IN-Newsletter Vol. 35, No. 38 September 19, 2012 -- Covers the period September 9-15. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee: September 29 @ 8:30am - Denver, CO United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) October 1-5 - ARRL HQ Director/Vice Director Elections November 16 Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND The Regulatory presentation for the 2012 Section Manager's Workshop was prepared and updated. At the request of ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, we added three topics: volunteer liability and protection, termination of a volunteer, and reviewing section/local MOUs. The presentation Saturday went well, with numerous questions answered. Work is continuing on the presentation for the W4DXCC / SEDCO event, held the last weekend in September. In the capacity of Field Day Manager, a significant amount of time has been spent making small changes to the database, selecting pictures and generating the various tables for the QST and Web presentations, and beginning to write the draft of the article. A total of 2,657 entries and checklogs were received for Field Day 2012. A total of just over 1.4 million QSOs and almost 38,000 participants reported. The number of entries is almost identical with 2011 but the number of participants is down about 1,000 (although still the second largest number of participants reported). We have been working with ARRL member Jim Pratt, K7QI, providing him with information as he worked with the telecommunication authorities in South Sudan. He was assisting them with developing licensing criteria and callsign databases for this fledgling country. We suggested that the US model of licensing was maybe not the best model for them to consider. We provided them with information on the HAREC concept used by CEPT in Europe for licensing content. Happily, the first South Sudanese licenses were issued under the new guidelines. We have been in contact with Laura Smith about the responses to the questions we provided for use in an article on the status of amateur enforcement. She reports that her answers are written and sent to her superiors for approval. We hope to have the article ready for the December issue of QST. She also relayed that there is a continued delay on the FCC's IT department updating information from the old to the new FCC website - which includes the posting of numerous items from her office. There is no timetable for when that will be resolved. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP Allen is at the Radio & Television Digital News Association conference in Florida. Also there is Mark Kraham, W8CMK, of the ARRL Public Relations Committee. Development Reported by Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD The Development Office welcomes its 110th Maxim Society member: David Walker KØCOP. To date: The Spectrum Defense Fund has received $148,859 from a total of 1,407 donors. The Diamond Club has received $154,687 in contributions from 817 donors. The W1AW Endowment Campaign has received $53,243 in contributions from 864 donors. The Education & Technology Program has received $57,528 in contributions from 602 donors. An additional $109,194 from six donors has been received in support of the Teachers Institute Program. Production/Editorial Reported by Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA The October issue of QST and the new book - Care and Feeding of Transmission Lines -- were released to the printer. Khrystyne Keane gave a presentation at a meeting of the North Shore Radio Association in Danvers, Massachusetts. Khrystyne also wrote and distributed the September 13 edition of The ARRL Letter and produced and voiced the ARRL Audio News. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Lab Van Work continues on the Lab's new rolling laboratory. Ed Hare registered the vehicle and is working on restoring the auxiliary battery bracket. Bob Allison tested the pneumatic mast and air compressor as operational. All decals of NBC-Connecticut and the NBC Peacock were removed by Greg Kwasowski. Joe Carcia also has assisted with this project. New rear tires and a full service will place the van, with only 96K on the clock, in good running condition. We are currently looking for a reasonable body shop to repair the wear from the van's long broadcasting career. Product Review Bob Allison completed testing of a small, portable, QRP transceiver. A data table and charts were created and passed along to the Product Review Editor. Testing started on a HF amplifier, but two issues that halted testing were found. Bob is currently working with the manufacturer to resolve the issues. QST Bob started testing a solid state HF amplifier for a QST Technical Article. Radio Frequency Interference A potentially significant change in the FCC's handling of power line noise cases has been reported by Laura Smith. Mike Gruber completed a report and executive summary for Ed Hare on this new policy. Mike Gruber discussed the K3GT power line noise case near Pittsburgh, PA with Ed Hare. Ed managed to take a look at the problem during his business trip to Pittsburgh. Web Mike Gruber made some updates to the ARRL Web RFI Web page. Bob started testing a solid state HF amplifier for a QST Technical Article. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R A membership appeal to lapsed members was mailed September 4, and applications are already coming in. Another mailing, targeting lapsed and "never" members, is planned for October 5. The warehouse shipping system experienced a computer hardware failure toward the end of the week. The IT Department rebuilt the system with a new PC, and had the warehouse back online for Monday morning. Packaged orders were transported to Main Street during the outage, so we were able to meet our promised delivery standard to members/customers. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity (reported by Steve Capodicasa): Week of Package fulfilled Member Premiums/QST Suppliments 9/10 947 458 9/4 426 436 Materials were shipped to ARRL team members supporting October's 2012 National Convention. We also began assembling the big shipment of display materials and supplies supporting our exhibits at the event. Khrystyne Keane helped digest the 2012 ARRL National Convention program into a website news posting. This week we welcomed Cassandra Parkman, KB1WQY to the ARRL staff. Cassandra fills a position opening on our Member Service team. She lives in Manchester and earned her Amateur Radio license in February. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Field Organization/Public Service Team Thanks to the many HQ staff leaders and staff members for supporting the 2012 Section Managers' Workshop that was held at ARRL HQ from September 14 -16. The Field Organization Team along with the Membership and Volunteer Programs department served as coordinators and hosts for the annual training and orientation event for twelve Section Managers (including two brand new Section Managers who begin their terms of office on October 1.) The Workshop was very successful and was enjoyed by all who participated. One Section Manager made the following comment after returning home: "I left Newington with a whole bunch of new friends as well as a very good feeling about the ARRL, how things work there and a great deal of respect for those that work there. What a great experience!" Leona Adams has been in touch with all of the incumbent Section Managers who submitted petitions to run for a new term of office. They were informed that they will begin their new terms of office on January 1, 2013. The ARRL Monthly Monitoring System/Intruder Watch report was compiled and sent to the IARU Region 2 Coordinator. Radio amateurs from Southern Florida, San Joaquin Valley, and Indiana successfully completed requirements to become Official Observers. The monthly Official Observer Summary was sent to all OOs, OOCs, and Section Managers. The SJV OOC forwarded recordings regarding a local 2 meter morning net. A shortwave broadcaster was reported on 7111 kHz. Chuck Skolaut conducted one morning code run at W1AW and assisted with Section Manager Workshop along with Steve Ewald who served as the main coordinator of the event. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations Margie Bourgoin 10/4-10/5 Vacation Joe Carcia 10/8 Vacation Jackie Ferreira 10/10-10/15 National Convention, Santa Clara, CA Steve Ford 10/10-10/13 Jury Duty Scott Gee 11/9-11/15 Vacation Mike Gruber 10/1-10/5 Vacation `` 10/12 NearFEST, Deerfield, NH Joel Hallas 9/19 Vacation `` 9/26 Vacation `` 10/3 Vacation `` 10/10 Vacation `` 10/17 Vacation `` 10/24 Vacation `` 10/31 Vacation Ed Hare 10/1-10/5 ANSI EMC Committee Meeting, Santa Clara, CA `` 10/14 IEEE EMC Society Chapter meeting, Detroit, MI `` 10/15-10/16 IEEE EMC Society Standards Dev. Comm. meeting, Denver CO Dan Henderson 9/21-10/1 SEDCO, Sevierville, TN / Vacation `` 11/16-11/21 Indiana Section Convention, Ft. Wayne, IN / Vacation Amy Hurtado 10/10-10/15 National Convention, Santa Clara, CA Bob Inderbitzen 10/10-10/15 National Convention, Santa Clara, CA Khrystyne Keane 9/28 Vacation `` 10/26 Vacation Harold Kramer 9/20 Boston Amateur Radio Club Zack Lau 9/25-9/28 Vacation Maryann Macdonald 9/24-10/1 Vacation Diane Petrilli 10/11-10/15 National Convention, Santa Clara, CA Allen Pitts 9/19-9/24 Radio & TV Digital News Assoc. Convention, Orlando, FL Barry Shelley 9/21 Vacation `` 9/28 Vacation