Lady
and Gentlemen,
I
merely wish to make you aware of a test conducted at two hamfests in the GLD
this past weekend. The test was to see if it was feasible to operate a
letter-to-your-representative effort while in the field. I believe the
test was successful.
In
summary, we learned that wireless Internet connectivity could easily be made available
at each hamfest location. As a result, we set up a small printer and a
laptop at the ARRL booth. Thanks to the program N6AA was able to obtain, we
printed letters with the name and address of the relevant representative
(including his/her name in the salutation) and the name and address of the
constituent amateur while the sender was still at the table. With one
printer and one laptop, the operation required about 1-2 minutes/letter.
We
obtained 125 signed letters. In addition, we received many comments
thanking ARRL for becoming active in supporting Amateur Radio in the legislative
arena.
The
125 letters came in spite of the fact there was no PA system at the second
hamfest. The combined attendance at the two hamfests proved to be about
600-700.
FWIW.
Jim
Jim Weaver, K8JE,
Director
ARRL
E-mail: k8je@arrl.org, Tel.: 513-459-1661
ARRL - The
national association for Amateur Radio