<<020812.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 35, No. 6 February 8, 2012 -- Covers the period January 29-February 4. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee: March 24 @ 8:30am - St. Louis, MO Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The Public Relations Committee is considering the entries to the "PIO Plans for 2012" mini-contest at this time. I am recruiting and filling slots for brief (30 min) "show-and-tell" DIY presentations at Dayton where Makers and DIY related folks can show their projects. On Sunday, February 12th at 5 p.m. Eastern time, ARRL and Al Petrunti of The New Day Group will webcast a LIVE tour of W1AW - the ARRL flagship station. Amateurs around the country (and the world) will be able to watch it at http://www.awecast.tv/channels/arrl/ . Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The biennial campaign for the W1AW Endowment is finalizing campaign preparations. Lauren Clarke and Sue Fagan have developed the components of the mail piece with edits from Dave Sumner. The goal of this campaign is $77,450. The preliminary work for the annual Member Loyalty recognition is nearly complete. Members of 40-,50-,60-,70-,80-years will receive certificates and other recognition items based on the decade milestone of their ARRL membership. Plans for the annual Donor Reception in Dayton on May 17 are underway. Donors who contribute $1000 or more annually, plus Maxim Society and Legacy Circle donors have been contacted for permission to list them in QST, on-line and in the Annual Report, Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter and produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for February 6, 2012. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI ARRL Lab Radio Exhibit Bob Allison assisted RJS Photography with taking photos of the new exhibit in the Lab. The 1907 Spark Set was cleaned and made presentable for the photo shoot; no easy task. So far, it is a big hit with visitors to the Lab. One visitor of the Lab cheerfully operated one of W1INF's operating positions. W1INF is the official call sign of the ARRL Laboratory, now used by our radio exhibit, D-Star operating position and software defined Transceiver display. Product Review Bob Allison completed testing of a software defined antenna analyzer and initiated testing of two automatic antenna tuners for Product Review Electronic Publications Zack Lau received a bunch of software issues this week, but they seem to have been successfully resolved. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Field Organization/Public Service Team Vermont Section Manager Paul Gayet, AA1SU, has been nominated to run for a new term of office that begins in July, 2012. Meanwhile, ARRL members in Eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, and San Diego have until February 17 to return their Section Manager election ballots to ARRL Headquarters. Ballots are scheduled to be counted on February 21. ARRL Headquarters received word that the FCC Report & Order regarding 60 meters has been published with the changes to take effect March 5. A number of complaints were received regarding interference to a 20 meter net and operating practices on 3840 kHz and 14313 kHz. Documentation was received regarding modifications being done to Citizen Band radios at a truck stop. This was forwarded to the FCC. The FCC was also updated regarding incidents still occurring on an Eastern Massachusetts repeater. Research is underway on a question about forwarding paging messages to Amateur Radio frequencies. Section Traffic Managers and NTS Officials have been sharing ideas on training radio amateurs in traffic handling on their e-mail reflector. The value of this training has been explained and some successful training techniques have been suggested to reflector participants. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ Continuing Education Program We've been contacted by a consultant working with Los Angeles County, CA to train volunteers in emergency communications. The consultant is planning to recruit up to 60 volunteers to participate in our online emcomm training with funding provided by the LA County Disaster Corps. Amy Strickland has been following up with volunteers who have indicated an interest in serving as online mentor for the Introduction to EmComm course. As a result of her efforts we have recently added three new mentors. We also engaged Otis Murphy, W4OY as Mentor Trainer and Advisor, to assist Stan Kaplan WB9RQR who continues to serve in this capacity. Education & Technology Program We released an announcement in February QST about TIs planned for 2012. We have not had confirmation from DARA about their willingness to fund the proposed TI-2 on Space in the Classroom this year, so plans for that session remain tentative. I developed an online survey to past participants of the TI-2 Space; 16 out of 24 past participants responded with valuable feedback to share with DARA as they consider their decision for continuing support. Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP reports that manufacturer of the transmitters for the ETP Fox transmitter boards confirmed last week that they will produce 50 units and will ship them in three to four weeks time. The Pueblo High School Radio Club will finish assembly of the boards to send at no cost to those who have applied to use them as an activity to engage youth in ham radio. Miguel's electronics students are also building three solar cars for the University of Arizona sponsored competition in April. The students are getting a good grasp of photovoltaic energy and are developing portable, flexible solar panels that roll up and that will fit in a backpack for charging batteries or for actual usage with HTs out in the field. Miguel reports, "The one I am testing is working great so no more batteries to lug around. And the panels weigh less than a pound!" Mark Spencer WA8SME has ordered the parts to produce 100 Modulation/Demodulation Boards to replenish the stock in inventory. Work on the buoy sensor package continues for the remote sensing and data-gathering curriculum. He is currently finishing up the design of a humidity sensor. Mark Spencer and I have been very active participants in discussions of the new amateur radio education outreach group, Amateur Radio Education Partnership, that includes ARRL Education, delegates from AMSAT Education, and which is receiving support from our partners in the NASA ARISS program at Johnson Space Center. The group is working on developing a strategy to employ the knowledge and hands-on learning opportunities of amateur radio space borne assets in education in the U.S. ARISS Since Rosalie White's departure from the ARISS education delegate role I've been working very closely with the US ARISS team on projects that will help us develop a closer relationship with participating schools. Specifically, we are developing a post-contact online evaluation that will be sent by ARRL to teachers at ARISS participating schools. This evaluation will provide feedback on the educational merits of the contact and a point of contact for us to connect the teacher to our ETP. As a result of the new ARISS proposal process and our targeted outreach to schools scheduled for contacts in the first half of 2012 we already have recruited one teacher from this group who has applied to attend the Teachers Institute this summer. I am also working closely with the ARISS Operations team to develop a job description for ARISS Mentors that will facilitate recruiting new mentors to support the program. Astronaut Daniel Burbank KC5ZSX has been actively conducting school contacts, including one on January 24 with students in the El Dorado County, CA school district, via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. You'll find a video of the event which was webcast and recorded at http://general.edcoe.org/nasaqa/default.html. Earlier in the month, he spoke with students at Descartes High School in Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France. NASA has posted video of the event on its Web site: www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=128483501 On Friday, January 13, students from Atheneum Borgloon in Belgium spoke with Astronaut Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS on the ISS. The ARISS event highlighted a science curriculum covering the history of space travel, the solar system and the ISS. Kuipers also hosted a contact with Vrije Technische Scholen (VTS), a technical and professional secondary school located in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium on January 18. The session underscored lessons covering electricity, mechanics, antennas and space. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 2/20 Holiday Steve Capodicasa 2/6-2/10 Vacation Lauren Clarke 2/10-2/12 Orlando Hamcation Steve Ford 2/16-2/17 Vacation Scott Gee 3/21-3/23 Vacation Dan Henderson 3/2-3/5 Alabama Section Convention, Birmingham, AL Mary Hobart 2/22 Medical Leave Bob Inderbitzen 2/9-2/12 NFL Section Convention, Orlando, FL `` 2/21-2/22 Vacation `` 3/1-3/5 Radiofest, Monterey, CA Khrystyne Keane 2/21 Vacation Zack Lau 3/22-3/23 Vacation Diane Petrilli 3/22-3/28 Vacation/ASAE Conference, Colorado Springs, CO Dave Sumner 1/20-2/22 ITU WRC-12, Geneva