<<020112.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 35, No. 5 February 1, 2012 -- Covers the period January 22-28. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee: March 24 @ 8:30am - St. Louis, MO Digital QST Reported by Katie Glass, KB1ULQ We have released the February edition of digital QST to members of ODV on Monday. We are getting some very good feedback so far. ARRL staff can access the digital QST by going to this page: www.arrl.org/new-qst. Any feedback can be sent to digitalQST@arrl.org. Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND On Friday January 27, I attended a meeting with Lt. Col. Sean Smith, commanding officer of the Cape Cod AFS PAVE PAWS radar, Lou Harris, NIUE, the retiring 70-cm repeater coordinator for NESMC, and Jeff Lehmann, K1ZZ, the incoming 70-cm coordinator held at the radar site. We discussed the ongoing cooperative efforts of the ARRL, NESMC and the Air Force on amateur mitigation to the radar unit. During the conversation, Lt. Col Smith noted a new interference source had appeared in the 448-450 MHz range but did not appear to be amateur radio related. After discussion it was decided that Lt. Col. Smith would ask his superiors if he could utilize volunteer services organized by the ARRL to locate and identify the source of the interference. It was also noted that there will be a change in command at both the Cape Cod and Beale sites sometime in later spring to early summer. There has apparently been some discussions in Colorado on the status of the waiver petition and status of Mototrbo on the amateur band, as four different inquires were made to the Regulatory Information office on the same day. We are still waiting on action by the FCC. At the request of Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ, we provided information on CSCEs to a former USTTI-attendee in Trinidad. We spoke with General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD regarding a request from Director Edgar relating to what appears to be a non-amateur radio dispute between an amateur and his neighbor. Apparently, after significant disagreement between the parties, the amateur has put a beacon on the air with the claim he is doing propagation studies. The neighbor is disputing the claim, saying it is an attempt to harass the non-ham neighbors by causing interference. The twist in this case is that the neighbor has retained an ARRL VC. Mr. Imlay and the neighbor's attorney held a teleconference to discuss the matter. The ARRL is not involved in this matter, as it appears to be a personal dispute between the neighbors. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP Arrangements have been made for the PRC to have a forum at Dayton again. Files and reports are being collected for the ARRL Annual Report. Entries for the contest evaluating PIO plans for 2012 have been collected and will be relayed to the PRC for judging. We have several more PR-101 graduates and I am awaiting the charity choices of the Leonard Award winners to have checks made to go with their plaques. I finalized the arrangements for Sunday, February 12th at 5 p.m. Eastern time, when ARRL and Al Petrunti of The New Day Group, KA1TCH, will webcast a LIVE tour of W1AW - the ARRL flagship station. Amateurs around the country (and the world) will be able to watch it at http://www.awecast.tv/channels/arrl/. Also helping in this are Joe Carcia and Geoff Fox. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The W1AW Endowment campaign mail is in production. The letter has been finalized and the design and layout are close to completion. Thanks to Sue Fagan and Amy Hurtado for their assistance to Lauren Clarke on this project. The plan is to mail before the end of February. The Spectrum Defense materials are being updated with 2012 design for the Spectrum Defense Matters newsletter masthead and certificate revisions, new mug, and pin design and materials for the web. The first issue is planned to mail in March. Letters have been mailed (and being returned) for $1000 donors for permission to list them in QST, on the web and on a poster for Dayton in May. Requests for bound volumes or CDs of the 2011 periodicals accompanied the permission letters to Maxim Society donors. The Maxim Society has added several new members since Jan 1 and the group now totals 96. Who will be number 100? The Member Loyalty program is in production with file preparation and unique letters for each "decade group" - 40-,50-, 60-. 70- and 80- year members. The Second Century Campaign cultivation continues. Thanks to Diane Middleton for her assistance in determining the proper reporting process for gifts and pledges, including the estate portions of some commitments. Certificates have been prepared and mailed to all donors who have made commitments to the campaign. A leader for the Board giving segment of the campaign is under consideration. Production/Editorial Reported by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter and produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for January 26, 2012. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI QST Bob Allison wrote two sidebars for an upcoming Product Review, one on Reciprocal Mixing, how is it relevant to reception, plus an explanation of the two new "At a Glance" color charts at the beginning of the review. The other sidebar is about the Satellite, VHF and UHF operation of the reviewed transceiver. Bob Allison performed more testing on the Homebrew Challenge Winner (not officially announced yet) Bob contacted the builder and shared the data, while suggesting improvements of circuitry for an upcoming QST article. Bob Allison completed building a receiver kit that is a possible candidate for a "Short Take in QST. When time permits, the circuitry will be mounted in its optional case. The receiver is a good match to use with a QRP transmitter. Stop by the Lab and Bob will show it to you. Electronic Publications Zack Lau determined that the 2008 Periodicals CD, if installed first, would block the installation of the 2007 Periodicals CD. The obvious solution that works is to install the 2007 installation first. RFI Brian Cramer continues to investigate a strange RFI source in Illinois. It is intermittent, making it difficult to pinpoint. ARRL Lab Radio Exhibit Mike Gruber assisted Bob Allison in moving and assembling exhibits for the Lab's new Amateur Radio museum. Product Review Bob Allison tested a radio and investigated a potential problem with another-the manufacturer's chief engineer confirmed the problem, with thanks. Bob wrote a sidebar for an upcoming Product Review article, explaining the importance of Reciprocal Mixing and an explanation of the two new additional "At a Glance" color charts. TIS Mike Gruber and Bob Allison attended a two day seminar on how to deal and communicate with difficult people. Overall, the course was useful for a variety of reasons, which in turn, will improve customer service with Lab requests from our members. Web Mike Gruber generated a list of links to be added to the Smart Meter RFI Page. Zack Lau edited and uploaded the February Propagation Forecasts. Membership Contact A group of teenagers and two instructors from Watkinson Prep School stopped by the Lab. Bob Allison explained the Screen Room and its functions, as well as the other exhibits in the Lab. The visit lasted about 40 minutes. Mike Gruber developed a talk for the Yankee Clipper Contest Club to be given on February 3rd. W1HQ Bob, along with Greg Kwasowski, assisted Joe Carcia with the installation prep work of W1HQ's new antenna rotator. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R January ended with 157,852 members-a gain of 39 members over December. The small gain is welcome, as we usually see a loss in January. 73% of January 2012 expirees paid on time (vs. 75% last January). The gains were due in large part to positive responses to mail and e-mail campaigns. January product sales ended the month at $271,043, exceeding the sales forecast of $234,250. Direct sales were $154,021; dealer sales were $117,022. Sales were better than January 2011. The warehouse crew fulfilled 1,057 packages for publication and product orders, plus QST mailing supplements. The mailroom assisted with fulfilling 360 membership premiums. Exhibit materials have been prepared for Orlando HamCation. Bob Inderbitzen is attending the event next week, along with Director Greg Sarratt and Vice Director Andrea Hartlage. Bob Inderbitzen prepared an announcement/article for April QST about our planned exhibits for Dayton Hamvention (May) and the ARRL National Convention at Pacificon (October). Bob solicited an article from The Steamship Historical Society of America to help mark the anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC DXCC paper/fieldchecked application processing time is currently at 7 weeks. Logbook-only application processing time is 3 business days. W1AW On Friday, Rhode Island Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, and Richard Langlois, W1TBR (from Harrisville, RI) visited ARRL and W1AW. The main purpose of the visit was for Rich to perform yearly calibrations to W1AW's test equipment. Specifically, Rich calibrated - traceable to NIST - the HP 5371A Frequency/Time analyzer, HP 5345A Frequency Counter and the HP Z3801A GPS receiver (used to generate a 10-MHz reference signal used by the HP equipment). On Wednesday and Thursday, Matt Strelow, KC1XX, and Andrew Toth - both of XX Towers Inc. - were on hand to make the repairs and replacements to the antennas that were damaged in the October 2011 snow storm. In addition to performing quick inspections to the towers, they also replaced the two (2) damaged 40-meter M-Square antennas with new Cushcraft XM240 yagis, removed the damaged 80-meter cage and straightened an element on the 10-meter yagi on the North tower. For W1HQ, they replaced the Pro-Sis-Tel rotator with a new Yaesu G-1000DXA rotator and also inspected the SteppIR yagi. Joe completed the assembly and preparation of the two (2) new Cushcraft yagis. For W1HQ, he calibrated the Yaesu rotator - to ready to it for installation - as well as preparing the control cable for it. Joe also began assembly of the donated SteppIR vertical. This vertical will also be used at W1HQ. Earlier in the week, Joe also gave a tour of W1AW's facilities to a group of students from the Watkinson School. He also prepared a newer PC to replace the unit that was being used with the weather-satellite decoding system. (This particular PC crashed a week earlier.) Field Organization/Public Service Team At the request and recommendation of ARRL National Traffic System Leaders, ARRL Section Traffic Managers have been added to the ARRL HQ sponsored e-mail reflector for NTS Officials. This has generated additional interest and discussion on the reflector. Steve Ewald is assisting with the administrative duties of the reflector. Thanks to Sue Fagan, of the ARRL Graphics Department, the two award plaques have been ordered for the two winners of the 2011 George Hart Distinguished Service Award. Leona Adams has shared an updated Field Organization Appointment roster with each Section Manager. This project has generated a number of updates and some new appointments to the rosters by ARRL Section Leaders. One radio amateur from Georgia has successfully completed requirements to become an Official Observer during the past week. One radio amateur from Virginia has been approved to become a member of the ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch. Chuck Skolaut notes that documentation was received and forwarded to the FCC regarding interference to a 75 meter net. A radio amateur in Texas first reported a wide band signal. The same radio operator later discovered the noise was emanating from a battery charger in another portion of his home. Also, the San Joaquin Valley Official Observer Coordinator has been following up on several repeaters using improper identification. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 2/20 Holiday Steve Capodicasa 2/6-2/10 Vacation Lauren Clarke 2/10-2/12 Orlando Hamcation Scott Gee 3/21-3/23 Vacation Dan Henderson 2/3-2/5 South Carolina State Convention, Ladson, SC `` 3/2-3/5 Alabama Section Convention, Birmingham, AL Mary Hobart 2/1-2/27 Medical Leave Bob Inderbitzen 2/9-2/12 NFL Section Convention, Orlando, FL `` 2/21-2/22 Vacation `` 3/1-3/5 Radiofest, Monterey, CA Khrystyne Keane 2/21 Vacation Joel Kleinman 2/7 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 2/3-2/6 Vacation Zack Lau 3/22-3/23 Vacation Diane Petrilli 3/22-3/28 Vacation/ASAE Conference, Colorado Springs, CO Dave Sumner 1/20-2/22 ITU WRC-12, Geneva