IN-Newsletter Vol. 29, No.8 February 22, 2006 -- Covers the period February 12-18. Upcoming Meetings Executive Committee March 11 in St. Louis, MO Development Returns are coming from various campaigns. The carry over from the fall Defense campaign has topped $41,000 from 221 donors including a $25,000 contribution in January. So far the W1AW Endowment campaign has attracted $18,739 in contributions from 305 donors. The follow up letters to major donors are scheduled to mail the week of 2/21. No results so far for the test campaign for Ham Aid. The Spring Spectrum Defense campaign is in the planning stages and is on schedule. After discussions with COO Kramer and Dave Patton, NN1N, an informal proposal is being prepared for CNCS to cover the remaining unallocated funds in the CNCS Ham Aid grant fund. Media & Public Relations CD's, DVD's, buttons, stickers, websites, email options, and a host of detail work filled the past week in preparing all the elements of the Hello campaign. There has been great cooperation among the staff of different departments as the deadlines come closer. In addition, work has begun on the annual report planned to be completed May 26. Regulatory Information John Hennessee answered a number of varied regulatory questions and sent Web updates to WSDD. He assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in North Port, FL (W0AC)Yoakum, TX (K5MTO) and Oro Valley, AZ (K7KGB) and with covenants in Tampa, FL (K4LEG) and Ocala, FL (W3BPP). Production/Editorial The April issue of QST will be released to the printer February 23. Rick Lindquist reports The ARRL Letter, Vol. 25, No. 07, distributed to 65,817 members on Feb 17. Rick this week submitted the "Happenings" column (5 pp) for April QST. He also prepared/edited stories on the status of the Morse code proceeding, SuitSat-1, ARISS school contacts in Oklahoma and Texas, ARRL's complaint to the FCC re BPL database irregularities, ham radio-coordinated salute for Navy veteran and ham radio mentioned in US House committee report on Hurricane Katrina as well as several news briefs and announcements. On Feb 17, he also covered via a 2 AM teleconference an ARISS contact involving a school in Australia. Rick voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News for Feb 17. Sales and Marketing Work continued on April QST advertising. Palstar has committed to a 12 month campaign in QST. Mosley Electronics is back for the April and May issues. Idiom Press is advertising a new product in this issue; they generally advertise in the tear-outs only. We continue to receive advertising commitments for the May "Dayton-themed" tear-out. Alinco has inquired about ARRL Passport (scavenger-hunt activity sponsored by ARRL at Hamvention) and will be donating prizes for this activity again this year. A Presidents' Day campaign helped drive higher-than-typical ordering levels to the publication e-store throughout the holiday weekend and in the days following (ended Wed, Feb 22). A handful of popular publications and "sale" items were featured. Gross sales topped $30k during the 6-day period. Prospective Ham Packages this week: 11 Online Courses Jean processed another 5 Field Tests this week. Tests have been returned for 53 students in the last two weeks. Typically, we process 10 or 15 in one month! The online course registration process now allows us to collect a source or discount code, allowing us to track the response to various direct marketing solicitations and promotions. A solicitation was sent to affiliated clubs promoting the RFI course. During February, we have enrolled 169 students: 104 EmComm, 46 technical courses, and 19 Technician license course. ON-LINE COURSES Registrations During this week Graduations Antenna Modeling (EC-004) 1 1 HF Digital (EC-005) 0 0 RFI (EC-006) 0 0 VHF/UHF (EC-008) 3 0 Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009) 0 0 Technician Licensing (EC-010) 2 0 Propagation (EC-011) 0 0 Analog Electronics (EC-012) 3 0 Digital Electronics (EC-013) 1 0 Emergency Com. Level 1 (EC-001) 13 26 Emergency Com. Level 2 (EC-002) 10 19 Emergency Com. Level 3 (EC-003) 6 14 Membership Services DXCC Branch For the Week of: February 19, 2006 Beginning Credits 49,171 Credits Received 4,236 Credits Processed 15,008 Ending Credits 38,399 Applications Pending 301 Processing time 5.5 Weeks Year-to-date (2006) Credits Received 46,502 Credits Returned 91,858 DXCC is currently entering credits received on February 1, 2006. DXCC is currently mailing applications received on January 11, 2006. Awards Branch Category Processed WAS Certificates 19 Replacement Awards 1 A-1 Operator Nominations 9 Awards Mailed 25 WAC Certificates 22 5BWAC Certificates 3 Processing Status: Current or up to five weeks. Contest Branch Certificates for the 2005 August UHF and 10 GHz and Up events were printed and should be mailed within the week. Several replacement/duplicate certificates were printed and will be mailed at the same time. The combined Logs Received list for the 2006 ARRL RTTY Roundup was prepared and posted to the ARRL Web. Data entry for the 2006 January VHF Sweepstakes was begun. We archived logs for several contests and initialized databases for several upcoming contests. We are still working on a couple of certificate/database issues and worked with the consultant to begin to get these updated and corrected. Logbook of the World QSO records entered into system 92,226,262 QSL records have resulted 4,898,190 Logs Processed 190,319 Active Certificates 17,588 Users registered in the system 11,659 Hybrids Pending Mail 72 QSL Branch There is a 2 day processing time delay. This week, 97 pounds of cards were received from members. The next scheduled shipping date is Friday, February 24, 2006. W1AW Thanks to Dan Henderson, N1ND for operating W1AW in the CQ World Wide DX CW contest. Despite poor band conditions, Dan made 48 QSOs on 15 meters, for a claimed score of 4176. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the month February. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the daily 5 PM to 8 PM time slots. Joe updated the web code practice files. He also spent some time swapping rigs for the 160-meter transmissions. He ended up modifying another Omni VI+ to cure the key click issue. Joe also worked on list administrator duties, especially with the implementation of a new reflector for the VUAC. Field & Educational Services Field Organization/Public Service Team Official Observers have supplied Chuck Skolaut with documentation that covers cases on 75 meters and also on a 2 meter simplex frequency in California. He has forwarded this to the FCC. Interference to 20 meters originating from commercial equipment in Ohio has resurfaced again. Some intentional interference to the Peter 1 DXpedition has been reported on 75 meters. ARRL volunteer monitors note a strong signal on 40 meters, a foreign broadcaster on 17 meters, and a fishnet beacon on 160 meters. In addition, a unique sounding signal was reported on 60 meters in Massachusetts is under investigation. Leona Adams and the Field Organization Team is preparing to count Virginia Section Manager election ballots on Tuesday, February 20. She handled 45 initial supply packages to a variety of new appointees including two Official Observer test packages those who have been recommended for this training. Steve Ewald took part in the monthly teleconference for Citizen Corps Affiliates and regional Citizen Corps offices. Work was completed on April QST's Public Service column, and we handled questions about the FEMA-sponsored on-line training course (IS-700) that introduces the National Incident Management System. Steve also hosted a brief visit to HQ by a radio amateur who lives near New Orleans. The visitor share stories of his first-hand experiences during the aftermath of Katrina. ARISS PR: As of Feb 17, SuitSat was still alive, but voltage was depleting. WWW.SuitSat.org Web site had 8 million hits! Audio and SSTV images are posted at http://www.aj3u.com/blog/. Reporters continued to interview the ARISS Team for info for SuitSat stories- the latest were ABC World News and an editor at Electronic Design Magazine writing about the engineering side of SuitSat. For the Timber Creek (FL) ARISS QSO, media reps included the Orlando Sentinel, CBS, East Orlando Sun, plus Timber Creek's paper and TV station. For ARRL Members: Rosalie and Norm are tracking the number of SuitSat QSL requests for Goddard Space Flight Center, provider of the certificates. The author of the ARISS QST article that Rosalie edited reports receiving 11 pieces of correspondence. Rosalie acted as Control Op for Bloomington (IN) South High School Radio Club students working School Club Roundup. ARISS News Update: Of the 14 graduates in the latest astronaut class, 8 have earned their ham tickets thanks to the Johnson Space Center ARISS Team; the team is working on the other 6 astronauts, too. Bill McArthur's tour of duty may be extended by at least a week, allowing for more backlogged US schools to get a QSO! ARISS' Effect on Schools/Students: The West Point Military Academy's radio club had died in recent years, but after Bill McArthur requested an ARISS QSO with them (his alma mater), the club became active again, and was on the air for School Club Roundup. A school that had an ARISS QSO reports that a number of lessons about weak copy of SuitSat were integrated into their classroom. The Florida Commissioner of Education attended and enjoyed the Timber Creek (FL) ARISS QSO. Rosalie networked a teacher from a years-ago SAREX QSO to Mark Spencer. International Aspects: The European team reports the FM antennas for the Columbus ISS module are still under development and won't meet expected delivery date, but this isn't a problem since Columbus' schedule has changed. The European Space Agency has agreed to support required environmental antenna tests at their Holland ESTEC facility; the two FM and two EM antennas were transported from Italy to ESTEC on Feb 17. Field & Education Team Hamfest & Conventions Hamfest Applications sent to Division Director for Approval 13 Hamfest Approval Letters sent to event sponsor 14 Handouts and Door Prize Material Orders Processed 0 Label Requests for upcoming events 1 Convention Applications sent to Division Director for Approval 2 Convention Approval Letters sent to event sponsor 2 Approval Letters for Newly-Affiliated Clubs sent to Club Officials 0 Charter of Affiliation Certificates sent for Presentation to New Clubs 0 New club applications reviewed 1 New clubs sent to Director & SM for approval by Director 4 New SSC Application sent to Director, SM, & ACC for Approval 0 SSC Approval Letter sent to Club Official 1 SSC Certificate sent to newly-designated SSC Club 1 Acknowledgement letters sent to club officials 1 Hamfest announcements for QST 0 Convention announcements for QST 0 Clubs & Mentors Club Updates 71 Club special assistance/research Below 51% notification 6 SSC sent to ACC SSC Certificates 7 letters sent 3 Instructor Reg 3 Teacher Reg 0 Class Materials Graduation Kits 41 Exhibit Kits/ brochure requests 5 Jota Kits 0 Label Requests Filled 1 Prospects 2 Sales Orders Processed 2 Public Service Reports 0 Amateur Radio Education & Technology Program-Mark Spencer The teachers institute web page has been updated with text. Parallax has been advertising the TIs on their web page and this has generated a number of inquiries from interested teachers. There was a snag in the ETP grant bids and I did not meet my target of getting the purchasing process started on Monday. I am awaiting refined bids before I begin purchasing equipment. One of the recent ETP grant recipient schools has declined the grant because the teacher has resigned from the school. The production modulation demonstration PCBs have been delivered, the next step is the authoring of the construction manual and lesson plans, once those documents are complete, kit production will continue. I expect to complete the kits by the end of next week. The ohm's law board layout has been verified and the production PCBs have been ordered. NASA will not be supporting the ITEA conference this year so I have taken steps to cancel the logistic arrangements I had made to support my attendance at ITEA. The learning objectives for the new technician license class lesson plans have been drafted and work continues on developing lesson plans. The target date is to have draft lesson plans ready for Dayton. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Ed Hare 3/12-3/17 ANSI Committee Meeting, Piscataway, NJ `` 3/30-4/1 IEEE EMC Meeting, Orlando FL Steve Capodicasa 3/3 Vacation Joe Carcia 4/21 Vacation Scott Gee 3/6-3/7 Vacation `` 3/29 Vacation `` 4/24-4/28 Vacation Zack Lau 3/2-3/3 Vacation Dan Henderson 3/2 Vacation Wayne Mills 3/10 Charlotte Hamfest `` 4/20-4/21 International DX Convention, Visalia, CA Leona Adams 2/23-2/27am Vacation Mary Hobart 2/23 Vacation `` 4/21-4/23 International DX Convention, Visalia, CA Monique Levesque 2/21-2/24 Vacation Dave Patton 3/16-3/19 Nebraska State Convention, Norfolk, NE Cathy Stepina 3/13-3/17 Vacation Allen Pitts 3/3 Vacation Steve Ford 2/24 Vacation