IN-Newsletter Vol. 41, No. 14 April 27, 2016 - Covers the period April 10-23. Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events LoTW Study Committee May 3 @ 10:00am in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee May 4 @ 8:30am 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 Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Jackie Ferreira reported that publication and product sales has been tracking closely to our forecast all month. Much of this month's focus has been on ARRL Field Day merchandise, the new edition "Repeater Directory," and our new book "High Speed Multimedia for Amateur Radio," by Glen Popiel, KW5GP. The new HSMM book has also been introduced as a e-book for Kindle. Yvette Vinci reports that on Wednesday, April 20, a reminder emailing was sent to members with a summary of "What's trending" in May QST-taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Alli Barbieri. The notification was sent to 122,645 members. In May, Yvette will introduce a link to the monthly QST Cover Plaque Poll Award from these "reminder" emailings-encouraging more readers to vote for their favorite article. Diane Petrilli reports that materials have been shipped to all of our team members for Dayton Hamvention (please note that lunch tickets were placed into the badge sleeve). Hotel accommodations were finalized and emails were sent with confirmation numbers. This year, our group is split up between two different hotels (volunteers and staff should look carefully at their confirmation email for specifics). Sue Fagan and Diane Szlachetka completed a lot of artwork for our exhibits at Dayton Hamvention. Rick Lindquist has helped support a couple of stories promoting our exhibits and activities for this year's event. We're pleased with the response from members. All of our materials will ship to Dayton in early May. The most recent membership campaign was mailed April 20, and responses are just beginning to come in. The next campaign mails mid-May, and will be the last one sent until September. Membership is tracking closely to forecast. A handful of emailings throughout the month encouraging non-members to join and upgrade their license have returned over 100 membership applications this month. Yvette Vinci and Diane Petrilli continue to be busy working with an interdepartmental team to define the criteria for programming a new membership system. Our department is supporting a handful of additional projects including a survey for QST, and a survey studying Youth in Amateur Radiosport for the Contest Advisory Committee. Bob Inderbitzen supported two inquiries involving RFinder. He is also working with RFinder as they prepare to support (migrate) remaining ARRL Repeater Directory app users with their app. Bob, with Debra Johnson, continues to finalize planning for the first ever ARRL Youth Rally at Dayton Hamvention. So far, there are 12 young people registered for the event. Online registration closes on Sunday, May 1. Help us spread the word: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-youth-rally 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 4/22/2016 830 18.4 26:39:20 9 seconds 4/15/2016 828 18.4 24:13:27 8 seconds 4/8/2016 936 20.8 27:21:20 9 seconds 4/1/2016 942 20.93 29:35:52 9 seconds Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week Ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 4/22/2016 960 481 4/15/2016 956 440 4/8/2016 1,613 715 4/1/2016 1,028 564 Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison is finishing up testing of a SDR Transceiver in the screen room. Its behavior required additional testing. Another SDR has been set up in the Lab, but has a few software issues. The Lab is communicating with the manufacturer to resolve the issues to ensure a successful review. Steve Ford and Bob Allison produced a Product Review Video for June QST. The item reviewed was an ultrasonic receiver that uses a microphone and a parabolic dish. The instrument is useful for locating arcing hardware on utility poles, which is a common cause of radio frequency interference. "The Doctor" (Joel Hallas) returned a high performance HF/6 meter transceiver to the Lab after using it for a future QST Product Review. Bob Allison then did some additional testing of transmit Phase Noise at various power levels, plus some other additional testing. Donations A box of very dirty equipment was donated to the Lab by a walk-in. Most of the equipment was useless, except for a 35 amp DC linear power supply with variable output. This supply will be very useful for testing future donations of equipment that requires high current. Volunteers Volunteers who have helped the Lab this week: Lori Kosior, N1SMK Mike Marinaro, WN1M Jonathan Allen, K2KKH Pete Turbide, W1PT Bill Knapp, WA1WK The total time of volunteer help: 51 hours. THANKS! Web Zack and Bob have been checking the links and content on the TIS web pages. QST Zack Lau has been helping hams who enjoyed the Compact Multiband Dipole article in the March 2016 QST but need additional help before they can build one. Mike Gruber reviewed an article on RFI reporting. NPOTA Activation Mike Gruber continued work on an ARRL Lab radio expedition at the Springfield Armory. This event will be in for National Parks On The Air. Travel Mike Gruber and Bob Allison are expecting to stay a couple extra days after the Dayton Hamvention to meet with Lab Technical Consultant Tom Holmes. RFI The power line noise case that Mike Gruber investigated about a year ago remains ongoing. The utility in this matter no longer seems to be communicating with the complainant. The Woodinville, WA case involving an apparent grow light has now been closed by the FCC. Although the FCC's own field investigation determined that there was harmful interference in this matter, the complainant's Congressman told the complainant that the FCC no longer has the resources to deal with his complaint. The FCC's Seattle office was shut down and the "Tiger Team" isn't stepping in. Considering that the FCC's on field investigation determined that there was harmful interference in this matter, I consider this to be a very troubling development. Mike Gruber responded to a letter written by CenturyLink to the FCC. This letter concerned an RFI case in Idaho. In it, I detailed five well documented cases of RFI to the Amateur service. There have been a number of RFI cases from CenturyLink VDSL systems in the last few months. Mike continued work on the p1897 document and attended and chaired several meetings during the week. Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1-2 Days W1AW Joe Carcia updated the web schedules for the code practice QST sources and May Qualifying Runs. He processed three Qualifying Run certificates and two endorsements. Joe also processed regular QSL card requests. He constructed new coaxial patch cables for the visitor operating positions. He constructed a balun, wide-band wire antenna, and prepared DC power cabling for eventual use with the ENG van. Joe also installed new 2-meter/70cm satellite preamps for W1HQ. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the week. He also processed some VUCC endorsements and certificates. Field Organization/Public Service Team Chuck Skolaut compiled and forwarded the monthly Official Observer Summary to all OOs, Official Observer Coordinators, and Section Managers. Radio amateurs from Illinois and West Central Florida completed requirements to become Official Observers. Chuck recently returned from a successful convention in Claremore, Oklahoma, and was able to meet with several OOs as well as the West Gulf Division Director, Vice Director, Oklahoma Section Manager, and Assistant Section Manager. We learned that the Southern Florida OOC gave a presentation at a local club meeting recently. We also received two reports of a steady carrier on 3.880 kHz. Chuck conducted one morning code practice session at W1AW. Leona Adams reports that the filled-out Alabama Section Manager election ballots are arriving at Headquarters. The receipt deadline for ballots is Friday, May 20, and they will be counted on Tuesday, May 24. Southern Florida Section Manager Jeff Beals, WA4AW, has been nominated to run for a new term of office starting in October. The nomination receipt deadline for this election cycle is June 10. Steve Ewald completed editorial work on the Field Organization Reports column for June QST. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 5/30 Holiday All Staff 7/4 Holiday Leona Adams 4/28-4/29 PTO Bob Allison 5/19-5/25 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 7/22-7/23 Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK Ken Bailey 4/22-4/24 Nebraska State Convention, Lincoln, NE Alli Barbieri 4/25-4/29 PTO `` 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Zoe Belliveau 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Stephanie Borden 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Margie Bourgoin 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Capodicasa 4/25 PTO Lauren Clarke 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ford 5/20 PTO `` 7/5-7/15 PTO Norm Fusaro 6/3-6/5 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Tom Gallagher 4/19-4/22 NAB Convention, Las Vegas, NV `` 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Jen Glifort 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Mike Gruber 4/29 PTO `` 5/31-6/3 PTO `` 8/22-8/26 PTO Ed Hare 4/22-4/24 Idaho State Convention, Boise, ID Dan Henderson 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 5/27-6/3 PTO Bob Inderbitzen 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/21-6/27 International Exhibition, Friedrichshafen, Germany `` 6/28-6/29 PTO `` 7/5-7/8 PTO Zack Lau 6/17 PTO Kim McNeill 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Michael Scharr 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Becky Schoenfeld 4/7-4/21 PTO Barry Shelley 5/5pm PTO `` 5/16-5/17 PTO `` 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Yvette Vinci 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH