IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 47 November 26, 2002 Upcoming Meetings January 17-18, 2003 in Windsor, CT Board Meeting CEO The ARRL HQ will be closed on Thursday the 28th and Friday the 29th in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Sending good wishes your way for a safe and happy holiday weekend! Lisa Kustosik and the Election Committee would like to thank Greg Kwasowski, Mark Dzamba, Jan Carman, Lynne Anderson, Helen Dalton, Linda Kleinschmidt, Kim Rochette, Steve Ewald, Chuck Skolaut, Jerry Hill, Linda Mullally, Sharon Taratula, Heather Dzamba and Ann Brinius for making ballot counting go so smoothly this year. Thanks also to the managers who also contributed to the effort by supplying the staff. Development ARRL was represented at the annual Radio Club of America Banquet at the New York Athletic Club on Friday, November 22. Mary Hobart joined Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, and ARRL member Jerry Agliata, W2GLA, and their wives at the dinner honoring many pioneers in wireless communications. Especially important was news that the Radio Club is considering an annual grant to ARRL to support the Education & Technology Program, based on preliminary contacts made by Walt Stinson, W0CP, and President Jim Haynie, W5JBP. The National Journal, a weekly publication on politics and government, published an article about the recipients of CNCS grants for Homeland Security in the November 23 edition. The article profiles three grantees, including ARRL. The 5,000 readership of this journal are government employees and politicians. The 2003 Defense Fund has reached $154,000 from 3,765 members in 18 working days. The average gift has climbed to $41 per contribution. Several contributions of $1,000 and $500 have been counted so far. The campaign goal is to raise $500,000 by December 31...so make your contribution today, by phone, mail or online at www.arrl.org. The Diamond Club continues to count new donors. The program has attracted 335 donors contributing a total of $49,745. There are 30 contributors donating $250 a year or more. Inquiries continue to come in via phone and email, proving that there is lots of interest in the program. Media Relations Jennifer wrote and distributed a press release to approximately 300 media outlets in the areas affected by the November 10 tornadoes. We were able to obtain a quote from an official in Tennessee who praised the work of ham radio operators. A recent USA Today article focused on the very real problem faced by fire, police and other agencies who find it difficult to communicate amongst themselves during times of emergency. One of the problems is the incompatibility of communications equipment. In response to that article, Jennifer submitted a letter to the editor detailing some of ways ham radio has helped town officials and agencies during emergencies, particularly during situations involving breaks in communications between the responding emergency officials. "Media Hits" and a few items for the new "ARRL in Action" were submitted for the January issue of QST. A piece announcing the upcoming deadline for Leonard Award nominations was sent to Rick for the Web. Another submission for the award was received this week. While on vacation, Jennifer was interviewed by a reporter with the Dallas Morning News. The article will focus on ARRL's "Big Project" pilot school, De Goyler. The reporter was impressed by the youth involvement in ham radio and she wanted to know more about the benefits of getting young people into ham radio. Production/Editorial The January issue of QST has been released to the printer. Special thanks to Shelly Bloom, who spent a large part of Saturday, November 23, compiling the advertising section. Jodi Morin was also in the office on the same day, working on the periodicals CD project. Speaking of January QST, effective with this issue, "ARRL in Action," a new section toward the front of each issue, will focus on what ARRL is doing on behalf of our members. There has been a slight reshuffling of the front section to accommodate the new feature. The "Guide to ARRL Member Services" appears on pages 14 and 15, while Directors and Vice Directors are listed on page 15. The list of Section Managers is on page 16. Jodi Morin, Bob Inderbitzen, Dennis Motschenbacher, Joel Kleinman and Steve Ford planned the look and content of the new feature. Dave Hassler, K7CCC, is the primary author of the news items in this section. On November 27, the ARRLWeb inaugurates a new section devoted to QST (www.arrl.org/qst). It will provide a complete list of the contents of the current issue, along with a downloadable sample article or column. Hyperlinks take readers to related pages on the Web site -- the Product Review archive, propagation charts, Amateur Radio glossary, VHF/UHF standings, QST Feedback (corrections to past articles), The ARRL Letter and much more. The QST page will be updated at the end of every month. The project was a collaboration between the QST editorial, marketing and electronic publications departments. Tom Hogerty, Jon Bloom, Dennis Motschenbacher, Bob Inderbitzen, Joel Kleinman and Steve Ford took part in the planning and rollout of the new section. Sales and Marketing Advertising The January issue has been shipped to the printer. Ad pages are slightly under target for this issue, as the advertisers seem to have used up their ad dollars for the December issue. They will be making a comeback early next year. Staff is currently busy gathering insertions for the February 2003 issue with an early ship date of December 19! Charles Abramson, VP of Marketing for Cable X-Perts stopped at HQ for a visit. Charles shared exciting news of Cable X-Perts recent expansion of their market by selling through local dealers. Cable X-Perts has been in business since 1988 and continues to grow. Hopefully, we'll see the same with their advertising. Deb Jahnke spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Paul Middleton of Kenwood, gleaning details of some organizational changes and how they will affect Kenwood's advertising relationship with ARRL. A follow-up telephone call to discuss specifics is planned for early next week. Quotes have been obtained to provide several key advertisers with alternative advertising methods. Proposals will follow shortly. Marketing QEX and NCJ magazines enjoyed nice bumps in new subscribers during November. There has been a flurry of online sign-ups since the email solicitation conducted on November 5: NCJ--33 new, 10 renewals; QEX--107 new, 40 renewals. A new membership ad was produced for January QST. The piece includes an open letter from President Haynie in which he draws attention to the important contributions of all ARRL members. Bob Inderbitzen crafted written sales text and cover details for the upcoming new ARRL book, Experimental Methods in RF Design. Another book published by Chelsea Green Publishing Company has been added to our product offerings: Wind Power for Home and Business, ARRL Order No. 8867, retail $35.00, <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=8867>. Sales Deb participated in a computer progress meeting to better define current issues so that they can be prioritized and solutions can be handled in a methodical manner. In addition, Deb continues to work on the creation of sales and other related reports. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 450 WAS Endorsements (100-F/C, 100-ES) 4 WAC QSL Cards Checked 36 Extra Class Certificates 21 A-1 Operator Nominations 6 A-1 Operator Certificates 2 Long Term Member Inquiries 1 VUCC QSL Cards Checked 50 VUCC Backfill Application 1 Grids (Data Entry) 226 VUCC Endorsement Applications 19 Grids (Data Entry) 1048 HF Awards Manager appointment: John Gagen, W2YR, Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ. Processing Status: Current or within three weeks. For the coming very short week-WAS QSL card checking, order 5BWAS plates, mail out Extra Class certificates, and process VUCC initial awards. DXCC Branch Weekly Report November 24, 2002 Beginning Cards 225,366 Cards Received 1,295 Cards Processed 29,449 Ending Cards 197,212 Applications Pending 2,021 Processing Time 8.8 Weeks Year-to-date Cards Received 700,428 Cards Returned 584,553 QRPs Issued this week 1 QRPs YTD 253 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on September 24, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on September 24, 2002. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 11/24/2002-1,738,115. No cards were mailed this week. Heather Dzamba spent 4 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW To date, there are currently 107 submissions for the 2002 W1AW FMT. Joe Carcia created an Access database to deal with the FMT submissions. He tracked down a problem with two Harris exciters having difficulties. He also reorganized the workshop, which included installing shelving units on the walls in the shop. Joe also updated the web code practice files and processed regular W1AW QSL card requests. Scott Gee worked on fast and slow code practice runs for the latter part of the month of November. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW Telephone Sales year to date (2002): $10,475. Field & Educational Services Rosalie compiled school statistics for the year 2002 to NASA Hq. She forwarded two officer nominations to the ARISS election committee, and participated in an ARISS-International telecon and a VRC telecon. She reviewed a National Guard CD on response to 9/11--it included 6 situation reports from SMs that Rosalie provided to the National Guard. She also answered two new questionnaires on Amateur Radio emergency response. Regulatory Information John Hennessee completed Chapter 10 of the FCC Rule Book. He coordinated with a ham in Bangladesh and the ARRL Technical Development Office on a possible reciprocal agreement with that country if their government wants it. He assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in Diamondville, WY (N7ERH) and Cook County, MN (KB0BDN). A member wrote about John's assistance: "The ongoing efforts of the League continue to benefit our fraternity, and will continue to have my support, including membership." Field & Education Support Team Mary Lau assisted a Maine club in ways to use the web to find local students to apply for their school scholarship for ham radio operators. She also helped Kristy Perillo with paperwork preps for the Foundation's upcoming audit, and coordinated printing and web file bundling for F&ES's new youth brochure. Margie Bourgoin spent time trouble-shooting various issues for clubs this week. She also processed one new SSC application and 2 renewals. She helped Jean with revisions to the Terms of Reference for selected EAD-based awards and sent notices of that out to affiliated clubs. Linda Mullally registered 2 schoolteachers and 7 volunteer instructors. She also updated 34 club records, with 4 reactivations. Jean Wolfgang responded to emails requesting information on ARISS contacts and provided information for clubs in their area. She is looking into creating some ham radio puzzle activity sheets for students and teachers. Gail Iannone reviewed and tested the new on-line hamfest/convention application form that went "live" at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/hamfests/regform.html. She also sent 5 hamfest approval letters and 1 convention approval letter to the sponsoring committees confirming the Division Director's approval for the events to be ARRL-sanctioned; sent a Wouff Hong supply package for the Florida State Convention, and processed 2 label requests, 3 door prize orders and sent 3 packages of handouts for upcoming hamfests. Amateur Radio Education and Technology Project Jerry Hill hosted 4 West Haven (CT) High School teachers (science, math, technology, media/journalism). They heard about satellites from Steve Ford, and toured the Lab with Ed Hare. Jerry got them on the air from W1AW with a Big Project school in New York. Jerry was invited to visit their high school and the district superintendent, plus give a presentation at the CT State Science Supervisors Conference in May. In turn, the science teacher will assist with integrating science fairs into The Big Project. EmComm Grants Dan Miller reports new CNCS-sponsored Level l classes began this week. Up to 200 more students can register for a December class on the 3rd. A total of 889 students are enrolled in number CNCS-sponsored classes, and 239 have graduated. New mentors sign up almost daily. A total of 205 graduates have completed the UTC-sponsored Level l classes. Dan will host a seminar at the Florida State Convention, and 15 people have signed up thus far. Dan was a guest speaker at the Farmington Valley Men's Club. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald reports ballots for 3 SM elections were counted and verified by staff in F&ES. Re-elected were WCF SM Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, and WPA SM John Rodgers, N3MSE. Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, of South Carolina, becomes a new SM starting January 1. Leona and Steve compiled results for our news staff. Leona Adams reports that a second SM nomination petition from Montana arrived, from Doug Dunn, K7YD. Incumbent Orange Section SM Joe Brown, W6UBQ has been nominated for the next term starting April, 2003. With thanks to Webmaster Jon Bloom, the "Section News Summary" is available to SMs to upload a monthly summary of news and activities to their SM Web Page, and become archived. This section summary report will be sent directly to ARRL members via e-mail. Those members who don't have access to e-mail may write to us to receive the Section News summary via US Mail. Over 12 SMs have posted a summary using this service during the first few days it's existed. Steve continues to assist SMs and is clarifying these new procedures. Chuck is now reviewing Section Manager messages for relay by e-mail to their ARRL members. This week, one message each was handled from MS, CT, AR. Chuck has been receiving several reports of unidentified signals on 20 and 30 meters that were transmitting 5-letter coded groups. We have asked assistance from Field Organization leaders to gather more of these reports. CCE Jerry Ellis opened Antenna Modeling and ARECC Level ll classes this week, and he selected mentors for the Satellite Communications class opening Monday. He created graduation lists for CNCS reimbursement checks. He printed certificates and ID cards using new procedures that have caused the backlog of requests for certificates to be nearly gone. Jerry is compiling data to help with documenting procedures used in administering the CCE program. Beta-testing of the RFI course continues; Howard Robins reports 7 people finished and 4 of them volunteered to be mentors. Comments have been very favorable; Howard is making recommended edits to the draft. The new CCE pre-registration process flagged 36 requests for reminders, 23 for the Level l course. The first batch of CNCS-sponsored Level 1 grad certificates and ID cards was printed using the new data extraction process Howard set up. The process also helps track progress of Dan's grant-funded grads. We hope to see an increase in traffic because of our December QST ad. Ten individuals volunteered to be new mentors for our technical (non-AREC) courses. Most are completing familiarization exercises developed by Dan Miller and Terry Dettmann, our volunteer mentor coordinator. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 11/28-11/29 Holiday Dave Sumner 11/17-11/30 CPM, Geneva Dave Patton 11/27-12/3 Vacation Carol Patton 11/27-12/3 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 12/5-12/6 Vacation Hanan Rayyashi 12/5-12/6 Vacation Jennifer Hagy 11/25-11/27 Vacation Steve Ford 11/27-12/2 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 12/6 Vacation Jan Carman 11/25-11/27 Vacation Rick Lindquist 11/25-11/27 Vacation Wayne Mills 11/15-11/26 Vacation Dan Henderson 11/21-12/2 Italy Convention / vacation Rosalie White 12/2-12/3 Vacation `` 12/4-12/5 ARISS-Intl meeting, Goddard Sp Flt Ctr Steve Ewald 12/2-12/5 Vacation Dan Miller 12/7-12/9 Florida State Convention, Tampa Gail Iannone 12/23-1/3 Vacation Eileen Sapko 11/27 Vacation Joe Carcia 12/2 Vacation Scott Gee 12/6 Vacation Mike Tracy 12/2-12/6 Vacation Helen Dalton 11/27 Vacation