<<092607.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 30, No. 39 September 26, 2007 -- Covers the period September 16-22. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee October 6 in Little Rock, AR United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) October 8-12 - ARRL HQ Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 16 in Newington, CT Administration &Finance Committee November 17 in Newington, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND The second PAVE PAWS teleconference was held with the DoD on September 19th. Only approximately 20 repeaters have responded towards meeting the mitigation standards. Most of these have terminated operation while a small number have apparently been able to find strategies to meet the requirements. Retesting has occurred at the Otis AFB site with five repeaters being deemed now acceptable and the rest still in question. In addition eight more New England repeaters are being added to the DoD list. However they are also reducing the area of concern for the Otis sit from 150-miles to 60-miles, which means a substantial number of repeaters will be in the clear that previously might have been declared problems. The specifics of this have not been relayed to the ARRL and until such time we are not releasing these details to the general public. A date for re-measurement at Beale has not been set but the DoD has indicated that the problem is still a major concern and the amateur need to move on this. They also discussed whether action from the FCC might be appropriate, as there is anecdotal evidence that many owners are beginning to take a stance of no further cooperation or action unless ordered by the FCC. The FCC has been informally apprised of this and understand that any request for action will be from the DoD not the ARRL. As expected. this round of reductions is only the first and the DoD has indicated they are willing to continue working with the ARRL to identify and finds ways for compliance, but has also indicated that actions and responses need to occur sooner rather than later - they don't have unlimited patience. Outside of PAVE PAWS we have kept up with the public hearing on the antenna denial in Palmdale CA which had a hearing scheduled for Thursday September 20th. Early reports were that the hearing went against the amateur. Director Norton is closely working on this situation, which is a far ways from being concluded. Various general inquiries on the usual areas were submitted via email and phone, as well as two powerpoint presentations prepared for the two conventions on September 22nd in Spokane and September 28-30 in Bend, OR. We also spent considerable time working with the MVP Department preparing missing certificates for the 2006 10-Meter and 160-Meter contests, handling the data for the June VHF Contest, and redoing the corrected data for both 2006 DX CW and DX Phone where there was a missing multiplier issue for DX stations involving AR. This error was from the log checker's database and has been corrected. While it does not impact any significant orders of finish (only 2 of 26 box scores saw any shuffling of order of finish) the new boxes will be updated on the web, as well already being incorporated into the databases. There will be no weekly report for the week of September 24th-28 as I am on vacation and traveling between Spokane and Bend. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Khrystyne Keane wrote and prepared The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 38, for Friday, September 21. It was distributed to 66,304 members, an increase of 103 over the previous week. Khrystyne also voiced and produced the September 21 edition of the ARRL Audio News. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Following the recent improvements to online transaction processing, membership data-entry is running very smoothly. A new standard has emerged with all online and mail applications being processed within 2 days. The previous standard was approximately 3 days. Warehouse inventory is scheduled for October 1. A freight forwarding agent is now being used for non-US distribution of our subscription periodicals QEX and NCJ. The change improves delivery for standard subscribers at a comparable price. All non-US subscribers will enjoy near-airmail quality delivery. As a result, we'll begin to phase-out the previously-offered airmail option, used by only a small number of subscribers. The changes will be phased into renewal materials over the next few months. Amy participated with other HQ staff in meetings to review our printing contract for QST, including schedule-planning and to help identify areas of concern and ongoing improvement. Katie participated in the monthly Section Manger teleconference with Pacific Division SMs. She also participated in ongoing benefit planning with the account representatives for our new MetLife insurance program. Katie recently spoke with ARRL member Curtis Roach, WB4NHM who phoned to specifically share his being "thrilled" with our MetLife program. He converted his homeowners and car insurance to the ARRL MetLife discount program and is now saving hundreds of dollars and helping ARRL at the same time. The next edition ARRL Publications catalog is in-the-works. Jackie Cornell is coordinating this work with designers Sue Fagan and Di Szlachetka. Over the past 2 weeks, the Warehouse crew fulfilled 1,440 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 397 free book membership premiums, and 3 September QST mailing supplements. The Warehouse has taken delivery of 2 new ARRL editions: ARRL's Low Power Communication-3rd edition and ARRL's HF Digital Handbook-4th edition. Backorders for both new editions have shipped. Business Services Reported by Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ During the past several days, in addition to ARRL On-Line Auction donations from some of our advertisers, we have begun to receive donations from ARRL members as well. In addition to a gorgeous vacation package in St. Croix, we received a number of rare books and the offer of a working Collins transceiver. We were also delighted to receive donations from several staff members as well as several members of the Board. We sent the advertising section of QST off to press with a large number of two-page spreads and are already working on December QST. During a brief lapse, Diane has been working on the ARRL Pubs Catalog and several other projects for Sales & Marketing. We will shortly be launching our "Auto-Order" program with a select number of ARRL Publication Dealers. An anecdotal survey found that sample copies of new titles either never reach the intended recipient when delivered to various stores or the recipient took the product home as a perk without much thought of ordering. Our plans are to negotiate a certain set quantity of books to be sent to an ARRL Dealer store as soon as any new ARRL title becomes available. This initial "auto" order of the new title will afford the dealer the deepest available quantity discount (45%). We feel this is the best way to assure that new publications immediately enter their ordering system and insure that new ARRL titles appear on dealer shelves as quickly as possible. Response to date to our idea has been very positive. Obviously, if this test program is successful, we will expand it to more dealers. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N QSL Branch There is no delay in opening mail and a 1day delay in slotting of cards. This week, 115 pounds of cards were received from members. W1AW Joe processed three Qualifying Run endorsements and two certificates. He also created the texts for the October W1AW Qualifying Runs. Joe uploaded both W1AW/6 (2007 SW Division Convention Special Event) and regular W1AW logs to LoTW. He also moved the Icom ID-1 D-Star radio to its new location and ran the antenna line for same. Joe also worked the late afternoon/night shift on Friday for the vacationing Scott Gee. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the first part of the month of October. Field Organization/Public Service Team Leona has been working with candidates for the two upcoming SM elections that will be held in Alaska and Tennessee for a new term of January 1, 2008. She prepared statements, photos and ballot cards which are currently being printed. Ballots, statements and photos are scheduled to be mailed out to members by October 1, 2007. Leona has been updating our Field Service database with new appointments, cancellations and changes. She is also in the process of getting supplies out to new appointees. Leona also reports that she received an SM nomination petition for Gary L. Stratton, K5GLS for the Louisiana section for the term beginning April 1, 2008. Chuck reports that two amateurs from North Carolina and one from Wyoming successfully completed Official Observer certification this week. One amateur from Texas was appointed to the ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch program. A request from the FCC for assistance in locating the source of six meter interference in Texas was received and forwarded to local OOs. Word was received that the unidentified beacon on 30 meters in California has ceased, but OTH radar continues on 40 meters. Questions received this week dealt with operating out of the United States, antenna zoning, Red Cross background checks, using a MARS call sign on normal ham bands, and providing contact information about local clubs to the Mayor of a small town in Washington looking for someone to present information about amateur radio. Before leaving for vacation this week Steve Ewald worked on making preparations for the upcoming Section Manager's Workshop and updating the SM workbook. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Jon Bloom 9/26-10/5 Vacation Steve Capodicasa 10/12 Vacation `` 10/26 Vacation `` 11/9 Vacation `` 11/19-11/21 Vacation Steve Ewald 9/19-10/2 Vacation Steve Ford 9/28-9/29 ARRL/TAPR Digital Comm. Conference, Windsor, CT `` 11/5-11/6 Vacation `` 11/11-11/12 MDC/FAR Digital Conference, Washington, DC Scott Gee 11/12-11/13 Vacation `` 12/10-12/12 Vacation `` 12/26 Vacation Mike Gruber 10/1-10/5 Vacation Ed Hare 10/22-10/25 ANSI asc C63 meeting for EMC Committee `` 11/8-11/10 IEEE EMC Society Standards Dev. Comm (Ed-Secretary) Dan Henderson 9/21-10/1 Wash. State Conv., Spokane, WA/PC NW VHF Conf., OR `` 10/11-10/15 Vacation Mary Hobart 10/5-10/6 DARA Board meeting, Dayton, OH Bob Inderbitzen 10/5-10/8 Vacation Zack Lau 9/28 Digital Communications Conference, Windsor Locks, CT John Proctor 9/27-10/9 Vacation Maria Somma 10/4-10/15 Vacation Dave Sumner 9/25-10/3 Vacation `` 10/5-10/7 EC Meeting, Little Rock, AR Mike Tracy 10/26 Vacation Maty Weinberg 9/28 Digital Communications Conference, Windsor Locks, CT Larry Wolfgang 9/28-9/30 Digital Communications Conference, Windsor Locks, CT