, Colorado Springs, CO Dave Sumner 1/20-2/22 ITU WRC-12, Geneva

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