In-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 9 March 5, 2002 Upcoming Meetings April 20th in Ft. Worth, TX at 8:00am A&F Committee Development The meeting at UTC to discuss ARRL's proposal to expand ARECC has been moved to Thursday, March 7. The first quarterly Planned Giving mailing will go to 16,000 prospects by week's end. The two-page letter will be accompanied by a brochure outlining charitable giving opportunities after the 2001 Tax Act. Tom Hogerty is developing a generic contribution message and form for the web. The donor list for the 2001 Annual Report is complete. It's not too late to make a contribution to the 2002 Defense of Frequencies Fund by mail, phone or e-mail. Your support will help us defend Amateur Radio spectrum. Thank you. Legislative Affairs Steve Mansfield reports a successful "Day on the Hill" on February 28 with Mssrs. Haynie, Fallon, Imlay, Riker and himself. The group made a number of calls on The Hill to gather information and present our issues. Media Relations Jennifer was interviewed by a reporter at the Washington Post. The reporter had already talked to several local hams and he contacted HQ to get the overall national picture of Amateur Radio today. He was particularly interested in Morse code vs. voice for operating modes and why some hams still prefer to communicate via Morse code. Jennifer was also interviewed by an editor at Scientific American magazine. This article will focus on the current state of Amateur Radio and how young people are being introduced to the hobby. He was interested in how restructuring might have affected ham radio and at what rate newcomers are entering the ham radio ranks. Jennifer was able to offer several good statistics and information on the ARRL Amateur Radio Education Project. The editor said he'd be in touch for more information or with follow-up questions as he begins writing the article. Thanks to Bart Jahnke for clarifying information on various events and trends which have affected the license statistics over the years. The first issue of QSO/Media, a bimonthly newsletter for our PR volunteers, seems to be popular. Thanks to exposure on the Web and via the PR reflector, we have been receiving more than the usual amount of requests for PSAs, additions to the PR reflector group and other tools available for volunteers in the field. Work on the 2001 Annual Report continues. Field & Educational Services The Expedition 4 crew had a successful QSO with Kursk (Russia) Techical School -- the town that the sunken Russian submarine was named for. With many scheduled space walks for this ISS crew, there has been little time for QSOs -- even ISS science experiments were cut. ARISS volunteer VK5ZAI got help from F&ES for a talk at the South Australian Secondary Teachers Association Conference. Rosalie wrote a presentation proposal for the APCO international conference. She set up a telecon for the ARISS international school group and then finalized the group's ToR. She also took part in the ARISS US team telecon. She revised FSD-191 and prepared the minutes and pending agenda items after taking part in a VRC telecon. Steve, Dan and Rosalie worked with WB1CTC to plan a seminar for the Connecticut OEM. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald posted a question for Jim Maxwell to the SM Reflector asking who had set up a Speaker's Bureau; responses will be summarized soon. Steve and Bob Inderbitzen sent a questionnaire about ARES vests or jackets to Section leaders; as of Tuesday (deadline is March 5), over 200 responded. Leona Adams handled a many e-mail items and phone calls for Steve while he was on vacation. She also took care of nomination petitions that came in from SMs for the term beginning July 1, 2002, sending the acknowledgment letters. Petitions were from incumbent Bruce Boston, KD9UL, and Sharon Harlan, N9SH, of Illinois; from Marshall Johnson, KK7CW, of Oregon (Lewis Williams, WB7NML, requested information about petitions); and Richard Beebe, N0PV, of South Dakota (this was in response to a re-solicitation). She reminded incumbent SMs who have not sent in nomination petitions. SM expense reports are starting to pick up. Regulatory Team John Hennessee assisted amateurs with local government zoning problems in Cape Coral, FL (K1KHP); Manituck, NY (W0MMR); Franklinville, NJ (KB2VSE); and West Bloomfield, NJ (N8REE). He also received news from SM Turley that West Virginia HB 4335 has passed the House and Senate and is awaiting the signature of the Governor. John is revising the Regulatory Web pages to reflect the updated FCC Web pages. John submitted the final version of the Marsh insurance ad. Brennan Price put finishing touches on the Repeater Directory, securing data from a few late-reporting coordinators and facilitating a collaboration for a better listing for New York City. He conferred with Jean Wolfgang regarding possibly establishing guidelines for adult supervisors of youths during events such as JOTA, School Club Roundup, or Field Day. The Big Project Jerry Hill has heard from all new Pilot Schools saying they have received their equipment. Also, all schools that were given Progress Grants have received their checks, and they are ordering books, tools and small pieces of equipment. Jerry made introductions between the Pilot Schools and Progress Grant Schools, and is working to network them together. Once the ice is broken, he hopes they will try joint activities. Field & Educational Support Team Mary Lau boxed and shipped the ARRL Foundation's 2002 scholarship applications, and all attendant schedules, keys, and software. The Scholarship Committee will return its findings by May 1. Jean Wolfgang continues to work on the nominations for the annual ARRL Educational and Technical Awards. She has also been fielding a questions from several schools that will submit applications for upcoming ARISS contacts. Ham/Scout leaders are already asking Jean questions about JOTA 2002. Margie Bourgoin sent eight new club applications to the EC for affiliation approval at the March 2nd EC meeting. This is in addition to the nine approved in mid-January -- she notes that this increase in interest by clubs to become affiliated seems to be due to the Amateur Radio public service activity following the 9/11 attacks. Margie also reports that she now receives newsletters from close to 300 clubs, with more newsletters still coming in via US Mail rather than via e-mail. Gail Iannone sent eight convention applications to the Executive Committee's March 2nd meeting for their approval. She also sent 12 hamfest approval letters to the sponsoring. Here is another reminder that Dayton Marriott reservation information must be sent to Gail by March 15. Linda Mullally updated 59 affiliated club records plus one de-activation and two re-activations. Linda assisted Leona, handling appointment supplies to 17 appointees, and updating 101 appointment records. She updated 26 C-CE students who passed and received graduation letters, with some requesting certificates and ID cards. Linda worked on FSD-128 and FSD-191, requisitioning new versions of the forms to be printed. Linda noticed an increase in video sales this week -- Volume I in particular, was requested to show at club meetings. C-CE Team Steven Blair has been working on materials for the Antenna Modeling course manual. He has also been instrumental in getting fixes to on-going on-line courses. Two people have now graduated from the new Antenna Modeling course. Comments about the course have been very favorable, and technical questions have been minimal. Nineteen students enrolled in the Level III Emergency Communications (EC-003) February class. Good progress has been made on an HF digital communications course for the future. Membership Services Awards Branch WAC Certificates 44 WAC Endorsements 14 5 Band WAC Awards 1 Extra Class Certificates 52 Long Term Member Inquiries 4 VUCC Endorsements 8 VUCC Grids (Data Entry) 1703 Thirty Specialty awards and eight 5BWAS awards were numbered, but will be processed next week. HF/VHF Awards Manager Appointments: Bill Wagaman, K5MAT, Albuquerque, NM and George Jones, N1GJ, Bourne, MA. DXCC Branch Week Ending March 3, 2002 Beginning Cards 55,753 Cards Received 3,494 Cards Processed 25,975 Ending Cards 33,275 Applications Pending 252 Backlog Time 1 Week! Year-to-date Cards Received 75,582 Cards Returned 156,568 QRP Issued this week 13 QRP YTD 147 Card Return: DXCC is currently mailing applications received on February 19, 2002. Card Processing: We are entering cards received on February 22, 2002. Kathy Kostek began assisting Eileen Sapko with some awards. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 03/03/2002 - 350,225. No cards were mailed this week. Janet Rocco spent 5 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Thanks to Dan Henderson, N1ND, for operating W1AW in the ARRL International Phone Contest. He made 282 QSOs, with 56 countries, for a claimed score of 42,336. He was a Single Band (20 meters) entry. Scott Gee worked on fast and slow code practice runs for the early part of March. He handled evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. Joe Carcia reorganized visiting operating Studio Two. This included the installation of an antenna line to add another HF operating position in the Studio. He also installed a UPS backup power supply on the computer running APRS. He also updated the web code practice files. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002) are $1,622. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 3/29 Holiday Dave Sumner 3/8 MARS Strategy Conference, Washington, DC `` 3/13-3/20 Geneva `` 3/21-3/27 Vacation Mary Hobart 4/6-4/7 MD State Convention, Timonium Mark Wilson 4/1-4/3 Vacation Dan Miller 3/11 Vacation `` 3/28-4/1 Vacation Wayne Mills 3/8 Charlotte Convention Scott Gee 3/6-3/8 Vacation J. Kleinman 3/5 Vacation `` 3/7-3/12 Vacation Rosalie White 3/15-3/18 Annual meeting, Natn'l Vol. Active in Disasters