<<021010.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 33, No. 6 February 10, 2010 -- Covers the period January 31-February 6. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee: March 13, 2010 @ 8:30am in Denver, CO Technical Relations Reported by Brennan Price, N4QX Brennan Price is drafting documents for the next United States cycle of Working Party 5A, attempting to contribute to our 500 kHz position despite continued and unyielding opposition from the Coast Guard. Jon Siverling has capably represented Amateur Radio interests at the meetings of Working Parties 1A and 1B in Geneva, where PLT continues to be a big topic. Brennan prepares to continue the effort next week at the Radiocommunication Advisory Group, where the allocation of PLT work among the sectors will be discussed. It is in Amateur Radio's interest for the ITU Radiocommunication Sector to maintain the lead on this issue, and recent developments in PLT in the ITU Telecommunications Standardization Sector have been taken without ITU-R input. Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND Thanks to the work of OK Section Manager Dean Feken, KL7MA, the city of Mustang granted a 30-day delay on voting on the proposed antenna ordinance. This is allowing time for the Mustang City Manager and Dean Feken to draft an acceptable compromise. We will continue to work with all parties on this contentious issue. We continued to work on reciprocal operating issues for Haiti. In addition, we are trying to work through some misinformation that the Vietnamese licensing authority is using when considering applications for operating permits. They are requiring CSCEs as part of the application process, even for long-time amateurs who never tested through the VE process. Perry Green, WY1O, in the ARRL VEC has provided copies of correspondence with amateurs denied a permit because of a lack of CSCEs. We will continue to try to resolve this issue. State legislatures are back in session in many places and cell phone bills are starting to work their way onto legislative agendas. We are aware of bills in PA, VT and MA. We have also been approached about helping draft an antenna ordinance for the town of Battlefield, MO. We have explained that while we can provide assistance with drafting the amateur radio portions of the Battlefield ordinance, that we are not in the position to be developing the comprehensive ordinance to cover all communications facilities (as was suggested by the amateur that contacted us). Several queries regarding the status of the waiver process with the FCC were handled, as were several OO-type queries (in conjunction with Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG in the MVP Department). Finally, several queries regarding reciprocal licensing by visitors to the US were handled. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The Haitian activities are settling down into a pattern now, and there continues to be high use of Amateur Radio in critical areas. The Dominican teams are currently erecting the third repeater system (from Ham Aid) and the first two are in heavy use by Red Cross and other groups with embedded hams. Several commercial/business groups are reported to want to use them also, but are being told no. Meanwhile, the University of Miami Hospital teams at the airport near the capital remain very busy relaying emergency and priority messages between the hospital unit, hospital ship Comfort and Miami. They report they have also been put to work repairing others' radios and fixing medical gear. (Ham know-how at its best). According to Julio Ripoll, cell phone service is "about 80% but only in the immediate vicinity of the airport itself." Land lines are still non-functional and satellite phone systems are working but often overwhelmed. Requests for reports to be included in the 2009 Annual Report were sent out to departments and the new Web site work continues. We moved the PR section into "About ARRL" as the direction and content seemed to fit there much better in our outreach to media. Two more telephone interviews were done on Amateur Radio topics and there has been a surge in aid given to PIOs who needed help with local media questions. The number of media hits coming in remains quite high. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Joel Hallas took part in an HSMM-MESH Networking Webinar (high speed multimedia radio). Khrystyne Keane and Steve Sant Andrea have been porting news and feature stories from January 1, 2010 to date to the new Web site. Harold Kramer and Mike Gruber took photos of Steve Sant Andrea's Toyota Prius. Photos of the engine and traction battery will be used in a new edition of the ARRL RFI book. Khrystyne wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter for February 4, 2010. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R ARRL membership totaled 155,941 in January, a loss of 184 members over December 2009, and 317 members short of January's goal. 70% of January expirees paid on time, compared to 74% last January. The timing of December's large membership campaign returned greater-than-predicted numbers in December-likely impacting January's lower returns. A large direct mail campaign is planned for February. January product sales were $213,594, falling short of the sales forecast of $274,277. Direct sales were $115,726; dealer sales were $97,868. Stronger-than-predicted sales in December may have contributed to unusually soft sales in January. Handbook sales in January fell just short of predicted sales-the first time since its release in October. The 2010 ARRL Field Day product line has been ordered, including t-shirts, mugs (new!), hats and pins. We will begin receiving stock in March. Tracking continues on QST delivery delays and non-delivery issues involving some members in the Gary, Indiana region. With the help of our mailer and US Postal Service representatives, we are closely following March QST to determine the bottleneck(s) and to resolve these problems. Amy Hurtado has completed an investigation into ways to improve the more-timely delivery of QST supplements mailed to members. Currently, members renewing 6 weeks or less before expiration are picked-up in 'supplemental' QST fulfillment, administered by the ARRL warehouse facility. Lists of members designated to receive QST supplements are generated every week (or multiple times each week). Approximately 6,200 copies of each issue are fulfilled as supplements in the first 30 days after publication. Beginning shortly, we will utilize our mailer to fulfill the first 3 supplements, delivering to these members at least two weeks sooner than current supplement distribution. This move will also allow the ARRL warehouse to concentrate on the later supplements (smaller lists) in a more timely manner. Even with these changes, renewal notices will continue to note that members must renew 6 weeks before expiration to ensure uninterrupted delivery of QST. A follow-up version of the successful end-of-year "mini-catalog" products mailing is being prepared. The follow-up will be mailed to all domestic members who did not respond to the initial offer. The mailing includes only a few changes, including the introduction of 2 new products: Understanding Basic Electronics Second Edition and the 2009 ARRL Periodicals on CD-ROM. During the last week, the warehouse crew fulfilled 704 packages for publication and product orders, 273 membership premiums, and QST mailing supplements. Watch for these new products: ARES pin (coming soon) and Wouff Hong pin (coming soon). Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW Joe wrote and tested transmit macros that will be used by our digital program MixW. These new macros will allow the digital lineup - currently Baudot, PSK31 and MFSK16 - to be alternated each day to allow more exposure for each mode. Joe also processed one W1AW Qualifying Certificate. He swapped out a Harris amplifier power supply and processed regular QSL card requests. Joe also began experimenting with sending broadcast audio (CW practice/bulletins/digital transmissions) via Echolink. Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the early part of the month of February. He also assisted the DXCC department with the editing of applications. Field Organization/Public Service Team Several intruder reports this week involved a foreign broadcast station heard on 7125 kHz, thought to be Radio Conakry from Guinea. Also what appears to be an encrypted signal on 75 meters is being investigated as well as a beacon-like signal on 6 meters. Chuck Skolaut noticed several reports were received regarding PSK-31. One such report involved bad language and another was about an excessively wide signal. A Connecticut Official Observer was able to assist in monitoring for the wide signal. Steve Ford was able to identify several digital signals that we received questions about. Regional OOs in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee have been asked to assist in tracking down a jammer to an Arkansas net. Section Managers have been in touch with Leona Adams by providing her with updates, new appointments and cancellations to their Field Services appointment rosters. New Field Organization appointment packages with supplies have also been sent out. Ballots for the Virginia Section Manager election are still arriving. The receipt deadline is Friday, February 19th. Ballots will be counted by MVP staff on Tuesday, February 24th. Steve Ewald worked on the some Web pages for the new Web site, and the Public Service column for April QST was prepared and turned over to the QST editorial and production staff. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 2/15 Holiday Leona Adams 2/12 Vacation `` 2/26 Vacation Kim Dotolo 2/16-2/17 Vacation Scott Gee 3/8-3/10 Vacation `` 4/14-4/16 Vacation Mike Gruber 4/30 Vacation Joel Hallas 2/26 Jury Duty Ed Hare 2/11-2/14 BPL testing, Central VA `` 2/26-2/27 VT Section Convention, Colchester, VT `` 3/10-3/12 IEEE Standards Dev. Committee meeting, San Diego, CA `` 3/15-3/19 Vacation `` 4/19-4/22 ANSI asc C63 EMC Comm. meeting, Piscataway, NJ Dan Henderson 3/5-3/7 S. Texas Section Convention/Greater Houston Hamfest Debra Johnson 2/26-3/1 Vacation Joel Kleinman 2/16-2/19 Vacation Rose-Anne Lawrence 2/8-2/12 Vacation Amy Leary 2/26 Vacation Trevor Morris 2/11-2/12 Vacation Diane Petrilli 2/12-2/14 N. Florida Section Convention Brennan Price 2/17-2/19 Radiocommunication Advisory Group, Geneva Dave Sumner 3/12pm-3/14 Executive Committee Meeting, Denver, CO