February 2017 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:26222] ORLANDO HAMCATION REPORT
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF 14 Feb '17

14 Feb '17

Ladies & Gentlemen: Knowing that many of you have been following the events in the SE Division, here is a report from the Orlando HamCation February 10-12, 2017. 1. Headquarters staff attending: Gallagher, Inderbitzen, Jahnke, with two volunteers. Prominent field staff included Szabo, Beale. Director Sarratt also attended both Friday and Saturday. Former Directors Stafford and Butler were also attending both days. Scott Westerman also both days. 2. [cid:image002.jpg@01D285DD.0C460DF0] The HamCation event was remarkably well-attended, especially on Friday. Local weather was excellent. No ticket sales figures were available from Chairman Peter Meijer. All major and many minor commercial vendors attended; however, Friday vendor staffing was lower on account of flight cancellations due to the bad weather in the northern US. 3. Our sales totaled more than $14,000 and included more than 220-member application transactions (new or renewal) with a number of multiple-year renewals and several life memberships. Bob Inderbitzen will have his usual comprehensive report later this week, and I will share it with you when it's complete. 4. The ARRL Division forum was well-attended by an overflow audience. [cid:image004.jpg@01D285DD.0C460DF0] Section manager Steve Szabo did a masterful job managing the discussions. He was skillful at directing the conversation away from controversial topics. Topics included the HR558 and recruiting young members. One Florida ham stood up and made an impassioned speech about how recruiting is not the ARRL's job-it's our [collective hams'] job. Topic not raised: the election and the recall petition. The crowd was entirely docile. Several members walked up to me and to Greg to express their appreciation and gratitude for ARRL's leadership through "difficult times." Overall, the meeting ended on a very positive note. Nearby, in a small booth decorated with only a white sheet, the organizers of the recall were signing up petitioners. Although I spent no time there, I observed that the traffic there didn't compare with the ARRL booth traffic. 5. [cid:image006.jpg@01D285DD.0C460DF0] The ARRL College Amateur Radio Initiative (We Want U) met on Saturday at 3:00 PM. We had attendance of 20-25 mostly engineering students from University of Central Florida and the University of Florida. There were also several recent graduates from UF attending, apparently for job recruiting purposes. In addition to sharing the usual college amateur radio squawks about space and succession planning, the forum leaders, Toni Milluzzi KD8RTT and his brother, Andy spoke about career planning and Amateur Radio: put your call sign on your resume. They also solicited graduate students to write for QST and QEX, and we discovered that three hams (two of them students) in the room were already ARRL publication contributors to QST and QEX. The lively discussion was live-streamed on Facebook and also on YouTube. Later on Saturday, ARRL sponsored pizza and a visit to the UCF college station nearby. Scott Westerman, PR Committee chair, was also on hand. 6. On Wednesday evening, I spoke with 55 members of the D.E.A.R.S. club (Disney Emergency Amateur Radio Service), one of several clubs sponsored by the Disney Company throughout the country. Disney allowed the club to use staff its conference facilities at Disney World and invited a large group of the club's officers and senior members to dinner at the DW Animal Kingdom resort following the meeting. (I am grateful to DEARS for a set of Mickey Mouse Ears with my call sign embroidered on the back!) DEARS is an exemplary organization, which is active, on-the-air, and fully-engaged with the community. It receives significant financial support from Disney: $2,000. for each member's 100-hour volunteering annually. 7. [cid:image008.jpg@01D285DD.0C460DF0] Mr. & Mrs. Craig Fugate stopped by the ARRL booth on Saturday for a brief visit. Craig indicated that his government service (7 years, 8 months) is over, and pledged his support to ARRL. His message was simply, "I'm here, put me to work." 8. In addition to Rod Stafford, former SE Director Frank Butler was visibly present at the Booth and throughout the event. In a flurry of shuttle diplomacy, he arranged two meetings between Florida Repeater Council leaders and Bob Greenburg, owner of Rfinder, whose booth was adjacent to ours. Bob said Frank's active advocacy for the new Repeater Directory was immeasurably helpful to effecting an agreement. Overall, the event was a success, especially in the size and vibrancy of the crowds. Next year, I would recommend that we increase the staff attendance by one or two since nobody got a break during the 9AM-4PM hours. And we were fortunate to have two full-time in-the-booth volunteers. I would also suggest that we arrange for an ARRL tent with chairs and a podium for ARRL events nearby the North building. It was a ten minute walk to the Division forum and a twenty-minute walk to the college event. Clearly, the distance and time required reduced attendance. I feel the improved attendance would justify the expense. Gallagher 2/13/17 Tom Gallagher - NY2RF Chief Executive Officer ARRL Headquarters ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(tm) 860 594 0404 cell 704 907 7158 tgallagher(a)arrl.org<mailto:tgallagher@arrl.org>

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[arrl-odv:26226] 60-Second Century
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF 13 Feb '17

13 Feb '17

Ladies & Gentlemen: In January, Rick Roderick and Jim Pace asked me to make more effort to "speak to members." As a first step, Sean Kutzko and Becky Schoenfeld commissioned a one-minute video promo released on our website and through our YouTube channel which Becky dubbed 60-Second Century, a preview of the QST Magazine Second Century editorial's content in the current month. Two weeks ago, Sean and I, along with ARRL's contract videographer, Tony Tyson [shown in the attached photo] traversed the New England Scenic Trail at 600 feet after a snowfall to make the below-linked video. Snow and ice-covered rock is no country for old men. But here it is. If these videos get some hits after a few months, we will sustain the effort and perhaps, more useful, try the same thing for other publication topics. Hopefully, it helps place a human face on ARRL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdkRr8BYb9E Gallagher 2/13/17 Tom Gallagher - NY2RF Chief Executive Officer ARRL Headquarters ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(tm) 860 594 0404 cell 704 907 7158 tgallagher(a)arrl.org<mailto:tgallagher@arrl.org>

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[arrl-odv:26219] Fwd: March QST Cover
by k5ur＠aol.com 10 Feb '17

10 Feb '17

Heads up, everyone. See email string below. 73 Rick - K5UR ... -----Original Message----- From: Ford, Steve, WB8IMY, WB8IMY <sford(a)arrl.org> To: k5ur <k5ur(a)aol.com>; Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF, NY2RF <tgallagher(a)arrl.org>; Roderick, Rick, K5UR (President), K5UR (President) <K5UR(a)arrl.org> Sent: Fri, Feb 10, 2017 1:23 pm Subject: RE: March QST Cover Rick: It appears that the image was “staged.” The young woman is, in fact, only a few feet off the ground. Regardless, we should have noticed that her rigging was not properly set up. It isn’t the fault of the school group that they submitted a staged image. We have published staged images before and will no doubt do so again. No, the fault rests squarely with us and I have to take responsibility. Fortunately, we have a tower climbing safety article in the same issue and it is very well done. We will publish a correction in the Correspondence section of April QST. I don’t have access to ODV, but it would probably be a good idea to let them know. 73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY From: k5ur(a)aol.com [mailto:k5ur@aol.com] Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 12:50 PM To: Ford, Steve, WB8IMY <sford(a)arrl.org>; Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF <tgallagher(a)arrl.org>; Roderick, Rick, K5UR (President) <K5UR(a)arrl.org> Subject: Re: March QST Cover Thanks for the heads up, Steve. Keep us posted. We may need to get something out to ODV as we learn more. 73 Rick - K5UR ... -----Original Message----- From: Ford, Steve, WB8IMY, WB8IMY <sford(a)arrl.org> To: Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF, NY2RF <tgallagher(a)arrl.org>; Roderick, Rick, K5UR (President), K5UR (President) <K5UR(a)arrl.org> Sent: Fri, Feb 10, 2017 10:54 am Subject: March QST Cover The otherwise attractive photo on the March QST cover may have a serious problem that no one noticed until a couple of members called it to our attention this morning. In the photo, the line securing the young woman’s body harness on the tower appears to be only held together with twist ties. That is, of course, wildly unsafe, if true. Becky is contacting the individuals for more details. We may have to issue a correction/retraction. I’m just letting you know in case members contact you directly about this. 73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY

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[arrl-odv:26212] Re: Survey is live
by Tom Frenaye 10 Feb '17

10 Feb '17

At 11:10 AM 2/9/2017, Greg Sarratt wrote: >Several local hams are concerned that they have to select a choice on this question. They want a "None" selection. > >What additional HF bands beyond those currently allowed for Technicians should be available to the entry-level license? Check all that apply. >160 meters >60 meters >30 meters >20 meters >17 meters >12 meters > >73, >Greg, W4OZK Good point. Will have it added. Thanks -- 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:26213] FCC Chairman Pai and Enforcement
by Christopher Imlay 09 Feb '17

09 Feb '17

We are getting multiple indications that FCC Chairman Pai is serious about enforcement reform. The attached Public Notice indicates that he intends to increase the Commissioners' engagement in the enforcement process, by nixing consent decrees approved only by staff under delegated authority. Though not directly relevant to Amateur Enforcement proceedings, there was one consent decree in an Amateur Radio malicious interference case some years ago involving a wrist slap that would not have been accepted under this new policy instituted today by Chairman Pai. However, the reason for sending this is that, after Pai described enforcement as being critical to FCC's mission earlier this week, he is now starting to put his money where his mouth is. That is a good sign for our ongoing enforcement initiative. 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:26214] Re: FCC Chairman Pai and Enforcement
by k5ur＠aol.com 09 Feb '17

09 Feb '17

Thanks, Chris. Interesting. Given there's only been one consent decree in some years, perhaps this will add emphasis to and promote expectations of the Commissioners' involvement in bringing enforcement to the forefront. Probably wishful thinking, but let's hope for some improvement in Amateur Radio enforcement. 73 Rick - K5UR ... -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Imlay <w3kd.arrl(a)gmail.com> To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv(a)arrl.org> Sent: Thu, Feb 9, 2017 12:01 pm Subject: [arrl-odv:26213] FCC Chairman Pai and Enforcement We are getting multiple indications that FCC Chairman Pai is serious about enforcement reform. The attached Public Notice indicates that he intends to increase the Commissioners' engagement in the enforcement process, by nixing consent decrees approved only by staff under delegated authority. Though not directly relevant to Amateur Enforcement proceedings, there was one consent decree in an Amateur Radio malicious interference case some years ago involving a wrist slap that would not have been accepted under this new policy instituted today by Chairman Pai. However, the reason for sending this is that, after Pai described enforcement as being critical to FCC's mission earlier this week, he is now starting to put his money where his mouth is. That is a good sign for our ongoing enforcement initiative. 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 _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

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[arrl-odv:26207] HQ Closed Thursday
by Shelley, Barry, N1VXY 09 Feb '17

09 Feb '17

Good Morning: Connecticut is experiencing a major snow event today, beginning at about 4 am and continuing throughout the day into the evening rush hour. Snow accumulations are expected up to 18 inches across the state by the afternoon rush hour. As such, we have decided to close the HQ building for the day. We plan to be open at the normal hour tomorrow morning. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer

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[arrl-odv:26209] Survey is live
by Tom Frenaye 09 Feb '17

09 Feb '17

The survey on a possible entry level license went live yesterday afternoon along with a short web story. You will likely be getting direct input from members in your Division during the next few weeks, and at hamfests as well. April QST will also have a very short article about it. The closing data for the survey is April 7th. I'm told that as of this morning around 1100 responses have been received. Wow! It's going to take some time to go through them all. We expect to hear strong opinions for change - and not for change. -- Tom Entry Level License committee ===== 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:26206] Survey of Membership Lapses December 2016
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF 07 Feb '17

07 Feb '17

Ladies & Gentlemen: Please find attached a .pdf file with December's survey of membership lapses and the member's reasons for not renewing. As painful as it is, I ask you to read as many of these responses as you can-which Diane Petrilli has extracted and summarized. Before you open the .pdf, here is a summary of the responses: December 2016 expirees who did not renew their membership by January 31, 2017 In just over 4 days, we have received a 16% response rate (same as last month). As you read the results, remember that we know that members for whom we have an e-mail address are more likely to be engaged with ARRL. The report is sorted by the primary reason they did not renew their membership. The raw data is attached (cleaned up a little) and below is a short summary. Headline: 74% of the lapsed members claim to be active in Amateur Radio (vs. 70% last month). 53% of all expirees who responded said "money" or "lack of value" was their primary reason for not renewing (identical to last month). More lapsed members indicated money/value, but not as their primary reason. This month, I also started to look at those who mentioned offering alternate membership categories - digital only membership or memberships for those who still want to give ARRL something but not pay for full membership. 6.5% of all those expirees who responded mention an alternate membership category. 11% said it was an oversight/they forgot to renew (13% last month*) 10% said they were not active/interested in Amateur Radio anymore (11% for last month) 5% said QST (3% last month) 3% said no time (4% last month) ----- 18% gave other/general reasons - health, antenna problems, Florida Director election, need help, multiple reasons (16% last month). ----- 100% Gallagher 02/07/17

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[arrl-odv:26205] Board Photo 2017.pdf
by Pereira, Carla 06 Feb '17

06 Feb '17

Dear Members of the ODV: Attached is the photo of the full board taken at last month's meeting. Best regards, Carla Carla Pereira Assistant to Tom Gallagher NY2RF ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio(tm) Tel:1-860-594-0242<tel:1-860-594-0242> Fax:1-860-594-0259 cpereira(a)arrl.org<mailto:cpereira@arrl.org>

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