IN-Newsletter
Vol. 41, No. 39
November 4, 2016
Covers the period October 22 - 28, 2016
Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events
National Association of Broadcasters Convention
November 09 – 10, 2016 @ New York, NY
LoTW Study Committee
November 11, 2016 @ 10:00am in Newington, CT
Administration & Finance Committee
November 12, 2016
@ 8:30am in Newington, CT
Indiana Section Convention
November 12 – 13, 2016 @ Ft Wayne, IN
ARISS Annual Meeting
November 15 – 18, 2016 @ Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
West Central Florida Section Convention
December 09 – 10, 2016 @ Tampa, FL
Board Meeting, Semi-Annual
January 20 – 21, 2017 @ 8:00am in Windsor, CT
Chief Executive Office
Reported by Tom Gallagher, NY2RF
Tom Gallagher met with four Air Force personnel from Pave Paws. The Captain and three 2nd
Lieutenants met with several HQ staffers to discuss methods that their staff might use to detect localized interference in close proximity to their installation.
Tom was interviewed for Newington Life, an award-winning monthly publication. Editor Mark Jahne met with Tom to talk about the ARRL and took a tour of the facility.
A link to the interview will be provided once published.
Education
Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ
The fall issue of
Radio Waves was published and sent to 12,451 subscribers. This issue included an announcement of the launch of the new instructor reporting and recognition system. Find more details in the article on page 6 of this issue of
Radio Waves.
During October we sent an online survey to hams involved with supporting ARISS contacts hosted by schools and organizations in their communities. The survey generated a
strong response rate (57%) with positive feedback. 51% said the program opened additional opportunities to work with the school and 34% reported they were able to develop a sustained relationship. 100% said the activity was good for amateur radio, citing creating
an opportunity to expose students, parents, educators and community to amateur radio, and convey its relevance.
Failure of the Ericsson HT in the Columbus module in late October has left the program with some less than desirable options for supporting school contacts while work progresses
on the development and certification of a new replacement, interoperable radio system. The targeted launch of that system is late 2017. Meanwhile, contacts will be scheduled with Russian crew using a radio in the ISS Service Module, and/or using the Ericsson
UHF radio resurrected from storage. Astronaut Shane Kimbrough re-installed this radio in the Columbus module, which has restored packet operations.
Scheduled contacts in October were supported by astronauts Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS and Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, and included one in Japan and Malaysia along with 4 in the US.
Field Organization/Public Service Team
Reported by Steve Ewald, WV1X
Chris Brewer, N5GMJ, of Saginaw, Texas, has been nominated to run for the office of Section Manager in North Texas. Chris previously served as the North Texas Section Manager from 2013 to
2015. With Chris’ nominating petition, there will now be a Section Manager election in North Texas. As reported in last week’s IN-News, Jay Urish, W5GM, of North Texas, was nominated.
To re-cap the present Section Manager election outlook for this upcoming winter season, there will also be an election in Arizona. Virgil Silhanek, K7VZ, and Rick Paquette, W7RAP, have been
nominated to run for the office of Arizona Section Manager.
Leona Adams reminds us that nominating petitions for this particular Section Manager election cycle are due at Headquarters by December 9, 2016, and the new terms of office are set to begin
on April 1, 2017.
Field Services & Radiosport
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
DXCC
|
Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time |
2 Weeks |
|
Logbook Processing Time |
1-2 Days |
Emergency Preparedness
This week a presentation about Amateur Radio was made to the students of Grace Academy. Matt Shea, AA1CT, and Austin Mongillo, N1UIS, presented material on an Amateur Radio club that will
be offered at the school starting on November 8. Many students were interested and a final roster will be provided before the start of the club.
Planning is underway for SKYWARN Recognition Day 2016. The event is sponsored by ARRL and the National Weather Service and held the first weekend of December. This year W1AW will be a bonus
station during the operating event. A webinar presenting an overview of SRD 2016 is planned for late November.
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Assistant Ken Bailey, K1FUG, is leading a working group that is tasked with updating the ARRL EC-001 course. The group is about two months into its work and expects to have the updates ready by mid-2017.
W1AW
Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He created the November W1AW Qualifying Run texts. Joe finalized the 2017 W1AW and West Coast Qualifying Run schedules and provided
them to the Production Department (for QST). He partially reorganized the workshop to better secure tools and other station equipment. He began work on a second RaspberryPi project for possible RF-beacon use.
Scott worked on slow and fast code practice texts for the upcoming week. He also processed VUCC certificates and endorsements.
Lab
Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI
Product Review
Bob Allison tested three kits; a 20 meter 10 Watt RF amplifier, a 40 meter QRP transmitter and a low pass filter for QST Product Review. Bob also performed additional testing of a high end
software defined transceiver.
Radio Frequency Interference
Mike Gruber reviewed a magazine article for Jerry Ramie. It concerned AFCI breakers and the ARRL was mentioned in a footnote.
Ed Hare, Bob Allison, and Mike Gruber met with Air Force personnel from PAVE PAWS.
Web:
Zack Lau uploaded the Propagation Forecasts for November. The predicted solar flux is just 79.
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Sean Kutzko, KX9X
Before Mars
National Geographic Channel is debuting a show called Mars, debuting November 14. As part of their promotional efforts, they made a prequel called BeforeMars, in which ham radio plays a
major part. While the show takes some liberties, it is one of the better depictions of ham radio in pop culture in recent years. We have been promoting ham radio in general, and ARISS specifically, via the social media channels related to the TV series. QST
Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY, has also reached out to both the scriptwriter and the ham radio consultant for possible stories.
Social Media
ARRL’s new Social Media part-timer Michelle Patnode will be focusing on our social media presence and diving in to the world of metrics analysis, to help us better understand how our audience
reacts to what we post. This will help us post material our audience wants to read.
Mark Twain House Special Event
Sean Kutzko, KX9X, has received permission to transmit from the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford on Wednesday, November 30, which would be Twain’s 180th birthday. A special 1x1 call
has been reserved. Sean is working with the PR department at the Mark Twain House to get coordinated PR for the event.
N1BCG Special Event
December 11 marks the 95th anniversary of the first reception of a transatlantic signal via shortwave. The signal originated from Greenwich, CT from station 1BCG in 1921and was received
in Scotland. ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, will be working with N1BCG and members of the RSGB to replicate the event and have a special event station surrounding the occasion. There will be a presentation made to a local school on Friday, December 9, in conjunction
with the event.
ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative
ARRL’s Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/. Work is nearly complete on a logo for the program, and ARRL PR Committee
Chair Scott Westerman, W9WSW, is helping spearhead content and idea to the page. The Facebook page will serve as a gathering place for members of college clubs across the county, and ARRL will help facilitate peer discussions on several topics related to ham
radio at a college club.
News Media
ARRL Podcasting remains in high demand. “ARRL The Doctor Is In” episodes have now been downloaded nearly 160,000 times, with each episode being downloaded around 7,000 times on average.
ARRL Audio News is averaging around 2,500 downloads a week.
Sean is starting to work on video content for ARRL’s social media. He shot a 30-second video with Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, to promote the ARRL Handbook. This should be released via social
media the week of November 7. In addition, a 20-minute video produced by the ARRL Lab on identifying power line noise and two ARRL Webinars will be posted to the ARRL YouTube Channel this week.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY
Working on the January 2017 issue of QST.
Work continues on our move from Nxtbook to PageSuite.
Working on the January/February issue of QEX.
Alli McClellan, ARRL’s newly hired Digital Media Support Specialist, has been reviewing the company website for broken links and pages that require updates. She will begin reaching out to
staffers for updated information as needed. Please let her know if you require assistance in making any edits.
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Diane Petrilli reports that October ended with 165,054 members, 208 members ahead of the year-to-date goal. This represents a gain from September of 6 members; a loss of 114 was forecast.
The on-time renewal rate for October (October expirees who renewed by end of October) is 68.65% vs. 71.77% last October. Targeted e-mailings brought in 173 members; direct mail brought in 608 members. The September membership campaign was the largest source
of acquisition this month -- a little over 4 weeks from mailing. Responses to the October campaign are coming in.
Jackie Ferreira reports that October publication and product sales were $328,574, falling short of the sales forecast of $367,023. Direct sales were $193,442; dealer sales were $135,132.
Year to date sales are $2,575,870, $5,208 ahead of forecast. Royalties earned on sales of our Kindle e-books was $7,329 ($74,990 year-to-date, and on target)—and boosted by the introduction of the new edition Operating Manual which debuted as a two-part e-book
this month.
The 2017 Handbook began shipping in October and 2,495 copies were sold, contributing sales of $93,522. This first month of Handbook sales lags behind the 2016 edition—promoted alongside
a new edition Antenna Book—which last October sold 3,127 copies for contributing sales of $120,373.
A handful of email solicitations were conducted throughout the final week of the month to spur on additional traffic to the online store. One email, sent to LoTW users, featured the new
edition ARRL DXCC List with a 2017 ARRL Calendar – and contributed 479 orders.
Bob Inderbitzen circulated a summary of changes planned for QEX and NCJ in 2017. The subscription rates for both bimonthly periodicals will increase; NCJ from $20 to $25 per year, and QEX
from $24 to $29 per year (US rates). Most printed materials and online subscription forms will reflect the new rates by December 1, in time for new subscriptions and renewals that take effect with the Jan/Feb 2017 issues. Additionally, the paper used for QEX
will be upgraded to a heavier quality paper – which should be met by subscribers as a welcome improvement. The same paper will be used for NCJ.
Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations
Leona Adams 11/11 PTO
Bob Allison 11/03 – 11/04 Club Travel, PA
“ 12/26 – 12/30 PTO
Shelly Bloom 11/11 PTO
“ 11/14 – 11/15 PTO
“ 11/28 – 12/02 PTO
Steve Capodicasa 11/07 PTO
Lauren Clarke 11/22 – 11/23 PTO
Steve Ewald 11/28 – 12/06 PTO
Steve Ford 11/07 PTO
11/11 PTO
Tom Gallagher 11/04 – 11/07 PTO
11/08 – 11/09 DX Engineering Tour and Presentation to Mercer County ARC, Pittsburgh, PA
“ 11/10 National Association of Broadcasters Conference, NYC
“ 11/18 PTO
“ 12/08 Meeting with Joe Taylor and Craig Fugate, Princeton
University, NJ
Dan Henderson 11/10 – 11/13 Indiana Section Convention, Ft Wayne, IN
Gail Iannone 10/07 – 01/09 Sick Leave
Debra Johnson 11/14 – 11/19 ARISS Annual Meeting, Johnson Space Center, Houston
“ 11/23 PTO
Sean Kutzco 11/09 – 11/10 National Association of Broadcasters Conference, NYC
“ 12/08 – 12/12 West Central Florida Section Convention, Tampa, FL
Barry Shelley 11/04 PTO
Yvette Vinci 11/03 – 11/04 PTO
Sincerely Compiled by,
Carla Pereira, Assistant to CEO