IN-Newsletter Vol. 39, No. 34 December 3, 2014 - Covers the period November 23-29. Upcoming Meetings and Events Annual Board Meeting January 16-17, 2015 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison, WB1GCM, has been working with a manufacturer of an HF RF amplifier that does not block amplification completely between 26 and 28 MHz. The manufacturer is working on redesigning the sensor that detects input signals in this frequency range. Bob Allison completed testing of an all mode 10 meter mobile transceiver. Bob will be reviewing it at home, with Kathy Allison, KA1RWY, rendering assistance. Equipment Donations Bob Allison has accepted several donations of Amateur Radio related equipment on behalf of the ARRL. Some pieces have been put to work in the Lab, such as DC power supplies and RF power meters. Each Lab bench now has useful test equipment for multiple purposes; for example, some donated test equipment is being used to evaluate other donated Amateur Radio equipment. Sales of the rest of the donated equipment helps fund the many valuable programs we provide to our members and educators. ARRL Laboratory volunteers Pete Turbide, W1PT and Jonathan Allen, K2KKH have done a nice job cleaning and evaluating donated equipment. A letter of acknowledgement is sent to all donors. Historical Committee Volunteers Mike Marinaro, WN1M and Jonathan Allen, K2KKH continue to work on archiving printed material. Jonathan continues to work on the archive process of our historical hardware collection. A new historical display was created for the Lobby featuring a significant Amateur Radio of the past, complete with signage. Each month, a new piece will be selected. Maty Weinberg is arranging the production of the sign used each month, with text provided by Mike Marinaro. Web Zack Lau uploaded the Propagation Forecasts for December. The predicted solar flux is 146. Radio Frequency Interference Mike Gruber continued working on a U-Verse complaint at K1PAI in Wethersfield. The problem was traced to a switching mode power supply associated with the U-Verse equipment. AT&T (now Frontier) is changing the supply for one that is known to be quiet. EMC Committee member Gordon Beattie assisted in the investigation during a visit. Gordon Beattie and Mike Gruber worked on conducted emissions testing, and investigated some issues with power supplies. More tests are forthcoming. Mike Gruber investigated a noise complaint at W1HQ. Most of the noise on some bands seems to be originating from inside the building. A preliminary check on the roof suggests that it is caused by the HVAC machinery located in close proximity to the antenna. Mike is working with Greg who will be contacting the contractor for assistance. Another source of power line noise was located and called in to CL&P's customer service. Mike Gruber continued working on the EMC Pocket Guide. Comments and additional text have now been sent to primary author Ken Wyatt. QST The lab provided input on an upcoming Hands on Radio column that discusses grounding of an amateur station. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Diane Petrilli reports that a membership campaign was mailed on November 14, and the first few responses have come in. Materials for the last membership campaign of the year have been submitted to the printer, for mailing Dec 15. Additionally, membership solicitations conducted by email this month have returned over 135 new members. A "Black Friday" themed e-mail is expected to contribute some additional applications during the last week of this month. Some ARRL display and exhibit items<http://www.arrl.org/shop/Brochures-Handouts-and-Exhibit-Supplies/> have been redesigned with a cleaner, more modern look. The Tour Guide Manual has been updated and will be redistributed to all HQ volunteers next week. Jackie Ferreira reports that a handful of sales promotions were prepared for the holiday week and the busy consumer buying season: Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Promotions will be conducted by email, on the ARRL website, and on ARRL's Facebook page. A holiday card has been created for 2014, designed around the ARRL Centennial year. A handful of departments use the cards. Yvette Vinci reports that a new bulk email announcement was introduced this month, reminding members to visit the current digital edition of QST. The emailing includes a summary of "What's trending" in December QST-taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Alli Barbieri. The notification, sent approximately 10 days after the initial announcement, was sent to 115,029 members. Bob Inderbitzen and Diane Petrilli prepared a draft of the National Amateur Radio Survey. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 11/21/2014 906 514 11/14/2014 715 505 11/7/2014 983 848 10/31/2014 1,217 334 Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Field Organization/Public Service Team One radio amateur from Ohio completed requirements to become an Official Observer. A report of an unidentified signal on 14.253 MHz was received and forwarded to our Intruder Watch monitors to check out. Several complaints were received regarding the operating practices of a station on 10 meters. Tim Duffy, K3LR, of West Middlesex, was elected Western Pennsylvania Section Manager when ballots were counted at HQ on November 18. His term of office starts January 1, 2015. Western Pennsylvania SM John Rodgers, N3MSE, of Butler, decided to not run for another term office. He has been SM since October of 2007, and was Section Manager from 2000 to 2003 as well. Thomas Walsh, K1TW, of Bedford, will become the Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager in January. He was the only nominee for the position. Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI, decided not to run for a new term of office. Phil has been Section Manager in Eastern Massachusetts since 2011. He also was SM from 1994 to 1996 and 2001 to 2004. Thomas "Skip" Arey, N2EI, of Beverly, will be the Southern New Jersey Section Manager starting in January. He, too, was the only nominee for the position. He is taking over for George Strayline, W2GSS, who decided not to run for a new term. George has been SM since 2009. Darrell Davis, KT4WX, of Fort Meade, will be the new West Central Florida SM starting in the New Year. He was the only nominee for the position. Dee Turner, N4GD, decided not to run for a new term of office. Dee has been Section Manager since 2005. The following incumbent Section Managers did not face opposition in a fall election, and will continue with new terms of office starting January 1, 2015: Dale Bagley, K0KY (Missouri); Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ (Nebraska); Jim Mezey, W2KFV (New York City-Long Island); Tom Dick, KF2GC (Northern New York); Marc Tarplee, N4UFP (South Carolina). Leona reports that these SM nomination petitions were received here at ARRL HQ from the following sections for the term beginning April 1, 2015. (SM nomination petitions for this term are due here at ARRL HQ by Friday, December 5, 2014 by 4 pm.): Robert McCaffrey, KØCY - Iowa section; Alan D. Morgan, KY1O - Kentucky section; George Forsyth, AA7GS - Montana section. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 12/25-12/26 Holiday Bob Allison 12/5-12/8 PTO `` 12/17 Jury Duty `` 12/22-12/24 PTO Steve Capodicasa 12/12 PTO Joe Carcia 12/5 PTO `` 12/12 PTO Lauren Clarke 12/24 PTO Steve Ewald 11/25-12/5 PTO Jackie Ferreira 12/15 PTO `` 12/29-12/31 PTO Steve Ford 12/22-1/2 PTO Scott Gee 12/24-12/29 PTO Dan Henderson 12/17-1/6 PTO Gail Iannone 12/19-1/2 PTO Harold Kramer 12/18-12/29 PTO Sean Kutzko 12/12-12/19 PTO Maryann Macdonald 12/22-12/29 PTO Diane Petrilli 12/22-12/24 PTO `` 1/26-1/30 PTO Dave Sumner 12/24-12/31 PTO