IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 39 October 1, 2002 Development The response to the campaign for the W1AW Endowment has dwindled. The campaign raised more than $30,000 from over 600 members. The campaign is certainly worth conducting again next year. The Development Program is not ready to launch a multi-year endowment campaign until the major donor base is larger and more solid. The 2003 Defense of Frequencies Fund is accepting contributions toward a goal of raising $500,000 from 12,000 members before December 31 to support ARRL's advocacy efforts. Ads have been placed in QST in October and November. The Web component of the campaign is active at www.arrl.org/defense and a few contributions have been received. The first mailing to all active members and a segment (20,000) of qualified lapsed members will mail by October 15 with follow up letters mailing on October 31. A new mug, pin and certificate are being designed and new gifts for contributions of $250 or more are offered on the Web. For a donation of $1000 donors are offered a personalized black canvas gear bag or a pack away jacket, for $500 a personalized mag-lite or a black sport shirt and at $250 a new black and red baseball cap. The past few weeks have been spent defining the details of the Diamond Club and developing marketing materials. A new program brochure is expected at HQ on September 30 to be included in 55,000 pieces of mail going to long-time members and Life members. In addition, Development is completing major donor and prospect databases of individuals that may have the interest and capacity to participate in The Diamond Club. Brochures will be mailed to Board members and to HQ staff to ensure that everyone has the information on this new donor recognition program at their fingertips. The entire program is on the Web at www.arrl.org/diamondclub and a few gifts have been received. The very first donor was HQ staff member Beverly Fernandez. Congratulations, Beverly, for breaking the ice. Ads in October and November QST and an article on the program in the November QST, which will ensure that all ARRL members are aware of the benefits of joining The Diamond Club. Development worked with Sue Fagan to provide graphics and information to UTC as they prepare for their Board Meeting on October 9. Our proposal for a national grant has been reviewed and pending approval of the UTC contributions budget on October 9, we hope to receive grant approval. The grant request was for $225,000 over three years for ARECC Level 1 training for 5000 hams nationwide. With this grant ARRL can expand its capacity to certify more hams in emergency communications. The fourth and final quarterly planned giving information mailing is scheduled for October. Since January 2002 we have received 19 commitments from members that ARRL is in their estate plans. The mail program has also identified approximately 125 members who have requested more information and are considered prospects. Development will begin working to develop a full presence on the Web and ease the overuse of links at the top of the Web home page. Debra Johnson will lead the charge on the Development side to work on a drop down menu for "support ARRL". Completion date unknown. Letters of Inquiry for education have been mailed to UPS Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation and the Anchorage ARC (AK). Media Relations Jennifer is working with the author of a new book (due out in April) titled "Hello World, A Life in Ham Radio." The writer happened upon a collection of QSL cards at a flea market, spanning 70 years of one ham's dedication to ham radio. The book introduces people to what ham radio is, and delves into the hobby through the activities of this one gentleman, W2OGW, SK, through the more than 300 QSL cards the writer found at the flea market. The book also brings in world events over the years, as W2OGW would often contact hams in various parts of the world when there was a major event happening or if he had a particular interest in the culture. Because of the writer's in-depth look into ham radio, he became KC2KGT as of yesterday and already has a radio. His business partner is taking his exam this week. The author is sending Jennifer a copy of the 250-page coffee-table style book (just black and white photocopies for now) and is seeking to obtain permission to use some ARRL related items. Jennifer is also assisting a contributing writer to LI Boating World, an online boating newspaper in Long Island. The writer is working on a story about the usefulness of having ham radio aboard long-distance cruising sailboats. The public relations committee has begun discussing ways to make Amateur Radio Awareness Day (September 13, 2003) a much bigger, and perhaps different sort of, event. This comes per a motion made by Director Fallon at the July Board meeting. The committee's recommendations will go to the VRC before that group's next meeting. A conference call is scheduled for October 3 to discuss that project and other issues. Jennifer completed the budget planning process for 2003 and 2004, and will be taking part in the usual round of meetings this week. Production/Editorial The Microwave Update/Eastern States Joint Proceedings has been released to the printer. We checked page proofs for the new printing of Stealth Amateur Radio. Technical Editor Stu Cohen, N1SC, has moved into his permanent office across from Rick Lindquist's office. Remodeling by Greg Kwasowski has made the office convenient to the rest of the Editorium. Production/Editorial Former ARRL staffer Mike Gruber, W1MG, will be rejoining the ARRL HQ family on October 14. Mike has accepted the EMC-engineering position in the ARRL Lab, replacing John Phillips, who is retiring later in the month. Mike is looking forward to applying his test- and electronics engineering experience to this new challenge. In his previous time at HQ, Mike concentrated on product review testing and wrote a number of interesting QST and QEX articles. Those who remember him will understand how delighted we are to have him back. Sales and Marketing The Sales and Marketing Department is delighted to welcome Janet Rocco to the group as the new Sales and Marketing Specialist. Janet comes to us from the QSL Bureau, where she has spent the last year gaining experience. Many of you know Janet from her tour guide role.
From the road....Dennis Motschenbacher reports "Good Show!" from the Ten-Tec Hamfest. Ten-Tec staff were pleased at customer response to several newer titles (not previously carried by Ten-Tec) Dennis brought with him. Dennis also recruited some attendees for ARRL membership. Dennis continues his travels to visit with several other advertisers and manufacturers.
Bob Inderbitzen concentrated on portions of the 2003 planning process. Bob and Kathy Capodicasa are making significant headway with the Fall/Winter 2002 Products Catalog. Bob produced and coordinated house ads for November QST. The ads take on a Holiday flavor this time of year as we approach the busy retail season. Antenna Compendium Volume 7 makes its debut in this issue. Deb Jahnke produced sales history reports for each of the clients that Dennis is visiting with during the week. Deb has been in contact with several advertisers to solve disputes. She has also started contacting advertisers on a regular basis to gauge customer satisfaction as well as introduce herself personally. The calls have gone far to ensure that advertisers are comfortable with recent changes to HQ advertiser support. Deb also spent time consulting with ISD regarding the computer software conversion. Kathy and Zoe Belliveau are actively coordinating the software implementation processes in preparation for the system going live. The new QST Business Guide listing--to appear for the first time in our December 2002 issue--continues to receive positive response from our advertisers and publications dealers. So far 20 listing slots have been reserved. Two weeks remain before the official deadline. A follow-up postcard and phone calls are planned. Carol Patton and Joe Bottiglieri worked on gathering ad insertions for the November/December 2002 issues of NCJ and QEX magazine. QEX magazine welcomes new advertiser National RF and returning advertiser Active Electronics. NCJ magazine has picked up Kangaroo Tabor Software, CATS/Rotor Doctor and Active Electronics. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS Certificate(Replacement-No QSLs) 1 WAS Endorsements(250 QSLs Field Checked) 5 WAC QSLs Checked (All U.S.) 132 A-1 Operator Nominations 5 A-1 Operator Certificates 2 Long Term Member Inquiries 2 Long Term Member Records Entered in Tass 103 Extra Class Certificates 49 Code Proficiency Certificates 3 Code Proficiency Endorsements 3 Code Proficiency Returns 1 VUCC Certificates Processed 14 VUCC Initial Awards Mailed 14 VUCC Endorsement Awards Mailed 11 VUCC Backfill Applications 5 Grids (Data Entry) 762 VUCC Endorsement Applications 5 Grids (Data Entry) 218 VHF Awards Manager appointment: Albert L. Bailey, K8SIX, Waterford, MI. Processing Status: Current or within three weeks. For the coming week-U.S. WAC, RCC, OTC, and Friendship awards, and VUCC awards processing and mailing. DXCC Branch Weekly Report September 29, 2002 Beginning Cards 147,955 Cards Received 48,674 Cards Processed 14,594 Ending Cards 182,023 Applications Pending 2,125 Processing Time 5 Weeks Year-to-date Cards Received 573,321 Cards Returned 468,038 QRP Issued this week 3 QRP YTD 235 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on August 22, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on August 22, 2002. 1 Millennium award was issued this week. Bill Moore attended the Virginia Beach convention this weekend. 32 DXCC apps with 2,268 country credits, 2 VUCC, 1 WAS. About 35 people attended the forum and it went the full hour with many questions being asked. Contest Branch We continued working on the Web presentation for the DX Phone article and opened it to the membership during the week. We continued to have problems accessing the Aptos server, where the robot is located. It appears their machine may have been hacked during the week. They are working on resolving the problems. We have begun assembling the 2002 Field Day results article. Photos for QST are being selected and N1ND is working on the write-up. The June VHF electronic results were finalized, the tables prepared, and sent to the author for his use in preparing the write-up. Data entry for paper September VHF logs has begun, as well as working with the incoming 10 GHz and up entries. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 09/29/2002 - 1,536,865. Cards mailed on 09/27/2002 - 63,815. Janet Rocco spent 5 hours conducting tours around HQ. Martin has been interviewing candidates for the QSL Service Assistant/Tour Guide Position. Janet Rocco left the QSL Branch on Friday 09/27 & has begun her new position as Sales & Marketing Specialist. Congratulations & good luck Janet. W1AW Jay Townsend, WS7I, a QST Contributing Editor, was on hand over the weekend to operate W1AW in the CQ/RJ WW RTTY Contest as a Single Band (15 meter) entry. Jay made 1091 QSOs, which included 85 DX entities and 48 states, for a claimed score of 449,065. Thanks to Dan, N1ND, for his being on-hand at the station during Jay's time operating. W1AW received as a donation a Plexiglas dust cover for the N2DAN Mercury Keyer. Larry Stamm, WB3EVL, of Kutztown, Pennsylvania, donated the cover. Larry specializes in home-brewing dust covers for various keyers and paddles. Matt Strelow, KC1XX and Andrew Toth of XX Towers, Inc., were on hand Wednesday to perform some antenna work and inspection. They lowered the Driven elements on the 10-meter bulletin and 30-meter visitor antennas for repair (and reinstalled them afterwards). They reinstalled the repaired 70-cm satellite antenna and reoriented the M-Squared 6-meter Yagi that was twisted the week prior during the windstorm [remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah] that blew through the region. Matt and Andrew also inspected the rotatable antennas and tower sections. Matt has discovered that the hardware (on many of the antennas) is showing signs of deterioration. These antennas have been in use since their installation in 1989, as part of the W1AW Renovation. Joe Carcia updated the Web code practice files. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice runs for the latter part of the month of September and for early October. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002): $8,741. Field & Educational Services Education & Technology Program A reflector has been set up for Education & Technology Program schools, and Jerry Hill is learning how to administer it. He will use information that schoolteachers post to develop profiles on each of the schools. He drafted an article for QST that updates ARRL members about what participating schools are accomplishing. CCE Howard Robins worked with Jon Bloom to develop an online survey to measure members' interest in new CCE course topics. He worked with staff on a QST ad about our current course offerings, plus our upcoming RFI course. Howard completed proofreading this course, and Ed Hare continues to review it for technical accuracy. Jerry Ellis opened an HF Digital class and selected and assigned mentors for same. He transferred some Level I students from different class categories, and sent notifications, processed results of field exams, and did maintenance of various mentor lists. Jerry, Howard, and Dan met to better deal with Jerry's growing workload. Field & Educational Support Team Gail Iannone processed 14 door prize orders, 4 label requests and sent 14 handout packages for upcoming events. She also coordinated travel for HQ reps: Wayne Mills, N7NG, Rocky Mountain Division Convention to be held on May 30-June 1, 2003 in Estes Park, CO; and Dennis Motschenbacher, K7BV, Atlantic Division Convention also to be held on May 30-June 1, 2003 in Rochester, NY. Margie Bourgoin reports that sending a message to clubs (written by Jean Wolfgang) has generated a flood of activity for the Youth Sked Database. Over 15 new entries were added this week. Margie also generated Charter Certificates for the 8 new affiliated clubs just approved by the EC. She's been sending those to recipients per Directors' instructions. JoAnn Arel updated 33 Clubs, 6 instructors and 1 schoolteacher. She sent 6 Exhibit Kits, 5 Videos, 6 full JOTA Kits and 3 half JOTA kits. She entered OO Reports into the database. She also assisted in Controllers and in DXCC. Mary Lau reports that Foundation balloting is underway to vote on the TOR of the new Bill Orr, W6SAI Technical Writing Award and a grant requested by Paul Rinaldo and Mary Hobart to aid the African Telecommunications Union's mission to expand ham radio in Africa. Sections/ Divisions with relay messages this week included: MS=2; NE, SV, NTX, MN, OR, PAC, LA, WV = 1 / Hud, West Gulf, Cent = 1. Jean Wolfgang has been receiving email from non-ham scout groups asking where a JOTA event will take place in their area. As a result she has sent out messages to various hams, Ray Moyer of BSA, Scoutradio egroup, Amateur Radio Newsline, etc asking them to register their JOTA event at the "youth skeds" page. <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/youthskeds/>. She also sent the request to hams who filled out the JOTA survey last year. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald and Rick Lindquist worked with the FCC to declare and rescind FCC Emergency Declarations for Hurricane Isidore, and networked with Field Officials on emergency communication responses. Thank you to Tom Hogerty for preparing the NTS Methods and Practice Guidelines for ARRL Web at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nts-mpg/ Leona Adams reports that Section Manager ballots and statements were mailed to members on September 26 in Western Pennsylvania, West Central Florida and South Carolina. Field Organization appointments are still increasing a bit due to the ARECC program. An Arkansas SM nomination petition nominating V. Eldon Bryant, K7ZQR, arrived. Chuck Skolaut received interference reports ranging from fishing boats on the West Coast to interference at the Niagara Falls Airport in New York. Chuck also handled a request from the FCC to assist in monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net during their operations this week. He sent monitoring reports to the FCC and IARU. Emergency Communications Grant Dan Miller begins rolling out the next phase of the CNCS nationwide training next week. Registration opens on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 4 PM Eastern Time for Field Appointments and AECs on a first-come, first-served basis. Thus far, 31 students have completed the Level l course under the CNCS Grant. Thus far, 85 students have completed the Level l course under the UTC Grant. Efforts are underway to increase the graduation rate and locate additional students for the October classes. Regulatory Information John Hennessee answered concerns about PRB-1 problems in Isle of Wright County, VA (W4PRO); St. Louis County, MN (N0BKL); Winslow Township, NJ (N2FOB); and Andover, MN (KE8MJ) and a covenant problem in Boca Raton, FL (WD8DUI). Work continues on updating the FCC Rule Book. John was also interviewed recently about reciprocal licensing matters by Hap Holly for RAIN. Rosalie worked with a FEMA Region 9 representative to get contact information for that area (CA, NV, AZ). She took part in a VRC telecon and drafted the minutes. She sent presentation materials on the Field Organization to Fried Heyn. She participated in an ARISS-Intl telecon, and reports a successful ARISS QSO with the St Mary's School in Iowa, and a Canadian school. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason Jennifer Hagy 10/11-10/14 Vacation Dennis Motschenbacher 9/29-10/3 Advertiser and pub dealer visits in Texas `` 10/4-10/5 MFJ/ARRL Days Steve Ewald 9/30-10/4 Vacation Brennan Price 10/11-10/13 Eastern Washington Section Convention, Spokane `` 11/1-11/3 Georgia Section Convention, Lawrenceville Diana Lamson-Lucas 10/3-10/4 Vacation Bob Schetgen 10/4 Vacation