IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 34 August 26, 2002 The HQ computer conversion is scheduled for September 3. Data entry in TASS ended August 28, and the data will be converted over the Labor Day weekend, for operation to begin in Siebel/Great Plains on Tuesday morning. There may be some delays in service as we work through the conversion process. Sales & Marketing Although all normal functions of our group continued in motion last week, we did spend considerable time working with the software changeover. Our group is making every effort to insure that our clients and membership do not encounter any service degradation during the changeover. Numerous short meetings were held amongst staff preparing 2003 / 2004 budget input. As part of a board directive made during January's Body meeting, staff was asked to determine how much interest there is among field volunteers in garments identifying their participation as ARES volunteers. Bob Inderbitzen and Steve Ewald circulated a survey, and based on the results, suitable garments have been identified. Samples of the finished items were shared with us last week. The items include a vest, lightweight jacket, and equipment bag. The items will be offered alongside other ARRL garments (sportswear, etc.) available through Barker Specialties. This vendor handles orders and fulfillment. A product rollout is being planned. The survey conducted for The ARRL Antenna Book has produced nearly 200 responses. The information will be used in planning for the 20th edition book, scheduled for 2003. Bob worked with Sue Fagan to produce an ad for the 2003 ARRL Handbook. The ad campaign for the new edition will debut in October QST. We anticipate making our August forecasts for membership and revenues. New QST advertisers in August include PZEF Company and PRC68.com. September typically brings in the start of the winter increases in all measured categories for our group. That combined with the software change promises a busy month ahead. Ray Novak, ICOM America National Sales Manager, met with the Sales & Marketing staff to discuss a number of innovative promotion and advertising ideas. ARRL will prepare a formal proposal within the next several days based on the exchange. Hanan Rayyashi and Dennis Motschenbacher attended the Boxboro Hamfest last weekend to meet with the exhibiting publications and advertising clients. Hanan and Lisa Tardette prepared a special advertising promotion for dealers and suppliers that will appear in November QST. Production/Editorial The October 2002 issue of QST will be released to the printer August 27. We checked printer's proofs for Low Band DXing and the Sep/Oct 2002 issue of NCJ. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 250 WAS Endorsements 4 WAC QSL Cards Checked 36 25-Year Member Certificate 1 25-Year Member Award 1 50-Year Member Awards 2 60-Year Member Award 1 Long Term Member Inquiries 3 RCC Certificates 6 Friendship Certificates 4 OTC Certificates 2 A-1 Operator Nominations 2 VUCC Endorsement Applications 10 Grids (Data Entry) 521 VUCC Initial Applications 4 Grids (Data Entry) 341 Also: Compiled the latest VUCC awards list for October QST. Ordered the 50- and 60-year member plaques. Ordered the plates for the latest 5BWAS plaque recipients. Processing Status: Current or within three weeks. For the coming week-Code Proficiency and VUCC awards, Extra Class certificates, 5BWAS plaques, process certificates and mail out VUCC awards, and work on budget matters. DXCC Branch Weekly Report August 18, 2002 Beginning Cards 76,670 Cards Received 15,532 Cards Processed 12,539 Ending Cards 75,663 Applications Pending 709 Processing Time 4 Weeks Year-to-date Cards Received 417,469 Cards Returned 443,241 QRP Issued this week 1 QRP YTD 225 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on July 25, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on August 1, 2002. Bill Moore attended Boxboro this weekend. We checked 48 applications, totaling 4,080 country credits. Thanks to Bill Dodge, K1BD, Ann Santos, WA1S, Willem Angenent, K6NDV and Mel Cole WZ1Q for their help checking cards. Contest Branch Work continued on the electronic 2002 Field Day submissions. Final work on the DX CW write-up for both QST and the Web was done. The layout of the Web results is being worked on concurrent with review by the preview team. Numerous emails continue to be handled regarding entries for the 2002 IARU HF Championship. Contest Branch staff has handled over 150 problem electronic logs for entrants - which accounts for approximately 10% of all electronic entries received. Preparation of items for the Web results for the 2002 International DX Phone contest continued. A variety of replacement certificates and specialty plaques were shipped. Certificates for the 2001 EME contest were printed and will be shipped the week of August 26. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 08/23/2002 - 1,310,725. No cards were mailed this week. Martin Cook & Janet Rocco attended the Siebel training course given by John Proctor. Janet spent 7 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Scott Gee worked on slow and fast code practice runs for the month of September. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. Joe Carcia attended portions of the Power Line Interference Workshop that was presented by Mike Martin, K3RFI of RFI Services of Maryland, and hosted by the ARRL. As part of the workshop, Martin and the other workshop participants sought to track down the power line noise that has been plaguing W1AW for the past couple of years. (Mike Martin is confident he located the sources of noise, and we hope to work with the local utility company to fix the problem.) Joe also worked on Qualifying Run texts for the month of September, processed regular W1AW QSL card requests, and worked the Friday afternoon/night shift for Scott Gee. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002): $7,834. Field & Educational Services CCE, CNCS/UTC Grants Howard Robins was welcomed to the F&ES team this week. Jerry, Dan and Rosalie shared information to ramp him up in his job. He has come up with a list of possibilities for future CCE courses. Jerry Ellis is settling into re-organized office space and continuing to complete normal CCE duties of assigning students, opening and processing classes, graduations, etc. A new process for Mentor Stipends has been instituted. Dan Miller says all UTC student registrations slots are nearly full and moving ahead perfectly on schedule. CNCS implementation is also going exactly as planned. For the ARECC Level II course, 24 students enrolled this month. For Level III, 10 enrolled this month. Rosalie took part in an ARISS-Intl telecon meeting, worked on the budget, spent a morning with Debra Johnson, worked with Dan to train Howard, and met with visitors Ray Novak and Riley Hollingsworth. The ISS spacewalk went well with the last two ham radio antennas getting installed. We heard PR about the ham antennas on National Public Radio and television news. Field & Educational Support Team Jean Wolfgang has revised the existing nomination forms for the IOY awards, HPM award and the Technical awards. They are now on ARRLWeb. She is sending out the award plaques to the appropriate people. She also received and handled 3 ARISS applications. Gail Iannone sent 2 initial hamfest application packets to the clubs requesting ARRL-sanctioning for their events, 4 hamfest approval letters to the sponsoring clubs, processed 7 door prize orders, 5 label requests, and sent 20 handout packages for upcoming events. She also sent a Wouff-Hong package for the ceremony to be performed at the New England Division Convention. Margie Bourgoin reports that one new club applied for affiliation, and she is still receiving a large volume of SSC renewals. She is beginning to see a return on the "last chance" (to renew active status) Instructor postcard. She and Jean continued work on a new Youth brochure. Margie also assisted with counting SM ballots. Jo-Ann Arel updated 21 clubs, 3 instructors, and 3 teachers. She also sent out 3 Exhibit Kits, 3 videos, 3 JOTA Kits, 700 brochures, and 26 Grad Kits. She also helped out with a special Contesting mailing and tour coverage. Mary Lau took her Team to the Boxboro Convention on Friday afternoon for a field trip to see the behind-the-scenes preparations that make a regional convention function successfully and to permit convention organizers to meet the HQ staff who handle hamfest, clubs, exhibit materials fulfillment, and youth and instructor support. Incidentally, proceeds from the once-every-two-year event fund the ARRL Foundation FEMARA scholarships. Regulatory Information John assisted amateurs with local government zoning concerns in Cottonwood, AZ (K7AAC); Dunn County, WI, (KB9LUK) and Racine, WI (KC9AAW). He assisted an amateur with covenant concerns in Seminole County, FL (AG4PU). He continues to update the FCC Rule Book for the next printing, and received questions on the status of the 60 meter band. Field Organization/ Public Service Team Victor Madera was re-elected as Puerto Rico SM over Bill Genter with a vote of 173 to 48. Leona Adams headed up the ballot-counting effort. Details of the election and the October 2002 Class of SMs were on the Web and in October QST's "Happenings" column. Leona received a WPA SM nomination form from David Leiser, K3NPX. She handled 14 Technical Specialist appointments this week. Steve Ewald worked with Dan Miller to answer SM questions about procedures to recommend nominees to take the emergency communications course under the new federal grant. They will contact SMs to encourage them to nominate candidates. Chuck Skolaut met Riley Hollingsworth during his visit to HQ for the RFI seminar. Chuck has been corresponding with Riley about an ongoing interference case on 7.240 MHz. At Riley's request, Chuck arranged for OOs to do some special monitoring. Volunteer Monitors have also been in touch with Chuck. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 9/2 Holiday Dave Sumner 9/1-9/24 Geneva & Vacation Maty Weinberg 8/27-8/30 Vacation Mahjabeen Kabir 8/23-8/27 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 8/29 Jury Duty Leona Adams 8/26-8/28 Vacation John Hennessee 8/26-9/3 Vacation Dan Miller 9/3-9/6 Vacation `` 9/9 WPA Convention Steve Ford 9/12-9/15 Digital Communications Conference Joe Carcia 8/30-9/6 Vacation Dan Henderson 8/30 Vacation Judy Miller 9/3-9/4 Vacation Joe Bottiglieri 8/27-9/4 Vacation Dennis Motschenbacher 9/26-9/27 Ten-Tec Show / Sales Presentation