[ARRL logo-and-logotype black gold vertical] IN-Newsletter Vol. 42, No. 4 February 3, 2017 Covers the period January 21, 2017 - January 27, 2017 Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events Southeastern Division Convention, February 9 - 13, 2017 @ Orlando, FL Vermont Section Convention February 25, 2017 @ South Burlington, VT Hamvention 2017 May 19 - 21, 2017 @ Xenia, OH Chief Executive Office Reported by Tom Gallagher, NY2RF Just 10 days after being introduced, the 2017 Amateur Radio Parity Act legislation, H.R. 555<https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/555?r=27>, passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week on unanimous consent under a suspension of House rules. H.R. 555 calls on the FCC to establish rules prohibiting the application of deed restrictions that preclude Amateur Radio communications on their face or as applied. The new bill, again sponsored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), was introduced on January 13 with initial co-sponsorship by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR). The bill now heads to the Senate for a final vote. Planning and preparations have begun for the Executive Committee meeting in Denver this March. Development Reported by Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD Development is pleased to announce three new Maxim Society Members: George Allison, K1IG from the New England Division; Jamie Tolbert, WW3S from the Atlanta Division; and Linda Bittner, K6GRL from the Pacific Division. The ARRL Foundation Annual Meeting was held January 24, 2017 via teleconference. At the recent ARRL Board of Directors meeting, Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF, and Jim Pace, K7CEX, were re-elected to serve on the Foundation Board for another three-year term. The Foundation was also pleased to welcome new Board member Daniel A. Davis, of New Britain, Connecticut. Daniel currently serves as an aide to Connecticut State Representative Gary Bryon, and is an Alderman in his town. Tom Frenaye, K1KI, Rick Niswander, K7GM, and Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD were re-elected to the positions of President, Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. Jim Pace, K7CEX, was elected to the position of Vice President. Other continuing Foundation Board members include Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, David Norris, K5UZ, Andrea Wayward, KG4IUM, Dale Williams, WA8EFK and Dr. David Woolweaver, K5RAV. Field Services Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Emergency Preparedness Reported by Michael Corey, KI1U The Emergency Preparedness staff have completed a report on the status of the ARES program in 2016. We are proud to say that reporting from the sections in 2016 was at 76% compared to 48% in 2015. A full final report, with break down by FEMA region and state, will be ready in mid-February. The table below shows the basic numbers. 2015 2016 Total ARES Members 17,756 27,754 Total ARES Nets 11,346 19,989 ARES Nets with NTS Liaison 2,106 (18%) 3,460 (18%) Total Drills, Training and Test Events 21,226 (84%) 27,541 (83%) Total Public Service Events 2,947 (12%) 3,711 (11%) Total Emergency Operations Events 902 (3.5%) 1,248(4%) Other Events N/A 636 (2%) Total ARES Events 25,075 33,136 Total Volunteer Hours 242,436 418,275 Volunteer Value ($19 x Total Volunteer Hours) $4,606,284 $7,947,225 Sections Reporting 33 54 Inactive Sections (sections that submitted no reports in a calendar year) 38 17 (AK, IL, NM, OR, ORG, PR, SB, SC, SD, SDG, SF, UT, VA, VT, WMA, WPA, WY) Field Organization Steve Ewald traveled to the Mississippi State Convention in Jackson on January 27- 28 to represent ARRL Headquarters. He conducted a forum on the Field Organization and met with many Section Leaders throughout Mississippi and the rest of the Delta Division. Director David Norris and Vice Director Ed Hudgens and Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, conducted the ARRL forum and led discussions. Leona Adams reports that New Hampshire Section Manager Peter Stohrer, K1PJS, and San Joaquin Valley Section Manager Dan Pruitt, AE6SX, have been nominated to run for new terms of office that begin July 1. Leona and Steve contacted Section Managers to relay their 2017 Section budget amounts. Thanks to the Controller's Department for supplying this information. Lab Reported by Bob AllisonWB1GCM Product Review Bob Allison tested a QRP transceiver kit that had a price tag of $50 for a QST Product Review. Bob is currently tested a dual band VHF/UHF handheld transceiver. Video Production Ed Hare and Mike Gruber were guests on a half hour-long television program, recorded at Simsbury Public Access Television. The show, "Common Point", is hosted by Radio Amateur, Dan Thomas, NC1J; the topic, "Radio Interference". Bob Allison acted as associate producer for the show and worked with Dan to make it happen. Bob also operated one of the studio cameras during the recording of the show. After final editing, the show will be posted on YouTube for all to see. Ed and Mike did an outstanding job of explaining radio inference to the public and to the Radio Amateur. Last year, Bob was a guest on this show and talked about the ARRL and how to be a Radio Amateur. TIS Zack uploaded the Propagation Forecasts for February. The predicted solar flux is just 77. Zack also handled numerous TIS inquiries. Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF January ended with 163,312 members - only 7 members under goal. The on-time renewal rate for January is 73.46% vs. 70.63% last January. An e-mail was sent to December expirees asking for their feedback on their membership experience. This data was collected for the previous two months and will continue for another month or so. Data will be circulated to all interested staff. Several holiday-themed membership e-mails have been prepared for February. Radiosport Reported by Norm Fusaro, W3IZ DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1 - 2 Business Days W1AW Reported by Joe Carcia, NJ1Q Around 4:30 AM Friday morning, Joe was present at W1AW to receive a CW message sent from W6UE as part of the 100th anniversary of the first Transcontinental Relay of Formal Message Traffic. The message was direct to ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, and passed along commemorative greetings from stations "6EA, 9ZF, 9ABD, 2AFJ and 1ZM,' who were all involved in the first transcontinental message in 1917. Joe repaired two Heil headsets for use as additional backups. In the previous week, Joe update the web code practice files and their archives. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice texts for the upcoming week. He also processed VUCC certificates and endorsements. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Yvette Vinci prepared a reminder emailing to members with a summary of "What's trending" in February QST. The notification was sent to 120,552 members on Wednesday, January 25. We are pleased with the high number of unique visitors who have already accessed February's issue - over 15,000 as reported by Alli McLellan - which compares similarly to December QST. This is a good indicator that members have easily migrated to our newly adopted digital publishing platform. Jackie Ferreira reports that postcards featuring the 2016 ARRL Periodicals on DVD were mailed to 3,300 past customers. She also prepared a handful of publication solicitations emailed throughout the week, including targeted campaigns promoting license manuals for upgrading. Antenna-themed ARRL publication ads were prepared for March QST, the annual antenna issue. Jackie coordinated an interdepartmental team to develop a design concept for the 2017 ARRL Field Day logo and related product line. We reviewed the cover for the 2017-18 ARRL Repeater Directory, designed by Sue Fagan. The warehouse shipped materials for ARRL's booth at the Southeastern Division Convention, which will be hosted by Orlando HamCation, February 10-12. An emailing promoting home and auto insurance discounts, offered to ARRL members through Liberty Mutual Insurance, has been prepared. Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations Leona Adams 2/7 PTO Steve Capodicasa 02/06 PTO " 02/13 PTO Joe Carcia 02/17 half day PTO " 02/20 - 02/24 PTO " 03/03 half day PTO " 03/31 half day PTO " 05/26 PTO " 05/07 PTO " 07/05 PTO " 07/21 PTO " 07/28 PTO " 08/04 PTO " 08/07 - 08/11 PTO " 08/18 PTO " 08/25 PTO " 10/09 PTO Tom Gallagher 02/10 - 02/12 Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, FL Scott Gee 02/20 - 02/24 PTO Perry Green Medical Leave Bart Jahnke 02/09 - 02/12 Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, FL Gail Iannone 10/07 - 02/05 Sick Leave Bob Inderbitzen 02/09 - 02/13 Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, FL Sean Kutzko 02/24 - 02/25 Vermont Section Convention " 03/06 Fairfield (CT) Radio Club presentation " 03/09 - 03/12 PTO Sincerely Compiled by, Carla Pereira, Assistant to CEO