IN-Newsletter Vol. 40, No. 47 December 30, 2015 - Covers the period December 20-26. Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events LoTW Study Committee January 12 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT CEO Search Committee January 13 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee January 14 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee January 14 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Annual Board Meeting January 15-16 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Senior Test Engineer, Bob Allison, WB1GCM, is currently testing a high performance HF/6 meter transceiver. Testing of it should be wrapped up shortly. Next to be tested--a 220 MHz handheld transceiver. ARRL Laboratory Volunteer Martin Ewing, AA6E, has assisted Bob Allison with several Product Review devices during 2015, especially with the setup of software defined radios. We've had more than a couple of devices that came with poorly translated instructions, but Martin is an expert at solving complicated puzzles. The Lab is grateful for his volunteer work. Web Zack Lau uploaded the Propagation Forecasts for January 2016-the predicted solar flux is 118. Donation The ARRL Lab accepted a donation of vintage equipment from a Radio Amateur who lives in Plymouth Massachusetts. Included in the donation are items that will be added to the ARRL Historical Collection, such as a Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox (antenna tuner). This tuner was one of the first commercially made high power antenna tuners designed specifically for Amateur Radio use. The donated tuner is in mint condition, having never been used. Historical Collection Volunteer, Jonathan Allen, K2KKH, has cataloged 1,443 hardware items in our historical collection. Historical Collection Volunteer, Mike Marinaro, WN1M, has cataloged several dozen full size file boxes of documents from the 1970s through the early 90's. Though this era may not seem like the distant past, the documents will provide insight for future generations of the dedication and hard work the ARRL performed on behalf of its members and the Amateur Radio Service, worldwide. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Jackie Ferreira reports that a special offer postcard promoting the new ARRL Periodicals DVD mailed to 5,500 past purchasers. 368 orders were received over the Christmas weekend. Now Shipping: 2015 ARRL Periodicals on DVD. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week Ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 12/24/2015 970 578 Yvette Vinci reports that on Tuesday, December 22, a reminder emailing was sent to members with a summary of "What's trending" in January QST-taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Alli Barbieri. The notification was sent to 122,991 members. Summary of Sales and Marketing Department telephone group, reported by Yvette Vinci: Week Ending Calls Answered Calls Per Hour Total Talking Duration Average Speed of Answer 12/24/2015 754 20.9 26:08:53 12 seconds Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3-4 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 2-4 Business Days Number of Centennial applications processed: Centennial Challenge QSO 2807 W1AW/WAS 1997 W1AW Joe Carcia updated the web code practice files and their archives. He processed three Qualifying Run certificates and three Qualifying Run endorsements. Joe updated the 2016 Qualifying Run schedules on the web. He also installed all the power and antenna connectors on the rotator and coaxial cables that will be used for the ARISS Go-Kit. He began work on setting up the Elevation and Azimuth rotators for the kit as well. Field Organization/Public Service Team The ballots and the candidate statements for the winter time Section Manager elections were printed and delivered to ARRL Headquarters. Thanks to the Mailroom staff for preparing the ballot mailing to members in the Virginia, Pacific and San Diego sections. Section expense and section-related travel reports continued to arrive in Leona Adams' in box as the end of the year approaches. One radio amateur from South Texas completed requirements to become an Official Observer this past week. An application was received from a radio amateur in Puerto Rico wishing to become a member of the ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch. He was added to the group after Headquarters received approval from the Southeastern Division Director. Several Hawaiian stations reported hearing a spur on 30 meters from WWVH. The engineers were cooperative in checking on their transmitter. Questions received this week included one on FCC RF exposure rules, the 90th anniversary IARU special event stations, antenna zoning and an antenna construction question that was referred to Joel Hallas. Another nomination was received for the International Humanitarian Award, and Chuck Skolaut filled in for vacationing staff by conducting one morning code practice at W1AW. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 1/1 Holiday Steve Ford 12/21-12/31 PTO Dan Henderson 12/17-1/5 PTO Bob Inderbitzen 12/24-12/31 PTO Steve San Andrea 12/28-12/31 PTO Dave Sumner 12/28-12/30 PTO `` 1/8 DARA meeting, Dayton, OH
