IN-Newsletter [cid:image001.jpg@01D1CD5A.E12E3E70] Vol. 41, No. 22 June 22, 2016 - Covers the period June 12-18. 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 Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND A successful meeting with FCC Special Counsel Laura Smith, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, ARRL Lab Manager Ed Hare, Assistant Lab Manager Bob Allison, WB1GCM, lab staffer Mike Gruber, W1MG, Amateur Auxiliary Program Coordinator Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG, and myself, was held on Friday June 17th. A wide range of items were discussed relating to how the ARRL can improve its interfacing with the FCC on amateur-to-amateur and non-amateur-to-amateur interference. As Assistant Secretary, the formal announcement and materials for the July ARRL Second Board Meeting were distributed. We also have begun receiving requests for petition packets for the upcoming Director and Vice-Director election cycle. Many thanks to Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ, for her great work on tracking and distributing the packets. In addition the minutes for the June 16th meeting of the Programs and Services Committee were prepared and sent to Chairman Jim Boehner, N2ZZ. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Testing Bob Allison is retesting a software defined transceiver with revised software. Several flaws in the software were found during initial testing. The test data, along with documentation, were sent to the manufacturer, with the results being a new software revision. ARRL Web Zack Lau uploaded the propagation forecasts for July. The predicted solar flux is 90. RFI Mike Gruber received a demo model of the new Radar Engineers Model 243 for evaluation. He plans on doing an RFI investigation with it later this week. Mike Gruber is planning a follow-up visit to a funeral home in Rocky Hill. As previously mentioned in a weekly report, he was able to confirm that the source of an RFI complaint appears to originate from inside the funeral home. The noise is also consistent with an arcing source. The director of the funeral home has now agreed to let Mike locate the source. Mike Gruber attended a meeting with Laura Smith and Chris Imlay. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the process that we use to help in RFI complaints. National Parks on the Air The Lab's van completed its "shakedown" trip to the Springfield Armory (and back). Equipped with HF and VHF transceivers, the van deployed its 60 foot pneumatic mast, which hoisted a multiband dipole antenna. Despite poor band conditions and strong power line noise, Radio Amateur Jim Schilling, KG4JSZ, and Lab volunteer, Pete Turbide, W1PT, made the majority of the 41 QSOs, mostly on 20 meters, under the call sign of W1A. The purpose of the exercise was to make sure the van is ready for emergencies, plotting local noise floors and hunting noise sources. Improvements do need to be made, but the van is functional. Special thanks to Joe Carcia for installing the electronics and to Mike Gruber, who arranged our visit with the National Parks Service. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Upgrade postcards featuring the General and Extra Class license materials are being mailed to Technician and General Class members. Emails featuring ARRL antenna publications are being prepared for the month of July. Some planning was completed to help promote upcoming Division-level conventions and ARRL Contests via the website and social media. 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 6/17/2016 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 5/27/2016 848 18.8 26:47:40 9 seconds Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week Ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 6/17/2016 985 625 6/10/2016 1,451 510 6/3/2016 (4 days) 1,456 420 5/27/2016 1,013 554 Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1-2 Days W1AW Scott Gee worked on fast and slow code practice files for the week. He also processed some VUCC endorsements and certificates. Joe Carcia updated the W1AW QST code practice source and July Qualifying Run schedule web pages. He also prepared the ENG van with equipment and antennas for a Lab NPOTA activation from the Springfield, Massachusetts Armory. Field Organization/Public Service Team Chuck Skolaut compiled and forwarded the monthly Official Observer Summary to all OOs, OOCs and Section Managers. Supplies were sent out to several Official Observers. A complaint was received regarding interference to the Yankee SSB Net on Sundays on 6 meters, and this was referred to the OOC. A report was received from a Georgia station regarding unlicensed truck drivers talking in the CW portion of 10 meters. The Oregon OOC is following up on a continuing problem originating from a WSPR user. IARU Regions 1 & 3 reported an unidentified carrier on the 14.100 MHz beacon frequency, and reports were being gathered for follow up. Chuck took part in a meeting at Headquarters with Laura Smith, of the FCC, and other ARRL Headquarters staff regarding enforcement procedures and issues. Leona Adams has been preparing Section Manager candidate statements and ballots before they are sent to the printer. Two Section Manager elections are being conducted this summer in Ohio and Minnesota. A number of expense reports for Section Leaders have arrived this past week. This represents a lot of travel to conventions, hamfests and club meetings. Many Section Managers across the country are making plans to travel around their respective sections during this weekend to visit Field Day sites. 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 6/22-6/24 PTO `` 7/22-7/23 Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK Steve Capodicasa 6/27 PTO `` 7/11 PTO `` 8/22-8/26 PTO `` 9/19-9/23 PTO Jackie Ferreira 6/23-6/24 PTO `` 7/18-7/22 PTO Steve Ford 7/5-7/15 PTO Norm Fusaro 6/22-6/27 International Exhibition, Friedrichshafen, Germany `` 8/5-8/7 Texas State Convention, Austin, TX `` 8/19-8/21 West Virginia State Convention, Weston, WV Tom Gallagher 6/22-6/27 International Exhibition, Friedrichshafen, Germany `` 6/20 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 6/21-6/27 International Exhibition, Friedrichshafen, Germany `` 6/28-6/29 PTO `` 7/5-7/8 PTO Debra Johnson 6/16-6/23 PTO Lisa Kustosik 7/14-7/16 Board Meeting, Windsor, CT Seab 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 Conference, 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