<<073008.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 31, No. 31 July 30, 2008 -- Covers the period July 20-26. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee Meeting October 18 @ 9:00am in Chicago, IL Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 21 in Newington, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND A good amount of time was spent during the week "scrubbing" the latest PAVE PAWS list for problems/errors and compiling contact information for the newly added repeaters. We also correlated the latest required reduction request from the Air Force with the number previously requested from the 44 repeaters identified as "continuing problems". The "continued problem" group breaks down into three subgroups: 1) No apparent reduction or response to the initial request; 2) Appears to have reduced power to 5 Watts from the initial request but did not mitigate further, thus showing only minimal reduction; and 3) Appears to have attempted full mitigate request but hasn't quite reached the required level. We are waiting for the FCC to contact ARRL to begin working on the latest round of reductions. Continuing the revised plan adopted in December 2007, the FCC remains the principal point of contact for contacting amateurs. We are still waiting on the FCC to issue a new Public Notice which reflects the changes in the CEPT reciprocity equivalency. We also reminded the FCC that they still have not corrected the inadvertent change which was made in the updates from 05-235 which changed the Technician power limits above 50 MHz from 1500 Watts to 200 Watts. Updates of the "Logs Received" page for Field Day were posted several times during the week. Since Field Day is not able to use the robot for this function, it is done manually. To date 1763 entries have been submitted using the www.b4h.net web applet. Several hundred additional paper and non-applet submissions have also been received and will be processed in the near future. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP As the last, straggling Media Hits come in from Field Day activities, there suddenly is a new name to add to the listing of Governor's proclamations. Oregon has now joined the listings to make at total of 14 of them. But Oregon is set for the week of August 17th, not Field Day. There has been an increase in the number of requests for materials, CD's and ideas for making presentations to governmental groups, from city councils and zonings to emergency managers. There does not seem to be any single cause for it, but it began well before Hurricane Dolly. Regarding Dolly, commercial communications seem to have functioned adequately and I received no reports of major activity by hams which would have been of interest to national media. A preparatory press release was written but its focus, for lack of any timely information from the field, had to be on preparations for the storm and not on hams in action. While the requests for timely, daily information from a crisis location may seem intrusive and annoying, without Amateur Radio specific information that is being provided to HQ (not just reading Governors' press releases off the web), it is not possible to meet the expectations of members in promoting Amateur Radio exploits in the news media. The fires in California, floods in the Midwest, and now Dolly, all showed the continuing difficulty that HQ staff is having in getting a response and current, Amateur Radio specific information from field appointees in an event, even when communications options are available. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH Three direct mail solicitations to unique donor/membership groups will be in the mail this week. The campaign for the Education & Technology Fund will be mailed to 92,000 donors/members, the Historic Preservation campaign will be mailed to 25,000 donors/members and the test for the Lab Fund will be mailed to 12,500 donors/members. Thanks to the work of grant writer, Steve Futernick, ten "letters of interest" have been mailed to foundations as a preliminary step to formal requests for education. A more significant letter/proposal will be prepared for the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation. The Thank you campaign for Spectrum Defense has reached $80,647 from 1649 donors. The W1AW Endowment campaign has reached $52,027 from 645 donors. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The September 2008 issue of QST has been released to the printer. Also released to the printer: The EmComm Level 1 Coursebook and the 2007 DXCC Yearbook. Khrystyne Keane and Joel Kleinman wrote and Joel distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 29, for July 25, 2008. It went out to 70,780 subscribers. ARRL Audio News will resume August 1. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R I'm sorry to report that Membership Manager Katie Breen, W1KRB, has tendered her resignation-with plans to move out of state. We all wish her much happiness in this next chapter of her life. Katie will continue on staff through October. Before finishing the month, July product sales had already exceeded the month's forecast of $203,513-climbing past $218,000 with one day to go. A large book order was coordinated for the Anchorage ARC, to support the upcoming ARRL Alaska State Convention. We are already enjoying some promising results from the new follow-up mailing sent to new hams. The mailing follows 30 days after the first mailing. In just 30 days, the second mailing returned at a rate of 4.5%. This effort is forecasted to contribute approximately 1,000 new members during the next 12 months. An email solicitation was sent to the lapsed members file on Monday (theme: "A copy of August QST has been reserved for you"). The effort yielded 140 sign-ups during the week, including 20 multi-year memberships. The Warehouse crew fulfilled 843 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 378 free book membership premiums, and sent August QST mailing supplements. We also welcomed a new temporary employee to the warehouse staff--Ken Crews. New covers, ads and other market planning is underway to support a handful of new ARRL publications scheduled for delivery over the next few months: The Story of the Queen Mary and W6RO DVD (August), The ARRL General Class Course For Ham Radio Licensing CD-ROM (September), The ARRL Digital Technology for Emergency Communications Course CD-ROM (September), and The 2009 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications (October). Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Contest Branch 2,616 logs have been received via email for the IARU contest. We've also received about 100 paper logs, with the submission deadline two weeks away. All 2007 August UHF certificates have been processed and mailed out. October's QST will be the first annual "Radiosport" edition. This will include lots of great information on contesting from numerous authors for all levels of interest, including an interview with multi-multi king Tim Duffy, K3LR and a history of contesting. A new certificate design for the IARU HF contest has slowed the distribution of the 2007 certificates. We hope to get the new certificates processed by mid-August. This goes against my personal desire of having the certificates of a contest in the hands of the winner before the next running of the event, so I will strive for improvement in this area for next year's event. The Programs and Services Committee has officially tasked the Contest Advisory Committee with the issue of CW-Skimmer for use in the 2008 ARRL Sweepstakes contest. A recommendation from the CAC is forthcoming. Field Organization/Public Service Team Leona reports that Section Manager ballots have been arriving at ARRL headquarters from the Western New York and Idaho section for the upcoming elections. She also has been updating the database with new appointment, cancellations and changes. Leona sent out 20 EC packets of supplies to new appointees and also sent out three Official Observer test packets to amateurs recommended to become OOs. She has been updating SM budget sheets and has been in contact with a majority of SM's via email with their updates. An amateur from Maryland completed certification to become an Official Observer this week. A two meter interference problem in California thought to be resolved by the FCC surfaced again and is being investigated. Two separate reports of obscene language being used by unlicensed operators on 10 meters using AM were reported as well as a fish net beacon on 160 meters signing as 3SNZ. The Hurricane Watch Net was activated for a time on 14325 to facilitate passing of information regarding Hurricane Dolly, no reports of interference to the net were forwarded or heard here locally. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ Nancy Hallas completed a final review of edits to EmComm Level 1 course book and the Publications Dept. has sent it to the printer. Kim Mancuso coordinated preparations for Teachers Institutes here at HQ. Along with steady enrollments, she is also coordinating set-up of online licensing course registrations for the entire police department in Oaklawn IL to be followed by an EmComm hybrid class. Joel Hallas and I completed another thorough review of the general class CD course and submitted edits and changes to developer. I met with Ward Silver to discuss the first radio buying guide project and with Maria Somma to discuss question pool curriculum alignment with CEPT curriculum and an initiative to reevaluate domestic licensing curriculum. Education & Technology Program Mark Spencer reports completion of a successful Teachers Institute in Dayton. A letter received from a participant extends thanks to Mark for "presenting the TI with his outstanding competence, and ability to explain seemingly incomprehensible topics so that we not only understood, but also saw how it all fit together into a program that will improve us and our students." The Dayton TI was sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association and hosted at P&R Communications Service, Inc. Mark sent reminders to recent ETP grant recipients on the need to return the acceptance letters. He has received the bids from the retailers that will supply the equipment awarded under the grants and is ready to execute the lowest bid, pending the receipt of the acceptance letters. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 9/1 Holiday Katie Breen 8/4-8/8 Vacation Hugh Brower 8/1 Vacation `` 9/29-10/3 Vacation LouAnn Campanello 7/28-8/1 Vacation Joe Carcia 7/14-7/31 Sick Leave `` 8/1-8/8 Vacation Steve Ewald 7/24-8/1 Vacation Steve Ford 8/11-8/15 Vacation Norm Fusaro 9/22-9/26 Vacation Scott Gee 10/3 Vacation `` 12/23-12/26 Vacation Joel Hallas 8/11 Vacation Dan Henderson 8/22-8/24 Roanoke Division Convention, Jackson's Mill, WV `` 8/25-9/2 Vacation Mary Hobart 9/19-9/21 W9DXCC, Chicago, IL `` 10/3 Vacation Amy Hurtado 8/8 Vacation Gail Iannone 8/18-9/2 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 8/4-8/15 Vacation Karen Isakson 8/4-8/8 Vacation Khrystyne Keane 8/22-8/29 Vacation Linda Kleinschmidt 8/11-8/15 Vacation Harold Kramer 7/26-8/4 Vacation Rose-Ann Lawrence 9/5 Vacation Monique Levesque 7/31 Vacation `` 8/8-8/15 Vacation Bill Moore 8/1-8/4 Vacation `` 8/15-8/17 Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, AL Ann Marie Pinto 8/11-8/22 Vacation Allen Pitts 8/7 Jury Duty `` 8/11-8/15 Vacation Barry Shelley 7/31-8/1 Vacation `` 8/11-8/22 Vacation Dave Sumner 7/30 Washington `` 8/8-8/11 Vacation Maty Weinberg 7/28-8/8 Vacation Larry Wolfgang 8/1-8/2 Austin Summerfest, Austin, Texas