IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 24 June 17, 2002 Upcoming Meetings July 18th in Newington, CT at 9:00am Volunteer Resources Committee July 19-20 in Windsor, CT: Board Meeting Development The Education and Technology Fund contributions have reached $189,005 from 3,150 donors for and all-time high average gift of $60. Contributions are coming in daily with the "deadline" of June 30, 2002. Work has begun on the W1AW Endowment campaign test. The mail to 5000 prospects should go out in July. The formal announcement of the United Technologies Corporation grant to fund the ARECC course for 250 Connecticut hams will be issued on June 18 at a press conference with Connecticut Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, UTC's Jacqueline F. Strayer, Director, Contribution and Communication Services, New England Division Director Tom Frenaye and CT Section Manager Betsey Doane. The press conference will be followed by an Amateur Radio demonstration at W1AW. Two new planned giving commitments were received last week bringing the total to commitment received to date to nine. The prospect list has grown to more than 75 names. Follow up letters to prospects have been mailed with additional information on wills and other charitable giving opportunities. Publications We reviewed printer's proofs for the July/August issue of QEX. Membership Services Awards Branch WAC QSL Cards Checked 114 WAC Certificates 24 WAC Endorsements 20 Long Term Member Inquiries 12 VUCC QSL Cards Checked 114 VUCC Initial Applications 11 Grids (Data Entry) 1452 VUCC Endorsement Applications 1 Grids (Data Entry) 103 VUCC Certificates 11 VUCC Endorsements Processed/Mailed 8 A-1 Operator Nominations 8 A-1 Operator Certificates 1 Also, the latest list of VUCC standings was compiled and submitted for August QST. Thank you to Sharon Taratula for her help with VUCC data entry. Processing Status WAS QSLs 2 weeks U.S. WAC Awards 2 weeks RCC Awards 3 weeks OTC Awards 3 weeks Extra Class Certificates 3 weeks For the coming week-WAS QSL card checking, U.S. WAC, RCC, and OTC awards, Extra Class certificates, package and mail out VUCC initial awards, and additional research for long term members with problematic records (unable to find) and letters to same. DXCC Branch Weekly Report June 16, 2002 Beginning Cards 43,298 Cards Received 9,036 Cards Processed 9,129 Ending Cards 43,205 Applications Pending 307 Processing Time 1 Week Year-to-date Cards Received 262,717 Cards Returned 334,744 QRP Issued this week 4 QRP YTD 207 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on June 6, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on June 13, 2002. Contest Branch We worked with authors on drafts for both the 2001 ARRL 160-Meter Contest article and 2002 January VHF Sweepstakes. We also formatted line scores for January VHF SS and sent them to production. We finished working with the computer consultant and printed the 2001 IARU Certificates. They are being mailed to the individuals or national societies as appropriate. We received the draft of the 2002 RTTY Roundup results from the off-site author and began working with photos, etc for the web version of the story, and edited RTTY Roundup and ARRL 10 Meter contest soapbox for the Web. We developed a random sample of active and inactive VHF/UHF/Microwave contest participants and addresses for the MSD Manager for use with the current VHF/UHF contest study being done by the MSC. Checking of violations of the six-band change rules for MS and M2 in both modes of the DX Contest were reviewed and follow-up emails processed to about three dozen competitors. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 06/16/2002 - 1,016,100. Cards mailed on 06/14/2002 - 65,100. Janet Rocco spent 3 hours conducting tours around HQ. Martin Cook covered the morning shift at W1AW for the vacationing Joe Carcia. W1AW Kenwood USA donates the ARCP-2000 control software to W1AW. As a follow-up to their TS-2000X donation, Kenwood donated the control software for this radio. The software has been installed on the satellite tracking PC, and initial tests on its use have begun. Scott Gee worked on slow and fast code practice runs for the month of June. He also worked the early afternoon shift on Friday for a vacationing Joe Carcia. Joe installed and began tests on the Kenwood software. He also installed ferrite chokes on the sensor (fire head) wires in the station's Sonitrol fire alarm box. This was done to prevent false alarms generated by the RF (from the transmissions) that were getting into the alarm system. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002): $4,549. Field & Educational Services Regulatory Information John is assisting with advance PR for the legal seminar to be held August 23 in conjunction with the New England Division Convention at Boxboro, Massachusetts. He also assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in Tolland, CT (KB1FOA) and Richland Township, PA (KB3HNV) as well as with covenant problems in Herndon, VA (AF4MO) and Irvine, CA (KF6UEB). Rosalie prepared paperwork for the state of Connecticut so that ARRL can continue to award CEUs to Connecticut citizens who attend our educational workshops. She began work on revising the NASA lesson plans for K-4 grades; NASA will handle editing and graphics plus printing costs. She reviewed a paper to be given by the ARISS team at the World Space Conference. Field Organization/ Public Service Team Leona Adams sent letters to the incumbent SMs who would begin a new term on October 1, 2002 to the following sections: CT, ID, MN, ND, OH, WNY, and VI. Candidate statements from the 2 nominees for Puerto Rico SM were due this week as part of election preparation. Also, Leona sent out current and expired appointee listings to the SMs. Colorado SM Jeff Ryan continued providing updates on ham radio response to Colorado fires. Steve Ewald worked on August QST Public Service and Section News. He contacted 6 SMs this week regarding Section Web pages, and is awaiting response from a couple. He heard from North Carolina, Maine and Arizona who will be discussing plans with their staffs to get active on the Web. Mississippi's SM is now directly uploading news. Delaware has used the Web Alert System in past months and has the wherewithal to post news if necessary. Kansas SM Cook is excited while trying to learn to improve the look of his Web page with color. He got tips from other SMs who've used color in their ARRL-sponsored pages. Field & Educational Support Team ARRL Sections with messages relayed electronically by Mary Lau this week included: EB = 3; MS, SDG, SFL, KY, OH = 2; and NH, MI, NNJ =1. She assisted Jo-Ann in learning the ropes of the F&ES monthly inventory, video stock, and revenue reports. Mary also spoke with Marci Campbell, organizer of the San Francisco Section Convention, where Mary will be the banquet speaker on the night of June 29. Jean Wolfgang hustled getting the Instructor of the Year Award packets ready for the VRC. Thanks goes to Margie for her help with these. Jean also handled an ARISS application from the Mt Carmel School in CA. She reports that EXAMWIN updates have been put on the Web, thanks to Jon Bloom. Jo-Ann Arel issued her first F&ES end-of-month reports; for May, $2340 of revenue was brought in by the department. Jo-Ann updated 24 affiliated club records, and sent out 19 Exhibit Kits, 13 videos, 1175 Archies, 1100 Brochures, 1 JOTA kit, and registered 1 schoolteacher and 11 volunteer instructors. Margie Bourgoin reports one new club application went to the appropriate director, and also two new SSC club applications. She is also VERY happy with the returns to date on the Instructor activity survey card sent out recently--74 returns so far, with most coming in via email. This project is to cull out volunteer instructors for a planned July database purge. Gail Iannone wrote 53 hamfest announcements and 8 convention announcements for the August issue of QST. She coordinated travel for HQ staff for the following conventions: Dave Patton, NT1N, Pacific NW DX Convention to be held on August 2-4 in Portland, OR and Dan Henderson, N1ND, Northern New York Section Convention to be held on October 12 in Lake Placid. C-CE Jerry Ellis has nearly eliminated the backlog of C-CE certificates to be printed and mailed. He is opening new classes, requesting and assigning mentors, and handling some correspondence. He suggested an improvement that will save time; this will be implemented in the future. Dan Miller reports that thanks to Andy Shefrin, a crashed computer and inoperable printer were quickly replaced this week, allowing C-CE to continue forward momentum. Lower numbers of enrollees and graduates this week are no doubt due to the beginning of the summer season. All courses are flowing smoothly. The Big Project Five teachers from around the US visited HQ June 13-15 to work with Jerry Hill in fleshing out lesson plans. These folks, who teach at different grade levels, worked well together and the outlines and plans are in good shape. They will review the finished lesson plans as they are completed. Thanks to Mary Hobart for hosting everyone at a barbecue after work. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 7/4-7/5 Holiday Mark Wilson 7/1-7/3 Vacation Dave Patton 6/25-7/1 Friedrichshafen Jennifer Hagy 7/1-7/8 Vacation Monique Levesque 6/27pm-7/8 Vacation Steve Ewald 6/20 Vacation Mary Lau 6/25-7/8 San Francisco Section Convention/Vacation Zack Lau 6/25-7/8 San Francisco Section Convention/Vacation Rosalie White 6/28 Vacation Dan Miller 7/1-7/3 Vacation Diana Lamson-Lucas 6/17-6/21 Vacation Jan Carman 7/1-7/3 Vacation Bob Schetgen 6/17 Vacation Joel Kleinman 7/2-7/12 Vacation