IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 37 September 16, 2002 The ARRL Archives Stop thinking up things to do with that empty cage on the second floor. It's the new home of the ARRL Archives, an activity of the Chief Executive Officer's office, abundantly aided and abetted by the Historical Committee headed by Director Jim Maxwell. Perry Williams, W1UED, (who retired as Washington Area Coordinator in 1994), came aboard August 28 as Archivist, working twenty hours a week. And the Cage isn't empty any more; thirty file cabinets, a back wall full of shelves, drafting table and stool, and a computer work station are ready for duty, thanks to Greg Kwasowski, Bob Boucher, Andy Shefrin, and Forrest Simpson. Perry and volunteer Charles Griffen, W1GYR, spent Wednesday working with files, notably regarding our Founder, Hiram Percy Maxim, Charles H. Stewart (vice president under HPM), Arctic explorer D.B. MacMillan, Paul Godley (receiver expert and first person to hear U S amateurs in Europe), among other interesting subjects. There's a temptation to stop and read each file! Development The Diamond Club (DC) recognition program brochure is complete, thanks to the diligent creative efforts of Sue Fagan. The materials for the first mail campaign will be complete on Monday, Sept 16 and are scheduled to mail on September 30. In addition to major donors and major prospects, 55,000 letters will be sent Life Members and other long-time ARRL members. Information to create a compatible Web presence have been sent to Jon Bloom and Tom Hogerty for completion. Informational sessions will be held with staff in Member Services and Circulation to ensure that staff will be able to identify DC members, ensure delivery of benefits and answer questions. Copies of the brochure will be sent to Board members as soon as they are available. In October the 2003 Defense Fund campaign will be underway. In preparation, Web materials have been developed along with a new array of gift options for contributions of $250 or more. These will be available on the Web. Preliminary reports have gone to CNCS on progress towards our goals for the Federal Homeland Security grant. Our program officer, Kathleen Beck, is pleased with our progress on enrolling the first training class of mentors and in the comments from the Red Cross and Salvation Army about ARECC content. Development's revenue projections have been completed. Expense projections and operational plans will be complete this week. Media Relations Jennifer was interviewed by WSHU Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate located in Fairfield Connecticut. The reporter, who did the taping at W1AW, was primarily interested in the federal grant, and also the grant we received from UTC earlier this year. Thanks go to Rick Lindquist who agreed to talk about Morse code and give her some on-the-air audio for the segment. Jennifer is currently working on the PR Department budget for 2003 and 2004. Two excellent PowerPoint presentations have been added to the PR department Web page. The presentations, created by PRC member Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, are perfect for hams giving talks about how to promote ham radio. Jeff has used the presentations many times, with great success. Jennifer worked with PRC Chairman Diane Ortiz, K2DO, on several items addressed during the group's recent conference call. Diane, along with assistance from Rich Moseson, W2VU, came up with a list of pointers to help hams deal with any local media representatives interested in ham radio and its relevance to September 11. That information was posted to the PR reflector. Per the committee's request, Jennifer also posted the group's individual names and e-mail addresses. The committee is interested in being available for questions or concerns from PR list members. For the most part, the committee has always operated "behind the scenes." The next conference call is scheduled for October 3. A member alerted Jennifer to a National Association of Broadcaster's (NAB) booklet called "Getting Your Message on the Air - A Guidebook for Community Non-Profit Organizations." She was told that the booklet could be of use to our volunteers in the field. Jennifer has requested a copy and she is awaiting a decision on whether or not we might be able to share photocopies of the 11 page booklet with those who request one. Along with help from Bart Jahnke and John Hennessee, Jennifer assisted an author who is using ham radio in an action/adventure novel set in 1961. Several of the young characters in the book are hams. Emergency communications continues to be the center of many local presentations to non-ham groups. Jennifer helped two members locate helpful information for talks scheduled with a Rotary group and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Association. Publications The Publications staff continues work on November QST and the November/December issues of QEX and NCJ. The ARRL Letter, Vol 21, No 36, went out Friday, September 13, via e-mail to 63,855 subscribers. So far, 110 repeaters (and a few discrete stations) are transmitting ARRL Audio News in full or in part. While most are in the US, ARRL Audio News also is heard in the UK, South Africa and the Netherlands. Ten Amateur Radio news items were written and/or edited for posting on the ARRL Web site news crawl. Steve Ford attended the Digital Communications Conference in Denver Sept 13-15. APRS, software-defined radiosand 802.11 wireless networking were hot topics. ICOM demonstrated the new D-Star 1.2-GHz digital voice radio. More information and photos are on the ARRL Web site. Sales & Marketing Work continues on all aspects of budget planning and the computer implementation. Dennis and Bob are taking part in discussions with Steve Ford and others about ways to improve the presentation of news about what the League is doing in QST. Deb Jahnke participated in several meetings with Mary Hobart, Kathy Capodicasa and Debra Johnson regarding implementation of the new Diamond Club donor recognition program. Dennis and Bob met with Howard Robins, W1HSR, Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Coordinator, to discuss more promotion of the program through advertising in QST and via ARRLWeb. This contact between departments will become a regular event with the goal of bring additional marketing into planning considerations. The new ARRL Handbook (2003 edition) makes its debut in October's issue of QST which should hit mailboxes this week. These items are now available for ordering via the ARRLWeb catalog: The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications (2003) <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=1921> -- Shipping in mid-October! -- 80th Edition. The most respected communications resource for hams, engineers and technicians since 1926. Softcover. ARRL Order No. 1921--$34.95 The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications (2003 hardcover edition) <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=1948> -- Shipping in mid-October! -- Hardcover edition (limited supply). The most respected communications resource for hams, engineers and technicians since 1926. Hardcover. ARRL Order No. 1948--$49.95 The ARRL Handbook CD for Radio Communications (2003) <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=1956> -- Shipping in November! -- Version 7.0. Includes the entire 2003 edition ARRL Handbook as a fully searchable, easy-to-use CD-ROM. CD-ROM. ARRL Order No. 1956--$39.95 Membership Bob edited letters and accompanying pieces for our 60,000-piece Fall membership campaign. The pieces are scheduled to mail in early October. Product Sales After several failed attempts to entice Ingram Publishers (a distributor serving book stores) into expanding its selection of ARRL titles, a new approach was tried on Wednesday. Our primary goal was to see Ingram pick up Understanding Basic Electronics. The approach was successful and we were rewarded with multiple orders totaling over $6,000. Among other titles, each order contained requests for multiple copies of Understanding Basic Electronics. Lisa Tardette racked up $6347.49 in product orders during the week. As part of her plan to attempt to increase ARRL Dealer QST sales since the cessation of newsstand, Lisa has been working with Kent News Agency to receive bulk quantities of QST monthly for their customers. Com-West has also increased their monthly allotment, citing increased demand. Lisa worked with Bob to draft the next edition of the ARRL Dealer Newsline and the accompanying dealer price list. The newsletter highlights the new 2003 ARRL Handbook and other products. This issue offers drop-shipment (at a fee) to those dealers who order early. The work has been turned over to Production for composition. Zoe Belliveau and Bob assisted an ARRL instructor with a $1,000 order for materials to support the Portuguese Amateur Radio Educational Association. Advertising A routine sales call early this month prompted discussions with a major amateur radio oriented company new to QST to explore a "different" type of advertising. The sales and marketing team was well equipped to take on this challenge for a possible November QST insertion. In the last few months the Sales and Marketing staff has had various meetings with our printer discussing this type of advertising, consisting of tear out advertisements and cards and special inserts etc. Dennis Motschenbacher has made several contacts with other major advertisers to explore this type of advertising.. Joe Bottiglieri and Hanan Rayyashi have been on the phone all week making contact with current and potential advertisers. Our most aggressive calls are being made to past QST advertisers who had discontinued ads for various reasons. Unfortunately most of these companies no longer concentrate on amateur equipment and see no need to advertise in this market. Two such examples are ADI/Premier and Optoelectronics. With this effort basically complete, we can now shift our focus to new advertisers knowing with confidence that know the status of our "typical" client pool. Radio Shack has decided to discontinue its one-page QST ad--featuring its HTX-420 dualband hand held transceiver--after a 6-month run (May through Oct 2002). While disappointing, this fits the pattern of their previous QST ad campaigns in 1996 and 1998. Advertising welcomes new advertisers Piexx of Hillsboro, NH, and CAT 5 JV of San Marcos, TX in the November 2002 issue of QST. In addition to sales calls, a new Holiday theme advertising reminder was prepared to boost November ad insertions. Easy-to-follow printer specifications for our advertisers were prepared and are now in Production for formatting Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 200 WAS Certificates 25 WAS Endorsements 13 WAC Certificates 46 WAC Endorsements 12 5 Band WAC Certificates 9 Extra Class Certificates 12 Long Term Member Inquiries 1 VUCC Endorsement Applications 4 Grids (Data Entry) 158 VUCC Initial Applications 7 Grids (Data Entry) 474 Spent approximately 20 hours "auditing" the VUCC records of two members whose records contained many duplicate grid locators. This entailed an exhausting search through all the old paper records, which are now in a state of chaos. One member had 16 applications dating from 1994 to the present, with 701 grids claimed, and the other had 21 applications dating from 1994 to the present, with 677 grids claimed. The database records were then reconciled against the paper records. The results showed that about 90% of the dupes were actually re-submitted by the applicant, and about 10% were errors by the data entry person. There were also a few grids found that were submitted, but were never entered in the database. Processing Status: Current or within three weeks. For the coming week-WAS QSL card checking, WAS Specialty awards, mail out WAS awards, VUCC awards processing and mailing, and continued work on budget matters. DXCC Branch Weekly Report September 15, 2002 Beginning Cards 115,518 Cards Received 25,856 Cards Processed 7,399 Ending Cards 133,975 Applications Pending 1,505 Processing Time 5 Weeks Year-to-date Cards Received 499,237 Cards Returned 453,444 QRP Issued this week 4 QRP YTD 235 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on August 5, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on August 16, 2002. The noticeable increase in the workload is part of the normal volume of applications submitted each year at this time for the DXCC Annual List. This buildup should continue until the end of September. Contest Branch The drafts of the DX Phone article for QST was received from the author, edited and sent to Production. The expanded Web version was edited, the various boxes updated, the online database prepared and sent to Web Services for layout and preparation. We also began working on updating contest records for smaller contests. Preliminary results for the June VHF QSO party were received from the log processing team and were reviewed. A scoring problem was discovered, corrected and new scores were received from the team. They will be processed this coming week and results prepared to send to the author of that write-up. Considerable work was done in editing the revised "General Rules for all ARRL Contests," General Rules for ARRL Contests on Bands Below 30 MHz," and "General Rules for ARRL Contests on Bands Above 50 MHz." A summary of rules changes and a "FAQ" article was prepared for November QST. The General Rules will not appear in QST but will be found in their entirety on the ARRL Web. We are exploring a new style of Contest Announcement with QST contributor Ward Silver, N0AX. The announcement will be a brief overview summary (What? When? How to participate?), written primarily for members who are not already familiar with the contest program. The idea is to present the basics needed to participate in a friendly, easy-to-read manner, with references to the complete rules on the Web site (or available for an SASE). Any rules changes from previous years will be included in the QST announcements. QSL Bureau QSL Service Status: Current. Cards mailed as of 09/15/2002: 1,473,050. Cards mailed on 9/13/02: 70,875. Janet Rocco spent 10 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW In honor of September 11, 2001, all the code practice text used on Wednesday, September 11, came from the November 2001 QST article detailing the amateur radio involvement in the aftermath of the tragedy. Thanks to the Production Department for supplying W1AW with the text on such short notice! Joe updated the Web code practice files. He also replaced the batteries in the various UPSs that control the Main Operating Console and Staff PCs. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice runs for the month of September, as well as the special 9/11/02 runs. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW Telephone Sales year to date (2002): $8,181. Field & Educational Services Rosalie set up and took part in an ARISS-I school teleconference meeting, and completed the departmental budget. The Expedition 5 crew had a successful QSO with Glen Waverley College in Australia this week. Field & Educational Support Team Gail Iannone wrote 12 hamfest and 2 convention announcements for November QST. She also sent 3 hamfest approval letters and 2 convention approval letters to the sponsoring clubs confirming the Division Director's approval of the events as ARRL-sanctioned, processed 17 door prize orders, and sent 21 handout packages for upcoming events. She also coordinated travel for Dan Miller, K3UFG, to be the HQ rep at the Florida State Convention. Jo-Ann Arel updated 25 clubs, 11 instructors, 2 teachers, and mailed out 4 Exhibit Kits, 5 JOTA kits, 900 brochures, and 26 videos. She reports that F&ES revenue brought in for videolibrary tapes, postage reimbursement and other items, for the month of August was $785, typical of summer slow days. Jean Wolfgang updated the Exhibit Kit form removing the Archie Comics (since we will not be reprinting them) and changed the references to the new adult -targeted brochure, Bridging You to New Horizons. She also updated the list of ARISS applications. Margie Bourgoin sent paperwork for 3 new clubs to the appropriate Director/SM for approval and processed one SSC renewal. She also reports being inundated with responses to the recent Teacher survey mailing. Mary Lau reordered stock of our popular FSD- 220 (operating aids), FSD-218- (Amateur message form/prosigns aids) and the FSD -255 (ARES card). She also relayed messages to the following Sections/Divisions: 2+ KY; 1 = CT, MS, SFL, GA, EB, OH, OR, AR, EWA, ID, and HUD Div. The Big Project Jerry Hill is finalizing the curriculum for the Radio Lab Handbook; he worked with Production Department on proofreading and format. He networked with four teachers interested in being a part of The Big Project, and corresponded with a teacher form a current Pilot School that is hitting the ground running this fall. Emergency Communications Grants Dan Miller has been closely monitoring progress of the UTC grant-funded training in Connecticut, and the CNCS-funded nationwide training that is beginning to be rolled out. 255 CNCS-funded students have begun the combined Level I/Mentor Familiarization training. Dan worked through some of the email backlogged from his vacation. Field Organization/ Public Service Team Steve Ewald worked on November QST. The SM Workshop held at HQ was a resounding success according to reviews received from the 13 SMs who attended. Thanks to the whole department for their roles in helping make things run smoothly. Jerry Hill, Chuck and Leona were on hand to help Steve facilitate the Workshop. Steve and Rick Lindquist prepared a news story for the Web. Leona Adams has received SM candidate statements and is preparing for elections in Western Pennsylvania, West Central Florida and South Carolina. In Southern New Jersey, Eastern Massachusetts, Nebraska, Missouri, New York City-Long Island and Northern New York, incumbent SMs were the only ones submitting petitions; their new terms begin January 1. Chuck Skolaut has been in touch with Riley Hollingsworth on a repeater interference case and is preparing a summary for yet another one. With Chuck's assistance, OOs in East Bay have gathered worthwhile reports for another investigation Riley is working on. Three OO exams were graded this week. Regulatory Information John Hennessee reports assisting amateurs with a local government zoning problem in Pierce County, Washington (K7ENP) and covenant problems in Frisco, TX (KC5LBE) and Brownstown Township, MI (WB8NMW). He received word that Bangladesh is interested starting the process for possibly signing a reciprocal agreement with the US. In addition to the usual mix of questions, he also reports a big increase the past two weeks in regulatory inquiries about emergency communication in response to the developing situation in Iraq and as a result of the 9-11 terrorist actions. CCE Howard Robins met with Dennis Motschenbacher and Bob Inderbitzen to formulate an advertising strategy for our CCE courses. Progress is being made toward expanding our suite of courses, increasing registrations for existing courses, and making our methods, systems, and procedures efficient and user-friendly. Thanks to Tom Hogerty and Jon Bloom, we have a list of course links on the CCE home page. The links go to course-specific data pages, which lead to registration. Jerry Ellis is preparing to open registration for an ARECC Level III class and an HF Digital class next Monday, and has assigned mentors to Level 2 and Antenna Modeling classes starting Monday. Jerry is also processing field exam filings into the system, printing certificates, and has been fielding numerous emails and telephone calls from members. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason Dave Sumner 9/1-9/24 Geneva & Vacation Dave Patton 9/20-9/22 Chicago W9DXCC Convention Jennifer Hagy 10/11-10/14 Vacation Dennis Motschenbacher 9/20-9/21 Chicago W9DXCC Convention `` 9/26-9/28 Ten-Tec Show/Sales Presentation 9/29-10/3 Advertiser and pub dealer visits in Texas `` 10/4-10/5 MFJ/ARRL Days Mike Tracy 9/20 Medical Mary Lau 9/27 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 9/18-9/20 & 9/25 Vacation Rosalie White 9/16-9/19 Vacation `` 9/20-9/22 Arkansas State Convention Steve Ewald 9/25(AM) Seminar `` 9/30-10/4 Vacation Bill Moore 9/18-9/25 Vacation Brennan Price 9/27pm Vacation Debra Johnson 9/19 Seminar Rick Lindquist 9/23 Vacation