IN-Newsletter Vol. 37, No. 14 April 16, 2014 -- Covers the period April 6-12. Upcoming Meetings and Events Centennial Convention Committee Meeting May 6 @ 3:30pm in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee May 10 @ 9:00am in St. Louis, MO CEO Office Just a quick note reminding all of you that ARRL HQ will be closed Friday, April 18. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison completed testing of the SDR feature of an entry level HF transceiver. Bob soon discovered poor transmitted audio was the result of an undocumented menu setting in the operation manual. All is well now and Bob will be taking this transceiver home to review. Bob Allison completed lengthy retesting of a very high priced HF/VHF transceiver. During the first round of testing, Bob found several issues, which the manufacturer successfully addressed. Re-testing went as planned with no major issues found. The test data and charts were passed along to the manufacturer for review. The manufacturer thanked the ARRL Lab for our work and support of improving their product. The transceiver will soon be passed along to the reviewer, in person, since two people are needed to carry it. Travel Bob Allison attended the Greater Houston Hamfest in Rosenburg, Texas. West Gulf Director David Woolweaver and Vice Director John Stratton conducted a first rate presentation about the work the ARRL does. Bob was the keynote speaker of the convention. He talked about the work of the ARRL Lab and the Product Review process. Attendance of the presentations was very good, the crowd appreciative. Historical Collection The ARRL Historical Committee would like to thank Greg Kwasowski for his work. Greg constructed a new steel caged area for the storage of historical items. Greg also greatly improved the lighting in that area for the volunteers who will be working there. A big event happened concerning our Historical Collection of Hardware. The many, many boxes containing most of the collection was moved from our off-site warehouse to our new caged room on the second floor of HQ. Also, the remaining historical items stored in the third floor cage were moved to the new caged room. The move has freed up valuable space in our off-site warehouse. Thanks goes out to Steve Capodicasa, who shifted a mountain of products for us to gain access to the Historical Collection boxes. Volunteer, Jonathan Allen, K2KKH, will be working each Monday on the collection. Stop by and see his work in progress! Electronic Publications Zack Lau received a report of the default Acrobat Reader on Windows 8.1 not working with the PDF index files supplied with ARRL CD-Rom Products. An upgrade to Acrobat XI for Windows 8 should fix this issue. Radio Frequency Interference Mike Gruber tested some LED bulbs for radiated emissions. Additional bulbs were tested by our new volunteer, Pete Turbide, W1PT. Pete also tested some CFL bulbs for comparison. None of the bulbs so far have been particularly over the radiated limits. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 4 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 3-5 Business Days W1AW Joe installed and configured, with amateur radio software, a new Windows 7 PC in Studio Two. This PC is used with the Yaesu Mark V transceiver. He also configured a new Windows 7 PC that will be used for the W1AW EchoLink conference server. Joe is awaiting one more readied PC from IT (for replacement). He also installed a new Yaesu FTdx5000 in the broadcast racks. This radio will be used for the 10 meter bulletin/code practice transmissions. Joe continues updating Logbook of the World with the various W1AW/xx Centennial operations as well as sorting/storing the QSL card requests being received for each operation. Field Organization/Public Service Team A radio amateur from North Carolina successfully completed the requirements to become an Official Observer this past week. Interference reports included more about 14.313, 3.840, 3.806 MHz, and the Iranian Over the Horizon Radar on 10 meters. A report of intentional jamming occurring on 432 MHz in Illinois was reported. Some questions dealt with the meaning of "Q codes" used in ham radio, accepting gifts for communication services, overseas operation, and the sale of illegal CB type equipment on the internet. Chuck Skolaut also gave a newly licensed radio amateur a tour of headquarters. Section Manager election ballots from members in Maine, Northern Florida, and Delaware have a started to arrive at Headquarters. Also, editorial work is underway for the March Field Organization Reports for June QST and the 2013 Simulated Emergency Test Results article for July QST. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 4/18 Holiday Leona Adams 4/17 PTO Allison Barbieri 4/21-4/22 PTO `` 5/9 PTO `` 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention `` 6/3-6/10 PTO `` 8/25 PTO Margie Bourgoin 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention Steve Capodicasa 4/14-4/17 PTO Joe Carcia 5/2 PTO `` 5/23 PTO Lauren Clarke 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention `` 6/6-6/8 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR `` 8/16-8/17 Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, AL Mike Corey 5/30-6/1 Nevada State Convention, Virginia City, NV `` 8/8-8/10 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Albuquerque, NM Steve Ewald 5/2-5/4 South Carolina Section Convention, Spartanburg, SC `` 5/5-5/9 PTO Steve Ford 4/16-4/17 PTO Norm Fusaro 4/18-4/20 Roanoke Division Convention, Raleigh, NC Scott Gee 4/28-5/1 PTO Mike Gruber 5/2 PTO `` 6/2-6/6 PTO `` 6/27 PTO `` 8/25-8/29 PTO Ed Hare 4/17 Mt. Airy VHF Radio Club, Warminster, PA Dan Henderson 4/21-4/30 PTO `` 5/9-5/11 PSC Committee Meeting, St. Louis, MO `` 6/21-7/3 Friedrichshafen Hamfest / PTO `` 8/1-8/2 Texas State Convention, Austin, TX `` 8/16-8/17 Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, AL Mary Hobart 5/15-5/18 Dayton Hamvention `` 6/13-6/14 Ham-Com, Plano, TX Bob Inderbitzen 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention `` 6/6-6/8 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR `` 6/13-6/14 HamCom, Plano, TX `` 8/16-8/17 Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, AL Carol Krukiel 5/15-5/18 Dayton Hamvention Sean Kutzko 4/21-4/25 PTO `` 6/6-6/8 Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, OR Kim McNeil 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention Diane Petrilli 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention Michael Scharr 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention Yvette Vinci 5/14-5/18 Dayton Hamvention