<<010709.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 32, No. 1 January 7, 2009 -- Covers the period December 21-January 3. Upcoming Meetings and Events Administration &Finance Committee January 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee January 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Annual Board Meeting January 16-17, 2009 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The January issue of CONTACT! has been posted on the web. The department Board Report is done. HD Video clips were sent to Matt Aaron for editing and Don Carlson has completed the audio track for the coming video PSA. Sections of the PR-101 course have been delegated to appropriate volunteer authors with the deadline of Jan 26. George Dillon, the FCC contact for aiding with their DTV conversion, retired earlier than expected and Chris Imlay is seeking information on who now will fulfill his role in the plan which was agreed upon in the FCC request for aid. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The year ended on a high note with strong results in revenue of more than$150,000 for Spectrum Defense, Education and the ARRL Diamond Club. While Development did not reach its targets for 2008, the December results took us to revenue of more than $882,000 for operations (75% of the overall revenue goal) and more than $741,000 added to the ARRL Endowment. The application for the 2009 Combined Federal Campaign has been completed and will be sent to Washington before the January 15 deadline. Preparations are being made for the May Donor Reception in Dayton on the Hamvention weekend. Letters are being prepared to secure permission for public acknowledgement of major donations of $1000 during 2008. Final adjustments are being made to the Development budgets for 2009. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Steve Sant Andrea has moved his call sign to 1-land, thanks to the help of Perry Green, WY1O. Steve's new call is AG1YK. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R ARRL membership climbed to a year-end total of 154,627; a gain of 293 members over November (153,535 in December 2007)-and ending a second year of recent membership growth. Membership is at the highest level since 2003. Gains were achieved in the second half of the year, but fell short of the original plan of 157,030, largely due to greater than predicted renewal losses. December product sales were $370,385, a record breaking total for this month. The sales forecast was $282,920. We ended the year ahead of plan by $231,671. Recent direct mail, popular new titles, and a strong start to the month following some Thanksgiving Holiday promotions all contributed to a very successful month. Over 500 orders accumulated throughout the New Year's holiday and end of year annual inventory audit-starting January off in a positive direction. We resumed shipping on Tuesday, January 6. The Warehouse crew fulfilled 958 packages for publication and product orders, and shipped 415 free book membership premiums and a QST mailing supplement during the short week. Business Services Reported by Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ Staff is in the midst of solicitations for March 2009 QST. We have several new advertisers on board and have already exceeded the QST display revenue target by a small margin. We continue to work on the Antenna Time pull-out section. We sent out a solicitation for six available slots in the ARES E-Newsletter, which will debut in HTML format in January. Within 20 minutes, the top three slots were sold and we continue to pursue advertisers for the other three spots. Work also continues on advertising recruitment for the next edition of the ARRL Repeater Directory. A number of interior pages have already been sold, as well as all the 4-color covers. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Awards Branch Category Dec 2008 Year End 2008 WAS Cert. (Manual) 16 314 WAS Cert. (LoTW) 30 193 A-1 Op Nominations 18 209 A-1 Op Certificates 21 194 Extra Class Certificates 27 147 WAC Certificates 19 290 VUCC New / Grids 20 / 1,307 146 / 15,294 VUCC Endorse / Grids 17 / 1,392 162 / 9,913 Processing Time Current Current DXCC Branch Credits Applications 2007 Carryover 223,515 1,847 2008 Received 789,216 7,322 Cumulative Total 1,012,731 9,169 2008 Processed 931,250 8,418 Remaining 81,481 751 Processing Time 6 weeks Logbook of the World Category Year End 2008 Percentage Change Jan - Year End 2008 QSO Records Entered Into System 197,775,631 26 % QSL Record Matches 16,930,208 44 % Logs Processed 773,678 49 % Active Certificates 35,937 24 % Registered Users in System 23,459 23 % Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries Year End 2008 Lost Certificates 1,423 DXCC Status Inquiries 814 Directions Not Followed 641 Additional Certificates 596 Startup Inquiries 459 Total 3,933 W1AW The Tuesday before New Year's Day saw another annual visit from the "3 Steves and A Kurt" group. This visit marks their 15th year operating at W1AW during the week between Christmas and New Year's. They made just over 300 contacts on 80, 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters using CW and SSB. Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He also processed two Qualifying Run certificates and one endorsement. Joe processed regular QSL card requests. He also worked the late afternoon/night shift on the Friday after Christmas for the vacationing Scott Gee. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the first part of the month of January. He archived all the 2008 bulletin data (both email and regular texts). He also worked the early afternoon/night shift on the Friday after New Year's for the vacationing Joe Carcia. Field Organization/Public Service Team Another person was nominated for the International Humanitarian Award. Chuck Skolaut handles the administration part of this award, and nominations were due by December 31. An ARRL Volunteer Monitoring station in Michigan ran across an unidentified strong hum on 40 meters, and there has also been a resumption of activity on 2 meters by unlicensed bear hunters in West Virginia. We received word that unidentified RTTY signals on 80 meters are thought to originate from overseas by military sources. Chuck Skolaut and Steve Ewald served as back-up tour guides of the Headquarters facilities for our visitors who were here during the holiday weeks. As a back-up operator, Chuck also conducted the W1AW code practice for two of the recent weekday mornings. Section Manager election ballots and candidate statements for the North Texas and Arizona elections were first sent to the local printer. Then, thanks to the Mailroom Staff, the election ballots were mailed out ahead of the January 2 deadline. Members have until February 20 to return their filled-in ballots. Leona Adams continued to receive and handle 2008 expense reports from Section Managers as the end of the year approached, and Steve Ewald began work on the March QST Public Service column. Radio Amateurs in California, Illinois, and North Carolina completed certification to become Official Observers this past week. Quite a number of stations reported an unidentified signal on 14250 kHz +/- sounding like a raspy CW signal. The FCC has verified that is not from the US but is coming from the Dominican Republic, and appears to be unintentional. Official Observers are investigating reports of an unidentified digital signal on 40 meters as well as constant carrier on a 2 meter repeater in California. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Steve Capodicasa 1/16 Vacation `` 1/23 Vacation Scott Gee 3/4-3/6 Vacation `` 4/15-4/16 Vacation Joel Hallas 1/16-1/17 Southern Florida Section Convention, Ft Myers, FL Ed Hare 1/5-1/9 Vacation Mary Hobart 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting Harold Kramer 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting Lisa Kustosik 1/15-1/17 BOD Meeting Dave Patton 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting Brennan Price 1/6pm-1/8 Fairfax Office `` 1/12-1/15 Fairfax Office `` 1/15pm-1/17 BOD Meeting `` 2/2-2/7 ITU Radiocomm. Advisory Group, Geneva Barry Shelley 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting Dave Sumner 1/15-1/17 Committee Meeting/BOD Meeting `` 1/29-2/2 Vacation