April 2015 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:24199] Summary of LoTW Study Committee meeting
by G Widin 21 Apr '15

21 Apr '15

The Logbook of the World Study Committee met April 10 at ARRL Headquarters. To eliminate dependencies that tied it to a non-current version of the SAP database engine, the LoTW Server has been updated to employ ODBC, a standard database API, and is being tested with the current version of the SAP database on a second hardware instance. So far, testing has identified several defects and performance issues, all of which have been corrected. When testing is complete, we will bring this second instance online and take the current instance offline to be updated. ARRL has engaged a security assessment firm to review HQ servers, including Logbook. A Search function will be added to the recently enhanced Logbook Help topics. The group discussed further ways in which TQSL could enable users to recover inadvertently deleted Callsign Certificates and Station Callsigns, and conveyed suggestions to Rick K1MU. One of the two programmers who began work on LoTW last May has resigned to take his “dream job.” We are looking to replace him with someone with significant UI background, since a Logbook website update is high on the list of tasks once we’ve retired most of our technical debt. The group considered ways in which to simplify LoTW registration for users outside the U.S. de Greg, K0GW for the LSC [Note: this summary will also be posted on the ARRL-LOTW Yahoo reflector.]

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[arrl-odv:24205] Legislative Update on H.R. 1301
by Christopher Imlay 21 Apr '15

21 Apr '15

Greetings. My last report to the Board relative to the status of H.R. 1301 was early in February. I was reminded again today that the Board must be kept current on the legislative program. Here is a short recap of where we stand now, since my last memo. None of this is news to the Executive Committee, which came to Washington for its March 21 meeting, providing an opportunity for many of the EC members to have a lot of meetings on the Hill with potential cosponsors. More on that in a moment. 1. With a lot of effort from The Keelen Group, we were able to get H.R. 4969 reintroduced as H.R. 1301on March 4, with Representatives Kinzinger and Courtney back again. The late start was unfortunate, but because of some advance lobbying by Directors Lisenco and Isely in February in Washington, we got a running start and there were more than a dozen cosponsors when the Bill first dropped. Adam Kinzinger is very much onboard with us; early in the new session when I went to an open house in his office, Kinzinger greeted Frank McCarthy and me like old friends and asked how everything was going in Amateur Radio, at which point we told him that things were fine thanks to him. 2. There are now, as of this writing, 39 cosponsors listed on the “Thomas” web site, as follows: Rep Amodei, Mark E. [NV-2] - 4/14/2015 Rep Barletta, Lou [PA-11] - 3/26/2015 Rep Benishek, Dan [MI-1] - 3/24/2015 Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-42] - 3/26/2015 Rep Collins, Chris [NY-27] - 3/16/2015 Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 3/4/2015 Rep Cramer, Kevin [ND] - 4/14/2015 Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 3/16/2015 Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-16] - 3/24/2015 Rep Fortenberry, Jeff [NE-1] - 3/4/2015 Rep Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. [NJ-11] - 3/4/2015 Rep Gibson, Christopher P. [NY-19] - 4/14/2015 Rep Goodlatte, Bob [VA-6] - 4/14/2015 Rep Granger, Kay [TX-12] - 3/25/2015 Rep Graves, Sam [MO-6] - 3/16/2015 Rep Griffith, H. Morgan [VA-9] - 3/4/2015 Rep Hanna, Richard L. [NY-22] - 4/14/2015 Rep Harper, Gregg [MS-3] - 3/16/2015 Rep Heck, Joseph J. [NV-3] - 3/16/2015 Rep Huffman, Jared [CA-2] - 4/15/2015 Rep Israel, Steve [NY-3] - 3/4/2015 Rep Jenkins, Lynn [KS-2] - 3/4/2015 Rep Joyce, David P. [OH-14] - 3/24/2015 Rep King, Peter T. [NY-2] - 3/4/2015 Rep Kirkpatrick, Ann [AZ-1] - 3/16/2015 Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] - 3/16/2015 Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3] - 3/16/2015 Rep Luetkemeyer, Blaine [MO-3] - 3/16/2015 Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-32] - 3/4/2015 Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] - 3/25/2015 Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 3/4/2015 Rep Rooney, Thomas J. [FL-17] - 4/14/2015 Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] - 3/26/2015 Rep Tonko, Paul [NY-20] - 3/4/2015 Rep Walberg, Tim [MI-7] - 3/4/2015 Rep Walorski, Jackie [IN-2] - 3/19/2015 Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 3/16/2015 Rep Westerman, Bruce [AR-4] - 4/14/2015 Rep Womack, Steve [AR-3] - 3/4/2015 Because Mike Lisenco was on the Hill last week, we have commitments from several more House members so this list will be in the 40s soon. This is a really good start but there is no reason why, by now, we should not have *most* of the returned House members who were on H.R. 4969 back again. We got in a very short time last Fall and during some recess periods 69 cosponsors. Now we have 39 confirmed. We need to do better. You can see from the above list what the results of Mike Lisenco's efforts have been. 3. Representatives Kinzinger and Courtney sent around, in March, shortly after the Bill dropped, a “Dear Colleague” letter, copies of which we have been using in our rounds on the House side in the packages that we deliver. The letter is entitled “Help Our Nation’s Amateur Radio Operators Provide Volunteer Public Service, Emergency and Disaster Relief Communications.” It is well-done, short and crisp. It helps our presentations and it indicates that Kinzinger and Courtney are not just passive sponsors but active ones (this year). 4. Mike Lisenco has been to Washington three times this year so far doing meetings. Just before and after the March 21 EC meeting, President Craigie, Vice Presidents Roderick and Fenstermaker, CEO Sumner and Directors Lisenco, Vallio and Woolweaver made the rounds on the House and Senate sides. There were more than 100 meetings scheduled by TKG over two days before the EC meeting alone, and attended by this team of ARRL representatives. It was well-done by all involved. I went with Rick Roderick and Bob Vallio to some of these meetings and after the first one, 5. Early this year, Frank McCarthy and I had a series of meetings on the Senate side looking for an original sponsor and original cosponsors. I have mentioned to you previously that we got a fine reception from Senator Thune’s office. He chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, of which the “Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet” is one of its subcommittees. We got offers of assistance but the general policy is that the Chairman of a committee or subcommittee will not sponsor legislation that comes before the committee or subcommittee. One of our meetings was with the office of Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). TKG subsequently worked hard on that office to obtain a commitment to sponsor the Bill. We have been given good reason to believe that Senator Ayotte will be our sponsor but the commitment is not in hand yet. At the same time, TKG has contacts in the office of Connecticut Senator Blumenthal as well and we have the same level of optimism that he will be our Senate minority cosponsor. The list of Senators on the Subcommittee are as follows: *Republicans* *Democrats* • Roger Wicker - Chair • Roy Blunt • Marco Rubio • Kelly Ayotte • Ted Cruz • Deb Fischer • Jerry Moran • Dan Sullivan • Ron Johnson • Dean Heller • Cory Gardner • Steve Daines • Brian Schatz - Ranking Member • Maria Cantwell • Claire McCaskill • Amy Klobuchar • Richard Blumenthal • Edward J. Markey • Cory Booker • Tom Udall • Joe Manchin • Gary Peters 6. For the first time, we are seeing evidence that CAI has taken our effort seriously. Mike Lisenco reports that at several of his many meetings (the results of which you can see from the list of committed cosponsors in the House to date) there was evidence that at least one HOA had been to that office first. While they may have awakened to our effort, they have not stopped misrepresenting the Bill. So we are now preparing short rebuttals in “leave-behinds” that will allow amateurs who are doing meetings to have - on hand and ready to go - some arguments that will be generic (i.e. not CAI-specific) that will help our advocates rebut any pushback that might come along. It isn’t much so far but we can’t lose a cosponsor because CAI has lied to its members and allowed them to lie to their Congressional offices. 7. Mike Lisenco will send along some information for you about followups to meetings and followups to last year’s committed cosponsors. We need to get well above the number we had last year and we can do it but it doesn’t happen by itself. Just because someone cosponsored last year doesn’t mean that they will this year. Often the staff persons we met with last year have moved on in which case their replacements have to be sold all over again in order to get their bosses on the Bill. Often they have to be pushed two or three times after a meeting in order to get the staff people to follow through. 8. Matt Keelen heard the Board in January. He got Kay an in-person meeting with Greg Walden, and a candid exchange of views was had about topics such as the “shortcut” method of Walden’s calling FCC Chairman Wheeler about FCC’s preempting on its own. That is still on the table for Walden but our task for now is to continue to build support and to get a companion bill dropped in the Senate. I think we are doing both of those things on a reasonable schedule but it will be a great relief to get far past H.R. 4969’s list of 69 cosponsors in the House and a bill dropped in the Senate. Matt has been more engaged with our effort this time and they have spent an enormous amount of time with us in March and this year to date. 9. Dan Henderson has sent several hundred letters to TKG for distribution, from hams supporting H.R. 1301. It would be good to expand that effort to many more hamfests and conventions this year. Let me know any questions. I will follow up as soon as I know more. 73, Chris W3KD -- Christopher D. Imlay Booth, Freret & Imlay, LLC 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG

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[arrl-odv:24188] Follow-up messages on H.R. 1301
by Kay Craigie 21 Apr '15

21 Apr '15

It has now been several weeks since our flurry of Hill visits about H.R. 1301. Mike Lisenco has sent out a lot (here in Virginia we'd call it a "passel") of follow-up e-mails to the staffers whom he talked with last month. I've just done the same thing. I heard back from one of those staffers saying his boss will sign on. Another one had a question about what "reasonable accommodation" means, and we'll get him a response asap. The point of all this is that if you're among those who have visited with Congressional staff in the district or on the hill, a follow-up message several weeks or a month later can pay off. That's in addition, of course, to the thank-you e-mail sent right after the meeting. 73, Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:24195] Network Outage Tonight
by Shelley, Barry, N1VXY 20 Apr '15

20 Apr '15

In preparation for the new phone system to be implemented at HQ later this week, new network switches will be installed tonight. During the installation, there will be intermittent network outages which will impact some of the HQ operations including the MS Exchange (email) server and Logbook of the World. The outage should be no more than 2 hours. During this time, e-mails will be held in a queue and you may see the LoTW processing queue grow. All transactions will begin processing normally once we're back and connected. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org

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[arrl-odv:24167] Re: Proposal for admission of Burundi to the IARU
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 20 Apr '15

20 Apr '15

All Directors: There having been no questions about this proposed resolution, please let me have your vote at your earliest opportunity if you have not already done so. 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Secretary From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ Sent: Monday, April 06, 2015 4:00 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Proposal for admission of Burundi to the IARU All Directors: Today is just my third day in the office since the Executive Committee meeting on March 21 and I am still drafting the minutes. One of the few formal actions of the EC was to authorize a mail vote of the Board on the following resolution: "Resolved, that the Secretary is instructed to cast an affirmative vote on IARU Proposal No. 253 for the admission of Association Burundaise des Amateurs Radio et Télévision (ABART) to the IARU." Background: Currently there is no IARU member-society for Burundi (9U). Activity from that country up to now generally has been by expatriates, either temporarily in residence or on expeditions. Licensing has been problematic at times. The establishment of an Amateur Radio organization is an encouraging development. The admission to IARU membership of an organization representing a country that has not yet issued licenses to any of its citizens is not unprecedented and can be an important step toward the achievement of that goal. The responsibility for vetting applications for IARU membership generally rests with the regional organization, in this case IARU Region 1. The following is taken from IARU Calendar No. 194 dated February 2, 2015: An application for IARU membership was received by IARU Region 1 from the Association Burundaise des Amateurs Radio et Télévision (ABART). The application has been examined by the Region 1 Executive Committee and has been found to satisfy the requirements of the Constitution and Bylaws of the IARU. Based in Bujumbura, Burundi, ABART was formally organized on 19 March 2014. There are no licensed members of the Society and there are no licensed amateur radio operators in Burundi. The 10 members of ABART including the individuals listed below as President and Secretary of ABART are awaiting the granting of amateur radio licenses by the Burundi communication authorities. The officers of the society are: President: Jean Claude Kamwenubusa Secretary: Jean Nijimbere The official address of ABART is: ABART 6564 Bujumbura BURUNDI Telephone: +257 79 627 440 Email: burundiamateurradio(a)gmail.com<mailto:burundiamateurradio@gmail.com> The President and the Secretary of ABART have confirmed that Association Burundaise des Amateurs Radio et Télévision (ABART) has the ability to meet its financial obligations as a member of the IARU, is legally able to act in the furtherance of IARU objectives within its country, and will adhere to the Constitutions of both the IARU and IARU Region 1. Accordingly, in compliance with the Bylaws pertaining to applications for membership the following proposal is presented to member societies for consideration Proposal No. 253 The Executive Committee of IARU Region 1 has forwarded to the Administrative Council an application for membership submitted by the Association Burundaise des Amateurs Radio et Télévision (ABART). Region 1 reports that it has examined the application and has found it to be in order. Region 1 has made a favorable finding with regard to the application. Therefore, in accordance with [IARU] Bylaw 3, it is proposed that the Association Burundaise des Amateurs Radio et Télévision (ABART) be elected to membership. The deadline for me to cast the vote on behalf of the ARRL is July 2, so there is plenty of time if you have any questions. 73, David Sumner, K1ZZ Secretary

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[arrl-odv:24193] Re: Reply comments in ET Docket 15-26, vehicular radar at 77-81 GHz
by Price, Brennan, N4QX 20 Apr '15

20 Apr '15

One more, with attachment. Brennan T. Price, N4QX Chief Technology Officer American Radio Relay League 3545 Chain Bridge Rd Ste 209 Fairfax VA 22030-2708 Tel +1 703 934-2077 Fax +1 703 934-2079 ________________________________________ From: arrl-odv [arrl-odv-bounces(a)reflector.arrl.org] on behalf of Price, Brennan, N4QX Sent: Monday, April 20, 2015 10:13 To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:24192] Reply comments in ET Docket 15-26, vehicular radar at 77-81 GHz Please find attached reply comments in this proceeding, filed just now with the approval of the majority of the Executive Committee. These reply comments strike back at the suggestion of some automotive industry commenters that Amateur Radio operation ought to be suppressed at 77-81 GHz consequent to the adoption of vehicular radar in this band (the latter of which is certain to happen). We call out commenters who failed to cite the persuasive compatibility case that has been made, and challenge the Commission with its Chairman's own words challenging incumbents in the millimeter wave bands to be open to "new frontiers" of spectrum use. These reply comments are filed under my signature as a consequence of Chris's representation of Bosch in the same proceeding. They were drafted through a collaboration between Chris and me, with helpful input from Kay and Dave. I thank the Executive Committee for its review and approval. 73 de Brennan N4QX Brennan T. Price, N4QX Chief Technology Officer American Radio Relay League 3545 Chain Bridge Rd Ste 209 Fairfax VA 22030-2708 Tel +1 703 934-2077 Fax +1 703 934-2079 _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

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[arrl-odv:24192] Reply comments in ET Docket 15-26, vehicular radar at 77-81 GHz
by Price, Brennan, N4QX 20 Apr '15

20 Apr '15

Please find attached reply comments in this proceeding, filed just now with the approval of the majority of the Executive Committee. These reply comments strike back at the suggestion of some automotive industry commenters that Amateur Radio operation ought to be suppressed at 77-81 GHz consequent to the adoption of vehicular radar in this band (the latter of which is certain to happen). We call out commenters who failed to cite the persuasive compatibility case that has been made, and challenge the Commission with its Chairman's own words challenging incumbents in the millimeter wave bands to be open to "new frontiers" of spectrum use. These reply comments are filed under my signature as a consequence of Chris's representation of Bosch in the same proceeding. They were drafted through a collaboration between Chris and me, with helpful input from Kay and Dave. I thank the Executive Committee for its review and approval. 73 de Brennan N4QX Brennan T. Price, N4QX Chief Technology Officer American Radio Relay League 3545 Chain Bridge Rd Ste 209 Fairfax VA 22030-2708 Tel +1 703 934-2077 Fax +1 703 934-2079

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[arrl-odv:24191] Hilarious Southwest Airline Safety Presentation (Open Captions)
by James F. Boehner MD 17 Apr '15

17 Apr '15

Since many of us are Southwest fans, I thought this was apropos! '73 de JIM N2ZZ Turn your sound on. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TxNrizGdhtY?vq=hd720 <https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TxNrizGdhtY?vq=hd720&rel=0&showinfo= 0&start=0&end=> &rel=0&showinfo=0&start=0&end=

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[arrl-odv:24190] Amateur Radio prominently mentioned here
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 17 Apr '15

17 Apr '15

http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/new-communications-center-vital-elemen…

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[arrl-odv:24189] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 16 Apr '15

16 Apr '15

IN-Newsletter Vol. 40, No. 13 April 15, 2015 - Covers the period April 5-11. Upcoming In Person Meetings and Events LoTW Study Committee July 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee July 16 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee July 16 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Second Board Meeting July 17-18 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Diane Petrilli reports that materials (badges, parking passes, lunch tickets, shirts, etc.) will be distributed/sent to Dayton volunteers the last week in April. E-mails with hotel confirmation numbers (if a room was reserved) will also be sent that week. Membership e-mails this month brought in 170+ members so far; two more e-mails are planned for the month. A newly redesigned membership brochure will be back from the printer end of next week. Jackie Ferreira reports that The ARRL General Class License Manual eighth edition is now available for pre-order. The book is available in two formats: softcover<http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-General-Class-License-Manual-8th-Edition> and spiral bound<http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-General-Class-License-Manual-Spiral-Bound/>. Now shipping: Oscilloscopes for Radio Amateurs and The ARRL Repeater Directory 2015/2016 edition (pocket-size and desktop). Yvette Vinci prepared the email notification for the May 2015 digital edition of QST, distributed to ARRL members on Friday, April 10. The distribution list included 120,301 members - impressively higher from last month 115,054. Yvette also sent out a shipping schedule to HQ staff for having materials bulk shipped to Dayton. All Material will need to be on the skid in the shipping area by Monday, May 4, 2015. The shipment is expected to arrive at the Dayton Hara Arena on Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Steve Capodicasa reports that the warehouse team processed 1,921 Qty fulfillment & dealer packages this week as well as 105 Free Books. Special Thanks to Cassandra Parkman in assisting the Warehouse Department fulfill a substantial backorder backlog of RD & Field Day Products that have accrued over the last few weeks. Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Field Organization/Public Service Team Questions handled this past week dealt with operation in Canada, using commercial repeater links, ham call use on Citizen Band, and a net banning participation by a ham who had received a citation. A steady carrier was reportedly heard on 14.332 MHz for over 30 minutes, an Over the Horizon Radar was heard on 21.380 MHz and interference to the 10-10 net was experienced on 28.350 MHz. A status report was received of on-going local interference on 6 meters in Oregon. Supplies were sent to several Official Observers, and Chuck Skolaut conducted the morning code practice twice at W1AW and hosted guest operators both days. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 5/25 Holiday All Staff 7/3 Holiday Bob Allison 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Capodicasa 5/1 PTO Lauren Clarke 4/21pm PTO `` 5/15-5/19 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/PTO `` 5/26-5/27 PTO Mike Corey 5/1-5/3 Nevada State Convention, Verdi, NV `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ewald 5/14-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Trish Feeney 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Jacqueline Ferreira 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ford 5/14-5/19 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/PTO Norm Fusaro 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Scott Gee 4/15-4/17 PTO Amanda Grimaldi 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Mike Gruber 5/1 NearFest, Deerfield, NH `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/1-6/4 PTO `` 8/24-8/28 PTO `` 9/28-10/2 PTO Ed Hare 6/5-6/7 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Dan Henderson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 7/16-7/18 Board Meeting/Committee Meeting Ian Humphreys 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Bob Inderbitzen 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 8/7-8/9 South Texas Section convention, Austin, TX Karen Isakson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Debra Johnson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Harold Kramer 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Sean Kutzko 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Kim McNeill 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Diane Middleton 4/13-4/17 PTO Cassandra Parkman 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dave Patton 4/17-4/19 International DX, Visalia, CA `` 7/24-7/26 Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK Diane Petrilli 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/5-6/7 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Brennan Price 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Michael Scharr 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dave Sumner 4/30-5/1 NAB luncheon/PTO `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 5/26-6/5 PTO `` 6/11-6/14 West Gulf Division Convention, Irving, TX `` 6/23-6/29 Friedrichshafen Convention, Germany Yvette Vinci 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Matt Wilhelm 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH

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