June 2017 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:26528] OO Program Study communications
by Brian Mileshosky 06 Jul '17

06 Jul '17

Greetings — For your awareness, the following message was just emailed directly to every Section Manager and Official Observer Coordinator to provide information and an update about the OO Program study that is underway. 73, Brian N5ZGT ========================= Fellow Section Manager and Official Observer Coordinator -- My name is Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, and I serve as ARRL’s Second Vice President. I have been tasked by ARRL’s Executive Committee (EC) to oversee ARRL’s Official Observer Program Revitalization Study. The purpose of my email to you is to provide some background on the study, what’s happening at present, and what you can expect going forward. I ask that you please share this note with the Official Observers in your Section. The study group is composed of Steve Ewald (ARRL Field Organization Supervisor), Dan Henderson (ARRL Regulatory Information Manager), Chris Imlay (ARRL General Counsel), Dave Patton (ARRL Field Services Manager), and myself. Serving in an advisory role is amateur radio’s great friend Riley Hollingsworth (Former FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement). Atlantic Division Director Tom Abernethy W3TOM and Central Division Director Kermit Carlson W9XA are also on hand as liaisons to ARRL’s Programs & Services and Administration & Finance, respectively. The Official Observer Program Revitalization Study came about for a couple of reasons: First, because it has been at least two decades since the OO program has undergone any considerable review for opportunities to modernize or become more efficient – both at the ARRL Headquarters level where the program is administered by staff, and in the field where the program is executed by you and your team. My very first voluntary role within ARRL, some 20 years ago, was as an Official Observer. I look back and don’t see much difference between today’s program and that of two decades ago. Both ARRL staff and the Board agreed a review was long overdue. The second motivation for the study is that FCC has changed over the years, for better or for worse. Ever increasing budget pressures have changed the way FCC has been able to monitor, investigate, and pursue offenders across all radio spectrum, not just amateur radio’s. Field offices across the nation have closed, many staff who manned those offices have left FCC, FCC personnel in general have been expected to do more with less resources, enforcement priorities have changed, and more. How does an Official Observer program that’s remained largely unchanged for 20 years provide the most efficient and effective support to an FCC that has changed tremendously over the same timeframe? As FCC is the primary customer and end-user of the Official Observer program, it is of vital importance that the "impedance match" between the OO program and FCC be as optimal as possible. Otherwise the valuable time and energy expended by volunteer OOs across the nation is largely for naught. With the two aforementioned motivations in mind, the team that I am leading has taken on a thorough review of the OO program — starting with its interface and relationship with FCC, then focusing on the program’s administration at ARRL HQ, then ultimately the volunteer/field aspects. We are reviewing everything, with an eye on improvement, efficiency, and optimizing that impedance match with today’s FCC. Here is a small sampling of the type of the questions we are asking and then studying: What’s working? What can be improved? What does today’s FCC, given its evolved landscape, need from the OO program to get maximum value from the work of its volunteers? What technologies are out there to help better administer the OO program? How can ARRL better collect, catalog, review, and forward observer field reports to FCC? Should observers' accreditation be perpetual or limited to a number of years to ensure an active and trained volunteer community? What periodic ‘continuing education’ activities could be offered to observers to build community and grow knowledge? Our charge is to develop ideas and recommendations that may contribute to a more efficient and modern program. Our ideas will be delivered in the next few months to ARRL’s Executive Committee (the committee that commissioned this study), which will then engage ARRL’s standing committees (Programs & Services, which looks at the programmatic aspects of ARRL, and Administration & Finance, which focuses on the staffing and financial aspects of ARRL). What is approved by these committees will ultimately appear before ARRL’s board of directors for its consideration. Only after the Board’s buy-in and approval will any major changes to the Official Observer program be implemented. Thoughtful ideas and feedback from within the Official Observer community will be solicited between now and, through your elected Director, prior to the full Board’s consideration. In the meantime, the current Official Observer program continues to operate as it always has. Continue to keep an eye on the bands. Document blatant rule violations and report them up the chain. Recognize good amateurs who are leading by example with ‘Good Operator notices’. Provide friendly heads up and assistance to those who make unwitting mistakes. The only change in operations at ARRL HQ is a temporary pause to the appointment of brand-new Official Observers that HQ staff has imposed upon itself. This was done to largely to allow staff to focus on the study that’s underway, and also to ensure that new volunteers aren’t trained and processed into the existing program, only to turn around and be potentially burdened with different training and processing under a potentially new program. I hope this note provides an idea of what’s underway, the important factors that motivated the study, and the steps to come. I welcome your questions and thoughtful input, and thank you for the time and energy you and your team devote to serving the amateur radio community. 73, Brian N5ZGT ARRL Second Vice President

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[arrl-odv:26547] IN News June 30 2017
by Pereira, Carla 30 Jun '17

30 Jun '17

Dear All: Attached please see this week's IN Newsletter. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend! Carla Pereira, KC1HSX 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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[arrl-odv:26546] Thank you Note from NTIA
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF (CEO) 29 Jun '17

29 Jun '17

Ladies & Gentlemen: This week I spent time in Orlando attending CITEL's regional meetings with ARRL's Jon Siverling. The Department of State granted me an extraordinary courtesy by permitting me to register at the last moment (30 days prior). I was able to meet a number of the US delegation members. One of them, Charles Glass is NTIA's international spectrum policy chief. Unprompted he sent me the email below. I don't think I fully understood the ITU process, the tediousness and glacial speed at which it moves until I actually experienced it firsthand. Most of all, I didn't appreciate how much of the progress depends upon the personal relationships developed in the hallways outside the meeting rooms. NTIA's Glass is an individual who had a less than pleasant experience with Jon's predecessor. The resulting friction was a cause for concern in the past. Apparently, this is no longer an issue. I also don't think that our ARRL members fully appreciate what people like Jon do in the international arena. They tend to focus on FCC and domestic topics but overlook the cross-border dimensions. I will try to emphasize Jon's and the League's contributions in future writings and appearances. But in the meantime, you all have the report card from NTIA. Gallagher 6/29/17 From: Glass, Charles [mailto:CGlass@ntia.doc.gov] Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2017 11:53 AM To: Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF (CEO) <tgallagher(a)arrl.org> Subject: Thanks Mr. Gallagher, It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday. We should see if we can arrange a meet-and-greet meeting with you and Paige Atkins (Associate Administrator of NTIA's Office of Spectrum Management) at some point. I would also like to take the opportunity to let you know what a true pleasure it has been to work with Jonathan Siverling. Jonathan is a true professional and is always eager to help on any delegation he participates in and his expertise, friendly disposition, outstanding diplomacy, and superb language and communication skills has made him an integral part of U.S. outreach efforts. He is a recognized leading technical expert in Amateur issues as you would expect, but his diplomatic expertise allows him to navigate even the most difficult of political issues revolving around representation of Amateur issues. Jonathan is a true credit to your organization, an invaluable member of an delegation he attends, and an example for other U.S. delegates in all matters involving the ITU, CITEL, and other regional preparatory activities. The only regret I have is that we often overwork Jonathan since he has become an army of one. I would urge you to use his expertise to mentor younger engineers to develop ongoing talent that can assist ARRL and to ensure continuation of the knowledge base he represents. Anyone he trains would be an asset for ARRL and the U.S. overall. Thank you for allowing him to support ARRL in the ITU-R activities and wanted you to know just how integral he is to our efforts. Cheers, Charles Glass Chief, International Spectrum Policy Division U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration Room 4090 1401 Constitution Ave, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230 Office: 202-482-1896 Cell: +1 202-714-1763 e-mail: cglass(a)ntia.doc.gov<mailto:cglass@ntia.doc.gov>

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[arrl-odv:26545] Oregon Bill attached
by Northwestern Division Director 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

I'm not certain why the link didn't work, as it works here. I've attached the Bill. 73, Jim

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[arrl-odv:26542] Oregon Distracted Driving Bill
by Northwestern Division Director 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

Good Morning As you all know, distracted driving bills have been hot buttons in many states. Oregon has finally received good report from the Legislature. see: https://web.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=137994&pa… It is interesting how they put this together. Bravo Zulu to the Oregon grass roots movement. 73, jim

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[arrl-odv:26536] ET Docket 15-26; Vehicular radars in the 76-81 GHz band; DRAFT Report and Order
by Christopher Imlay 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

Greetings. President Roderick has asked that I circulate to ODV the following, which I sent to the Executive Committee earlier today. FCC has adopted a new procedure of circulating to the public draft Reports and Orders ahead of the time that they are considered at an upcoming FCC open meeting. In my view this is a great idea of Ajit Pai's and it is about time they threw a little sunshine on their actions. FCC has released a DRAFT report and order, to be considered at its July 13 Open Meeting, to address the allocation status of the 76-81 GHz band. The 50-page draft report and order is attached, but the relevant portions are paragraphs 13-18 on pages 8 through 11. Bottom line: Amateur Radio fared quite well here. On the upside, Amateurs retained an allocation in the entirety of 76-81 GHz; the FCC is removing the 19-year-old suspension of the use of 76-77 GHz by Amateurs (imposed in order to protect first generation vehicular radars ) so as to allow us access to that band once again; and this Order cements the Amateur allocation in the United States for many years to come. On the downside, the small primary allocation that Amateurs had at 77-77.5 GHz has been reduced to secondary status to match the remainder of the 76-81 GHz segment , but the secondary status that we have had for many years in the remainder of the band has not been a limiting factor due to the high level of frequency re-use possible as the result of propagation limitations and other factors . Also, to have a consistent power level among the various services sharing this segment , FCC has imposed a power limit of 55 dBm EIRP (which translates in the proposed rules to 316 watts EIRP). The proposal that Robert Bosch, LLC made was that there was ample compatibility between vehicular radars and Amateur Radio and that no power limit was necessary for Amateur Radio , but several automotive manufacturers asked that Amateur Radio be ousted from the band. Delphi Automotive asked for a power limit . An n individual amateur indicated that some Amateur operations in the band were currently at between 66-71 dBm. I have not checked with the ARRL laboratory staff about the impact of a 316-watt EIRP limit on Amateur "hilltopping" but will do so shortly. This was resolved reasonably favorably to Amateur Radio largely because of the coordinated support between Bosch and ARRL. I consider it a win for Amateur Radio overall. 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:26537] Membership Stats
by k5ur＠aol.com 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

Hi all: It's been a couple of monthssince I sent an email about membership stats. Please take a look at thenumbers: http://www.arrl.org/membership-stats For the past three months (March,April, and May), each month was -3.7% versus last year, with each Division still negative. Please keep that in mind while wemake the rounds in hamfest season. Let's turn is around. Which Division willbe the first to turn a positive number? 73 Rick - K5UR ...

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[arrl-odv:26518] Amendments to ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws
by k6jat＠comcast.net 23 Jun '17

23 Jun '17

Greetings: Pursuant to Article 9 of the ARRL Articles of Association, please take notice that proposed amendments to the ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws have been mailed and are attached hereto for your consideration. For your convenience and ease of reference both clean and redline versions are provided here. Jim K6JAT

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[arrl-odv:26533] Handling of constitutional amendments--Robert's Rules
by G Widin 23 Jun '17

23 Jun '17

I was interested in what Robert's Rules requires concerning amendment of proposed Bylaw (constitution) amendments. Section 57 deals with Amendment of Bylaws. The section "Amending a Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws" says: If the bylaws require previous notice for their amendment, ...no amendment of a bylaw amendment is in order that increases the modification of the article or provision to be amended.(Roberts Rules of Order, 11th edition, p. 595) The key concept is "increases the modification." An example given in Robert's is if current dues are $10 and an amendment to increase them to $25 is properly noticed, then if an amendment to the amendment is offered, it is in order only if the proposal is *less extreme* than the original amendment. For example, an amendment to make the new dues $20 would be *in order*, while an amendment to make the new dues $30 would be *out of order*, since that is further away from the original dues than the Board received notice of in the announcement of the amendment. 73, Greg, K0GW <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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[arrl-odv:26529] In Newsletter June 23 2017
by Pereira, Carla 23 Jun '17

23 Jun '17

[ARRL logo-and-logotype black gold vertical] IN-Newsletter Vol. 42, No. 24 June 23, 2017 Covers the period June 11 - June 17, 2017 Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events: PCC.II June 26 - 29 @ Orlando, FL HAM RADIO 2017 July 14 - 16 @ Friedrichshafen, Germany Administration & Finance Committee July 20 @ HQ, Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee July 20 @ HQ, Newington, CT ARRL 2nd Board Meeting July 21 - 22 @ Farmington, CT Tokyo HAMFEST September 2 - 3 @ Tokyo, Japan New England Division Convention September 8 - 10 @ Boxboro, MA ARRL Audio News Below is a link to last week's edition of the ARRL Audio News podcast, dated June 16, 2017: https://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/24540840/arrl-audio-news-june-162017?… Chief Executive Office Reported by Tom Gallagher, NY2RF Tom Gallagher met with Joe Walsh last week, who was at HQ to record PSA's. They spent time at W1AW before Mr. Walsh departed for his concert that evening. More information on Joe's visit is available on ARRL's social media. The visit was organized by Dan Henderson. Carla Pereira made her first contacts via satellite. She made 6 contacts, the very first being in Mexico. All thanks to Sean Kutzko, KX9X for executing the controls! Planning and preparations for the 2nd Board Meeting in July are actively under way. Development Reported by Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD The ARRL Foundation is pleased to announce approval of two new scholarships: The Medical Amateur Radio Council (MARCO) Scholarship and The Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club (SVARC) Scholarship. Also, an additional General Fund Scholarship has been awarded to Ruth A. Willet, KM4LAO, of Lawrenceville, GA, in the amount of $2,000, and The Peoria Area Amateur Radio Club Scholarship has been reissued to Kaitlyn M. Mayfield, KC9REW, of Coal Valley, IL, in the amount of $500. There is another new scholarship (Terms of Reference) currently before the Board for approval, and five new scholarships are in discussion with the Development Office. The new bench at W1AW, a benefit of a $10,000 Diamond Club donation, was installed on June 21, 2017. Field Services Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Dave Patton visited with world-renowned DXpeditioner Dmitri Zhikarev, RA9USU, who visited HQ Thursday. Dmitri just ended a short DXpedition to Libya as 5A5A. Production Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY The August issue of QST is at the printer. Radiosport Reported by Norm Fusaro, W3IZ Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 1 - 2 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1 - 2 Business Days 2017 DXCC Applications 5792 2017 WAS Applications 659 2017 VUCC Applications 257 2017 WPX Applications 308 Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Jackie Ferreira reports that news stories promoting 2017 ARRL Field Day merchandise and AmazonSmile ran last week. The AmazonSmile<http://smile.amazon.com/> foundation donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible AmazonSmile items to ARRL-from purchases made by members and friends who have selected American Radio Relay League (ARRL) as their charity of choice. Instead of shopping at Amazon.com, try shopping at smile.amazon.com. More information is available at www.arrl.org/Amazon<http://www.arrl.org/Amazon>. We encourage member participation in AmazonSmile through e-mailings, ARRL's Facebook page, ARRL News, and e-newsletters. ARRL received total donations of $6,699 from AmazonSmile in 2016, and $2,174 YTD. Membership materials had been shipped to support the all-volunteer ARRL team of Division officials and Field Organization volunteers at the West Gulf Division Convention, Ham-Com, held June 9-10 in Irving, Texas. Following the convention, Oklahoma Section Manager Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW promptly returned 112 membership applications to HQ for processing. Bob Inderbitzen reviewed marketing materials promoting the ARRL Visa<http://www.arrl.org/visa> credit card, serviced by U.S. Bank. Content on our website was updated for bank compliance. U.S. Bank will conduct mailings to promote the credit card benefit to members in July. Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations Leona Adams 06/26 - 06/30 PTO Ken Bailey 07/19 PTO Steve Capodicasa 06/26 PTO Joe Carcia 07/05 - 07/07 PTO " 07/14 PTO " 07/21 PTO " 07/28 PTO " 08/04 PTO " 08/07 - 08/11 PTO " 08/25 PTO " 09/05 - 09/08 PTO " 10/09 PTO Lauren Clarke 06/23 AFP Fundraising Day, NYC " 08/01 - 08/04 Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Annual Conference, National Harbor, MD Mike Corey 06/29 FEMA Region 1 Meeting Tom Gallagher 06/22 - 06/28 PCC.II Meeting, Orlando, FL " 06/24 - 06/24 ARRL South Florida Field Day events with Vice Director Joe Tiritilli, N4ZUW " 07/20 - 07/22 ARRL 2nd Board Meeting, Farmington, CT " 08/28 - 09/03 JARL (Tokyo HAMFEST), Tokyo, Japan " 09/04 - 09/11 PTO Regina Galuppi 07/10 PTO Scott Gee 06/29 - 06/30 PTO " 09/15 - 09/18 PTO " 09/22 - 09/25 PTO Jen Glifort 07/05 - 07/07 PTO Perry Green TBD Medical Leave Amanda Grimaldi 07/19 - 07/21 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, VA Dan Henderson 06/28 - 06/30 PTO " 07/19 - 07/23 PSC Committee and Board of Directors meetings, HQ " 07/05 PTO " 07/20 - 07/22 ARRL 2nd Board Meeting, Farmington, CT Gail Iannone 08/10 - 08/16 PTO Bob Inderbitzen 06/30 - 07/05 PTO " 07/11 - 07/17 HAM RADIO, Friedrichshafen, Germany " 07/18 PTO " 08/21 - 08/25 PTO Sean Kutzko 06/29 - 07/09 PTO " 07/17 PTO Maryann MacDonald 08/14 - 08/29 PTO Allie McLellan 05/25 - 08/01 On Leave Diane Middleton 06/23 PTO " 06/28 - 06/30 PTO Carla Pereira 07/05 PTO " 07/20 - 07/22 ARRL 2nd Board Meeting, Farmington, CT " 07/31 PTO " 09-05 - 09/08 PTO Diane Petrilli 06/26 - 06/30 PTO " 07/07 PTO " 07/14 PTO " 07/28 PTO " 08/04 - 08/11 PTO " 09/29 PTO John Proctor 06/14 - 06/28 PTO Andy Shefrin 07/10 - 07/14 PTO Becky Shoenfeld 06/23/17 PTO " 07/24 - 07/28 PTO Barry Shelley 06/23 PTO " 06/27 PTO " 07/20 - 07/22 ARRL 2nd Board Meeting, Farmington, CT Jon Siverling 07/19 - 07/29 PTO " 08/18 - 08/23 PTO " 10/06 PTO Maria Somma 07/07 PTO " 07/12 - 07/14 PTO " 07/19 - 07/21 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, VA Compiled and Edited by: Carla Pereira, Assistant to CEO

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