IN-Newsletter

 

 

Vol. 41, No. 23

 

June 29, 2016 — Covers the period June 19-25.

 

 

 

Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events

 

Director/Vice Director Orientation

July 13 @ 8:15am in Newington, CT

 

LoTW Study Committee

July 13 @ 10:00am in Newington, CT

 

Administration & Finance Committee

July 14 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT

 

Programs & Services Committee

July 14 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT

 

Second Board Meeting

July 15-16 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT

 

 

CEO Office

 

The office will be closed on Monday, July 4.  Have a safe Holiday weekend!

 

 

 

Production/Editorial

Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY

 

The August 2016 issue of QST is at the printer.

Work continues on the 2017 Handbook.

Work has begun on the Sept/Oct issue of QEX.

Work continues on the Central States VHF Society Conference Proceedings and the Central States VHF Society 50th Anniversary Book, both of which should go to press next week.

 

 

 

Sales and Marketing

Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R

 

Diane Petrilli reports that Father’s Day and Summer-themed e-mails, in addition to targeted e-mails to ARRL online Guests and non-ham prospects brought in 120+ members this month.

 

Jackie Ferreira reports that a publication special offer email for the Fourth of July weekend is being prepared.

 

Yvette Vinci prepared the bulk email notification for the July 2016 digital edition of QST, distributed to ARRL members on Monday, June 13.  The distribution list included 121,810 members.

 

Yvette also reports that on Tuesday, June 21, a reminder emailing was sent to members with a summary of “What’s trending” in July QST—taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Alli Barbieri.

 

The notification was sent to 122,131 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

6/24/2016

769

17.0

25:10:37

8 seconds

6/17/2016

830

18.4

26:19:40

11 seconds

6/10/2016

803

17.8

24:36:36

9 seconds

6/3/2016 (4 days)

705

19.6

21:23:53

10 seconds

 

Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa:

Week Ending

Packages fulfilled

Member Premiums

6/24/2016

974

579

6/17/2016

985

625

6/10/2016

1,451

510

6/3/2016 (4 days)

1,456

420

 

 

 

Field Services & Radiosport

Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N

 

DXCC

Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time

3 Weeks

Logbook Processing Time

1-2 Days

 

W1AW

Another Field Day has come and gone!  Aside from the somewhat poor band conditions, W1AW did well.  812 QSOs were made on 160 meters to 70 cm using CW, SSB and RTTY, with 9 of these QSOs being made on Satellite FO-29.  Not counting bonus points, the initial claimed score is 1110.  Thanks to Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, Dan Henderson, N1ND, Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Jordan Sakal, KB1ZDZ with Sam, and Lab volunteer Pete Turbide, W1PT with Wendy Skeen, N1WMS, for operating the station.  Lab volunteer Lori Kosior, N1SMK, operated GOTA station K1NO.

 

It wasn’t all sunshine and butterflies, however.  Friday night, a power supply module used in part of the broadcast keying matrix system was experiencing intermittent failures.  Because of this, some of the transmitters would intermittently key as well.  Some individuals missed copying the W1AW Phone Field Day bulletin on those few bands affected.  To counter the loss, an additional transmission of the W1AW Phone Field Day bulletin was made at 1 PM (1700z) on Sunday.

 

On Wednesday, Matt Strelow, KC1XX, and Andrew Toth – both of XX Towers Inc. – were on hand to perform the Spring antenna and tower inspections for W1AW and W1HQ.  While W1AW’s inspections went well, the majority of work was centered on W1HQ’s antennas.  The EHUs -– Electronic Housing Units – for the SteppIR antenna were replaced.  The 70cm Satellite antenna was also taken down for testing.

 

Joe ran all the Field Day bulletins for the weekend, as well as prepared the station for Field Day.  He assisted Matt and Andrew with the antenna repairs.  He organized the materials used on the antenna repairs.  Joe also updated the web code practice files and their archives.

 

Field Organization/Public Service Team

Official Observers in the south eastern sections were alerted to monitor for interference occurring to a net on 3.940 kHz.  Recordings were received regarding problems occurring on several 75 meter frequencies as well as one 40 meter frequency.  Chuck Skolaut also received complaints about 3.843 MHz and 7.200 MHz, and the FCC was updated on these situations.  Questions this past week dealt with antenna zoning, the Intruder Watch, Field Day operation, 60 meters, and repeater information.

 

The Section Managers’ Workshop for this year is scheduled for October 7 – 9 (Friday through Sunday), and October 6 (Thursday) will be a main travel day for the Section Managers who are heading to Connecticut.

 

Steve Ewald is issuing invitations to several new Section Managers who have come on board since the fall of 2015.

 

Leona Adams reports that Section Manager election ballots and candidate statements for Minnesota and Ohio sections were sent to the local printer.  The Mailroom is preparing to mail out these ballots to ARRL members in those two sections prior to the July 1 mailing deadline.

 

 

Education Services

Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ

 

Education & Technology Program

Larry Kendall, K6NDL led a very successful onsite Teachers Institute hosted by Douglas County STEM Academy in Highlands Ranch, CO during the week of June 6-10.  This session was funded by a local donor, and included 9 local teachers and 3 others traveling to the site.  Comments shared by participants included the following:

"My background is in architecture and construction, so electronics has never been a strength for me.  Although I teach some basics in communications technology and modern manufacturing processes, I have struggled to bring hands-on, practical applications to my students.  TI 1 was just what I needed!  I gained a great confidence in my understanding of electronics and a world of ideas to engage my students this coming year.  I am also excited about bringing ham radio into the classroom.  I am planning on taking my Technician Class License exam at the end of this month.” - Lance Newman

 

"I have been to many training programs for teachers over the years sponsored by different groups. Most were very good, but this one was hands-down the best I have ever attended. I left with tons of ideas to implement and a much deeper understanding of radio science and electronics that will make me both a better ham and a better teacher. It was an incredibly productive week! We had zero down time during the entire five days. Every minute we were hands-on with sleeves rolled up--designing, building, programming, and testing. It was never the least bit dull! I cannot wait for TI-2." - Chris Laster

 

Read the story reported in ARRL News for more details.

Three of the participants reported that they heard about the Teachers Institute from ARRL’s advertising in Tech Directions.  The second session planned for summer 2016 concluded on June 24.  Also led by Kendall, the session included 10 teachers traveling from across the US.

 

ARISS

The US ARISS executive team conducted a review of 19 proposals submitted to the program during the spring proposal window.  Twelve schools/organizations were selected to move forward through the process to be scheduled for a contact during the Jan- June 2017 period.

 

Joe Carcia and Bob Allison completed equipment acquisition and configuration of the loaner station which we will make available to clubs desiring to provide ground support for direct contacts with schools that have completed education proposals that have been accepted by the ARISS program.

 

May and June were slower periods for ARISS school contacts as ISS crew changes impacted the schedule.  Contacts in the US included a direct contact between astronaut Jeffrey Williams, KD5TVQ and students at the All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown, RI.  This event was met with much interest from local media, including a front page story in the Newport Daily News.  A telebridge contact with students from Westbury Magnet School at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY also generated media attention from a local news channel.

 

Internationally, contacts were successful in the UK, Italy, India, Canada, Australia, Japan and Russia.   UK astronaut Tim Peake’s, KG5BVI, mission wrapped up with some noteworthy reporting from British media describing the impact of the program for students.  A national UK newspaper, The Guardian, reported on the experience of participation in an ARISS contact event in a story that captures the spirit of space adventure and how the ARISS program brings that excitement to students, their educators, and their communities.  A recap by the RSGB describing the collaborative effort of the ham radio community with the UK Space Agency in support of Peake’s educational mission is also well worth review.

 

 

 

Sincerely Compiled by,

 

Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ

Assistant to the CEO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations

All Staff                       7/4                               Holiday

Leona Adams                7/1-7/8                          PTO

Bob Allison                  7/22-7/23                      Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK

Steve Capodicasa          7/11                              PTO

       ``                           8/22-8/26                      PTO

     ``                             9/19-9/23                      PTO

Lauren Clarke               7/12-7/15                      Fundraising Conference, National Harbor, MD

Jackie Ferreira              7/18-7/22                      PTO

Steve Ford                    7/5-7/15                        PTO

Norm Fusaro                 8/5-8/7                          Texas State Convention, Austin, TX

     ``                             8/19-8/21                      West Virginia State Convention, Weston, WV

Tom Gallagher              6/29                              Meeting with Fugate, Washington, DC

      ``                            7/14-7/16                      Committee Meetings/Board Meeting

      ``                            8/12-8/14                      New Mexico State Convention, Albuquerque, NM

Scott Gee                      6/30-7/8                        PTO

Mike Gruber                 8/22-8/26                      PTO

      ``                            9/26-9/30                      PTO

Dan Henderson             6/29-7/1                        PTO

       ``                           7/14-7/16                      Committee Meetings/Board Meeting

Bob Inderbitzen            7/5-7/8                          PTO

Debra Johnson              7/21-7/24                      ARISS Meeting, Washington, DC

       ``                           8/29-9/4                        PTO

Lisa Kustosik                7/14-7/16                      Board Meeting, Windsor, CT

Sean Kutzko                 6/27-7/1                        PTO

Diane Middleton           7/19                              PTO

     ``                             7/25-7/29                      PTO

Diane Petrilli                8/5-8/12                        PTO

Kim Rochette               6/30-7/5                        PTO

      ``                            7/25-8/1                        PTO

Becky Schoenfeld         6/27-6/29                      AMP Conferene, Washington, DC

Barry Shelley                6/17-7/1                        PTO

       ``                           7/14-7/16                      Committee Meetings/Board Meeting

      ``                            7/18-7/26                      PTO

Chuck Skolaut              8/20-8/21                      Kansas State Convention, Salina, KS

Maria Somma               7/8                               PTO

     ``                             7/14-7/18                      PTO