In-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 11 March 18, 2002 Upcoming Meetings April 20th in Ft. Worth, TX at 8:00am A&F Committee Publications A new printing of the General Class Q&A has been released to the printer, and printer's proofs have been checked. The 2001 ARRL Periodicals CD is available for sale, as are new printings of The ARRL Operating Manual and the ARRL Grid Locator Atlas. Circulation Response to our January membership mailings to lapsed members is good -- just over 2% as of mid-March. We tested a new mail piece designed by Reinhardt & Reinhardt against our usual control piece (we mailed 15,000 of each). Response to the new package is 1.9% (289 members), versus 2.1% (320 members) for our normal package. We'll test this again in the March mailing and make a decision about which approach to use in the future. Development The appointment at UTC on March 19 to present and discuss the proposal for the expansion of ARRL's ARECC Level One Certification went well. The employee committee was engaged in the presentation, asking questions about Amateur Radio, the ARRL organization and our plans for the program. The decision timing is not clear. The national rollout proposal will be submitted June 1 for committee review and submission to UTC's Chairman in the fall. An executive summary and three-year budget proposal has been completed for the Education and Technology Fund. The first letter of the member campaign in support of the Education and Technology Program will mail the week of March 25 to active and lapsed members. A web presence presenting the letter and contribution form is live with a link on the front page of www.arrl.org. Invitations to major donors and Board members to the May 17 event at Dayton have been mailed. The complete guest list is due to Wright Patterson Air Force Base security by May 3. The search for the Development Associate has been re-opened. Media Relations Work continued with the Scientific American editor who had a lot of follow-up questions after Jennifer's original interview. The May issue will include a story about science hobbies and ham radio will be included in that category. Jennifer assisted an editor from Mobile Radio Technology magazine who was putting together a column about Amateur Radio's emergency service capabilities, particularly in the wake of September 11th. We gave him permission to run four of the photos that appeared in the November 2001 QST article. Jennifer provided a picture of W1AW for the May cover of Monitoring Times. Debuting in time for Dayton, the issue will feature several articles about ham radio. The ARRL booth supplies for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April have been shipped to the volunteer in Las Vegas who is once again heading up the ARRL effort. Field & Educational Services Rosalie assisted volunteers with a talk at the Sally Ride Science Festival for girls in Virginia, and the 2002 National Congress on Aviation and Space Education in Alabama. She updated the Educator's Guide to Free Materials 2001-2002. She assisted the Japanese ARISS delegates on a new rule about third party that their country is considering. She prepared her talk for the National Volunteers Active in Disaster's annual meeting. Russian delegates gave ham training to Mark Shuttleworth, the next Space Station tourist. Field Organization/Public Service Team Contrary to last week's newsletter, Leona now reports that there will only be a Section Manager election in Oregon. Incumbent candidate Illinois SM Bruce Boston, KD9UL has withdrawn his nomination. Therefore, Sharon Harlan, N9SH, the only other nominee, will be the new Section Manger for Illinois starting July 1, 2002. Charles P. McConnell, W6DPD, has been appointed as SM for San Joaquin Valley because of the recent resignation of Don Costello, W7WN. His appointment starts April 1. Leona has also been entering 25 field appointments along with many cancellations and changes. Steve Ewald assisted Mary Hobart in gathering some pertinent Amateur Radio public service/emergency communication stories for one of her upcoming presentations. North Carolina SM John Covington, W4CC, asked and the ARRL staff reviewed the proposed ARRL North Carolina Section MOU with the NC State Division of Emergency Management. Field and Educational Support Team Gail Iannone wrote 41 hamfest announcements and 6 convention announcements for the May issue of QST. She is compiling the final list of those who need a Dayton Marriott room reservation. We need to hear from you no later than Friday, March 22nd or you will not have a room. Mary Lau reports that the new SM email-to-constituents function built by Jon Bloom and debuted March 14th is gaining popularity. She reports a 40% increase in email traffic over the previous week! Margie Bougoin reports that she is once again up- to- date on sending out ARISS QSL Cards. She also thanks Mailroom's Forest Simpson for his assistance with weighing and packaging a 1000 count Archie comic book order destined for an ARISS project in Cape Town, South Africa. Linda Mullally updated 51 clubs this week and reactivated 6 clubs. She registered 5 instructors and 2 teachers. She notes that 38 students graduated from CCE Courses this week and also noticed an increase in Exhibit Kit requests, with 17 kits mailed. Jean Wolfgang received an email from CT Trails Girl Scouts asking if we would like to set up a table of information at the 90thAnniversary Celebration event in Wallingford, CT. In ARISS news, email is increasing from people who would like to contact the ISS. Regulatory John Hennessee assisted amateurs with covenant problems in Lake County, FL (WB4APM). Bronx, NY (N2EHG) and Ellicott City, MD (N3HOX). He also heard from amateurs in Kentucky (W4JTL) and Arizona (N7AAC). He also updated the ULS/CORES information on the ARRL regulatory pages and is helping settle an ongoing ARRL Equipment Insurance Plan dispute with the Boyer Valley Amateur Radio Club (IA). Brennan Price sent the 2002-03 ARRL Repeater Directory to production. He graded 14 OO exams; seven candidates passed, five were invited to retest, and two were referred to their Section Managers with a recommendation that the appointment not proceed. Brennan received numerous reports of a pulsing noise on 21 MHz; this intrusion may be from Cyprus, but the FCC has yet to make an indication. Brennan stopped by General Counsel Imlay's office to obtain material for the Volunteer Counsel brief bank being developed, and then proceeded southward for vacation. CCE Steven Blair is gathering comments and input from beta-testers of the HF Digital Course. He is also processing results from activities received such as those from Reynoldsburg, OH and Maumee, OH. In Reynoldsburg, OH, 4 ARECC certification exams were administered. In Maumee, OH, a classroom Level I course had 8 students, of which 3 have graduated so far. According to Dan Miller, a survey was mailed this week to approximately 250 AREC course drop-outs. When returned, these will be evaluated to determine possible problem areas for students who enrolled but never completed courses. A one-time discount on future course enrollment was offered to people who return the completed survey. CCE Courses saw 38 graduates this week: Level I -- 26; Level II -- 8; Level III -- 3; Ant Mod -- 1. The Big Project Jerry Hill worked with Mary Hobart to create an Executive Summary and three year budget to be sent to Derek Riker of Chwat Co. in Washington DC for lobbying purposes. It contains background material on the League and long range plans for The Big Project. Jerry also gave a presentation on The Big Project to the CARA in Danbury on Friday evening. There were approximately 25 members present including a few non-licensed teachers. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSLs 50 WAS Certificates 45 WAS Endorsements 25 WAC Certificates 24 WAC Endorsements 10 Code Proficiency Certificates 5 Code Proficiency Endorsements 6 Code Proficiency Returns 1 Code Proficiency Fails 2 A-1 Operator Nominations 6 Long Term Member Inquiries 5 VUCC Initial Awards 5 VUCC Grids (Data Entry) 430 VUCC Endorsements 7 VUCC Grids (Data Entry) 402 VHF Awards Manager appointment: Donn Baker, WA2VOI, Minneapolis, MN. For the coming week-WAS and WAC QSL card checking, RCC, OTC, and Friendship awards, Extra Class certificates, and mail out 40+ VUCC awards. DXCC Branch Weekly Report March 17, 2002 Beginning Cards 43,744 Cards Received 14,535 Cards Processed 19,529 Ending Cards 38,780 Applications Pending 273 Backlog Time 10 Days Year-to-date Cards Received 106,326 Cards Returned 187,037 QRP Issued this week 22 QRP YTD 170 Card Return: DXCC is currently mailing applications received on March 4, 2002. There are approximately 100 applications containing about 12,000 cards waiting to be mailed in the mailroom. Card Processing: We are entering cards received on March 14, 2002. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 03/17/2002 - 427,750. No cards were mailed this week. Janet spent 4 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Scott Gee worked on slow and fast code practice runs for the latter part of the month of March. He handled evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. Joe Carcia repaired a Harris exciter power supply that failed. He also updated the web code practice files. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002): $2,375. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All staff 3/29 Holiday Dave Sumner 3/13-3/20 Geneva `` 3/21-3/27 Vacation Mary Hobart 4/6-4/7 MD State Convention, Timonium Mark Wilson 4/1-4/3 Vacation Dan Miller 3/28-4/1 Vacation Rosalie White 3/15-3/18 Natn'l Vol. Active in Disasters conference, Oklahoma City Brennan Price 3/13-3/18 Vacation Steve Ewald 3/22-3/23 Nebraska State Convention, Norfolk Jerry Hill 3/26-3/31 National Science Teacher Association conference, San Diego Zak Lau 3/19 Vacation John Bee 4/3-4/5 AES SuperFest, Milwaukee, WI Bob Inderbitzen 4/4-4/5 AES SuperFest, Milwaukee, WI Dennis Motschenbacher 4/3-4/5 AES SuperFest, Milwaukee, WI