[ARRL logo-and-logotype black gold vertical] IN-Newsletter Vol. 42, No. 12 March 31, 2017 Covers the period March 18 - March 24, 2017 Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events: Nevada State Convention March 31 - April 2 @ Las Vegas, NV Roanoke Division Convention April 15 @ Raleigh, NC Delaware State Convention April 22 @ Georgetown, DE National VOAD Conference May 15 - 18 @ Houston, TX Hamvention 2017 May 19 - 21 @ Xenia, OH SEA-PAC 2017 June 2 - 4 @ Seaside, OR Chief Executive Office Reported by Tom Gallagher, NY2RF Tom Gallagher and Lauren Clarke met with Dr. Ed Snyder, W1YSM for dinner last week to discuss ARRL's Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative. (The Snyder Family Foundation gifted $100,000 earlier this year to fund the initiative.) Tom Gallagher and Mike Corey visited Grace Academy in Hartford last week to present to Shui Se Phoe with her Amateur Radio license, an HT and General Class study guide. Shui Se is the first student to become licensed at Grace Academy through ARRL's after-school program there. They also present Headmaster and founder Matt Fitzsimons with an Amateur Radio book set for the Grace Academy library. Michelle Patnode attended to record the presentation. The radio given to Shui Se as well as an ARRL membership were acquired with staff-contributed funds. Tom Gallagher, along with Dan Henderson and Barry Shelley, traveled to Denver, CO March 24 - 27 for the Executive and Administrative & Finance Committee meetings. The committees, comprised of Directors and Officers, discussed several issues pertaining to current ARRL concerns as well as upcoming initiatives, that will be added to the Agenda at the July Board Meeting. While in Colorado, Tom also visited with Vice Director Jeff Ryan and officers of the Rocky Mountain Ham Radio (one of the major amateur radio clubs in CO.) Education Reported by Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Teacher Registration Instructor Registration Graduation Kit Requests License Class Listings 5 12 2 6 Debra finalized the last details of the resources needed to support the 2017 Teachers Institute with instructors and placed orders and requisitions. She worked on re-sending the online survey to ETP grant recipients to undeliverable addresses. She also began organizing a team of proposal reviewers for the ARISS spring proposal window. ARISS Contacts: * March 23, a telebridge contact between students at School of Trois Paletuviers, Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock, French Guyana and Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG was successful. Field Services Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N The Section Manager election ballots and candidate statements for Utah and Northern New Jersey were printed and delivered to the Mailroom at Headquarters late in the week. With our thanks to the Mailroom staff, these ballots will be in the postal mail no later than April 3. Three separate Section Managers have nominated three different individuals for the 2016 Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award. These nominations arrived at Headquarters in advance of the March 31st receipt deadline. The nominations for this award are considered at the Second Meeting of the Board of Directors in July. Lab Reported by Bob Allison, WB1GCM Product Review Bob Allison tested an AM only, 250 Watt+ transmitter for QST Product Review. Bob is currently assembling the audio chain for the transmitter, which consists of a high-quality microphone, a speech compressor/limiter/, and an audio equalizer. Once assembled, Bob will test it on air during this weekend's AM Rally, an AM operating event, organized by Clark Burgard, N1BCG, and Stephen Cloutier, WA1QIX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TP8OGCo0-M Bob Also tested another TCXO for an upcoming Product Review article. RFI Mike Gruber reports that the FCC enforcement bureau's Laura Smith issued five FCC letters and that the FCC conducted a filed inspection of a solar PV system site causing harmful interference to an Amateur station on March 15. The solar panel optimizers in this case did not have a proper FCC label, and as a result, the field agent issued a warning in the case. Technical Work Bob Allison and Mike Gruber traveled to Bowie, MD to pick up a Gates BC-1T 1 KW AM transmitter. This transmitter will be restored to its original operating condition by a retired volunteer broadcast engineer and converted to the Amateur Bands (160, 80, 40 meters) by another volunteer broadcast engineer, under Bob's supervision. The transmitter will be used as a promotional tool for the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of CT and to the ARRL, who will use it during AM operating events. It will also be a useful teaching tool for those who wish to understand the basic principles of Amplitude Modulation, the oldest method of voice transmission. [2004-04-15 21] GATES BC-1T AM BC TRANSMITTER 1 KW (2) 807 DRIVING (2) 833A, MODULATED BY (2) 833a ORIGINALLY USED AT KPGE, PAGE ARIZONA, 1340 KHZ TIS Zack Lau reports that the Technical Information Service (TIS) was busy last week with many phone calls and emails. It should be noted that all emails and phone calls received by the Lab are at times challenging, due to the technical nature of the questions asked. Travel Bob Allison and Mike Gruber have made plans to travel to Xenia Ohio for the Dayton Hamvention. Laboratory Volunteers Pete Turbide, W1PT, Martin Ewing, AA6E and Matthias Zapatka, AJ4BB will be joining Bob and Mike at the Laboratory Booth once again this year. Also volunteering again will be Central Division Director, Kermit Carlson. VHF handheld transceivers will be tested for spectral purity and advertising acceptance. Media & Public Relations Reported by Sean Kutzko, KX9X ARRL has purchased upgraded video gear for the Media Room. This will greatly help our effort to increase our new media content. Some of that content will be in the form of 100-second videos called ARRL Tech Tips, targeted at newly-licensed hams, to instruct them on basic ham radio skills and terminology. These videos are a direct response to one of the items found in the 2015 Readex member survey, in which a large percentage of newer hams indicated they want more training and instruction to come from ARRL. These videos will be posted on the ARRL YouTube channel and promoted/distributed through ARRL Social Media channels. We have received two nominations for the ARRL McGan Silver Antenna Award for volunteer PR efforts to the non-ham community. Deadline is May 19. PR Manager Sean Kutzko will appear on Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp on Thursday, June 22, to promote Field Day. Sean will start meeting regularly with Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, to begin work on the business plan for a proposed 2018 year-long on-air event, similar to the Centennial QSO Part and National Parks on the Air. Social Media stats for the week of March 13-18: Main ARRL Twitter feed: 29,812 followers (up 59 from the previous week) 943 engagements with audience (likes, retweets, comments), up 319 from previous week Most engaged tweet: promotion of "WSJT-X in the Palm of Your Hand" article in April QST (28 retweets 43 likes) Facebook: 73,782 fans (up 153 from previous week) 3588 engagements with audience (likes, shares, comments), up 950 from previous week Most engaged post: Bob Allison's coverage of an ARC-5 transmitter for Throwback Thursday (242 likes, 34 comments, 48 shares) Instagram: 2411 followers (up 36 from previous week) 143 engagements with audience (likes, comments), up 324 from previous week Most engaged post: Bob Allison's coverage of an ARC-5 transmitter for Throwback Thursday (81 likes, 2 comments) Production/Editorial Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY Working on the May/June issues of NCJ and QEX. Working on the digital edition of the May issue of QST. Working on the June issue of QST. Work has begun on the 2018 Handbook. The Southeastern VHF Society Conference Proceedings went to press. Becky Schoenfeld has created a series of social media posts for the PR Department to release during the month of April, which is National Poetry Month. The posts will highlight ham radio-related poetry from contemporary British poet Simon Barraclough and renowned 19th-century physicist James Clerk Maxwell, as well as QST's own Rod Newkirk, W9BRD (SK), whose limericks were featured in his "How's DX?" column each May from 1952-1977. Jodi Morin resolved the font issues that were occurring for in-house ads in the digital edition of QST. Media support continues working towards improving uploading and downloading speeds. Radiosport Reported by Norm Fusaro, W3IZ Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 2 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1 - 2 Business Days 2017 DXCC Applications 2,733 2017 WAS Applications 366 2017 VUCC Applications 105 2017 WPX Applications 135 Sales & Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Our team of Membership Service Representatives completed a large amount of membership application administration and record keeping to help support the address-pull for the May issue of QST: Margie Bourgoin, Jon Faasen, Liz Karpiej, Kim McNeill, Ally Riedel, Cathy Stepina, and supervisor Yvette Vinci. Yvette Vinci prepared a report for the recent Executive Committee Meeting with a listing of the elected Life Members since the last EC meeting-147 new Life Members. She also completed "reminder letters" to 536 members making quarterly payments toward Life Membership. On Monday, March 20, Yvette sent a reminder emailing to members with a summary of "What's trending" in the April issue QST-taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Allison McLellan. The notification was sent to 118,155 members. Jackie Ferreira prepared and emailed a promotion for current edition ARRL Handbook. Bob Inderbitzen attended the Greater Houston Hamfest, March 24-25, as the staff representative. Bob was joined by Director David Woolweaver, Vice Director John Stratton, PIC Michael Manshack, AD5OG, Card Checker Bob Walworth, N5ET, and many other South Texas Section Field Organization volunteers. Bob also followed up on several requests for information and other support inquiries, and he carried back a handful of membership applications. Working with Director Tom Frenaye, we sent a bulk emailing to a random selection of ARRL members (with email addresses), inviting them to participate in an online survey being conducted by the Entry Level License Committee. Reminder: The deadline for hotel rooms for Hamvention is March 31. Board members supporting our exhibits and activities at Hamvention, May 19-21, should complete and submit the following online registration form immediately http://www.arrl.org/hamvention-arrl-team-registration. The online registration form will help us organize room reservations, badges, apparel and staffing for the event. Our registration tally to date is 93 ARRL Team members. Summary of Sales and Marketing Department telephone group, reported by Yvette Vinci: Week Ending Calls Answered Calls Per Hour Total Talking Duration Average Speed of Answer 3/24/2017 TBD TBD TBD TBD 3/17/2017 (4 days) 740 20.5 28:35:42 9 seconds 3/10/2017 851 18.9 31:32:23 10 seconds 3/3/2017 922 20.4 35:50:38 10 seconds Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week Ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 3/24/2017 872 1,110 3/17/2017 (4 days) 887 0 3/10/2017 982 594 3/3/2017 1,253 511 Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations Leona Adams 03/31 PTO " 04/07 PTO Bob Allison 04/07 - 04/10 Wayne NJ Phonograph Show, Wayne, NJ " 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Margie Bourgoin 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Joe Carcia 03/31 PTO " 04/05 - 04/13 PTO " 05/26 PTO " 07/05 - 07/07 PTO " 07/14 PTO " 07/21 PTO " 07/28 PTO " 08/04 PTO " 08/07 - 08/11 PTO " 08/18 PTO " 08/25 PTO " 10/09 PTO Lauren Clarke 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Michael Corey 03/28 - 03/31 National Public Safety Telecommunications Council Governing Board Meeting, Las Vegas, NV " 05/15 - 05/18 National VOAD Conference, Houston, TX " 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Steve Ewald 03/29 - 04/06 PTO " 04/07 - 04/08 Oklahoma Section Convention, Claremore, OK Jon Faasen 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Norm Fusaro 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Tom Gallagher 03/31 PTO " 04/18 Penn Fund Executive Board Meeting, NYC " 04/21 - 04/23 Delaware State Convention, Georgetown, DE " 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH " 06/01 - 06-04 SEA-PAC, Seaside, OR Regina Galuppi 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Scott Gee 05/18 - 05/19 PTO " 05/30 - 06/02 PTO " 09/15 - 09/18 PTO Perry Green TBD Medical Leave Mike Gruber 04/19 IEEE EMC Society, Batavia, IL " 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Dan Henderson 04/13 - 04/22 Presentation at Mt Airy VHF Society's annual ARRL Night and PTO Bob Inderbitzen 03/30 - 04/03 Nevada State Convention, Las Vegas, NV " 04/14 - 04/15 Roanoke Division Convention, Raleigh, NC " 05/17 - 05/22 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Sabrina Jackson 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Debra Johnson 03/29 - 04/02 NSTA National Conference, Los Angeles, CA " 04/03 PTO " 04/07 PTO Sean Kutzko 04/10 - 04/13 PTO " 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH " 05/25 - 05/30 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Cody, WY " 06/29 - 06/30 PTO Zach Lau 03/31 PTO Kimberly McNeill 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Dave Patton 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Michael Scharr 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Becky Schoenfeld 04/10 - 04/13 PTO " 05/18 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Yvette Vinci 05/17 - 05/21 Dayton Hamvention, Xenia, OH Sincerely Compiled by, Carla Pereira, Assistant to CEO