IN-Newsletter Vol. 40, No. 15 April 29, 2015 - Covers the period April 19-25. Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events LoTW Study Committee July 15 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee July 16 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee July 16 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Second Board Meeting July 17-18 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison continued testing an HF SDR transceiver. Extra measurements of transmit IMD were made since this particular transceiver has a special software feature that can greatly diminish transmit IMD when engaged. The feature requires some adjustments, but the results are amazing. Advertising Acceptance Bob Allison reviewed all advertisements submitted to him by the advertising department. This task is performed routinely, each month. All ads are scanned for technical errors and false claims. Radio Frequency Interference The new EMC Pocket Guide has been completed and has gone to the printer. In order to better understand the issues surrounding a long standing power line noise case, Mike Gruber went to California during the first week in April. Ed Hare has met with FCC officials at the Philadelphia FCC office. The topic of this discussion was power line and other RFI locating methods. Ed also arranged for Mike Gruber to meet with FCC officials at the same field office to demo Radar Engineers equipment. Mike followed-up with David Dombrowski of that office. Mike Gruber followed-up on the Woodinville apparent grow light RFI case. This case resulted in an FCC Citation & Order on April 24, 2015. As of this week, however, the noise continues. At this point, it appears that the complainant's case may have been dropped by the FCC. Even if it hasn't, there hasn't been an acceptable or timely FCC follow-up in this matter. Essentially, the recipient has ignored the FCC's Citation & Order for over one year. This would appear to be another slam-dunk case for enforcement and yet the Commission has done nothing about it. For reference purposes, here is a news article that we did on it at the time: www.arrl.org/news/fcc-cites-washington-resident-for-causing-interference-on-amateur-frequencies<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-cites-washington-resident-for-causing-interference-on-amateur-frequencies> A grow light case in Marquette, MI resulted in a recent FCC field investigation. The case was submitted to the field in July of 2014, and the investigation appears to have finally taken place in April of 2015. The FCC found grow lights to be the cause of harmful interference and gave the device operator a deadline in order to fix it. I will be following this case closely. Hopefully, this will not turn into another Woodinville. Thanks to help from ARRL Lab volunteer Pete Turbide, we've been testing a surveillance camera for ADT. This camera has resulted in a case of harmful interference to a neighbor of the ADT subscriber in Arizona. So far, it appears that the camera (and power supply) could exceed the FCC limits under certain conditions. Research and Development Zack Lau worked on some ideas for a simple antenna for folks just starting out in ham radio-something that covers 10 and 20 without a tuner, and offers good performance with the typical in-radio autotuner. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Peter Budnik, KB1HY, our Front Desk Receptionist since returning to the ARRL staff last September, has decided to pursue a personal retirement. His last day will be May 29. Please join us in extending best wishes to Peter. We have introduced the ARRL Begali Key, designed and manufactured by Begali Keys of Italy; http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Begali-Key/ The warehouse crew is readying our big shipment to support ARRL's exhibits at Dayton Hamention (May 15-17). This year's "ARRL Dayton Team" will top 130 people-all contributing in some way to showcasing the very best of ARRL programs and services. The 2015 Spring/Summer ARRL Publications & Products Catalog was prepared and sent to the printer. An update to the ARRL Repeater Directory App for iOS devices, introduced earlier this month, has been submitted by our developer to Apple for approval. The new version includes a handful of enhancements and an optional registration feature. Upon approval, notification of the update will "push" to all existing users, automatically. Bob Inderbitzen is making regular contributions to the Strategic Planning Working Group. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 4/24/2015 1,146 974 4/17/2015 1,104 1,061 4/10/2015 1,921 105 4/2/2015 (short week) 515 945 Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 3 - 5 Business Days Number of Centennial applications processed Centennial Challenge QSO 1655 W1AW/WAS 1027 W1AW Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He worked the late afternoon/night shifts on Wednesday through Friday for the vacationing Scott Gee. Joe also installed a repaired Icom IC-PW1 amplifier in Studio One. He had also been in contact with the author of fldigi - the software used to transmit the W1AW digital bulletins - to resolve an issue with the program locking up during transmissions. Joe continues with the research of missing W1AW/portable LoTW QSOs for amateurs inquiring about them. Field Organization/Public Service Team Two radio amateurs from Arkansas successfully completed their requirements to become Official Observers this past week. Several reports of Over the Horizon Radars were received on 10 and 15 meters. Complaints were received regarding language and jamming heard on 7.185 MHz and 14.313 MHz. Questions received and responded to covered operating overseas, antenna zoning, information on 5.8 GHz band, and proper ID procedure at a club station. Supplies were also sent to several Official Observers. Leona Adams reports that Western Washington Section Manager Monte Simpson, AF7PQ (new Extra Class call sign), has been nominated to run for a new term of office as Section Manager. Petitions for this particular election cycle are due at ARRL Headquarters by Friday, June 6, and new terms will begin October 1. National Traffic System Leaders have begun to review the work assignments related to updating the NTS Manual and incorporating the ICS-213 message format into the system. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 5/25 Holiday All Staff 7/3 Holiday Leona Adams 5/22 PTO Bob Allison 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Capodicasa 5/1 PTO Joe Carcia 5/22 PTO Lauren Clarke 5/15-5/19 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/PTO `` 5/26-5/27 PTO Mike Corey 5/1-5/3 Nevada State Convention, Verdi, NV `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ewald 5/14-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Trish Feeney 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Jacqueline Ferreira 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ford 5/14-5/19 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/PTO Norm Fusaro 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Scott Gee 5/14-5/15 PTO Amanda Grimaldi 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Mike Gruber 5/1 NearFest, Deerfield, NH `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/1-6/4 PTO `` 8/24-8/28 PTO `` 9/28-10/2 PTO Ed Hare 6/5-6/7 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Dan Henderson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 7/16-7/18 Board Meeting/Committee Meeting Ian Humphreys 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Bob Inderbitzen 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 8/7-8/9 South Texas Section convention, Austin, TX Karen Isakson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Debra Johnson 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Harold Kramer 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/5-6/7 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR `` 6/19-6/26 PTO Sean Kutzko 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Kim McNeill 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Cassandra Parkman 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dave Patton 7/24-7/26 Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK Diane Petrilli 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 6/5-6/7 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Brennan Price 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Michael Scharr 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dave Sumner 4/30-5/1 NAB luncheon/PTO `` 5/5 Washington Meeting `` 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH `` 5/26-6/5 PTO `` 6/11-6/14 West Gulf Division Convention, Irving, TX `` 6/23-6/29 Friedrichshafen Convention, Germany Yvette Vinci 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Matt Wilhelm 5/15-5/17 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH