IN-Newsletter Vol. 26, No. 40 October 8, 2003 Upcoming Meetings November 8th in Dallas, TX at 8:30am Volunteer Resources Committee November 9th in Dallas, TX at 8:30am Executive Committee November 21st in Newington, CT Division Election Ballot Counting Development The Special Spectrum Defense campaign against BPL has reached nearly $293,000 from more than 5300 donors. So far 143 organizations have responded to the campaign appeal and are recognized on the Honor Roll on the Development pages of the ARRL website. The Diamond Club renewals continues to come in with 108 in so far, including all three at the Director Level ($5000+ annually) and one Platinum level ($2500). The 2004 Spectrum Defense campaign is on track to mail the week of October 24. The next issue of the Legacy Letter will mail in early November. Grant applications for funding for the Education & Technology Program have been submitted to The Home Depot Foundation and to the RGK Foundation for $25,000 each request. An estate gift of $5000 -- the proceeds of an insurance policy -- was received for the W1AW Endowment. Development has been notified of a Microsoft stock gift that will be matched by Microsoft. No contribution amount available yet. Production/Editorial The November/December issue of QEX was released to the printer last week, and the November/December issue of NCJ will be released to the printer this week. It was Joel Hallas' first issue as NCJ Managing Editor. Rick Lindquist reports that The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 39 (Oct 3, 2003) circulated to 66,585 members, an increase of 140 from the previous week. This means about 43% of our members are receiving the Letter each week. Rick prepared stories on the end of the first round of Morse-related petition comments, Logbook of the World's smash success, funding worries for the Space Environment Center (and what it might mean for ham radio), "In Brief" (22 items), a Japanese junior high school's ARISS contact (the last school group scheduled for the Expedition 7 crew), and how ham radio support for Hurricane Isabel is winding down. Rick voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News with voiceover assistance from Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY. Dave Hassler finished the November installment of his Web "ARRL in Action" column. Joel Hallas wrote and submitted a Product Review for the December column. Bob Schetgen submitted the Digital Dimension, Hints & Kinks and Technical Correspondence columns for December QST. Sue Fagan and Di Szlachetka collaborated on a new design for our Publications Catalog, which was released to the printer October 8. Sue Fagan also finished work on pins and printed materials for Telecom 2003. Thanks for assistance from Shelly Bloom and Dan Wolfgang, our two imagesetters and related materials that we no longer use went onto the eBay auction block. Readex is wrapping up work on the QST reader survey. Steve Ford, Bob Inderbitzen and Mark Wilson reviewed the final revisions to the survey booklet. Sales & Marketing Advertising efforts for December QST are in full swing and we are working on obtaining increased commitments from advertisers showcasing new products for the Holidays. Call sheets for this issue have already been created and call assignments doled out. Deb Jahnke worked on Publication Sales preliminaries, author royalty payments, and a current publications re-order sheet and billing for the MFJ Ride-Along Catalog that will appear in mailboxes along with November QST. Lisa Tardette is continuing to contact the few dealers who have not yet placed Antenna Book and Handbook orders. She will also be focusing on several titles that have not performed as expected. Ingram Publishing has made inquiries about carrying several items in our audio/visual line. After explaining that our audio visual line is fairly small, samples and pricing was sent to them. The advertising department spent some time last week rearranging their area so that ad layout can take place in the office. The yearly Statements of Ownership, Management, and Circulation for QST, QEX, and the NCJ have been completed and submitted to the USPS. These reports are very important because failure to submit them by October 1 could result in the loss of eligibility for Periodical Class mailing privileges. As required by the Postal Service, printed copies of all three statements will appear in the respective upcoming issue of each periodical. Bob continued work on the Fall/Winter edition of the Publications Catalog with Sue Fagan and Di Szlachetka. This edition has a fresh look--largely the result of a new design created by Sue and Di. Some cost saving changes have also been integrated, which should have little or no impact on the effectiveness of the catalog. Lisa Tardette and Kathy Capodicasa have assisted with proofreading. The catalog left for press on October 8. Coming in late-October: the 20th anniversary edition of Passport to World Band Radio (2004 edition), ARRL Order No. 9135, retail $22.95. The book is published by International Broadcasting Services, Ltd. The current edition is regularly carried by ARRL. We're still seeing brisk returns to the recent BPL-themed membership solicitation. Membership sign-ups have passed the 1,000 mark, and have been climbing at over 100 applications/day. Lapsed-member Extra class licensees are producing returns over 2.5%. Rob Flickenger's new edition of Building Wireless Community Networks (2nd Edition) became available in September. We've placed our first order for copies to resell. The book will soon be available via the ARRLWeb catalog. This is the second title on the topic of 802.11 wireless networks that we've added to our resale offerings. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 350 WAC QSL Cards Checked 90 WAC Certs. (228 QSLs F/C) 38 5BWAC Certs. (120 QSLs F/C) 4 Extra Class Certs. 60 VUCC Certs. Processed 17 LTMA Inquiries 6 A-1 Op. Certs. 7 VUCC End. Apps. 8 Grids 305 VUCC Backfill Apps. 1 Grids 600 Awards Mailed 35 Processing Status: Current or up to four weeks. For the coming week-Basic WAS awards for September, U.S. WAC awards, certificates, mail out all awards processed this week, and enter the awards-issued information for the latest batch of LTMA recipients into their Siebel records. Contest Branch Data entry for the September VHF QSO Party continued. Printing of DX Contest certificates began, as well as other replacement certificates. A certificate problem with the IARU Contest certificates was identified and corrected with the help of Alan Cohen. The slate of authors for the upcoming contest results includes: June VHF '03 - W3IY IARU '03 - K9LA 10 GHz '03 - K1ZZ August UHF '03 - N1ND September VHF - K1TEO EME - TBA November SS CW - KH6ND November SS Phone - VE4XT 160 Meters - N0FP 10 Meters - N1ND January VHF SS - TBA RTTY Roundup - WS7I DX CW - W4PA DX Phone - N0AX Field Day and Straight Key night will continue to be authored in-house. We are talking with several possibilities for the remaining events. The first draft of the Field Day article was written and photos are being chosen for inclusion in the QST write-up. DXCC Branch For the week of: October 5, 2003 Beginning Cards 143,541 Cards Received 37,674 Cards Processed 10,565 Ending Cards 170,650 Applications Pending 1,614 Processing Time 7.3 Weeks Year-to-date (2003) Cards Received 513,343 Cards Returned 554,315 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on August 15, 2003. DXCC is currently entering cards received on August 25, 2003. Logging of September mail continues. This should be completed on or by Friday, October 10, 2003. QSL Bureau QSL Service Status: Current. Cards mailed as of 10/05/03: 1,087,050. No cards were mailed this week. Martin covered the morning bulletins at W1AW for the vacationing Joe Carcia. Heather spent 4 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the month of October. He worked the early afternoon shift on Friday for a vacationing Joe Carcia. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. Joe processed regular W1AW QSL card requests. He created the texts for the October W1AW Qualifying Runs. He also created a certificate to send to amateurs that worked special event station W1AW/1 during the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference in September. W1AW Telephone Sales year to date (2003): $25,809. Field & Educational Services Rosalie submitted a photo of W1AW to be used as a test image when the ARISS SSTV is installed. At NASA's request, Rosalie critiqued new teacher materials. She took part with Dan in a meeting on Year 2 CNCS travel funds. Seven students involved in an ARISS QSO in Germany just passed their amateur radio exams! Field & Education Support Team Margie Bourgoin sent a notice to clubs via email announcing the BPL Honor Roll. The message was sent at the request of Mary Hobart, and it honors those clubs that have donated to the BPL campaign. Margie reviewed and forwarded 2 SSC renewal applications. She also worked on cleaning up the Club database of bad email addresses. Linda Mullally updated 42 club records. She registered 5 Volunteer Instructors and 2 schoolteachers. She sent out 5 Exhibit kits and 8 JOTA Kits. Gail Iannone sent 5 hamfest approval letters and 2 convention approval letters to sponsoring committees confirming the Division Director's approval of the events as ARRL-sanctioned, processed 6 door prize orders, 5 label requests, and sent 22 handout packages for upcoming events. Jean Wolfgang did a phone interview for Amateur Radio Newsline; the topic was JOTA. She continues to receive JOTA questions by email and phone. She met with a ham from NJ who submitted an ARISS application. Jean, Steve Ewald and Larry Wolfgang will be at Scout Show 2003 at Hammonessett State Park (CT) with several thousand scouts and visitors. They will operate WA1BSA and demonstrate CW and other aspects of ham radio. Regulatory Information John Hennessee reports receiving messages that amateurs have sent to Commissioner Abernathy concerning her comment on BPL. He assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in Collier County, FL (KD4IQC) and Baton Rouge, LA KD5KNZ). He assisted amateurs with covenant problems in Spring City, PA (K3YK) and Lake City, FL (N4UE). He's requested via email that VCs and VCEs ensure the contact information they provided to us in past years is up-to-date. CCE Jerry Ellis queued up October class sections for online classes. He worked on two Field Exam submissions, and submitted emcom graduate reimbursement requests, followed by mailing grant checks with certificates and ID cards for current grads. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald reports that SATERN (Salvation Army hams) will be working closer with us; they've requested updated lists of all SMs and SECs. The request was based on their recent Hurricane Isabel experiences, and wanting to ensure SATERN has the latest contact information when they're doing emergency-relief. Our Public Service Web pages were enhanced with a link to the TIS pages on Lightning Protection and EMP. Steve will monitor this weekend for SET activity. Chuck Skolaut continues to get Official Observer exams to grade; with 2 of 4 candidates passing this week. The others will re-test. Chuck received a report of a business-repeater system in Mexico that is possibly interfering with Fuji OSCAR-29's uplink frequency on 2 meters. Over the last 3 weeks, 43 SM e-mail messages were relayed to members in 22 different sections. In about the same time, all but 10 sections have seen activity on their ARRL-sponsored Web pages, e-mail relays or monthly summaries. Sections without activity are AZ, DE, LAX, MDC, SCV, STX, TN, USVI, UT, and WY. (Some of these support section communication via their own Web sites and e-mail lists.) Leona Adams received an SM nomination petition from Pat Bunsold, WA6MHZ, in San Diego. Nominations for SM terms beginning April 1, 2004, must arrive at HQ by Dec 5. Mark Tharp, KB7HDX (EWA) and Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV (SF) formally started their first SM terms on Oct 1. Leona handled a number of new Field Organization appointments. Amateur Radio Education & Technology Project Mark Spencer sent a note to schools that have applied to be Big Project Schools, asking them to refine or clarify proposed programs. With school and after-school budget woes, teachers previously enthusiastic about extracurricular activities, have less enthusiasm. But club and individual hams who contact Mark are consistent in wanting to get involved in school. Mark gave a talk at the local NARL club about getting funds for hands-on material for 50 schools. Initial response was positive. EmComm Grants Dan Miller worked with Dave Hassler on the September CNCS grant update for the ARRL Web. Dan's travel schedule for CNCS Year 2 was reviewed, and contacts are being made nationwide to line up events which best fit the ARRL and federal grant goals and guidelines. UTC grads total 346 for Level I, 432 for Level II, and 193 for Level III. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List All Staff 11/27-11/28 Holiday Jennifer Hagy 10/15 Vacation `` 11/3 Vacation Dave Hassler 10/2-10/13 Vacation `` 10/17-10/19 AMSAT Space Symposium Annual Meeting, Toronto Dennis Motschenbacher 10/10-10/12 NNY Section Convention 11/6-11/7 Training Rick Lindquist 10/30-11/7 Vacation Dan Miller 10/9-10/10 Vacation `` 10/23-10/24 Hamfest, Mnpls/St. Paul, MN Bob Schetgen 10/3-10/10 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 10/17 Vacation Joe Carcia 10/10 Vacation Mark Spencer 10/30-10/31 ARRL GA Section Convention/Big Project School visit Rosalie White 10/28-10/31 Vacation/ARRL Michigan State convention Scott Gee 10/15-10/16 Vacation Wayne Mills 10/17 W0DXCC Convention Bob Inderbitzen 10/17 Vacation