<<051811.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 34, No. 20 May 18, 2011 -- Covers the period May 8-14. Upcoming Meetings and Events Programs & Services Committee: June 18 @ 8:30am - ARRL HQ Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND The past two weeks have been extremely busy, with a large amount of time spent preparing for three forum presentations and the DX banquet speech for Dayton. The Dayton Field Day forum will feature Vice Directors Kermit Carlson, W9XA, Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, David Norris, K5UZ, and SC Section Manager Mark Tarplee, N4UFP. Carlson will focus on improving VHF/UHF activities at the Field Day site. Hartlage will address the importance of incorporating youth into Field Day activities. Norris will talk about effectively interacting with officials from served agencies, government officials and the press. Tarplee will speak about the importance of Field Day from the Section leadership perspective. The Regulatory Information Manager will speak during the Dayton forum on "Antennas and the Law" at the invitation of facilitator Jim O'Connell, W9WU. His portion of that forum is entitled "Taking the First Steps", and will concentrate on common problems that cross his desk at the beginning of antenna zoning problems. He will present an overview of resources that the ARRL has available to assist amateurs in this area. The RIB third forum at Dayton will be the ARRL Legislative Update presentation. EVP David Sumner, K1ZZ, will address ARRL efforts at the Federal level while the RIB Manager will talk about how the ARRL is involved at the State level. They will also talk about the ARRL Grassroots program, the Legislative Update newsletter, and the role Section leadership plays in the process. A one-page handout on this topic was prepared for distribution at the Legislative Booth at the Dayton ARRL Expo. The Field Day station locator count is up to 632 stations, with sites listed in 48 states, as well as six Canadian provinces/territories and Puerto Rico. This is comparable to the totals listed the past two years at this stage of the process. As Field Day approaches in June, we will be doing several web stories to highlight the locator as well as an increased emphasis on VHF/UHF operating in FD 2011. We have been requested to write a press release for the upcoming Gulf Division-sponsored webinar on CC&Rs which is scheduled for June 1. This will be finished after confirmation from all of the participants. We also handled numerous information requests on reciprocal licensing as well as queries about flying while carrying amateur gear and special event callsigns for Field Day. On May 6, we participated in a teleconference with ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, Pacific Division Director Bob Vallio, W6RGG, and John Ronan, K3ZJJ, who is president of the Mt. Diablo ARC. The discussion was a request from Ronan for ARRL assistance as MDARC attempts to address an ongoing problem over VHF/UHF band planning, frequency coordination and the incorporation of digital technologies (or lack thereof) by the regional frequency coordinating group NAARC. It was explained that the ARRL stays out of disputes over frequency coordination and would not become involved with the political problems confronting the leadership and members of NAARC. We also strongly suggested that MDARC reconsider their plan to petition the FCC for a declaratory ruling asking the FCC to detail specifically the authority / responsibilities of frequency coordinating groups. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The annual report is about to go to the printer. With help from Jim Sutton, VE4SIG, (a recent PR-101 graduate) the changing links in the PR-101 course were updated to current addresses. The Hello-Radio.org website, the first of the three promotional sites, has been moved to the ARRL's own servers and should "go live" very soon after testing is complete. The other two websites will follow, but they will keep the same web addresses for them as there are many publications with the Hello-Radio, Emergency-Radio and WeDoThat-Radio.org addresses. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH Preparations are complete for the annual Donor Reception in Dayton. We are expecting 144 guests this year, including some new faces. The Second Century Campaign will be introduced to ARRL donors at the reception in the remarks of Campaign Chairman David Brandenburg, K5RQ. At the reception ARRL will welcome 15 new members who have reached Maxim Society status since last May. Thanks to Margie for putting this event together with the staff at Meadowbrook Country Club. Maryann will be manning the Development Office while Margie and I are at Hamvention. The Second Century Campaign Committee is not full at this writing, but those who have accepted the invitation will be introduced at the reception and meet informally in Dayton on Friday afternoon. The Spectrum Defense Fund revenue YTD total has reached $121,028 or 35% of its 2011 goal. The Diamond Club revenue has reached $121,678 or 43% of its 2011 revenue goal. The Education & Technology campaign mailing will be completed after Hamvention weekend. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI W1AW A report of a spurious emission from W1AW's 10 meter (CW) transmission, including key clicks, was reported by a member. The transceiver used was brought to the Lab, where Bob Allison measured it with our spectrum analyzer and storage oscilloscope. The keying waveform was normal and created no key clicks. No spurious emissions were found. Note: clicks can be falsely created within some receivers with the noise blanker engaged. Electronic Publications Software issues continue to trickle in. An issue for which there is no good answer is the demise of legacy DOS software, which is not supported by the latest Windows operating systems. Nor are authors interested in rewriting programs they wrote decades ago. RFI Mike Gruber assisted Matthew Urick of the FCC Field Office in Philadelphia with a power line noise investigation in the Pittsburgh area. Also present were Mike Martin of RFI Services, at Mike Gruber's request, and the complainant, Bob Thacker, K3GT. The utility in this matter, Duquesne Light & Power, had wanted to charge the complainant for RFI investigations. Although this problem had been going for over a decade, the team was able to demonstrate to the FCC that the noise was coming from a number of poles that they identified. By the end of the day, they had identified noise sources in all directions but one. Mike's understanding is that the FCC will now be sending the utility some form of communication as early as next week. Special thanks to Mike Martin for his invaluable assistance. This effort was extremely successful. A professional RFI investigator from another nearby utility has taken a closer look at the longstanding power line noise case of J.C. Flynn, W4FGC in Lakeland, FL. Although this case has been the subject of several visits by the FCC, the problem remains ongoing. The local investigator has located four nearby sources, which have now been communicated to the utility. As previously noted, this has been one of the more difficult cases to resolve. A preliminary review of some fluorescent lights from Home Depot shows them to meet Part 18 limits and labeling requirements. More will be done after Dayton and Plano. Product Review Bob Allison started testing of a mid priced, modern HF/6m transceiver. Testing so far has gone smoothly and will be completed before Bob's departure for Dayton. Bob also created two new procedures for the testing of transverters. Due to the popularity of long digital transmissions needed for EME and Meteor Scatter, frequency drift and power reduction over time are now important performance factors. Test results for these two factors will now be published for all transverter Product Reviews, first to be featured in July QST. Technology Museum Plans of our new technology museum are under way. Initially, most of the display cases in the hallway and in the Editorium will be placed inside the old "Cage Room", recently emptied from renovations to the Lab. Along with the display cases, the antique equipment from the Lobby will also be displayed. The room will eventually include three active operation positions; a 30's station, 50's station (Joe Walsh equipment) and an early 70's Novice station. This project will make way for a more modern display of Amateur Radio in our Lobby. It will also make way for the placement of a 1920 era receiver that replaces the 50's boat anchors on HPM's desk at W1AW. This receiver will have the ability to tune 200 meters and down. As with HPM's original 1920 era station, a remote rotary spark motor switch and Morse key controlling "Old Betsy" will also adorn HPM's desk. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R ARRL's large truck shipment for Hamvention, 12 pallets, left for Dayton on May 11. Exhibit badges and related materials were shipped to the 74 "ARRL team" members for the 2011 ARRL National Convention in Plano, Texas. The event will be held June 10-11. We are enjoying a brisk sales climate as members respond to the introduction of a couple of new ARRL publications (solicitations sent by mail and email). The warehouse crew fulfilled 1,104 packages for publication and product orders, 324 membership premiums, and QST mailing supplements. Work is underway on a comprehensive marketing survey to help support planning for a digital edition of QST. The survey will be conducted by Readex, a research firm that has conducted studies for ARRL in the past. The survey will be conducted by mail and email, and will include domestic and international surveyed populations from among current members, lapsed members, and FCC licensees (non-members). Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW On Monday, May 9, Rhode Island Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC and Rich Langlois, W1TBR paid a visit to W1AW. In addition to operating the station, Rich also calibrated W1AW's frequency counters and checked the Hameg spectrum analyzer installed in the Harris racks. On Thursday, May 12, Matt Strelow, KC1XX and Andrew Toth - both of XX Towers, Inc. - were on hand to finish the cold-galvanizing spraying of the three 60' towers. (They began the spraying process during the April 2011 tower inspections.) The cold-galvanize spray reduces the effects of the surface rust that appeared on the tower legs. Joe processed regular QSL card requests. He also processed 5 Qualifying Run certificates and 4 endorsements. He wrote material to be used for an OSCAR 1 pamphlet (to be handed out at Dayton). Joe also conducted frequency measuring tests on all the broadcast equipment. Field Organization/Public Service Team Leona Adams and the Field Organization Team are prepared to count ballots for the Nevada Section Manager election on Tuesday, May 24. The ballots are due at Headquarters by Friday, May 20. Ken Bailey (of the Emergency Preparedness Team) and Steve Ewald were invited by Citizen Corps to make a 5 minute presentation on their Webinar of Tuesday, May 10. ARRL was among the several Citizen Corps-affiliated organizations and partners who participated and answered questions from the online audience. One radio amateur from Maryland has completed certification to become an Official Observer this past week. A report of CB amplifiers being sold on Amazon was referred to the FCC. Chuck Skolaut received updates on repeater interference in Eastern Massachusetts, Northern New Jersey, and Arizona. A previously unidentified signal heard on 14097 kHz was tentatively identified as PropNet http://www.propnet.org Reports of interference to the International Handicapped Net and the ARMS Net (both on 20 meters) were received and forwarded to the respective OOCs for follow up. Also, a report of a shortwave broadcaster on 7125 kHz was tentatively identified as Radio Conakry (Guinea). Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 5/30 Holiday All Staff 7/4 Holiday Joe Carcia 5/26pm-5/27 Vacation Steve Ford 8/8-8/12 Vacation Scott Gee 5/19-5/20 Vacation Mike Gruber 5/31-6/3 Vacation `` 7/11-7/15 Vacation Joel Hallas 5/17-5/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 5/25-5/27 Vacation `` 7/5-7/8 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 8/8-8/12 Vacation Sabrina Jackson 5/26-6/6 Vacation Zack Lau 6/16-6/17 Vacation Diane Petrilli 8/8-8/12 Vacation `` 8/31-9/2 Vacation Allen Pitts 5/26-5/27 Vacation `` 6/15-6/17 Vacation `` 7/1 Vacation `` 7/20-7/22 Vacation `` 7/28-7/29 Vacation John Proctor 6/22-7/8 Vacation Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings Bob Allison 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Margie Bourgoin 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/Vacation Jackie Ferreira 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ford 5/19-5/24 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH/Vacation Mike Gruber 5/19-5/20 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Ed Hare 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dan Henderson 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Mary Hobart 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Sabrina Hughes 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Amy Hurtado 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Harold Kramer 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Diane Petrilli 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Allen Pitts 5/19-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Dave Sumner 5/18-5/22 Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH Steve Ford 6/1-6/3 Assoc. Media Publishing Conference Dan Henderson 6/2-6/8 Wyoming State Convention, Cheyenne, WY Bob Allison 6/8-6/11 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Jackie Ferreira 6/8-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Mike Gruber 6/9-6/10 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Dan Henderson 6/9-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Mary Hobart 6/9-6/11 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Amy Hurtado 6/8-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Bob Inderbitzen 6/8-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Harold Kramer 6/9-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Diane Petrilli 6/8-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Allen Pitts 6/9-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Barry Shelley 6/9-6/12 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Dave Sumner 6/9-6/13 ARRL National Convention, Plano, TX Brennan Price 6/13-6/22 ITU-R Working Party 5A, Geneva Dave Patton 6/23-6/26 Friedrichshafen, Germany Brennan Price 6/23-6/26 Friedrichshafen, Germany Brennan Price 7/13-7/16 BOD Meeting/Committee Meeting, Windsor, CT Brennan Price 8/5-8/6 Texas State Convention, Austin, TX Chuck Skolaut 5/23-5/26 NVOAD Conference, Kansas City, MO