IN-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 45 November 13, 2002 Upcoming Meetings November 15th in Newington, CT Election Ballot Counting January 17-18 in Windsor, CT Board Meeting Development The 2003 Defense Fund results are rolling in. As of November 7 nearly 1200 responses have been received totaling more than $45,000. A good start. The follow up letters to Life Members and prior donors were mailed November 4 so results should pick up. Our goal is to raise $500,000 in this campaign. The Diamond Club continues to attract donors. As of November 6, nearly 250 donors have made contributions totaling $40,000, for an average gift of $162. Many Life Members have responded at the special rate of $50 for the first level and we have 24 donors donating at the Brass level or above, including 3 at Director level. Development received a major individual commitment of $25,000 for the Education & Technology Program, bringing the total contributions in 2002 to $230,000. These contributions will fund the program for 2003. Media Relations Mary Hobart was interviewed by a reporter with the National Journal, a publication focused on activities in Washington. The story, which has not appeared yet, covers the federal grant we received, emergency communications, and Amateur Radio's possible role in Homeland Defense. Jennifer worked to get several good interviewees in the field, including those who assisted with communications after the terrorist attacks and during the Colorado wildfires earlier this year. Jennifer was contacted by a producer (and a ham) with the cable network GoodLife TV. He was very interested in doing at least one segment on a ham radio operator who has "made a difference" in the community. This story would be part of a series on volunteerism. Jennifer started with those who have won the ARRL International Humanitarian Award, and the producer was very interested in their stories. Work on this project is ongoing. Thirteen-year-old GoodLife TV has more than eight million subscribers nationwide, and focuses on stories which appeal to those in the baby-boomer age bracket. Jennifer worked with an author who is writing a book that will involve ham radio in the story line, in a positive way. The story is about the outbreak of a deadly virus in China that eventually makes its way to the United States. The author had questions about the typical type of ham radio gear used and how hams make contacts over the airwaves. Production/Editorial QST Technical Editor Stu Cohen, N1SC, schmoozed with the Amateur Radio satellite cognoscenti at the AMSAT-NA Symposium and Annual Meeting in Fort Worth Texas. Sales and Marketing The Fall/Winter publication catalogs arrived this week. Thanks go to the mailroom staff for completing its mailing to 30,000 customers. The catalogs are regularly included with publication orders, hamfest handouts and examination materials. Please see Bob Inderbitzen if you have a particular use for copies. Single copies are available in the lobby or from any of the Product Fulfillment team. A new membership ad is being produced for January QST. This third ad completes a suite of new membership ads produced this year with the services of a third-party ad agency. An email solicitation to generate some new QEX and NCJ subscriptions resulted in nearly 100 subscriptions in the first 24 hours. Based on the good results, similar periodic e-mailings will be worked into our planning to get a steady stream of new subscribers. A new ad banner promoting ARRL membership has been added to the rotation on the ARRLWeb. It also appears gratis on the call sign server site administered by HamCall (Buckmaster Publishing). Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 250 WAS Certificates (950 QSLs, Field Checked) 19 WAS Certificates (500 QSLs Checked Previously by Staff) 10 Long-Term Member Inquiries 2 A-1 Operator Nominations 1 Extra Class Certificates 41 RCC Awards 9 OTC Awards 9 Friendship Awards 4 Processing Status: Current or within three weeks. VHF Awards Manager appointment: Bill Dobson, N3WD, Reisterstown, MD. For the coming week - U.S. WAC awards, WAS Specialty awards, and mail out WAS awards. Contest Branch Editing of the online Field Day results continued, a sidebar added and the database finalized for the web. The site was opened to the Membership. The June VHF QSO Party article for QST was edited with the author and sent to Production. The Web version was edited and sent to Web Services, along with the various box scores and tables. The June VHF database for the web was prepared and sent to Web Services. The line scores for creating the PDF version for the web was prepared and sent to Production for conversion and layout. Data for the 2002 August UHF contest was received from the log checking team and is being processed for QST and the web. The newly redesigned certificates have arrived from the printer. We began printing and mailing certificates for the 2001 160 Meter and 10 Meter contests. Next up will be the 2002 RTTY Roundup, January VHF SS, and ARRL International DX contests. The artwork for the new June VHF QSO Party plaques was approved and the order sent to Barker Specialty. DXCC Branch Weekly Report November 10, 2002 Beginning Cards 231,467 Cards Received 1,494 Cards Processed 5,940 Ending Cards 227,021 Applications Pending 2,284 Processing Time 8.3 Weeks Year-to-date Cards Received 686,055 Cards Returned 539,156 QRPs Issued this week 1 QRPs YTD 250 QSL Branch QSL Service Status: Current. Cards mailed as of 11/10/2002: 1,684,215. No cards were mailed this week. Heather Dzamba conducted one tour around HQ. W1AW W1AW performed a Frequency Measuring Test on Wednesday (11/6) at 9:45 PM EST. This is the first FMT done by W1AW since the very early 80's. There were simultaneous transmissions on four (4) HF bands (80, 40, 20 and 15 meters). To date, four (4) submissions from participants have been received. A very special thanks to Mike Tracy, KC1SX for the installation of test equipment and actual frequency measuring done during the FMT. Joe gave a demonstration of APRS and some satellite operations to the USTTI students. On the final day of their classes, he gave an HF, PSK31 and RTTY demonstration. This included having one of the USTTI students speak with an amateur in Texas. Joe also updated the web code practice files and began some testing on what appears to be an ailing Harris exciter. Scott worked on fast and slow code practice runs for the month of November. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW Telephone Sales year to date (2002): $10,274. Field & Educational Services Rosalie prepared materials for the VRC Meeting in St. Louis, and took part in several grants meetings. She composed the agenda for an upcoming ARISS international school group teleconference she is setting up. A successful ARISS QSO was done with Space Camp kids at the European Space Center. Field & Educational Support Team Linda Mullally registered 2 Teachers and 5 Instructors. She updated 23 clubs with 4 reactivations. She also completed the F&ES Inventory and Monthly Revenue Report and notes last month's revenue generated for postage reimbursement, videolibrary tapes and educational publications for F&ES was $1,871.52. Margie Bougion processed 3 SSC renewals. She also gave a presentation to the Amateur Radio Admininstration Course students on Wednesday about starting Amateur Radio clubs in their respective countries. Gail Iannone sent 5 hamfest approval letters and 3 convention approval letters to the sponsoring committees confirming the Division Director's approval for the events to be ARRL-sanctioned, and 1 initial hamfest application packet to a club requesting ARRL-sanctioning for their event. She also processed 1 label request and sent out 3 hamfest handout packages for upcoming events. Jean Wolfgang reviewed the School Club Roundup article for QST. She also received a phone call from Gordon Dyer from Lockheed-Martin Corporation. (They make the "external tank" for the space shuttles.) She talked with him at length about the ARISS program and how it works and what he needs to do to get a school contact. Mary Lau completed "At the Foundation" for January 2003 QST. Messages relayed this week for the following Sections/Divisions included: NE, PAC, MS = 2; and EWA, WV, LA, WI, AR, KY, VT, OK, MN, SDG and Roa Div = 1 each. Field Organization/Public Service Team Section Manager nomination petitions arrived this week from Roy Rabey, AD5KZ of North Texas, James Fuller, N7VMR, of Montana, and Jim Lasley, N0JL, of Iowa. Leona Adams is also preparing the SM election notice for January QST. This week, 30 Field Organization appointments were entered into TASS and Siebel systems along with a number of appointment cancellations and updates. Steve Ewald continues to correspond with several Section Managers who need some assistance and want to get up to speed on their ARRL Section Web page capabilities. Editing of January QST's Public Service column is underway. Steve worked with Rosalie to provide some background information in preparation for the Volunteer Resources Committee meeting. Chuck Skolaut received reports of interference to 2-meter and 70-cm Amateur Radio repeaters in Indiana by communications equipment that had been brought in by those from other countries who were in the US to cover the US Grand Prix race in Indianapolis. He also handled intruder reports on 10 and 15 meters. Chuck is presently beta- testing the ARRL CCE's upcoming RFI course. CCE Howard Robins reports that the RFI course is being beta tested, and we already received some very valuable suggestions for improvements. A preliminary process has been developed and tested for mechanized printing of certificates and address labels. A significant backlog of certificates to print was exhausted with the use of this new process. Timeliness of services to our members is beginning to improve. Jerry Ellis selected mentors for AREC level II and Antenna Modeling. He printed graduations certificates, and created graduation lists for CNCS reimbursement checks. Special mentor/student packages including reimbursement checks continued to be prepped and mailed. Also, student-only Certificates and reimbursement checks were printed and mailed this week. Various field exam packages were prepared and shipped. Regulatory Information John Hennessee assisted amateurs with a local government antenna zoning problem in Franklin County, NC (WA4PMG) and with a covenant problem in Aloha, OR (WB7BBH). He submitted to Production Chapter 3 of the new edition of the FCC Rule Book. He met with Bob Inderbitzen regarding marketing questions on the ARRL member insurance plan, then put Marsh Account Executive Gail Farrett in contact with Bob. John reports the number of complaints on the ARRL Equipment and Club Liability Insurance Plans is extremely low. EmComm Grants Dan Miller has opened and closed registration for a new CNCS Level I to begin on Nov. 19. 304 seats have been filled. In addition , a Level II class -- under the UTC grant -- has been opened for up to 50 additional students. This will begin on Monday, Nov. 11 and end on Monday, Dec. 30. Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program Jerry Hill reports that he received a total of 16 pilot school applications. Jerry reviewed their material and called and interviewed each of the teachers. On November 8, Jerry presented a talk to the Massachusetts Science Teachers Association Conference. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 11/28-11/29 Holiday Dave Sumner 11/17-11/30 CPM, Geneva Dave Patton 11/22 Vacation `` 11/27-12/3 Vacation Carol Patton 11/27-12/3 Vacation Jennifer Hagy 11/25-11/27 Vacation Dennis Motschenbacher 11/18-11/22 No.Cal Sales Trip Ed Hare 11/10-11/16 IEEE C63 "RFI" committee meeting, Baltimore, MD 11/18-11/19 TIA T1E1"VDSL"standards committee meeting, Atlanta, GA Bob Inderbitzen 12/6 Vacation Eileen Sapko 11/15 Vacation Jan Carman 11/25-11/27 Vacation Rick Lindquist 11/25-11/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 11/14-11/18 Fort Wayne Convention Wayne Mills 11/15-11/26 Vacation