<<032509.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 32, No. 12 March 25, 2009 -- Covers the period March 15-21. Upcoming Meetings and Events Programs & Services Committee April 4 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND During the week of March 9, the VC and VCE databases were modified to allow someone to search not only by state of residence of the VC/VCE but by state/s in which the VC/VCE is licensed. We also reviewed cell phone legislation from Hawaii and responded with a follow-up to the Wisconsin bill regarding any aftermarket radio installation. Member queries were handled regarding operating from Antarctica and 30-meter operations from KH0. A presentation for the Roanoke Division convention was prepared and I was out of the office on Thursday and Friday March 12 and 13. Upon returning to the office on March 18, we caught up with approximately 130 email queries. We also worked with General Counsel on trying to correct an amendment added to a Delaware state cell phone bill. The bill as originally offered did not affect amateur radio but, at the suggestion of a well-meaning amateur, an amendment was added which would have prohibited all amateur radio mobile communications except in an emergency. This underscores the need for such bills to be properly reviewed by the state Section Managers and State Government Liaisons (and/or ARRL HQ staff) before legislators are approached about making amendments to "fixing" a bill. The list of states that have been considering cell phone legislation since the beginning of 2009 includes: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina Oregon, Pennsylvania South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Allen Pitts, Sean Kutzko and I also spent time during both weeks helping plan the Field Day booths for ARRL Expo at the 2009 ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention. In addition, the advertising flier for 2009 FD products was received from the Marketing Department. As a result, the 2009 Field Day Packet on the web has been updated. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The PR-101 course is completed and has been turned over to Production for final checks on the editing. HostedTest.com was used for the final exam portion and developed the format for the final exam, certificate and distribution procedures for the certificate of completion. (They were a good group to work with and are recommended to others for consideration). An initial run of 500 is planned with the cost at $20 per student and debut at Dayton as well as announcements on the email reflector and Web. The Field Day "viral" video will be announced on Friday, March 27 in the ARRL Letter and on the PR email reflector. This will be followed up in the April 1 edition of Contact. At the same time, we will also announce the availability of the main "Technology" video PSA for TV and cable outlets. Reports in from the PRC indicate that the additions to the next edition of "Talk on a Disk" are close to completion. The Committee has also formed a sub-group under Walt Palmer, W4ALT, to look at the structure of the Leonard Award since many news outlets now forbid their reporters to accept prizes or funds. With the rise of "citizen submitted journalism" it is also getting harder to define just what is a reporter. The results of the subcommittee inquiry will be made available in time for the July Board meeting, before the next round of nominations are announced. With few exceptions, the text for the 2008 ARRL Annual Report is almost complete and initial editing has been done. Thanks to those who got their materials in! Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The Diamond Club continues to grow with revenues for March at $12,007, bringing the total for 2009 to more than $48,000 from 276 donors. Information on two new estate contributions have been received, but no value yet determined. Development received an inquiry regarding a memorial gift for John Kanzius, K3TUP, SK. Voting on the nominee for the 2009 award of the William R. Goldfarb Memorial Scholarship is underway. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE The May issue of QST was released to the printer March 24. Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 28, No. 11, for March 20, 2009. She also produced and voiced ARRL Audio News for March 20. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI RFI Mike Gruber conducted a telephone conference with Laura Smith on power line noise and other RFI cases. They went through 30 cases to start and scheduled another meeting for the following week. In cases where the complainant didn't respond to an update request, Mike sent a post letter or called. All but about five complainants have now responded. A final list will be developed with Laura Smith to help facilitate FCC action in those cases that require enforcement. Mike Gruber shipped the Radar Engineers Model 245 RF sniffer to a Technical Specialist and designee of SM Eric Olena. Eric and the Technical Specialist will be investigating an RFI complaint near York, PA. Product Review Bob Allison reports that the Marconi 2041 Signal Generator has made its way back from England, where it was repaired. Dayton HamVention Bob Allison tested two kits-a 24 hour clock for beginners and an electronic keyer for those who want a refresher course in soldering. Both kits work. Bob is hopes to get volunteers to assist. Library The Vista Computer has been moved into the library, so volunteers can use it to maintain and update databases. This computer can also be used to check or existing software/CDs for compatibility with a slow 32 bit Vista Home Premium computer. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW Joe processed five Qualifying Run certificates and two endorsements. He also processed regular W1AW QSL card requests. Joe built a memory-backup power supply for the temporary transmitter being used for the 2-meter broadcasts. He also built a simple 2-element, 2-meter yagi for use with the W1AW-IRLP station. Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the latter part of the month of March. Field Organization/Public Service Team The ARRL Family was saddened to learn that South Dakota Section Manager Rich Beebe, N0PV, passed away on March 16. He was 46. Rich had served as the South Dakota Section Manager since October 2002. An ARRL Web news article was posted on March 18. IARU Region 1 has invited the HQ stations of IARU Member-Societies, as well as the EOCs of Emergency Communications Groups (ECGs), to participate in the 2009 Global Simulated Emergency Test (GlobalSET), on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 1100-1500 UTC. Dennis Dura is coordinating with Chuck Skolaut and Steve Ewald to organize ARRL's - including W1AW's--participation in this event. Leona continues to prepare for the Utah Section Manager election. She also sent each Section Manager a detailed roster of his or her respective Field Organization appointee data base. Section Managers and Section Leaders will be able to cross-check their records and provide Headquarters with any updates if necessary. New Official Observers have come on board from Michigan and Georgia after completing their training, and a new OOC was appointed in Eastern Pennsylvania. With interference causing problems to nets on 75 meters and 20 meters, OOs in the suspected region of the source of interference were requested to listen and document this activity. Monitoring stations, likewise, were asked listen and take notes of unlicensed fisherman who are operating off the coast of Florida (using USB) on 75 meters. Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ A February newsletter to instructors and teachers was sent to 8,262 recipients. We have registered 96 instructors and teachers during January and February. Instructors have listed 121 license classes that started in January and February to be conducted in the field. 111 classes have been listed for future dates in 2009. Allan Batteiger WB5QNG, one of our very active license instructors, sent the following report: "Interest in classes is still high, I am now adding General Classes to my schedule. There is now a pretty large demand for General from all of the Technicians I have licensed over the last few years. I am also seeing more and more of what I call the Professional Emergency responders in my class. These include Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Management from local and State level agencies. Apparently here in NTX it is becoming or has become a job requirement if you work in Emergency Management." Mark Spencer WA8SME completed two forums at the Hamcation in Orlando. The forums were for new hams and instructors/mentors. In addition he offered a "Train the Trainers" course for volunteer instructors. The funding for this course was provided by a grant from the ARRL Foundation. Student enrollments in the Continuing Education Program are comparable to levels realized last year. Jan Feb YTD 2009* YTD 2008 EmComm (Levels 1&2 only) 73 115 188 164 Technician Licensing 54 53 107 109 All other courses* 12 28 40 56 Total 139 196 335 329 EmComm field exams 28 16 44 62 *When comparing to 2008 enrollments, bear in mind that three courses have been discontinued since last year. Details of the Education department's support for the kit building activity planned for the Dayton Hamvention have been worked out. Mark Spencer and Nathan McCray will be supporting that activity along with Bob Allison. The parts and boards for a keyer project to be offered at the project venue are in hand. Mark will be ordering the boards and parts for the clock kit project next week. Kim Mancuso has taken a medical leave of absence. China Chaney continues to support the Continuing Education Program and other department activities on a part-time basis. Education & Technology Program The ETP grant equipment has been shipped to the schools, The last outstanding grant from the November round completed. Mark Spencer arranged for the purchase of equipment needed for the TI-II. While in Orlando he visited the host school for the teachers institute scheduled for Viera, FL. Applications for the teachers institute are coming in, but at a slower rate than in previous years. The economy and its impact on school staffing decisions as well as additional application requirements that we have implemented this year seem to be impacting applications. Meanwhile, the TI-II is fully subscribed and hotel reservations have been made. Nathan McCray K9CPO and Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP have been holding a number of meetings with local teachers to promote the Teachers Institute in their local area. In addition, Miguel reports that he received a grant to support a Radio, Space and Wireless Class he has proposed for the 2009-10 school year. Nathan reports that local radio club members donated two satellite dishes, and those along with the new HF antenna and rotor received through an ETP grant are being assembled for use by his school's radio club. ARISS Istituto Comprensivo Pietrasanta1-Scuola Secondaria in Italy took part in a successful ARISS QSO on February 10. Students learned about planetary systems, rocket technology, and radio communications. They studied the history of spaceflight, learned about world geography, and developed cooperation and teamwork skills. The ARISS program was incorporated into the curriculum at Fassett Middle School (in Oregon, OH) by having students study the positions and motions of objects (including satellites) in the universe, gravity, and how technology affects our quality of life. Students participated in a QSO with Astronaut Mike Fincke KE5AI on February 23. Students took part in an ARISS QSO at the Hampton Bays Middle School in Hampton Bays, NY, on February 25. Students created a mockup of the ISS and simulated communicating from it and working in it while they asked Astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, their 14 interview questions. Special guests have been attending ARISS schools QSOs. The Alexandroupolis School in Greece saw 200 students participate in its auditorium for the ARISS QSO while 500 more students from 4 area schools were brought in to listen from the school gardens. A delegate of the minister of telecommunications came to watch as did the city's director of education. The New Zealand Prime Minister, the Honorable John Key, greeted all students, faculty, parents, and listeners for five minutes prior to the ARISS QSO at the Chatham School. The Oregon (OH) School District Superintendent watched the February 23rd QSO at Fassett Middle School. Princess Elettra Marconi, granddaughter of Guglielmo Marconi, gave a talk to students at the Circolo Didattico G. Marconi School in Casamassima, Italy, during their ARISS activities on February 25. ARISS Mentor Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, helped host the mayor during the March 3 Padthaway Primary School's QSO (Padthaway, Australia); Tony spent the day mentoring students prior to their QSO. Two ARRL affiliated clubs have teamed up with two NASA Explorer Schools (NES) to submit ARISS applications for a QSO to accompany their lessons on ham radio and space. The Puerto Rico DX Club is sponsoring ARISS educational activities for the Marcelino Canino Middle School in Dorado, PR. The Okaw Valley ARC is teaching ham radio activities to students of the Greeneville (IL) Middle School. Rosalie White K1STO is networking with NASA on how to encourage more NASA Explorer Schools to get interested in having hams come in to mentor students about ham radio, ARISS, and space. NASA reports that the NES management team is very receptive, wants to continue discussions about ARISS and ham radio. The ARISS team has four new hams whose station equipment has been reviewed and some have been tested with the ISS. The hams volunteered to become ARISS telebridge operators to ease the load of our current operators. Thus far for ISS Expedition 18 (October 2008 to April 2009), 38 ARISS school QSOs have taken place. Astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, has performed 28 of those QSOs, with the rest being done by Astronaut Sandy Magnus and Cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov. 26 ARISS contacts should be scheduled during Expeditions 19/20. Meantime, all ISS Expeditions through Expedition 26 have licensed crew members. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Leona Adams 4/3 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 4/14 Vacation Joe Carcia 4/22 Vacation `` 5/8 Vacation `` 5/13-5/15 Dayton Hamvention Steve Ford 4/2-4/3 AES Superfest, Milwaukee, WI `` 4/20-4/24 Vacation Norm Fusaro 4/2-4/7 Vacation `` 4/15-4/24 SRT International DX Convention - Italy Scott Gee 4/15-4/17 Vacation `` 4/27-4/28 Vacation `` 5/14-5/15 Vacation Mike Gruber 5/29-5/31 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Estes Park, CO Ed Hare 4/20-4/24 C63 EMC Committee, Piscataway, NJ `` 5/13-5/15 Vacation `` 5/20-5/21 IEEE SDCom EMC committee, Philadephia, PA `` 5/22-5/25 Wyoming State Convention `` 5/26-5/27 Vacation Penny Harts 3/19-3/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 4/10-4/12 North Carolina State Convention, Raleigh, NC `` 4/17-4/19 Tennessee Section Convention, Memphis, TN `` 5/14-5/17 Dayton Hamvention Mary Hobart 4/6-4/8 Vacation `` 4/17-4/20 International DX Convention/Visalia, CA `` 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention Bob Inderbitzen 4/13-4/15 Vacation Khrystyne Keane 4/3 Vacation `` 4/24-4/26 Arkansas State Convention, Rogers, AR Joel Kleinman 3/26 Vacation Maryann Macdonald 5/14-5/17 Dayton Hamvention Carol Michaud 4/15-4/17 Vacation Bill Moore 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention Dave Patton 4/16-4/19 International DX - Visalia, CA `` 5/13-5/17 Dayton Hamvention Ashley Rakus 4/13 Jury Duty Dave Sumner 3/26-4/1 Vacation Sharon Taratula 3/27 Vacation `` 4/2 Vacation