<<032410.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 33, No. 12 March 24, 2010 -- Covers the period March 14-20. Upcoming Meetings and Events Programs & Services Committee: May 1, 2010 @ 8:30am - ARRL HQ Administration &Finance Committee: May 5, 2010 @ 8:30am - ARRL HQ COO The full-scale load testing of the new Website that we conducted on Friday is now complete and we have a much better picture of the problems that crashed the site earlier this week and how to fix them. All of us on the Fathom launch team appreciate your patience. We will continue to use our current Web site. We plan to run another test early next week and make sure that we get everything right when we do formally launch. Technical Relations Reported by Brennan Price, N4QX Brennan Price is working on comments in two FCC International Bureau proceedings: one seeking comment on an NTIA proposal to make 495-505 kHz exclusive to the maritime mobile service (thus precluding Amateur Radio operations in that band), and another regarding Amateur Radio concerns to be addressed at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (Hyderabad, May 24-June 4) and the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Guadalajara, October 4-22). Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND We became aware of a proposed local mobile cellphone ordinance in North Royalton, OH. After working with Ohio SM Frank Piper, KI8GW, we advised that the wording of the ordinance is such that it should not affect amateur radio communications. During the week we tweaked a few more pages for the new ARRL website. A request was sent to the DLAC volunteers asking them to solicit member letters in support of HR 4809, the House version of S 2881. The DLAC reflector was updated to include all Division Directors in the distribution list. President Cragie approved delaying a pending request to members for letters supporting an increase in the charitable mileage deduction rate (now scheduled for the week of April 12.) A VC in North Carolina contacted us asking that we assist a local club with a request they received to provide communications for an upcoming for-profit event. We explained that nothing in Part 97 prohibited the club from providing the communications for a for-profit event but that they might want to review the Board's statement on appropriate use of amateur radio. (The group subsequently decided not to provide communications since the organizer had not looked into using Part 90 communications). We worked with Mike Gruber, W1MG, who is assisting a Texas amateur with an RFI problem apparently coming from a Verizon FIOS installation. We also worked with another Texas amateur clarifying the rules about communicating with stations outside of the amateur service - a "cross-service" communications proposal he was trying to explore with a friend in the military. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The ARRL PR Committee met last Wednesday via conference call. The RTDNA forum on "Disaster Communications: Getting Info from the Eye of the Storm" is back on track and being advertised by RTDNA. Information and aid was given to APCO's Emergency Management Magazine who had been incorrectly referred to www.ares.org as ARRL's website. Final polishing was done on the web pages for PR and advance press releases were sent out to many outlets involved with radio, technology or computers as well as to Amateur Radio related media. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The W1AW Endowment Campaign mailing is schedule to mail March 26 to 50,000 ARRL donors and members. The 2009 goal is to raise $65,000. The Teachers Institute has received its first major commitment for 2010, a stock transaction valued at more than $25,000. The Diamond Club continues to yield strong revenues for March, with gross revenues totaling more than $34,000 for the month. Invitations have been mailed to the annual Donor Reception in Dayton on Thursday evening before the opening of Hamvention. The reception will take place at the Meadowbrook Country Club from 6:30 to 9:30 pm with bus transportation provided. Invitees are donors whose contributions for 2008 or 2009 total $1000 or more. Development has fulfilled the requests of Maxim Society donors and Diamond Club Director donors for 2009 bound volumes or CD sets of ARRL publications. The annual Member Loyalty mailing of certificates and pins is in production. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The May 2010 issue of QST was released to the printer March 23. Khrystyne Keane attended the Santa Clara Valley Section Convention in Monterey, California March 20-21. Her report: It was a fairly well-attended event; the organizers counted about 150 people in attendance each hour. The only national brand there was Elecraft, and only on the first day. The hamfest/convention was scheduled on the same day as the M-squared annual picnic, and this might have diverted attendance away from the SCV event. I was listed as the keynote speaker. The organizers asked me to give a talk on "Net News," so I explained how we do The ARRL Letter and ARRL Audio News each week, and what goes into producing QST each month. There were about 25 people in my session, and I received a lot of good feedback about the Letter, QST and League publications in general. Pacific Division Vice Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, and IARU Secretary (and former SCV Section Manager and ARRL President) Rod Stafford, K6ROD, were also in attendance. On Saturday afternoon, Jim spoke on the future of Amateur Radio, while Rod (who came in on Sunday morning) gave a talk about the ITU and the IARU and what both organizations do for Amateur Radio. I also joined in with Jim, SCV SM Bill Dale, N2RHV, and East Bay SM Jim Latham, AF6AQ, in a Q&A about the ARRL. Khrystyne wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter for March 18, 2010. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI BPL BPL testing in Indiana showed similar results to what Ed saw in recent testing in Virginia: Operation in the ham bands; operation on the bands prohibited to BPL and operation above the FCC limits. RFI Laura Smith will be sending letters to both AT&T and Verizon at my request. I've already sent letters regarding the U-Verse and FIOS systems, respectively. They have been ignored, and we still continue to receive some complaints. The letters will be from the FCC and addressed to the company CEOs asking for clarification and solutions for these problems. Product Review Testing The Lab just purchased an arbitrary waveform generator, to be used to develop tests of receiver AGC and noise-blanker characteristics. Travel Ed Hare attended the IEEE Standards Development Committee meeting in San Diego. Bob Allison traveled to the Lincoln Nebraska Hamfest Friday and attended a special dinner with officers of the Lincoln Amateur Radio Club and Cliff Ahrens, W0CA, the Midwest Division Director. The main topic was how to get more people involved in Amateur Radio, with a focus on women and youth. The attendance at the Hamfest Saturday was slightly lighter than expected, due to the bad weather. Bob and Cliff meted and greeted many of our Nebraska members, handled several membership renewals, and signed up a few new members. Bob's forum on Product Review Process went well-about 15 people attended. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R We have established an agreement with McSnyder Software to produce practice exam software for ARRL. The software will be Microsoft Windows compatible. Development has begun, and the product will be completed during the summer. McSnyder presently produces and sells a suite of Amateur Radio mobile software-designed specifically for use with the iPhone and iPod Touch-and licensed through a partnership with ARRL. On very short notice, the US Postal Service has discontinued bulk mail pick-up to all businesses. The service change will impact the daily pick-ups that had been a mainstay at both HQ and our nearby warehouse facility. Bulk mail pick-up includes renewal notices (180,000 pieces per year), QST supplements (60,000 copies each month), and many other in-house mailings. Amy Hurtado (circulation), Ann Marie Pinto (mailroom) and Steve Capodicasa (warehouse) are exploring options. We'll likely work with a private courier service to begin transporting mail to the Hartford bulk mail facility. A 'test' membership solicitation is being prepared, testing the effectiveness of local vs. national messaging. We have long fulfilled a mailing to all new licensees-the first communication ARRL has with new hams. The mailing includes a booklet with a mix of membership information, advice for new hams, and advertising. The booklet is being re-designed to include more relevant resources, and to encourage new hams to retain the booklet: articles for newcomers, band chart, WAS map, phonetic alphabet, RST system, and Q signals. The new mailing will be introduced by summer. The search for additional volunteer tour guides continues. Training will begin soon. Our contribution to the new web site is ongoing. We continue to fine-tune content and test functionality. We enjoyed a visit from Mike Crick of Ham University (practice exam software). A handful of new publication ads have been prepared for May QST. During the last week, the warehouse crew fulfilled 703 packages for publication and product orders, 339 membership premiums, and QST mailing supplements. Now Shipping: 2010 ARRL Field Day supplies; pins, t-shirts, hats, and mugs. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW The W1AW EchoLink conference server "W1AWBDCT" has been running for one week and has already seen a number of connects. No one as yet has commented on the quality of the audio. (This testing continues.) It may still be a week or two before an official announcement is made of its existence. The new W1AW "digital run schedule" went into play on Monday, March 15. The new schedule allows for the various digital modes used in the regular digital transmissions (Baudot, BPSK31 and MFSK16) to be alternated each day. This gives each mode more exposure. On Friday, March 19, Joe spent some time with Andy Shefrin working on recreating the VUAC-I reflector. Joe also updated the W1AW web page (on the current web system) with updated Qualifying Run schedules and new wording on the transmission schedule. He also ran new audio cable for the EchoLink client PC (that is used to connect to the conference server). Joe also built a PTT box that interfaces the two PCs -- used for CW/digital transmissions - to the EchoLink client PC. This box allows the two PCs to "PTT Key"; the client PC. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the latter part of the month of March. He also assisted the DXCC department with the editing of applications. Field Organization/Public Service Team Preparations continue for the ARRL Illinois Section Manager election. Production of the election ballots and statements of the two candidates was completed, and by the end of the week (March 19), the material was at the printer. Chuck Skolaut compiled and forwarded the monthly Official Observer summary to all OOs, Official Observer Coordinators, and Section Managers. The monthly ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch report was compiled and forwarded to the IARU Region 2 monitoring coordinator. ARRL HQ received word from Germany and a U.S. station that a Florida shortwave broadcaster was heard inside the 15 meter Amateur Radio band. A message was sent to the station asking them to check on their operation. Further investigation of an unidentified digital signal that has been interfering with a net on 75 meters reveals that the signal originates from outside of the United States. To close on a positive note, HQ has learned that the Arizona Official Observer Coordinator received a nice thank you message from an Amateur Radio operator who she had sent an OO Advisory notice to because he mistakenly was operating outside of his license privileges. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 4/2 Holiday Joe Carcia 5/28 Vacation Jackie Cornell 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dauton, OH Steve Ford 4/22-4/23 Vacation Norm Fusaro 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Scott Gee 4/14-4/16 Vacation `` 5/13-5/14 Vacation Mike Gruber 4/30 Vacation `` 6/1-6/4 Vacation Ed Hare 4/19-4/22 ANSI asc C63 EMC Comm. meeting, Piscataway, NJ Dan Henderson 4/5-4/9 Vacation `` 4/30-5/5 SC Section Convention, Spartanburg, SC/Vacation Mary Hobart 4/2-4/7 Vacation `` 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton OH `` 6/11-6/13 HamCom, Dallas, TX Amy Hurtado 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Bob Inderbitzen 4/8-4/9 AES Superfest, Milwaukee, WI `` 4/19-4/23 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Joel Kleinman 3/25 Vacation `` 4/6-4/8 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 5/14-5/18 Vacation Zack Lau 3/25-3/26 Vacation RoseAnne Lawrence 3/25 Vacation Maryann Macdonald 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Bill Moore 4/15-4/19 International DX Convention, Visalia, CA `` 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Diane Petrilli 5/13-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Kim Piatek 5/12-5/16 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Barry Shelley 3/25-3/26 Vacation Dave Sumner 3/25-3/26 Washington `` 3/27-3/28 Maryland State Convention, Timonium, MD