<<062007.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 30, No. 25 June 20, 2007 -- Covers the period June 10-16. Upcoming Meetings and Events Programs & Services Committee July 19 in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee July 19 in Newington, CT Second Board Meeting July 20-21, 2007 in Windsor, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND PAVE PAWS and Field Day continue to be the two dominant projects this week. The deadline for power reduction is June 15 and we are currently working with individual repeater owners updating the database of compliance. We are also working to schedule a teleconference between the ARRL Lab and the DoD radar specialist to discuss the first round of technical data exchanges. We are also working with a few individual problems or errors in the DoD database, trying to properly identify repeaters they have misidentified. Phone traffic and email related to this continues to be significant. Field Day questions via email and phone contact also have jumped to a significant number. Final plans were also put in place for the ARRL HQ Field Day Friday activities designed to allow newly-licensed or non-licensed some exposure to some of the on the air aspects of the hobby were also finalized, as well as the W1AW FD operations for the weekend of June 23-24. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP With the Travelers PGA Tournament just down the road this weekend, it is hard to get regional media interested in Field Day. But we are working on an arrangement to have between 2 to 4 or more state Governors on the air together between 1:30 and 2pm Eastern time for FD as a kick-off. Gov. Rell of CT was invited many weeks ago, but as of 6/18 had still not made a decision on coming despite being called and encouraged by Gov. Minner of DE. Gov Baldacci of Maine's office said he would be "tickled" to take part. Gov Barbour of MS is also possible. We are NOT announcing this openly before the event as we do not want inappropriate QRM turning this into a bad display of ham radio. Meanwhile, comments from several of the PR committee agree that there has been a distinct improvement in the quality, quantity and timing of the materials provided by the PIOs to media regarding FD this year. Linkage for the general public to find local FD sites has also been added to the main webpage. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The Education & Technology Fund solicitation has attracted $81,857 in funding. That total added to the carryover from 2006 and grants from individuals for the Teachers Institute bring to total for 2007 to $176,879 with another $25,000 on its way to us. The grant proposal to United Technologies for a 30year education grant was not accepted. Work on the Diamond Terrace has begun in earnest. Demolition of the front walkways and curbs, plus the curbs near the flag poles have been removed. Grading and foundation for the new sidewalks and the Diamond Terrace are being completed. Engraved pavers and blank pavers will be in place by week's end - weather permitting. A sixth granite bench has been committed to the Terrace. We hope that all the engraved benches will be in place for the Board meeting. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The July/August issue of NCJ has been released to the printer. Steve Ford and Joel Kleinman attended a two-day conference in Washington, DC sponsored by the Society of National Association Publications. Conference presentations will help us plan improvements to our periodicals, books and newsletters. The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 24, distributed to 65,166 members on June 15. With assistance from Allen Pitts, Khrystyne Keane voiced and produced the June 15 edition of ARRL Audio News. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R A handful of planning details for the ARRL National Convention in Huntsville have been finalized. Communication between HQ and the local arrangements committee is ongoing. Recent topics have included the layout of ARRL EXPO, the Huntsville Hamfest forum slate, W1AW/4, and youth activities. Hotel reservation forms have been distributed by Gail Iannone to staff, Officers, Directors and Vice Directors. Jackie Cornell is assembling a list of ARRL officials that are attending. She'll order exhibitor badges and polo shirts. More information is available at www.arrl.org/expo. GAREC-07, the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference, takes place in the two days just before the ARRL National Convention, August 16-17, at the Embassy Suites Huntsville. The conference is IARU-sponsored, and is organized by Hans Zimmerman, F5VKP / HB9AQS and ARRL Alabama Section Manager Greg Sarratt, W4OZK. ARRL is helping manage online registrations at https://www.arrl.org/forms/misc/garec07.html. ARRL staff attending the conference will include Dave Sumner and Allen Pitts. After months of planning and development, an intradepartmental team has nearly completed ARRL's new online membership application. The new online application is greatly improved and enhanced. Members and prospective members will be able to use this application to: join ARRL or renew their membership (including Life membership and ARRL Diamond Club), subscribe to NCJ and/or QEX magazines, make a contribution, add/renew Family Members, and more. The entire HQ staff was introduced to the "beta" version during meetings held on Tuesday, June 19. The next week will involve some final testing. The new application process will replace the old online applications in early July. The warehouse crew processed 964 packages of fulfillment orders during the week. In addition, there were 270 free book membership premiums fulfilled, and a mailing supplement for June QST. 2007 ARRL Field Day shirts have all sold-out. We've taken delivery of the new edition ARRL General Class License Manual and ARRL's General Q & A. Business Services Reported by Deb Jahnke We are revamping the advertising supplement that accompanies new ham mailings. Advertisers have responded positively to the revised New Ham Express (Now called Ham Express 411) that includes left hand page editorial space. Thus far, we have accrued $58,000 in advertising sales and still have some fraction page opportunities left before the booklet is full. Last year's advertising revenue of the New Ham Express with no editorial content was $40,000. We are finishing up on the August issue of QST that includes the Antenna Time Tear-Out section. Compared to the past several years, advertisers (especially antenna advertisers) have not been overly excited about this issue and it is proving a challenge to fill the tear-out section. Other tear-out sections to date have continued to do well. We will re-evaluate this as an offering in 2008 and attempt to devise an alternative vehicle to replace the revenue. In response to our proposal, ICOM America has signed on for 8 additional advertising pages in the September QST theme issue (Emergency Communications). Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Contest Branch The tentative Contest Calendars for 2008 and 2009 have been sent to the WSDD staff for posting to the ARRLWeb. You may expect to see these calendars on the web shortly. Please keep in mind that these dates are tentative and still subject to change. A final review of the Affiliated Club Competition for the 2007 International DX Contest yielded some score changes but no major changes to the placement of the top clubs in each category. A couple of major changes are upon us with this year's EME Contest. Unlike most other contests, self-spotting will now be permitted in the assisted categories. Another change allows for stations to work each other on Analog (CW or Phone) and Digital modes on the same band for credit during the 50 MHz through 1296 Weekends of the contest only. This impacts all logging software currently in use by the amateur community. Key staff members have been consulted as to the best way to get the word out about these changes. The June VHF contest went off without a hitch last weekend...Well; almost. Some software glitches were experienced with the Contest Robot but as of this writing, Trey Garlough, N5KO, has ironed them out. QSL Branch There is no delay in opening mail and a 1 day delay in slotting of cards. This week, 99 pounds of cards were received from members. W1AW Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the middle part of the month of June. He also assisted the DXCC department with checking 174 database-inputted cards against DXCC applications. Field Organization/Public Service Team Chuck Skolaut received word that, after a lengthy time frame, interference to a two meter repeater in Nebraska caused by a wireless Internet service has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. The FCC HF Direction Finding station will again look into the matter of the South American "PUN" beacon. It is still heard on a number of amateur bands, and one report indicated that letters ELTR were heard. This is the reverse keying of the beacon. More follow up work is underway on a report of a carrier on 14.030 MHz, and Chuck also heard this one from HQ. In preparation for the San Francisco Section Manager election, Leona Adams received statements and photographs from the two candidates. She coordinated exhibit kit orders and arranged for their shipment. A big thank you goes to the Mailroom Staff, Norm Fusaro, and Steve Ewald for their assistance in preparing these packages during the pre-Field Day rush. 34 exhibit kits were sent out on Friday, June 15. On behalf of ARRL HQ, Steve Ewald attended the National Conference on Community Preparedness in Alexandria, Virginia. The conference was hosted jointly by Citizen Corps, the International Association of Emergency Managers and the National Emergency Management Association. Organizations affiliated with Citizen Corps were also present at the meetings which attracted 620 participants. Steve networked with many Affiliate representatives as well as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Leaders and emergency managers from across the country. Amateur Radio received praise from many conference attendees. Web/Software Development Reported by Jon Bloom, KE3Z Micah Murray is ready to release the new membership application system for staff testing. In addition, he has nearly completed a new exhibit kit order form page. Hugh Brower released the English version of ExamWin with the new General pool. He continues to work on the Spanish version. I switched Logbook over to its new server and worked on flushing out the inevitable small bugs arising from that change. I also put together a quick Web registration form for the GAREC conference, as requested by Bob Inderbitzen. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 7/4 Holiday Leona Adams 6/29-7/3 Vacation Jon Bloom 7/9-7/27 Vacation `` 9/26-10/5 Vacation Katie Breen 6/14-6/26 Vacation `` 6/29-7/1 Iowa State Convention `` 7/30-8/3 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 6/20-6/21 Access Training Hugh Brower 9/7-9/14 Vacation Joe Carcia 6/28-7/6 Vacation `` 7/13 Vacation `` 7/20 Vacation `` 7/27 Vacation `` 8/3-8/10 Vacation Jackie Cornell 7/2-6 Vacation `` 7/30-8/3 Vacation Jennie Davis 6/18-6/22 Vacation Steve Ewald 6/21 Vacation Steve Ford 7/2-7/3 Vacation `` 7/30-8/3 Vacation Perry Green 7/25-7/28 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, PA Joel Hallas 6/20 Vacation `` 6/21pm-6/22 Vacation Ed Hare 7/8-7/13 EMC Society Symposium Committee Meeting, Honolulu, HI Dan Henderson 7/25-7/28 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, PA `` 8/16-8/28 ARRL National Convention, Huntsville, AL/Vacation Mary Hobart 8/17-8/19 ARRL National Convention, Huntsville, AL `` 9/7-9/9 MFJ Anniversary/Starkville MS `` 9/14-9/16 W9DX Convention, Chicago, IL `` 9/28-9/29 TenTac, Pigeon Forge, TN Amy Hurtado 7/2-7/4 Vacation `` 8/13-8/15 Vacation Gail Iannone 6/28-7/3 Vacation `` 8/17-8/31 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 6/21-6/26 Vacation `` 7/16-7/20 Vacation Debra Johnson 6/21 Vacation Zak Lau 6/21-6/22 Vacation Monique Levesque 7/5-7/10 Vacation `` 8/6-8/10 Vacation `` 8/30-9/4 Vacation Maryann Macdonald 6/20-6/21 Access Training Dave Patton 6/19-6/25 Friedrichshafen Germany Convention Barry Shelley 7/5-7/9 Vacation `` 8/10-8/24 Vacation Maria Somma 6/19-6/27 Friedrichshafen Germany Convention `` 7/13-7/22 Vacation `` 7/25-7/28 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, PA `` 8/16-8/19 ARRL National Convention, Huntsville, AL Dave Sumner 6/10-6/25 ITU-R WP8A Geneva, and Friedrichshafen Germany `` 6/29-7/3 Vacation `` 8/1-8/6 Vacation `` 8/15-8/19 GAREC/ARRL National Convention, Huntsville, AL `` 9/8-9/15 IARU Reg. 2 Conference, Brasilia Larry Wolfgang 6/21-6/22 Vacation