<<052009.doc>>
IN-Newsletter
Vol. 32, No. 20
May 20, 2009 -- Covers the period May 10-16.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Second Board Meeting
July 17-18, 2009 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT
CEO Office
The office will be closed Monday, May 25th in observance of Memorial Day. Have a safe Holiday weekend!
Technical Relations
Reported by Brennan Price, N4QX
Brennan Price is in Geneva until May 29, attending ITU Working Party 5A and 5B meetings. CTO Paul Rinaldo and past IARU President Larry Price are also in attendance. Progress is being made on CPM text for Agenda Item 1.23. Brennan also delivered a presentation at the Amateur Radio and the Law forum at the Dayton Hamvention.
Jon Siverling is preparing for CITEL PCC.II in early June and is the lone staffer the Fairfax office while Brennan is in Geneva.
Regulatory Information
Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND
A significant amount of time has been spent during the last two weeks on support of HR2160. The requests for direct contact by members to specific congressmen were distributed directly to the affected DLACs, LACs, LAAs, or to the Division Directors involved during the week of May 4. During the week of May 11, after a teleconference with K1ZZ and John Chwat, a web story about general member contact with their individual Congressmen was written and posted to the ARRL Web along with a sample letter asking members of Congress to consider becoming cosponsors of HR2160.
Working with General Counsel, we assisted Oregon Section Manager Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ, with testimony to be presented to the Oregon Legislature on a very broadly written cellphone bill that would have affected general amateur radio mobile communications. I am happy to report that an amendment exempting amateur radio was successfully added as the result of Bonnie and several other amateurs.
Laura Smith from the FCC contacted us regarding two lawsuits that had been filed against an amateur from San Diego in small claims court over RFI. We have been in touch with several ARRL VCs as well as ARRL General Counsel to provide information to the amateur involved. It is significant to note that in California a litigant is not permitted to be represented by an attorney in small claims court.
A bill in the Arizona state legislature that extends PRB-1 protections to include those affected by CC&Rs has been approved by the state House and is being considered by the state Senate. Regulatory Information and General Counsel are working with AZ Section Manager Tom Fagan, K7DF, on this matter.
During the past two weeks of this report we finalized our displays and PowerPoints for ARRL Expo at Dayton Hamvention. The ARRL Field Day Booth at ARRL Expo was very well received. Almost 5000 Field Day posters were distributed for clubs to take home to advertise their 2009 FD operation. One hundred forty persons attended the ARRL Field Day forum. Many thanks to Roland Anders, K3RA, NC Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, ARRL Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, ARRL Contest Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, and Ward Silver, N0AX, for participating in the forum.
While at Dayton, I also had a productive meeting with Bill Cross and Laura Smith of the FCC. We discussed the continued cooperation with the Commission on pending items such as the updated CEPT notice and the status of some pending enforcement actions. I also attended the FCC forum at Dayton. It was well attended and Laura was well received in her new role as Special Counsel.
There are now 686 clubs and sites listed on the Field Day site locator applet representing 49 states – only North Dakota is missing. There are also sites listed for six Canadian provinces/territories, as well as Puerto Rico. Field Day related phone calls and emails have started to pick up as we begin to move to the final six weeks before the event.
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
PR-101 launched May 14. No big rush at the table, but it appeared there were steady sales across the aisle from us at Dayton. I will be more interested in seeing what the web sales figures will be. The PR Forum had about 35 people, but the AC was broken and it was miserable in the room -hot, muggy, and sucking for air. Still, it seemed to go over well and the PIO hats provided by Walt Palmer, W4ALT, were a hit. Major thanks go to Bill Morine for aiding at the booth Friday and Saturday, Gary Wilson for Saturday and Hope Smith who was almost always there.
The idea of doing press releases at the booth just did not work at all - too many people coming and going far too fast. Lots of Field Day posters, tech brochures and Talk on a Disk were passed out, but then everyone likes freebies. Approximately 15 more people will be added to the PR reflector and another 20-25 want PR related things sent to them in the coming week. I did an hour discussion on Ted Randall's radio show and Bill Morine also put in a hour or so there too. That was fun.
The two video PSA's created are being distributed for Field Day. The audio tracks of the PSA's are being used for radio PSAs. Other Field Day info is being distributed.
The 2006 PR specialized website, www.hello-radio.org has been updated with a major facelift and went live just before Dayton. In addition, based on his video work for the Hello campaign, Kevin ODell has created a PowerPoint and script for a Hello section in the next edition of Talk on a Disk. We will integrate this new material for 3rd ToaD edition which will now have talks for all 3 primary activity areas. I expect to make up 500 copies for use the rest of 2009 and into 2010.
2009 McGan Award deadline for nominations is May 22.
The PRC’s actions regarding “PIO Excellence” is a recognition or excellence in PR during unusual situations. At the request of the PR Committee, commendations went out to Steve Sanders in the NW floods, Joe Gadus in the Corpus Christi hurricane and Bill Moffitt in the San Jose fiber-optic blackout. The decision was made NOT to have formalized criteria for these recognitions in the future as there are too many possible scenarios, but that “the Committee will know it when they see it.” They expect perhaps 1 or 2 a year.
Development
Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH
Development’s participation in the 2009 ARRL Expo at Dayton Hamvention yielded solid results. The Thursday evening reception hosted 110 donors at the Meadowbrook country Club. While Development associates Maryann Macdonald and Margie Bourgoin could not attend, their considerable planning and attention every detail paid off handsomely with perfect execution. Many thanks to Maria Somma, Amy Hurtado, Mark and Doris Spencer and Nathan McCray for their assistance with transportation and set up for the event. During the reception ARRL welcomed several new Maxim Society members. Newly elected IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH shared remarks on his becoming a ham.
During Hamvention the Development enjoyed close proximity to the Meet & Greet Booth at the front of the Expo area. The high visibility helped produce $34,908 in contributions during the show, including several bricks for the Diamond Terrace and two large contributions to the Teachers Institute ($20,000) and the Spectrum Defense Fund ($10,000). In addition, Jeff Beals brought $720 in memorial contributions to honor Sandy Donahue.
Responses to the 2009 Education & Technology Program have started to come in. The follow up letter to major donors will mail next week.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
The fifth printing of the Ham Radio License Manual has been released to the printer.
At Hamvention, Joel Hallas documented all the new gear on display for a QST article and a Web feature, and answered questions at a Doctor is IN forum. Khrystyne Keane took photos and wrote articles for the Web and for QST. She also worked with our Youth Editor, Duncan MacLachlan, KU0DM, who was at Hamvention for the first time. Larry Wolfgang met with existing and potential QEX authors at the TAPR forum and elsewhere, and assisted at the ARRL EXPO kit building table. Steve Ford gave a presentation on digital contesting and kept us entertained with his Hamvention blog.
Khrystyne wrote and Joel Kleinman distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 28, No. 19, for May 15, 2009. ARRL Audio News will resume May 22.
Lab
Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI
Dayton Hamvention
Bob Allison was the official representative of the Lab at the ARRL Expo in Dayton. Over three days, Bob led the effort, helped by Mark Spencer and several volunteers, to teach almost 50 people build their choice of a clock or keyer kit. Bob reported many smiling faces as they all completed the project and left Dayton with a real accomplishment they didn't come there knowing they would do!
Ed Hare attended the Hamvention on his own this year, to be a speaker at the QRP ARCI Four Days in May symposium on Thursday. He gave a report on the test methods used for Product Review testing. He also attended numerous other activities at the event, such as their vendor's night and the infamous QRP banquet. When at the Hara complex, he could usually be found wandering the flea market or hanging out at the QRP booth. As an aside, Ed serves as a member of the QRP ARCI Board of Directors.
On another personal note, Ed also shares that his last round of chemotherapy was several weeks ago, and that he is feeling a lot better nowadays. He also reported that his PET scan showed that there was no indication of any remaining lymphoma, so at this point, his doctor considers him to be in remission. It will be five years before the doctor will use the word "cure," but at this point, Ed says that he has this beaten. He thanks all who offered their prayers and support.
Electronic Publication Support
Zack Lau had an easy and a hard case. The easy one was a Japanese ham who didn’t realize the installation procedure involved only one disk. The hard one was a life member who tried to install the Antenna Book software while running Skype in the background—Skype hammered the InstallShield installation program files. It is likely that his previous difficulties running Echolink are also related to Skype grabbing computer resources—he thought they were blacklisting him.
RFI
Mike Gruber discussed my upcoming trip to Colorado with Bob Witte. In particular, there are two power line noise cases in Northglenn that could possibly use some help. Xcel Energy, the utility in this matter, has already been issued two FCC Letters. Mike also discussed the needed equipment.
Library
Bob Allison started writing an instruction manual for entering books into the Library database. It will also include what errors may be in the database and how to correct them, as well as how to print labels. Working with Tony Nesta, we’ll be re-arranging all of the ARRL Publications in a more logical order. This ongoing project will shorten the time it will take to find a publication. A reminder: please check your office for any books which belong in the Library.
Product Review
Bob Allison was busy purchasing a new computer and loading the required software for testing a new product.
Publication Support
Bob Allison reviewed a technical article for NCJ and clarified a few technical terms.
Mike Gruber reviewed QST ads in the absence of Bob Allison.
Web
Zack Lau divided up the web pages that we intend to import to the new site to MG, EFH, BA, and ZL. We will spruce them up before they get moved.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
ARRL Conventions
Date Name Division City State ARRL HQ Rep.
May 22-24 Wyoming State RM Casper WY Ed Hare
May 29-31 RM Division RM Estes Park CO Kramer/Gruber
May 30 AT Division AT Rochester NY Dan Henderson
Jun 5-7 NW Division (SeaPac) NW Seaside OR Dave Sumner
Jun 6 Georgia State SE Marietta GA Dan Henderson
Jun 12-13 WG Division (Ham-Com) WG Plano TX Dave Sumner
Jun 13 Tennessee State DL Knoxville TN Steve Ewald
Jun 26-28 HAM RADIO 2009 Int’l Friedrichshafen Germany Inderbitzen/Patton
Jul 4 E. Pennsylvania Section AT Bressler PA
Jul 17-18 Arizona State SW Williams AZ
Jul 17-19 Montana State NW Essex MT
Jul 18 W0 DXCC/Contest Central DK Rochester MN
Jul 23-25 Central States VHF CL Elk Grove Village IL
Jul 24-25 Oklahoma Section WG Oklahoma City OK
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
Contest Branch
Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, was among the many staffers attending Dayton this year. He spent most of his time at the IARU booth with representatives of the DARC and JARL, overseeing a CW copying competition using the RUFZ CW training program. Chip Margelli, K7JA, from Heil Sound provided us with 4 boom-mike headsets as prizes to the highest-scoring competitors.
The feedback concerning the Contest Branch was overwhelmingly positive. Numerous individuals, from those just starting in contesting to the seasoned veterans in the Contesting Forum, are very happy with the information being presented in QST regarding Radiosport. Several attendees also spoke highly of the availability of Sean Kutzko to answer questions and provide assistance, and the increased flow of information coming from the department.
Kutzko, along with Ward Silver, NØAX, made a short presentation during the ARRL Field Day forum on using Field Day to recruit new hams. Field Day was a major part of the ARRL's presence at Dayton this year, and the number of people in attendance at the forum shows the heavy promotion of Field Day has worked well.
The presentation of the crystal gavels for the November Sweepstakes club competition during the Contest Forum was a highlight of Dayton. Sweepstakes Contest Manager Ken Adams, K5KA, was on hand to make the presentation to representatives of the Potomac Valley Radio Club, the Southern California Radio Club and the New Mexico Big River Contesters. Everybody was very pleased with Ken's presence and the gavels were a big hit as well.
Kutzko was asked to sit in on a brain-storming session with the ARRL Youth representatives on how to get more youngsters involved with contesting. Several ideas were bandied about and a couple of very good approaches were identified. Kutzko will continue to work to find a good solution with some of our Youth representatives and try to get a few more QSOs in everybody's log.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Leona Adams reports that there will be a three-way election in the South Texas Section this summer. The candidates are Lou Everett, WA5LOU, Lee Cooper, W5LHC, and Gary Tangrady, K5GST. Leona has been working with the candidates to get their statements and photos together by the middle of June. Headquarters also received a Section Manager nomination petition from incumbent Colorado SM Jeff Ryan, KØRM. The Field Organization Team is prepared to count the Utah SM election ballots on Tuesday, May 19.
Steve Ewald continued to work on the July QST duties that included the Field Organization Reports on April activity and the Public Service column and the article showing results of the 2008 SET. Steve, Dennis Dura and Chuck Skolaut discussed last month’s Global SET.
The Field Organization has welcomed new Official Observers from Southern Texas, Western New York and Michigan. Chuck forwarded more pertinent documentation to the FCC about an on-going operation on a 75 meter frequency. We also received the monthly IARU monitoring summary report from IARU Region 1, and we forwarded the monthly OO summary to all OOCs, OOs and Section Managers. Chuck filled in at W1AW for two morning shifts this past week.
Education Services
Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ
Choosing a Radio was finalized for publication in the next printing of the Ham Radio License Manual and related Web pages were developed and posted on the website.
Mark Spencer WA8SME completed a Train the Trainers course for volunteer license instructors and facilitated a forum at Emcomm West/Pacificon. Both events were well attended and apparently well received.
Continuing Education Program
Declining volume in all categories of courses offered through our Continuing Education Program during the first quarter most certainly reflect the reduced number of courses being offered. But you’ll also note a very significant decline (27%) in enrollments in the Technician license course as well as with the other technical courses (34%). You’ll remember that volumes during January and February were roughly comparable to volumes in 2008, so declines experienced in March and April were responsible for the impact upon the YTD numbers. In addition to a reduced number of courses being offered, the increase in course fees effective January 1 is most likely also a factor in the overall decline in online enrollments (23%) since the course sessions opening in March and April would have been the first sessions to be impacted by the fee increases. Field exam volume is also down 53%, reflecting the loss of Level 2 and Level 3 exam volume.
Mar 09 Mar 08 Apr 09 Apr 08 YTD 2009* YTD 2008
EmComm 99 133 62 126 349 423
Technician Licensing 32 66 27 52 166 227
All other courses* 25 36 17 32 82 124
Total 156 235 106 210 597 774
EmComm field exams 44 129 45 89 133 280
2008 Emcomm enrollments and field exam totals include Level 1, 2 and 3 courses. 2009 Emcomm enrollments include Level 1 and Level 2 thru March. The Level 2 course was suspended in April. “All other courses” includes two courses offered in 2008 that were suspended late in 2008 that are not reflected in 2009 totals.
Education & Technology Program
Nathan McCray K9CPO has been assisting Mark Spencer WA8SME on some occasions with composites weather map shots he is receiving from his school’s weather station. He is also supporting other ETP schools, answering questions as they install their weather equipment and the software. Nathan has made additional presentations in district schools to recruit for the TI and is preparing equipment for instruction and working on coordinating other logistics for the session he will lead in Berrien Springs, MI.
Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP is also preparing to lead his first TI session this summer. He has modified the TI curriculum by adding demonstrations and material to the robotics and fox hunting activities and the ATV presentations. Since the majority of the teachers who will attend the session he will be leading this year are math teachers, he added Doppler frequency-calculating activities to the presentation, along with some animated frames that demonstrate the Doppler effect, which he will also provide to the teachers for their use.
Miguel converted video of Mark's 2008 TI instruction at Parallax session into YouTube video vignettes that can be used for training purposes.
Resources for the TIs have been shipped to the near term classes and are in place. We have 3-ETP and 4-progress grant applications in hand for the May round of grants. Mark has started reviewing the applications received thus far.
ARISS
Rosalie White K1STO and several ARISS team members traveled to NASA Johnson Space Center on April 30 for all-day meetings on May 1-2. I joined by conference call. The meetings were held to discuss ARISS educational outreach activities, focusing on evaluation and increasing educational value, training, as well as plans for the future.
The Smithsonian Museum once again asked the ARISS Team to set up a QSO for Space Day, May 2, 2009. A group of local young people plus three retired astronauts and one currently flying astronaut mentored students on science topics prior to the ARISS QSO.
Students from the Marcelino Canino Canion Middle School, in Dorado, Puerto Rico, who took part in ham radio activities and an ARISS contact this past month. A video of their ARISS QSO is now part of the YouTube clips.
Russia may allow one more Space Flight Participant to fly on the ISS before ending the visitor program. Several people have applied to be part of the program, and the ARISS Team will contact whoever might be accepted by the Russian Space Agency. The ARISS Team is working with NASA to plan what ham radio activities might be acceptable for the European Space Agency’s ISS Columbus module.
At the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) on May 2, ARISS Team member Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI was awarded the prestigious Chris Jones Memorial Award in recognition of exceptional contributions to the Amateur Radio service and the WIA. Tony’s award was due to “his outstanding work and commitment in providing and facilitating educational opportunities to school students and teachers worldwide, through the ARISS educational outreach program, as both an ARISS ground station and the Australian ARISS coordinator.”
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Staff Absentee List
All Staff 5/25 Holiday
Leona Adams 6/12 Vacation
`` 6/29-7/2 Vacation
Kathy Allison 7/6-7/10 Vacation
`` 9/25-9/28 Vacation
Bob Allison 7/6-7/10 Vacation
`` 9/25-9/29 Vacation
Joe Carcia 5/22pm Vacation
`` 6/19 Vacation
`` 7/6-7/10 Vacation
`` 7/17 Vacation
`` 7/24 Vacation
`` 7/31 Vacation
`` 8/7 Vacation
Steve Ewald 6/8-6/12 Vacation
`` 6/13 Tennessee State Convention, Knoxville, TN
Steve Ford 6/3-6/5 Publishers Conference, Washington, DC
`` 6/27-7/5 Vacation
Scott Gee 5/28-6/1 Vacation
`` 7/2 Vacation
`` 7/30 Vacation
Mike Gruber 5/29-5/31 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Estes Park, CO
Ed Hare 5/21-5/24 Wyoming State Convention, Casper, WY
Dan Henderson 5/29-5/31 Atlantic Division Convention, Rochester, NY
`` 6/5-6/7 Georgia State Convention, Atlanta, GA
`` 7/23-8/10 Vacation
Mary Hobart 6/12-6/16 Vacation
`` 8/12-8/14 Vacation
Bob Inderbitzen 5/28-6/1 Maker Faire, San Mateo, CA
`` 6/23-6/28 Ham Radio 2009, Friedrichshafen, Germany
`` 6/28-7/2 Vacation
Debra Johnson 6/15-6/16 Vacation
Joel Kleinman 5/22 Vacation
`` 6/4-6/5 Association Publishing Conference, Washington, DC
`` 7/6-7/7 Vacation
Harold Kramer 5/28-6/4 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Estes Park, CO/Vacation
`` 6/12-6/16 Vacation
Sean Kutzko 7/17-7/20 Vacation
Zack Lau 6/11-6/12 Vacation
`` 6/18-6/22 Vacation
`` 6/26-6/30 Vacation
Monique Levesque 5/22 Vacation
Dave Patton 5/18-5/22 Vacation
`` 6/24-6/28 Ham Radio 2009, Friedrichshafen, Germany
Diane Petrilli 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention
Allen Pitts 5/27-6/8 Vacation
Brennan Price 5/17-5/29 ITU WP5A and 5B, Geneva
`` 6/12 Vacation
Jon Siverling 6/1-6/5 CITEL PCC.II, Ottawa
Larry Wolfgang 6/5 Vacation
`` 6/17-6/19 Vacation