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IN-Newsletter

Vol. 31, No. 4

January 24, 2008  --  Covers the period January 13-19.

Regulatory Information

Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND

The ongoing antenna case of Alec Zubarau, WB6X, in Palmdale, CA went to the full City Council on Wednesday January 16.  In the words of the ARRL Volunteer Counsel spearheading Alec’s case it was “An interesting but not very fruitful night.”  Thanks to the work of Southwestern Director Dick Norton, N6AA, a good support team is working the issue, but is apparently up against a majority of the Council who continue to look at the RFI area of this case as (again in the VC’s words) “it is merely on attorney’s opinion that RFI is the exclusive domain of the FCC”.  Unfortunately the next step may well involve litigation.

We continue to work the PAVE PAWS problem, which also appears to be a long way from resolution.  The ARRL role will continue to be to work with any individual repeaters owners newly identified (or who become identified in the future) but the FCC is now taking the lead interfacing with repeater owners.

With the various state legislatures starting back up, we did some research on bills in several of them, including hands-free legislation for electronic communications devices in Massachusetts and a cellular phone bill introduced in Virginia.  We are also now receiving the monthly legislative summaries from Janet Worthington at Chwat & Company.

We continued to support the Contest Branch with changes necessary for the 2007 EME Contest, as well as teaching the mechanics for processing several sets of certificates and labels.  We also began work on the 2008 Field Day packet, scheduled for release around February 1.

Media & Public Relations

Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP

PR events kept percolating during Board meeting week.  Notable were the SEVEN large, coordinated newspaper articles praising amateurs that blanketed the Newport News, VA region.  They generated from Emergency Management Appreciation Day, and were very well done.  The monthly PR Committee call was held on Jan 16 with Katie Breen as a “guest” as the Membership and PR functions jointly plotted effective ways to achieve 30,000 new hams in 2008.  Text, video and related materials are slowly being collected for the technical campaign, initial work began on the annual report and the 2008 Swiss Knife has gone out for duplication.  New and outgoing PRC members and the Leonard Award winner are being contacted.

Development

Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH

ARRL Development concluded 2007 a healthy $90,000 over the original plan.  This success was fueled by the success of the Diamond Terrace project of the Diamond Club, and substantial end of year contributions from Major donors put the Education & Technology Fund over its goal.  The challenge in 2008 will be to continue the growth of the Diamond Club and secure the renewals of those who participated in the Diamond Terrace in 2007.

Here is a lesson for all of us in the importance of member/donor relations:  Early last week we were notified that an estate gift was pending from a member from VA.  We had previously been notified that ARRL would receive 25% of the gentleman’s estate but had no information as to the value of the estate.  This member was 90 years old when he passed away and had been a member for 70 years!  His total contributions to ARRL over the life of his membership was $425 with no single donation over $100.  ARRL is scheduled to receive 25% of the $2.547 million trust which equals approximately $630,000.  So our individual efforts to build good relationships with any member may yield results like these.  You just never know!

Production/Editorial

Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE

The March 2008 issue of QST, the annual Antenna Issue, was released to the printer January 23.

Steve Sant Andrea prepared three feature articles for publication on the ARRLWeb and several items for the March issue of QST.

Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 2, for January 18, 2008.  It went out to 66,463 subscribers.  She also voiced and produced ARRL Audio News for January 18.

Sales and Marketing

Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R

Congratulations to Jackie Cornell (Product Marketing Specialist).  She earned her first Amateur Radio license: KB1PWB.

Membership Update

The major membership campaign that mailed in December has quickly topped a 2.2% return--and continues to climb.  As part of our 2008 planning, a test mailing is being prepared to help fine-tune a large membership campaign planned for March/April.

The online membership application integration went LIVE during the week.  Online applications are now processed directly into the Siebel membership/CRM system.  The change-over went very well—and included an initial processing of more than 1,000 applications.  The customer service team is using new software tools to review, correct and/or approve the small percentage of applications that fall outside of the system’s criteria for auto-processing.  The integration is a huge leap forward, providing near-instant application acknowledgement, processing, and member-access to services and benefits.

Sales Update

Direct and dealer sales have topped $179k through Jan 18.  The customer service and warehouse teams have caught-up from the backlog attributed to the year-end inventory/audit and holiday demand.  Orders are being processed at our normal service standard--fulfilling orders within 2 to 3 business days.

The Warehouse crew fulfilled 1,204 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 477 free book membership premiums, and sent QST mailing supplements for January and February issues.

A handful of new ARRL products are being readied for roll-out: ARRL’s Hands-On Radio Experiments, ARRL’s VHF Digital Handbook, and The ARRL Instuctor’s Manual for Technician and General Class Courses.

A recent mailing that featured a TravelPlus for Repeaters upgrade offer has returned 79 orders over the last two weeks.

The 2007 ARRL Periodicals on CD-ROM is now available and pre-orders have all been shipped.

Membership & Volunteer Programs

Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N

W1AW

Thanks to Katie Breen, W1KRB and Dan Henderson, N1ND for operating W1AW in the 2008 North American QSO Party.  They made 237 QSOs with 62 multipliers on 40, 20 and 15 meters for an initial claimed score of 14,694.

Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives.  He also processed regular QSL card requests.  And, Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the latter part of the month of January.

Field Organization/Public Service Team

Team members have been hearing from ARES and Section Leaders in the Midwest on recent emergency-response activations for tornadoes in Wisconsin and Missouri and flooding in Illinois.  Work has also been completed on the Public Service column for March QST.

Leona Adams has been concentrating on ARRL section budget expenses and administrative matters.  She has also been sending out informational supplies to newly-appointed Field Organization members while updating the data base as needed.  San Diego Section Manager election ballots are starting to arrive in the postal mail.  Members in San Diego have until February 15 to return their marked ballots.

There has been good follow-up action taken by the FCC direction-finding station after ARRL forwarded several complaints regarding radar-type signals heard in New England on 75 and 160 meters.  This seems to have resolved the problem.  The FCC forwarded two monitoring requests for Official Observers to assist with.  After initial investigation by an OO in East Bay, several reports of CODAR interference on 75 meters off the California coast have been forwarded to the FCC.  Chuck Skolaut continued to back up Dan Henderson by answering some regulatory-type inquiries.

An on-going interference problem on 75 meters in the Houston area that was reported earlier was finally eliminated when a power line transformer was replaced after the original one exploded!

Education Services

Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ

Continuing Education Program

Rose-Anne Lawrence continued to provide support for a heavy volume of phone inquires about courses in the Continuing Education Program, while I handled the email volume and administrative duties.  On January 16, Nancy Hallas joined the Education Services Department as part-time Continuing Education Program Administrator.  Welcome Nancy!

Of the 2,119 student enrollments in on-line courses in 2007, 1,253 (59%) were enrolled in Emergency Communications courses and 587 (28%) in the Technician Licensing course.  In addition to the on-line enrollments, we processed 490 field registrations for Emergency Communications exams in 2007.

HQ volunteers, Grant Warner, Bob Allison and Roy Johnson assembled 50 more Basic Electronics kits to re-supply inventory that is being sold off to clubs, teachers and individuals who are interested in exploring the basic fundamentals of electronics.  This course was developed by Mark Spencer WA8SME, head of our Education & Technology Program.  The course and kit is also one of the curriculum tools that is part of the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.

Education & Technology Program

Mark Spencer has completed the construction and testing of a newly designed BOE-BOT Instructor’s Board.  He forwarded updated copy for the Teachers Institute brochure and flyer to HQ, which has been sent to Graphics to revise for Web posting and download.  Mark reports that he has received a request for the Sat688 Rotor Control interface from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (under the umbrella of University of California).  The Sat688 also continues to generate a lot of interest among the ham community.

Mark reports a strong early interest in the 2008 Teachers Institute summer sessions.  He has already received a substantial number of inquiries about the TIs as well as requests for applications.  Also, as schools spool back up after the holiday break, there has been an up-tic in the number of requests for advice and technical assistance.  Bid requests have been sent to retailers for the ETP grant equipment purchases that will be executed upon budget approval.

ARISS

Rosalie White is working with a ham who is a leader of a two-week Mars simulation project run by the Mars Society’s Desert Research Station which is attended by hundreds of university students and the general public.  Plans are in the works for an ARISS contact.  ARISS volunteers have been busy with other outreach activities including mentoring teacher Sheila Malloy and assisted her in winning an ARRL grant through the Education & Technology Program for a club station for her school in Honeoye, New York.  ARISS Mentor Steve Michalski, KB9UPS, has been working with the Fassett Middle School in Oregon, OH.  He reports the Toledo Mobile Radio Association will buy and set up a ham station in a nearby NASA Challenger Center where ham license classes will be offered to area students.  ARISS Volunteer Barry Cohen, K2JV, helped sponsor Kid’s Day in Berkeley Heights, NJ, and got good PR via a large marquee.  He also sent some great pictures showing beaming kids enjoying their adventure on the air.  Rosalie’s home club, Bloomington ARC, was active too and received nearly a full page of newspaper coverage that included color photos.

Sincerely Compiled by,

Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ

Assistant to the CEO

Staff Absentee List

Katie Breen     2/7-2/8         North Florida Section Convention, Orlando, FL

Steve Capodicasa        1/21-1/25       Vacation

Joe Carcia              5/23            Vacation

Scott Gee               2/14-2/15       Vacation

     ``                 6/30            Vacation

Dave Sumner             2/8-2/13                Vacation