IN-Newsletter Vol. 27, No.16 April 21, 2004 Upcoming Meeting April 24th in Newington, CT at 8:30am A & F Committee Meeting Development Work is being completed on the Major Donor listing for the Annual Report, for QST and the web. The W1AW campaign received a 3-year $15,000 pledge which brings the campaign total of cash and pledges to more than $206,000. The new Spectrum Defense campaign to ARRL members is in the mail. Results will be credited to this campaign upon receipt of the first response. A photo shoot of new gifts for contribution of $250 or more will be on April 21 for posting on the web. Analyses are being prepared for the April 24 A & F meeting. Announcement of the ARRL Foundation's Goldfarb Scholarship winner has been prepared for the web. Revisions for the ARRL Foundation web pages are being reviewed for grant proposal applications and for scholarship applications. Media Relations The Public Relations Committee held its monthly conference call. Top agenda items included finishing up the Speakers Bureau Project for PICs and planning the annual PR forum in Dayton. The directives from the PSC for the Speakers Bureau Project are nearly complete. Then it will be up to section PICs, in coordination with Section Managers, to get section-wide speakers bureaus up and running. Jen submitted a detailed update to PSC Chair Director Wade Walstrom for an upcoming PSC teleconference. Plans for the PR forum are coming along well, and the committee will be putting on another great program. Jen was able to again secure two handheld radios from ICOM to be given as door prizes at the event. Jen submitted the "Media Hits" column for the June issue of QST. A reminder about doing publicity for the upcoming April Exam Days was posted to the PR reflector. A fill-in-the-blank release was created for clubs who will be participating, and Jen pointed reflector members to that news release again. Mentioned in last week's report, the New York Times story on the new Morse code "@ sign" was published in the technology section on April 15. Rick Lindquist and Larry Price were quoted, along with a member and his wife from the New York area. The Times piece has been picked up by several newspaper outlets throughout the country. Production/Editorial We wish Bob Schetgen, KU7G, a speedy recovery. He is recuperating at home after having a mild stroke during Easter weekend. He is checking his e-mail from home, so messages of encouragement will reach him there. The General Class License Manual and the Spring/Summer Publications catalog were sent to their respective printers last week. The June 2004 issue of QST will be released to the printer Thursday. Joel Hallas reports that the June QST Product Review column is complete. In addition, the May/June 2004 issue of NCJ has been wrapped up and is being printed. Rick Lindquist reports that The ARRL Letter, Vol 23, No 16, distributed to 66,999 members on April 16. Rick prepared stories on the "omnibus" NPRM, released April 15, that deals with several Amateur Radio rule changes and proposals; FCC action to permit RFID tags on 70 cm at higher emission levels and duty cycles; Iowa amateur gets back call sign; Armed Forces Day event; ARISS Int'l Team meeting; ARRL request for time extension in BPL NPRM; FCC to stop accepting applications on pre-Dec 2003 Form 605; FCC enforcement letters; Youth Web column; and several other Web news briefs. With voiceover assistance from Jennifer Hagy, Rick voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News for April 16. Dave Hassler turned in his "ARRL-in-Action" column for June QST as well as an article on the results of the recent Readex QST reader survey for that issue. Sales & Marketing Deb Jahnke and Kathy Capodicasa visited Baker & Taylor Headquarters in Bridgewater NJ. The meeting consisted of a discussion and demonstration of their customer buying patterns. In addition, Baker & Taylor's buyer proposed a new cooperative strategy to increase sales. We are presently gleaning additional information from other Baker & Taylor key staff as we document their proposal for further discussion here. Lisa Tardette is following up her Dealer Newsline with calls to dealers. The focus continues to be our new titles, especially the Repeater Directory. Dayton orders are a primary focus this week. The Advertising team is finishing up insertions for June QST. Although we are still challenged by the patterns of the past few months (in particular, smaller advertisers downsizing ads or advertising less frequently) we are pleased that three major manufacturers have increased their ad space for this issue. In addition, we continue to pursue new advertisers for QST. Work also continues on advertising sales for QEX and NCJ. Two email solicitations were sent this week, the first announcing availability of the 2004 ARRL Field Day T-shirts and pins, and the second introducing the latest edition of ARRL's Low Power Communication by Rich Arland, K7SZ. These, in combination with the recent delivery of May QST to members, contributed to brisk online ordering--some of the highest levels we have seen since the Christmas holiday season. During the weekend following the emailing, online gross sales reached $11,647 (not including shipping and tax). May QST featured a large number of new ARRL products: new books, new editions, Field Day T-shirts, The ARRL Repeater Directory and TravelPlus. Planning continues for ARRL's exhibit at Dayton Hamvention. The consignment of ARRL products and publications is ready to ship out to Ohio. An ARRL membership application was produced to include in the convention program. A handful of our group met with our RR Donnelley sales representative. The meetings were a chance to revisit topics addressing co-mailing, digital file formats and production issues, and specialty advertising products. The following items are available from the ARRL e-store at http://www.arrl.org/catalog: The ARRL Repeater Directory--2004-2005 Edition, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=9191, shipping in late-April. TravelPlus for Repeaters CD-ROM--version 8.0, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=9256, shipping in late-May. ARES Field Resources Manual, (c) 2001, http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=5439, new price $10/ea Membership Services Awards Branch WAS Cert. (50 QSLs ES/C) 1 WAS End. (50 QSLs F/C) 1 WAC Certs. (138 QSLs F/C) 23 5BWACs (60 QSLs F/C) 2 A-1 Op. Noms. 13 A-1 Op. Certs. 29 LTMA Inquiries 5 VUCC Replacement Cert. 1 VUCC Initial Apps. 1 Grids 210 VUCC End. Apps. 1 Grids 67 Awards Mailed 15 HF/VHF Awards Manager Appts: Fred Payne, Jr. K4PZZ Fredericksburg, VA Gary Hilker K9LJN Rockton, IL Stephen Szabo WB4OMM Port Orange, FL Also, compiled the latest list of VUCC award recipients for June QST. Processing Status: Current or up to four weeks. For the coming week-WAS and WAC QSL card checking, VUCC award processing/mailing, Extra Class certificates, mail out awards processed this week, and enter the latest batch of LTMAs into the members' Siebel records. DXCC Branch For the week of: April 18, 2004 Beginning Cards 59,224 Cards Received 1,173 Cards Processed 13,114 Ending Cards 47,283 Applications Pending 322 Processing Time 2.5 Weeks Year-to-date (2004) Cards Received 127,254 Cards Returned 207,821 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on March 31, 2004. DXCC is currently entering cards received on March 31, 2004. One off-shore card checker nomination was approved for the Russian Federation. QSL Bureau There is a delay of 7 days. This week 168 pounds of cards were received from members. Approximately 190 pounds of cards are waiting to be processed. Cards mailed as of 04/18/04: 381,675. Cards mailed on 04/16/04: 73,500. W1AW Joe updated the web code practice files. He performed some repair work on two Harris exciters and amplifiers. Joe uploaded W1AW/90 logs to Logbook of the World and corrected a "CAT System" problem within the Yaesu FT-1000 HF transceiver (located in Studio Three). Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the month of April. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2004): $13,213. Field & Educational Services We're pleased to report that Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, will join the Field & Educational Services staff on May 17. Norm will be responsible for the affiliated club and volunteer mentor/instructor programs. Norm is from the Philadelphia area, has been active as a club officer for several years in the RF Hill Amateur Radio Club, has taught licensing classes, and has done one-on-one mentoring of new hams. He enjoys participating in a variety of on-the-air activities. A background in sales and customer service help him look to at what the "ham customer" needs for support, and think about ways to fulfill the needs. On April 18, a Soyuz launched a new crew to the ISS. Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS, is also visiting the ISS for 8 days, and will do 2 ARISS Holland QSOs, 1 for students visiting the European Space Agency. Rosalie prepared information for the upcoming P-SC telecon, and added information to the club Web pages about our new multimedia programs. In addition to helping Rosalie with some extra club matters, Linda Mullally updated 55 club records with 3 reactivations. She registered 4 Instructors. She checked membership rosters for 3 clubs and handled 4 SSC renewals, 1 Label request and 1 Club Vanity email request. She compiled the F&ES Monthly Statistic Reports (PSHR, BPL, SEC, STM) for the Public Service column in QST. Gail Iannone wrote 35 hamfest and 8 convention announcements for June QST. She also sent 7 hamfest approval letters and 1 convention approval letter to the sponsoring committees confirming the Division Director's approval of the events as ARRL-sanctioned, processed 9 material orders for upcoming hamfests and conventions and 2 label requests. She processed Dayton room reservations. CCE Jean Wolfgang continues to learn the ins and outs of administering the CCE program. She recorded 4 field tests for Levels I, II and III, for February, with a total of 26 students. She handled registration of students for 4 hybrid courses, along with processing the usual checks and graduation materials for recent graduates. On Tuesday April 20, the second online Technician license class will open. Amateur Radio Education & Technology Project Mark Spencer sent another round of Project grant applications to the EC for review. A number of hams asked for the Project boards offered to schools. Mark sold a few extra boards and parts, returning the proceeds to the Project to fund future R & D of new boards and activities. A student at Mark's school demo last week got motivated -- the student took his Technician test on the weekend, received his license Wednesday, and made a first ceremonial QSO with W1AW on Thursday. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald encouraged Section Leaders to share their Section Emergency Plans with neighboring Section Leaders and with served agencies to achieve closer cooperation. He has been contacting Section Leaders who are still working on their plans. Steve has identified some SMs who have volunteered to assist HQ in developing materials and improving the segment on leadership for the Section Manager Workshop that will be held later this year. He took part in an ARESCOM telecon. Leona Adams received and processed two petitions nominating candidates for the next Minnesota SM position. They are Chuck Gysi, N2DUP of Rochester, and Richard Jackson, KS0J, of Inver Grove Heights. Petitions for this SM nominating cycle are due at HQ by June 4. Oregon Section election ballots have been arriving; returned ballots are due May 14. Chuck Skolaut received and is reviewing two audio tapes from California that are a direct result of an OO monitoring request from the FCC. He is also making progress on the set of audio tapes provided by a Connecticut OO that covers operation on 75 meters. Several of these tapes will be sent to the FCC for further investigation. Regulatory Information John Hennessee has reviewed the 71-page FCC Omnibus NPRM in preparation for expected questions from members. He is updating the master FCC Rule Book with changes that are unaffected by the NPRM, in preparation for major changes in future editions of the book. He assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in Kerrville, TX (N5EW) and Parkland, FL (KB2ZJY). He assisted an amateur with covenant concerns in Tucson, AZ (KD7MON). He is acting as a resource for Hawaiian section leaders concerning the pending state legislation. EmComm Grants Dan Miller set up and staffed a booth and gave presentations at the National Hurricane Conference with help from Rudy Hubbard, Dave Armbrust, Sheri Brower, Steve Richbourg, Jerry Hermann, Mike Pilgrim. Nearly 30 people attended the forum, and hundreds dropped the booth. UTC grads for all level of courses total 90. CNCS grads for all levels total 1,097. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Dave Sumner 4/12-4/21 IARU Reg.1 EC Meeting, & Vacation `` 4/27-5/6 Geneva, ITU working party 6E Meeting `` 5/12-5/16 Vacation Jennifer Hagy 4/23 Vacation `` 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention `` 5/17 Vacation `` 5/18 Training Seminar Dennis Motschenbacher 4/22 Sales meeting GA `` 4/23-4/24 SVHFC Technical & Banquet Speaker `` 4/26-4/28 Sales meeting PNW `` 5/13-5/17 Vacation `` 6/4-6/5 Georgia Section Convention Deb Jahnke 4/20-4/21 Vacation `` 4/23-4/27 Vacation Kathy Capodicasa 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention 5/24-5/28 Vacation Danny Sayad 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention Dan Miller 4/29-5/2 SJV Section Convention `` 5/3 Vacation Steve Ford 4/19-4/23 Vacation Dean Straw 4/23-4/25 International DX Convention/Visalia Judy Miller 4/27 Vacation Wayne Mills 4/22-4/26 Visalia Convention `` 4/30 Lebanon MO Convention `` 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention Dan Henderson 4/30 Greenville SC Convention Robert Inderbitzen 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention Roseanne Lawrence 5/13-5/16 Vacation Fatima Lorusso 5/17-5/19 Vacation Steve Ewald 4/30-5/1 Louisiana State Convention LouAnn Campanello 4/19-4/23 Vacation Bill Moore 4/30 Birmingham, AL Convention `` 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention Mark Spencer 4/20-4/24 NCTM National Conference, Philadelphia, PA. Leona Adams 4/22-23 Vacation Lisa Tardette 4/23 Vacation Joel Hallas 5/13pm-5/16 Dayton Hamvention `` 5/17 Vacation