<<102611.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 34, No. 43 October 26, 2011 -- Covers the period October 16-22. Upcoming Meetings and Events Programs & Services Committee November 12 - ARRL HQ Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 18 - ARRL HQ Administration & Finance Committee November 19 @ 8:30am - ARRL HQ CFO Office Reported by Barry Shelley, N1VXY On Wednesday, October 19th, the ARRL web site was down for approximately 2 hours as a result of a minor technical issue. Both the IT staff and Rackspace (the host vendor) indentified the outage and, working through the appropriate protocols, were able to remedy the situation. We do not expect the issue to be a recurring problem. Technical Relations Reported by Brennan Price, N4QX Brennan Price drafted copy for the last edition of Spectrum Defense Matters for 2011 and prepared, with Jon Siverling, a contribution on Amateur Radio's utilization of 5 MHz for an upcoming CITEL PCC.II meeting near San Juan, Puerto Rico. Brennan also successfully objected to material in a United States contribution to the upcoming Working Party 5B meeting in Geneva that indicated maritime opposition to an affirmative outcome on Agenda Item 1.23. TAPR has proposed Atlanta, Georgia, as the site for the 2012 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference. Director Sarratt has given his approval and has noted hamfest dates within the Southeastern Division in September and October for planning purposes. Feedback from the recent Amateur Radio Administration Course was positive. Lisa Kustosik reported this year's course to alumni, several of whom have responded with appreciation. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The DIY Video is complete and I anxiously await the arrival of the hard drive with all of the files. An Oct 19th "dress rehearsal" of the Nov. 3rd webinar by the PRC on the question "What does the media want from hams and how do they want it" went very well. If there's even ½ of the information and enthusiasm in the webinar as there was in the rehearsal, it will be most excellent! Information about the webinar went out on several email reflectors and will be in the newsletter and CONTACT!. Information was sent to technical bloggers about how the sunspots allowed many new hams to experience the magic of 10m - and apparently led to the slowdown of several ham radio related websites on Oct 22-23. (Thankfully, LOTW was not one of them and took the surge just fine.) The new Section Manager workshop went well and was complimented. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH Total Develoment revenue for 2011 has topped $628,000 or 65% of the 2011 revenue target. The next 10 weeks are critical to reaching the overall goal by December 31. Funds that need a boost are Spectrum Defense Fund, Education & Technology Fund and the Diamond Club. Individual Giving Manager Lauren Clark is busy working on projects to boost revenues. She is reviewing copy for the third and final 2011 issues of Spectrum Defense Matters. She has issued email solicitations for Diamond Club and Education & Technology. She will be finalizing a year end appeal to be distributed the week of Thanksgiving. The members of the Second Century Campaign committee are finalizing their personal leadership commitments to the campaign. The committee's 100% commitment is vital to the success of cultivation key prospects they will contact individually. Once printed materials are in hand, lead letters to selected high value prospects will be prepared and mailed. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Khrystyne Keane participated in the annual Section Managers Workshop on Saturday, October 22. She gave a presentation on QST, The ARRL Letter, the ARRL Audio News and social media. Khrystyne also wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter and produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for October 20, 2011. Sales and Marketing Reported by Diane Petrilli for Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R The warehouse crew fulfilled 1,388 packages for publication and product orders, 410 membership premiums, and QST mailing supplements. An 8 page "mini catalog" holiday gift guide is being prepared for the upcoming holiday season. It will mail mid-November to ARRL best customers. "Happy Birthday" postcards, with a special e-store offer, have mailed to members with November birthdays. Now Shipping: ARRL Exam Review CD-ROM Diane Petrilli attended the Section Manager Workshop on 10/22 to talk about membership recruitment. E-mailings to lapsed members, GUESTS and prospects this month have brought in 210 members so far and responses are still coming in. An newly redesigned membership brochure is at the printer. The most recent 40,000 piece mailing sent mid-October has returned at .88% 5 weeks out. The 20,000 piece postcard sent around the same time has returned at .70%. The mailing to previous purchasers has returned at .87% 5 weeks out. This week a test of the 5th renewal notice (similar in format to the outperforming new 4th renewal notices) began. We will test for 3 months. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N The Section Manager Workshop, the annual orientation event for new Section Managers, was held at Headquarters this past Friday through Sunday (October 21 -23). Steve Ewald coordinated the event, and Chuck Skolaut and Leona Adams provided logistical support to help keep the event running smoothly. Special thanks go to Ken Bailey, Allen Pitts, Debra Johnson, Diane Petrilli, Dan Henderson, Khrystyne Keane, Mike Keane, and Chuck and Steve for leading the Workshop sessions. In addition to touring HQ, meeting staff, and taking part in Workshop discussions, the Section Managers were also able to operate W1AW for a while late on Saturday afternoon. Headquarters welcomed the following guests that were here for the SM Workshop: Jack Ciaccia, WMØG, Colorado; David Drummond, W4MD, Alabama; Bill Roberts, W5NPR, West Texas; Dale Temple, W5RXU, Arkansas; Steve Ryan, N2ITF, Western New York, and his wife, Diane Ryan, KC2SOA - an Assistant Section Manager in Western New York. Leona generated new Field Organization Appointment reports for distribution (via e-mail) to each and every Section Manager. Working together with the SMs, this will help keep Field appointee records up to date. Pat Bunsold, WA6MHZ, has been nominated to run for the San Diego Section Manager position for the next term of office beginning April 1, 2012. Chuck reports that a harmonic of a shortwave station operating from Guatemala was heard on 10 meters, and the station was identified. Information was sent to the Region 2 coordinator for possible follow up. One radio amateur from New Hampshire successfully completed requirements to become an Official Observer this past week. An amateur from California was approved to be added to our Intruder Watch monitoring group. Investigation continues regarding an unknown signal on 14.200 MHz. Questions handled this week included identification during a special event, operating overseas, providing volunteer counsel information, keeping license mailing addresses current for the FCC, CODAR, swap nets and operating on a cruise ship. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ Amy Strickland joined the Education Services Department as full-time Administrator on Oct. 11, as Jennifer Knapp departs to pursue her Accounting degree full-time. Amy will be responsible for the daily operations of the CEP, and for providing administrative support for the ETP as well as all other department programs. Education & Technology Program Effective October 1, Mark Spencer WA8SME is back on board as Program Director. He will be working with us as a contractor and will be taking responsibility for review of grant applications, curriculum and resource development, and coordination of instruction for the Teachers Institutes. Nathan McCray K9CPO is stepping back from the share of ETP leadership responsibilities he has been shouldering for the past year to hand those duties back to Mark Spencer. Recently Nathan has turned his attention to starting a ham radio club at his elementary school in Kenosha, WI (Edward Bain School of Language and Art). Students have already made a few HF and VHF QSO's with the highlight so far being a contact in Portugal. He has started instructing basic electronics as preparation for licensing. Students are also building a simple 20-meter wire dipole. He is also working on matching curriculum for his electronics class to the concepts taught with the Wisconsin state standards, with the hope that this information will lead to other schools taking on the program. While filling the shoes of ETP Coordinator Nathan reports that he has spent numerous hours helping ETP schools and recent TI graduates with equipment set up and other technical questions. He has fielded many questions about weather imaging, especially during the tropical storm season, as well as a ton of requests on how to build the turnstile antenna and the copper quad antenna. ARISS An ARISS contact was the highlight of Astronomy Day on October 8 at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park near Needville, Texas. The annual event supports many educational activities and is attended by 4,000 youth and parents. A NASA exhibit provides an opportunity to discuss the ISS, space travel, and various forms of communication. Each of the many astronomy clubs in Houston and surrounding towns have a large percentage of members who are radio amateurs. The clubs and the Houston Museum of Natural Science mentored children in educational activities. ISS Commander Mike Fossum, KF5AQG, was on the air for as much of JOTA as he could fit in. Mike is a scoutmaster of Texas Troop 1598. Steve Bible, N7HPR, a member of the ARISSat team, composed a survey on what hams liked or wanted to see changed about ARISSat, and as of September 29, 500 people sent survey responses. Johnson Space Center Education Office reported to the ARISS Team that in a recent memo from NASA Headquarters in Washington DC about accomplishments for 2011, ARISS was one of only a few NASA programs highlighted. NASA Headquarters Associate Administrator of Education Leland Melvin said: "10,743 curious students and 778 motivated educators participated in direct communication with International Space Station (ISS) crews via the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), sparking their interest in STEM." A six-month tally was made of the most recent ARISS educational contacts plus those scheduled thus far through November. Region # Contacts May - Nov 2011 % USA 15 28 Russia 10 19 Canada 04 07 Europe 17 31 Japan 08 15 Total 54 100 Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 11/24-11/25 Holiday Leona Adams 10/28 Vacation `` 11/11 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 11/11 Vacation Steve Ford 11/23 Vacation Scott Gee 12/23-12/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 11/21-11/29 Vacation `` 12/16-1/4 Vacation Mary Hobart 11/10-11/11 Vacation `` 11/17-? Medical Leave Debra Johnson 10/27-10/30 ARISS Int'l Meeting `` 11/14-11/17 Training/Vacation Khrystyne Keane 10/28 Vacation Joel Kleinman 10/25 Vacation Zack Lau 11/5-11/6 Iowa Section Convention, Davenport, IA Chuck Skolaut 11/4-11/6 Georgia Section Convention, Lawrenceville, GA
