<<120711.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 34, No. 49 December 7, 2011 -- Covers the period November 27-December 3. Upcoming Meetings and Events Director/Vice Director Orientation January 11 in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee January 12 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee January 12 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Annual Board Meeting January 13-14, 2012 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND At the request of Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, we reviewed the new proposed antenna ordinance for Charlotte/Mecklenburg, NC. General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD and the RIB manager, offered several comments. There is no new information on the pending antenna case in Charlotte. Working with OO Program Coordinator Chuck, K0BOG, we looked at several queries from amateurs on various issues. The first was an OO asking if a repeater operating on a non-standard 600 kHz offset on 2-meters was illegal and should be cited - (the answer is nothing in Part 97 establishes mandatory offsets, so while the repeater may not be conforming to a local band-plan it is not a violation of the Part 97 rules). The second involved a request from an OO who had been contacted to mediate an interference dispute between two repeater groups. The OO had been contacted based on a statement on the local repeater-coordinating group's website that these disputes should be turned over to the OO to mediate. The OO was informed that was not one of their duties, and the coordinating group was contacted and asked to remove that inaccurate information from their website. The OO was given information on the ARRL's mediation program with the suggestion that he could refer the parties who had contacted them to that service. Working at the request of General Counsel Imlay and Rocky Mountain Division Director Mileshosky N5ZGT, and in conjunction with Utah Section Manager Mel Parkes, NM7P, a final draft letter was written and edited for Mel's use with an ARES leadership problem in Salt Lake County UT. A 70cm-band use question was received from San Francisco SM Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV, and answered for the member. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP Dave Carr of the NY Times complimented Amateur Radio by writing about it as being one of the most reliable means of communication following a world-wide plague caused by an all-out alien attack on the earth. While his scenario was "unusual," the compliment was well intended and appreciated. Leonard Award nominations are coming in and being digitized for the PRC. We have entries in all 3 categories. New photos are being made up for the ARRL display at the Las Vegas NAB show. Arrangements are being discussed for having the coming DIY campaign showcased on the Ham Nation Show (TWiT) with Bob Heil, Leo Laporte and Gordon West, now looking at January. We are also discussing possible options for Dec 27th with Tom Medlin, W5KUB, who does live webcasts from Dayton. Media Hits for Feb QST has been sent in and the Dec issue of CONTACT! has been posted to the website. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH Development revenues for 2011 for operating funds have reached 81% of the target. We are anticipating a combination of year end gifts that will push revenues to or near the total target for the year. Lauren Clarke has been busy working on refinements to the Diamond Club renewal process. She is testing some new elements for renewal solicitation beginning with the December renewals by both email and postal mail. Lauren also developed follow up letters for the Education & Technology Fund earlier in the fall that have produced results that have pushed revenues to that fund within $7,000 of the 2011 target with a handful of large gifts anticipated before the end of the year. The Year-End solicitation is ready to send by email this week to several segments of donors and members. Response to that appeal will be critical in contributing to December revenues. Print materials for the Second Century Campaign are in house this week. Additional research and Lead letters are in preparation for several prospects after consultation with SCC Committee members. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Steve Ford and I took part in a webinar hosted by Association Media and Publishing that discussed how to integrate the digital edition of a publication with an organization's website. Files for the January 2012 issue of QST were released to our digital provider, Nxtbook. Files have been turned over to the programmer for the 2011 Periodicals CD. Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter and produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for December 1, 2011. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Branch Credits Applications 2010 Carryover 167,196 1,221 2011 Received 1,056,064 9,261 Cumulative Total 1,223,260 10,482 2011 Processed 1,149,288 9,965 Remaining 73,972 517 Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks LoTW Processing Time 3 Business Days Logbook of the World Category Nov 2011 % Change Jan - Nov 2011 QSO Records Entered Into System 384,716,684 18% QSL Record Matches 47,923,793 29% Logs Processed 2,668,808 41% Active Certificates 69,087 19% Registered Users in System 46,042 20 % Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries Nov 2011 Maintenance 782 Initial Setup Inquiries 742 Award Related Concerns 251 Customer Usage Issues 1,146 Phone Calls 815 Total 3,736 W1AW Thanks to Mike Corey, KI1U, Sean Kutzko, KX9X and Ward Silver, NØAX for operating W1AW in the ARRL 160-Meter contest. They made 945 QSOs, with 86 sections, for an initial claimed score of 166,926. In addition to a few DX stations and most of the Canadian provinces, they also worked ALL 50 states! Joe readied the station for the ARRL 160-Meter contest. He installed a 160-meter vertical and the K9AY receiving loops. Joe also updated the code practice source schedule and code practice files web pages and processed regular QSL card requests. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ November has been a very full month, hence the length of this report. Education & Technology Program November was a very full month. The schedule for 2012 TIs is being finalized with our host and supporting partners. I've written an article for February QST announcing our plans for 2012. Culminating several months of development time, Mark Spencer WA8SME submitted the following articles for QST publication: 2-Meter Vertical Dipole Antenna, The ETP Sea/Space Buoy Project, and SSTVCAMERA Interface. These articles are an outgrowth of topics being developed for the ETP curriculum. He also submitted a draft on An Instructional Resource for ADC and Digital Signal Processing Fundamentals. This is a hands-on training circuit board that will be used as an instructional resource. It could eventually be a web-based resource. Mark has been hard at work testing the new remote sensing capabilities of the Sea/Space Buoy project he has developed for the ETP portfolio. The project that includes collecting and transmitting data through the APRS system on water salinity, air and water temperature, barometric pressure and wave action. He worked out some challenges with leaks that damaged some sensors and redeployed the buoy. This time everything seems watertight so the challenge now is to interpret the interesting data. The project is showing tremendous potential for students to learn how scientific research is conducted and to develop acuity with hypothesis testing and critical analysis of data as well as data gathering methodology. Plans are being finalized to roll out this new curriculum in partnership with an outreach program coordinated by Mississippi State University with a local MS school district. Mark participated in the drafting and submission of the AMSAT FOX1 satellite launch proposal. His contribution was to draft the education component of the application and to draft the ARRL letter of support. The ETP grants applications for November were reviewed and a recommendation submitted to the Executive Committee for action in December. There were only two Progress Grants recommended for approval out of the total of 6 grant applications. Mark evaluated the Parallax PropScope as an alternative to the OptaScope that we have been using during the TI. His assessment is that the PropScope is a more capable alternative than the OptaScope yet is not so intimidating that it would put off the novice electronics enthusiast. Though not an ETP/Education Services project, Mark worked with ARRL Marketing to troubleshoot the CanaKit PIC programmer that is sold by the ARRL in support of the PIC Programming for Beginners book. His efforts convinced CanaKit of a problem with their programmer and helped them to come up with a possible solution. In late October Mark provided some training for docents at the HQ on the modulation/demodulation board, 5-building blocks board, and the CubeSat simulator and how to integrate those resources into the docent's tours of the HQ facility. Nathan McCray K9CPO has been working with Mark on curriculum connections for the ETP Sea/Space Buoy Project. He also reports that he was able to procure 8 Dell desktop computers from Great Lakes Navy Station to support his school electronics and robotics program. Nathan shared some delightful photos of students in his electronics club completing the clock kit project. ARISS ARISS international delegates and ARISS international committee members from all over the world met in Houston, Texas October 27-29 for an ARISS Annual Meeting. NASA Johnson Space Center hosted the meeting, attended by Rosalie White, K1STO and Debra Johnson, K1DMJ representing ARRL. Delegates and committee chairs presented reports on ARISS educational activities and considered proposals for new ARISS projects. One new project initiated by the European Space Agency is for an Amateur TV project on the ISS Columbus Module. Announcements for the opening of the next window for proposal submission for an ARISS contact were released during the week of November 14. The window of opportunity to submit proposals will close in January 2012. The US ARISS contacts scheduled as a result of this request for proposals will take place between July 15, 2012 and January 15, 2013. ARRL included the announcement in a news story posted Nov. 17 <http://www.arrl.org/news/apply-now-to-host-a-real-time-conversation-with-crewmembers-onboard-the-iss> . ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White K1STO began a transition to a more limited role as a volunteer, serving as ARRL Delegate to the ARISS International Program. Her responsibilities as ARRL Program Manager are being transitioned to ARRL headquarters, and I will become the primary ARRL contact for the U.S. partnership. Recent U.S. Contacts included: November 1: Contact with Sundance Elementary School in San Diego. The Palomar Amateur Radio Club (PARC) assisted with a direct contact. The school planned for every educator to create age-appropriate activities related to radios and space. Guest speakers from PARC gave presentations to students about Amateur Radio, including learning how energy can be carried from one place to another by waves, such as water waves and sound waves, by electrical current, and by moving objects. This provided the introduction into radios, their uses, functions, and how to operate them. November 10: Contact with Donald P. Sutherland School in Nassau, NY. Preparatory educational activities included reading books on the solar system, astronauts, and the NASA space program; researching and writing about ISS science projects, tracking the progress of the ISS for 30 days, charting its location and distance traveled for the day and the month. Students researched sound in outer space, and created projects and experiments on space for the science fair. A school wide assembly was held before the contact with the ham radio operators so that students could learn how the ISS amateur radio system works. TV station WNYT posted some great Amateur Radio PR <http://thegreenbushes.wnyt.com/news/news/93797-nassau-elementary-students-talk-astronaut> . Continuing Education Program The first few field exams have been processed. A problem with the website zip code search function for Field Instructor and Field Examiner listings has been identified. IT staff has figured out the solution and will be addressing it. Jack Tiley AD7FO and David Hartnett K9DRH have developed power points for field instruction of the Intro to Emcomm course that they are making available to other instructors. Amy Strickland has started the project of building a database of emcomm training history of ARES emcomm volunteers. The intent is to design a publishable transcript that will reflect various endorsements that ARRL emcomm training will acknowledge. I traveled to Cincinnati for a two-day training on the Trivantis Lectora software that will enable us to perform edits and updates to the existing emcomm courses and possibly also develop other online courses in-house. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 12/26 Holiday All Staff 1/2 Holiday Lauren Clarke 12/9 Vacation Steve Ford 12/22-12/30 Vacation Scott Gee 12/23-12/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 12/16-1/6 Vacation Mary Hobart 12/8 Jury Duty Gail Iannone 12/22-12/30 Vacation Barry Shelley 12/5-12/9 Vacation