January 2015 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:23688] Thank You and HNY!
by Brian Mileshosky 02 Jan '17

02 Jan '17

Okay, now I'm bored on the air -- same for a zillion other League members and hams across the world. Fair warning: I'm making a Director's motion in January to create a Centennial QSO Party Anonymous or Points Anonymous service, because lots of people now find themselves staring hopelessly at their now absolutely quiet radios. A huge THANK YOU to everyone -- ODV, staff, volunteers, members, hams -- for an absolute home run on the air this past year. Centennial celebration aside, if there is one thing that I hope everyone who participated in the QSO Party walked away with, it is that they became better and more dedicated radio operators throughout the year. That they used this year-long opportunity to learn more about themselves as an op, learned more about their gear, uncovered station and operating limitations and found ways to resolve them, and rediscovered the magic, fun (God forbid), and camaraderie that is ham radio. One very profound moment today was working a few folks in the QSO Party who I hadn't worked since back in January 1, 2014. Staring at that date in the log, and greeting those hams once again, with literally one year of time padding our last QSO was an in-your-face "this year has absolutely flown by way too fast" epiphany. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as they could while it lasted. Happy Centennial, and Happy New Year everyone. Be safe this evening and see you in a few weeks. 73, Brian N5ZGT ARRL Director, Rocky Mountain Division

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[arrl-odv:23529] Election results
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 20 Nov '15

20 Nov '15

Ballots were counted today in the Atlantic Division Director and Vice Director and the Great Lakes Division Vice Director elections, with Dakota Division Director Greg Widin, K0GW observing at the offices of Survey & Ballot Systems in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The results are as follows: ATLANTIC DIVISION DIRECTOR Tom Abernethy, W3TOM 1400 Phil Theis, K3TUF 1168 Mr. Abernethy is declared elected. ATLANTIC DIVISION VICE DIRECTOR Scott Bauer, W2LC 470 Bob Famiglio, K3RF 1583 John Mueller, K2BT 503 Mr. Famiglio is declared elected. GREAT LAKES DIVISION VICE DIRECTOR Tom Delaney, W8WTD 822 Steve Putman, N8ZR (SK) 517 Mr. Delaney is declared elected. 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Secretary on behalf of the ARRL Ethics & Elections Committee

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[arrl-odv:23599] FCC Disability Advisory Committee
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 12 Feb '15

12 Feb '15

Last week the FCC announced the creation of the Disability Advisory Committee and sought nominations. It happens that we have a highly qualified person, Bob Weinstock, W3RQ, in the ranks of our past Vice Directors. President Craigie has authorized me to submit a nomination for Bob. While his service as New England Division Vice Director was some time ago, Bob helped us more recently when we were looking for a venue for a Development reception in the Washington, DC area. He kindly arranged for the use of facilities at Gallaudet University where he is Director of Enrollment Communications in the Office of Admissions. The work of the Disability Advisory Committee may not touch directly on the Amateur Radio Service but it may be useful for the FCC to view the ARRL as a resource in this field. 73, Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:23869] Remember Little LEOs?
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 31 Jan '15

31 Jan '15

Back in 1996-97 our two meter and 70 cm bands were under threat of commercial exploitation by non-voice low-earth-orbit satellites, usually referred to as "Little LEOs." We mounted a vigorous campaign against them and succeeded in fending them off into other parts of the spectrum. One of the most unscrupulous proponents of Little LEOs was a company called Final Analysis, which persisted in making outlandish claims. I hadn't thought much about them in years but was reminded of how annoying they were when the attached popped up in today's FCC releases. Note that the FCC's decision to deny the Application for Review comes almost 11 years after the International Bureau's denial of the request for more time to build its system. Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:23870] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 29 Jan '15

29 Jan '15

IN-Newsletter Vol. 40, No. 3 January 28, 2015 - Covers the period January18-24. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison, WB1GCM, completed testing of a full featured HF and 6 meter transceiver. A data table a test result charts were created and passed along to Product Review Editor, Mark Wilson, K1RO. All data will be passed along to the manufacturer after Mark has reviewed the data. B Bob started testing of a device which protects a receiver's front-end from damage from very high signal input voltages from the antenna. Bob will closely investigate to see if this device degrades receiver performance in any way at different signal input levels. RFI Mike Gruber met with Kermit Carlson, EMC Committee Chairman, Ed Hare and Chris Imlay in order to discuss RFI matters. Mike is still planning additional testing of Eaton AFCI devices. Mike completed the latest round of revisions on the EMC Pocket Guide. This is scheduled for March. As of about four weeks ago, there is a new FCC complaint filing procedure. So far, there does not appear to be a noticeable impact on the Cooperative Agreement that we have with the FCC. W1HQ Working with CT SEC Wayne Gronlund, N1CLV, in conjunction with the CT State of Police Amateur Radio Club (W1SP), Bob has arranged a donation to the ARRL Laboratory of a 70 cm DMR Motorola MotoTurbo repeater. When installed, the repeater will have the ability to be linked with 21 other ARES MotoTurbo repeaters, located at various locations around the State of Connecticut, as well as other ARES groups around the country. Special thanks to Wayne for making arrangements with the W1SP group! Installation is tentatively planned for January 30th. The repeater will be programmed to operate on the same (coordinated) frequency pair as the present 70 cm W1HQ D-Star repeater, 442.100 MHz. A coax switch will allow both the two digital radio technologies can be evaluated easily. Web Zack Lau uploaded the Propagation Forecasts for February. The solar flux still remains high-the predicted solar flux is 136. Epubs Based on a user report, the Garmin TravelPlus download does not work on Internet Explorer 8 (5 years old). Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Bob Inderbitzen is working with Liberty Mutual to prepare an emailing to promote our new affinity program for auto and home insurance. The emailing will be distributed in February. Bob has been interfacing with developers for ARRL's online Exam Review program and the ARRL Repeater Directory App. An iOS version of the app may be completed in February. Jackie Ferreira reports that she has prepared a follow-up email to first time ARRL Members with Technician Class licenses-this one, promoting the use of a coupon that can be redeemed in the online store. The emailing promotes publications for beginners across a variety of topics and interests. This is part of an initiative organized by Diane Petrilli to help encourage higher levels of engagement from among new members. Bob is preparing materials to promote membership at February's Orlando HamCation, the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 1/23/2015 803 615 1/16/2015 746 911 1/9/2015 1,052 487 12/31/2014 (short week/inventory) 919 487 Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 4 Weeks* Logbook Processing Time 4 Weeks* * We expect to finish processing all 2014 applications in a matter of days. The backlog will recede quickly once this is completed. W1AW Joe repaired an ailing Ameritron AL-1200 amplifier. He also repaired a UHF preamp that may be used for the station's Satellite station. He continued with the research of missing W1AW/portable LoTW QSOs for amateurs inquiring about them. He also processed one Qualifying Run certificate. Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives as well as updated the web Qualifying Run schedule. Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files. He is also compiling a database of visitors to W1AW in 2014 using the station's visitor sign-in guest book as the data source. Field Organization/Public Service Team Chuck Skolaut reports that one radio amateur from the New York City/Long Island Section successfully completed requirements to become an Official Observer this past week. Pirate radio station YHWH, which sometimes was heard on 7.185 MHz, recently was contacted by FCC regarding their unlicensed operation. Chuck handled questions about operating overseas, becoming an OO, OO re-instatement, the Motorola Moscad mode, and a felon holding an Amateur Radio license. Also, the recipient of an OO advisory notice contacted us regarding his signal report. After checking it out, he discovered he had an unknown problem. He, in turn, thanked us and the OO. An unidentified RTTY signal, thought to be coming from Asia, was reported on 3.500 MHz as well as a pulsed type signal on 3.501 MHz. ARRL HQ received news that the former long-time Section Manager in Kansas, Bob Summers, KØBXF, recently became a Silent Key. Bob was Section Manager for 30 years (from 1965 to 1995), and he continued to be active as a Kansas Section Leader by serving as Section Emergency Coordinator from 2003 to 2012. Section Managers have been appointing new Field Organization leaders and station appointees. In response to this, Leona Adams has been busy updating and maintaining the main Field Organization data base. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 2/16 Holiday Bob Allison 2/17-2/20 PTO Steve Capodicasa 2/9 PTO `` 2/17 PTO Mike Gruber 2/9-2/13 Orlando Hamcation, Orlando, FL/PTO Bob Inderbitzen 2/12-2/17 Orlando Hamcation, Orlando, FL/PTO Harold Kramer 1/30-2/2 PTO `` 2/12-2/17 Orlando Hamcation, Orlando, FL/PTO Diane Petrilli 1/26-1/30 PTO Barry Shelley 2/4-2/6 PTO

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[arrl-odv:23868] Minutes of A&F Committee meeting--15 January 2015--ARRL Confidential
by G Widin 29 Jan '15

29 Jan '15

Attached are the minutes of A&F's January 2015 meeting just preceding our recent Board meeting. I thank Barry Shelley and Diane Middleton for taking meticulous notes that keep such good track of the committee's discussions. Since we have had occasion to discuss it recently, I remind everyone that though the A&F Committee's report is made available outside the Board family, the minutes are not. One reason for this is the discussion of plans and topics that are premature to release to a wider audience. I also thank the 2014 A&F members. There were some difficult issues discussed in these sessions, but the committee took on those discussions, and in several cases the final resolution was worked out through the interaction of the committee, and was superior to any of the individual solutions brought into the meetings. I believe this demonstrates the value of these committee meetings to ARRL and our membership. 73, Greg Widin, K0GW 2014 A&F Committee Chair

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[arrl-odv:23867] Re: ARLB004 FCC "Paperless" Amateur Radio License Policy Goes into Effect on February 17
by Doug Rehman 29 Jan '15

29 Jan '15

"The ARRL and other Amateur Radio commenters also worried that unless a license document is printed on distinctive paper stock, its authenticity could be questioned in such situations as obtaining vanity call sign license plates. To address this, the FCC said the watermark "Official Copy" will be printed on each page of an official authorization that a licensee prints out from the ULS." I just printed mine and they apparently haven't yet implemented that feature. There is an additional situation that may not have been addressed-printing club licenses. While NG4US appears under my FRN, I am not given the option to download the license. This almost certainly stems from having to go through a VEC for club licenses. Is it the FCC's intent that trustees have to go through a VEC to get a license pdf? Doug K4AC

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[arrl-odv:23866] CT travel ban lifted
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 27 Jan '15

27 Jan '15

The snow has stopped falling, the travel ban on Connecticut roads and highways was lifted at 2 PM this afternoon and things are slowly returning to normal. Snow accumulation, while well over a foot, was a bit less than predicted. ARRL HQ should be in normal operation tomorrow. 73, Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:23864] Past Dakota Division Director Howard Mark, SK
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 26 Jan '15

26 Jan '15

Past Dakota Division Director Howard Mark, K3HM, ex-W0OZC, died on January 24. Howard was Vice Director from April 1982 until January 1986 and then was Director until July 1993 when he had to resign as a result of moving out of the division. Those of us who remember Howard will always have fond memories of his engaging intellect. Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:23863] Final Draft Board Minutes
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 26 Jan '15

26 Jan '15

Directors: There being no further edits other than the addition of some committee appointments, here is the final draft of the meeting minutes. I plan to make them available to members this afternoon. As you may have heard, the entire state of Connecticut is under a blizzard warning from late today until early Wednesday morning with accumulations of from two to three feet predicted. We are planning for the office to be closed on Tuesday as it is very likely that the roads will be ordered closed. 73, Dave K1ZZ

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