<<072209.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 32, No. 29 July 22, 2009 -- Covers the period July 12-18. CEO Reported by Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ CEO staff is working on wrapping-up another successful and smooth-functioning Board meeting. A special thank you to Greg Kwasowski for driving the van; to Maryann Macdonald and Maggie Bourgoin for helping with the Board books and to Penny Harts for helping with the goodie table in the lobby. Special acknowledgement and thanks to Andy Shefrin for working with the Marriott technicians in making all presentation and computer equipment run like a charm. Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND During the past two weeks, we have handled a large number queries - ranging from Field Day log submissions to reciprocal operating to license renewal. Part of the time in the office has also been spent moving into the new office (formerly occupied by the Education Manager). In preparation for the Board meeting, a large amount of time was spent working with General Counsel finalizing the presentation on commercialization that was presented Thursday evening to the Board (Thanks Chris, W3KD, and Kay, N3KN!) We also have spent time working with Director Woolweaver on his SGL proposal. We have gotten clearance from the FCC and the Air Force to begin the latest round of PAVE PAWS mitigation requests for Cape Cod. We are resuming the role of being the first contact with owners/trustees of repeaters identified as needing mitigation. We will provide specific information on the requested mitigation, answer any questions, and offer the Lab's assistance to develop successful plans to meet the identified mitigation need. This follows the Air Force's suggestion that the ARRL do the initial contact, leaving the FCC to handle any situations that remain unresolved down the road. These letters to those newly identified repeater owners will go out shortly. Working with Allen Pitts, W1AGP, we are putting together a packet of information that will be provided (upon request) to DLACs, LACs and LAAs when they have a meeting scheduled with a member of Congress back home in District. The packet contains handouts on Amateur Radio in general and more detailed information on HR 2160. We also continue to track the total number letters to members of Congress received by Chwat & Co. We have reports that K1MAN is back on the air and up to his old tricks again. The FCC is aware of these reports and is monitoring the situation. To answer the most frequently asked query in conjunction with these reports, while K1MAN is waiting on his timely filed renewal application, he is entitled to continue to operate. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The PRC met on July 15th in phone conference just before the PSC and Board meetings. They are looking at having a patch or pin made up to give to PR-101 graduates as both a reward and also promotion of the course to others. With the FCC announcement coming out, reporters were waiting for me first thing Monday morning for comments and explanations. Meanwhile Computerworld Magazine asked for an interview, referrals and information about Amateur Radio and wireless experimentation. McGan Award winner Nate Brightman was contacted and initial arrangements and write-up were made for his presentation. Possibilities for the 2010 RTNDA convention advanced further with phone and emailed responses to their queries. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH In preparation for the Second meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors and the A & F committee Development completed a midyear report of revenues for major Development funds. Through June 30, Development has raised $356,336 or 40.3% of the 2009 target. In addition, distributions have been received from the Stoner and Coss estates totaling $62,708 for the ARRL Endowment. Since the Board meeting a new member of the ARRL Maxim Society - Henry Pownall, W4 FWR. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The September issue of QST was released to the printer July 22. Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 28, No. 28, for July 17, 2009. She also voiced and produced ARRL Audio News for July 17. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW It's official! W1AW will replace AMTOR and ASCII with PSK31 and MFSK16, respectively, on August 17, 2009. RTTY (Baudot) will continue to be the first mode sent in the digital transmission schedule. The decision was made to replace these two modes after a Zoomerang survey (sent to 10,000 members earlier this year) showed overwhelming support for the action. The W1AW bulletin detailing the change can be found at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/2009-arlb027.html. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Vice Director Dwayne Allen, WY7FD for knocking off three more needed states for W1AW's "Triple Play" award. The station is up to 146 confirmed via LoTW. It's not as though the needed states/modes haven't been worked; rather these particular contacts haven't been uploaded to LoTW by the stations worked. Dwayne also operated W1AW in the North American RTTY QSO Party. Thanks to Bill Moore for covering the Friday morning shift for the vacationing Joe Carcia. Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He uploaded various W1AW/x logs to LoTW. Joe began work on reconfiguring the equipment on the main operating console in preparation for the dropping of AMTOR and ASCII. He also readied another tower PC that will be used as an EchoLink station (and off the ARRL's main network). Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the latter part of the month of July. He also worked the Friday early afternoon shift (in addition to his regular night shift) for Joe Carcia. Field Organization/Public Service Team Chuck Skolaut compiled and sent the monthly Official Observer summary to all OOs, Official Observers Coordinators and Section Mangers to help keep them informed of related activities across the nation. The monthly ARRL Monitoring System report was also compiled and forwarded to the IARU Region 2 Coordinator. We have new Official Observers on board from South Texas and San Francisco. A very nice response was forwarded on to HQ by a radio amateur in Northern Florida who had received an OO advisory notice. The operator expressed appreciation for the notice since he was not aware of the problem. He concluded his remarks about the Official Observer and the overall program by writing, "Such positive action is a positive reflection on the League and its many volunteers." Jim Latham, AF6AQ, Section Manager of East Bay, has been nominated to run for another term as Section Manager. Leona Adams reports that nominations for this particular election cycle remain open until September 4, and new terms will begin in January. In the meantime, members in Los Angeles and South Texas ARRL Sections continue to send in their Section Manager election ballots. Field Organization reports and Section reports continued to arrive during the past week. Steve Ewald received and worked on these monthly reports while helping with QST Public Service column preparations, too. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ The Education Department has been successfully relocated to the space formerly occupied by the IT Department. Many thanks to Greg Kwasowski and Andy Shefrin for coordinating our move and helping us to get operational and comfortable in our new space! The annual School Club Roundup and JOTA articles were prepared and submitted for September QST. CEP Program Mentor stipends were mailed to 76 mentors who supported students during the January -June 2009 period. A proposed outline for the new advanced emcomm course has been developed and circulated to the Board and SMs for comment. The course will be called "Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs." Allen Pitts W1AGP will be the handling editor, with editorial oversight from Dennis Dura K2DCD. Discussions about the format and content of the new advanced emcomm course continue. During the past two weeks we have had inquires about two sizeable quantity orders of our on line Ham Radio License Course from groups interested in licensing hospital employees in Chicago and Wisconsin. Education & Technology Program During June and July, Teachers Institute workshops were completed in Tucson, AZ, Rocklin, CA, Viera, FL and Dayton, OH. The most recent story is posted on our website at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/06/18/10894/?nc=1. Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP and Nathan McCray K9CPO both report a great experience with their first solo sessions as lead instructor, a result of the extensive effort and coordination they put into their preparation. The first ever advanced Teachers Institute session, the TI-2, was held last week. This new professional development opportunity was developed and led by Mark Spencer, WA8SME. Nine teachers participated in the inaugural session which focused on satellite communications. A story with more details will be forthcoming. ETP equipment and resource grant applications submitted for the May deadline were reviewed and the recommendation package sent to HQ for distribution to the Executive Committee. Eight applications have been approved by the Executive Committee. The Radio Telescope project developed by Mark Spencer WA8SME as part of the ETP curriculum was published in June QST. The project has been picked up by Far Circuits which will produce boards for the project. ARISS Rosalie White K1STO returned from a week of ARISS annual meetings in the Netherlands at the European Space Agency, at which a special election was held to elect ARISS Gaston Bertels, ON4WF as Chairman, and Will Marchant, KC6ROL as Vice Chairman. ARISS Team member Nick Lance, KC5KBO, who does ham radio mentoring of students at his local school was pleased to learn that his student, Andrew Koenig, KE5GDB, has won the Newsline Youth Ham of the Year Award. An experience with ARISS was one of the main motivators for Andrew to study for his license. He continued his interest in space by helping with ARISS QSOs and by being active in ham satellite operations. The members of the Suburban Radio Club, in St. Louis, Missouri, invited students from the St. Louis Charter School to take part in the club's Field Day events. The club also held a Kid's Day activity for students. The students will receive classroom demos of 2-meter repeater QSOs, satellite QSOs, how to track satellites and the ISS, and students will learn about how packet radio works. These activities will be integrated into classroom science lessons as part of preparation for a possible ARISS QSO in late 2009. Rosalie has forwarded the name of school teacher at the St. Louis (MO) Charter School so we can extend an invitation to participate in the 2010 Teachers Institute. The shuttle launched to the ISS on Wednesday, July 15. Bob Thirsk has been ensuring that the radios are turned on all of the time and has a full slate of scheduled QSOs. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Leona Adams 7/31 Vacation Kathy Allison 9/25-9/28 Vacation Bob Allison 9/25-9/29 Vacation Steve Capodicasa 9/8-9/14 Vacation Joe Carcia 7/24 Vacation `` 7/31 Vacation `` 8/7 Vacation `` 8/14 Vacation `` 8/21 Vacation Jackie Cornell 8/6-8/10 Vacation Norm Fusaro 7/20-7/24 Vacation Scott Gee 7/30 Vacation Mike Gruber 8/24-8/28 Vacation Joel Hallas 8/3-8/14 Vacation Penny Harts 7/31-8/11 Vacation Dan Henderson 7/22-7/25 NCVEC Conference, Gettysburg, PA `` 7/27-8/10 Vacation Mary Hobart 8/12-8/14 Vacation Berta Hould 7/13-7/24 Vacation Gail Iannone 7/20-7/31 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 7/27-7/31 Vacation Debra Johnson 7/27-7/31 Vacation Sean Kutzko 7/20-7/21 Vacation `` 8/7-8/9 Pacific NW DX Convention, Spokane Valley, WA Monique Levesque 7/31-8/7 Vacation Allen Pitts 7/26-7/27 Vacation `` 8/6-8/7 Vacation Brennan Price 7/20-7/24 Vacation `` 7/27-7/29 Vacation Chuck Skolaut 7/24-8/3 Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, OK/VC Alex Tara 8/24-8/28 Vacation