<<091907.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 30, No. 38 September 19, 2007 -- Covers the period September 9-15. Upcoming Meetings and Events Executive Committee October 6 in Little Rock, AR United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) October 8-12 - ARRL HQ Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 16 in Newington, CT Administration &Finance Committee November 17 in Newington, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND During the week we received daily calls and emails from PAVE PAWS affected repeater owners. Many are voluntarily terminating operation of their repeaters, while several are working with myself and the ARRL Lab trying to find workable mitigation strategies for their repeaters. The next conference call with the DoD is planned last week was rescheduled for Wednesday September 19. Chris Imlay and I continued work on the D-Star letter for the FCC. A significant amount of time was spent with staff from the MVP Department working on Contest issues, including correcting problems with several sets of results, ordering stock for certificates and plaques, assisting with the early budget planning, and determining if several sets of contest certificates had been printed and mailed. This work will continue during the upcoming week. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP A representative from WalMart's Emergency Operations will be meeting with ARRL staff in October. Plans are being developed for a demo of Amateur Radio in DC on Oct 3. A draft storyboard of a video for the 2008 campaign has been presented to various groups and is being edited as focus group type information comes in. Jeanne Ryba of NASA's own editorial staff has agreed to work with us in developing a story about just how hams plan and execute an ARISS contact. The daily blog Al's Morning Meeting, which is sent to reporters nationally, had a major piece about Amateur Radio's EmComm role on Sept 11th which set the stage for local PIOs to contact the media in their home areas about Awareness Day. A new audio PSA is almost complete featuring the voice of Ted Randall of KAIJ Radio. The Leonard Award announcement will appear in QST and in Oct CONTACT! NPR is creating a collection of sounds of our times and Gordon West has agreed to work with them for Amateur Radio sounds. Allen has been asked by Computing Unplugged Magazine to write an article on the status of BPL and interference issues and it will be done in late October. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Editorial and production work is wrapping up on the November issue of QST, which is to be released to the printer September 20. Khrystyne Keane attended the New York Jets game against the New England Patriots at Giants Stadium for the NFL season opener on September 9. She went as a guest of former ARRL First VP Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, who is a Jets Game Day Frequency Coordinator. What's a GDFC? You'll have to read the article in the November issue of QST (and yes, this was the game of the Patriots' play-stealing scandal). Khrystyne wrote and prepared The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 37, for Friday, September 14. It was distributed to 66,201 members, an increase of 201 over the previous week. Khrystyne also voiced and produced the September 14 edition of the ARRL Audio News. Larry Wolfgang gave a presentation on "My Top 10 Favorite Hints & Kinks" at the Roanoke Division Convention in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Technical Information Service The Web/Software Development Department Staff modified about 1-1/2 dozen TIS web pages so that they can be edited directly by the Lab Staff. Zack Lau has made updates to these pages, mostly replacing dead links with current URLs (uniform resource locators). Mike Gruber has been supplying new links to the WSDD. The lab staff is conducting a survey until the end of the month to see what percentage of TIS inquiries are by members, non-members, and non-hams. We are also breaking down the inquiries into a dozen different types, such as article reprints and RFI questions. Radio Frequency Interference Mike Gruber worked with Allen Pitts to secure permission from TV Channel 11 in Lubbock, TX to add their news story to the ARRL Web site. The story concerns the recent FCC citations to two power companies in an RFI case. Mike Gruber is working on a conducted emission testing facility. BPL Not surprisingly, I have been pretty active in the BPL arena. A few weeks ago, the Ambient Corporation, of Briarcliff Manor infame, contacted me, looking to discuss how Ambient could work with ARRL to resolve some of the long-standing interference concerns. Last week, I met with Ambient staff at their facility in Newton, MA. Although they didn't see eye to eye on every issue, they did agree to work together on interference issues. They reported that their generation-1 equipment in all of their installations has been removed from service, and that all areas are either running generation-2 equipment, or are in the process of having G2 equipment installed. By coincidence, I had attended the Arkansas state convention in Mena. Ambient has a G2 BPL system installed in Little Rock. I took the opportunity to look at the system. Although the noise levels in the area were somewhat high, the G2 notching had been done satisfactorily, and there was no interference on the ham bands. I also met with the electric-utility staff. The local hams have enjoyed a good working relationship with Entergy. Interestingly, Entergy was more interested in power-line noise than BPL. They were pleased to learn about ARRL's work on power line noise and wanted to know more about how they could integrate that work into their RTVI program. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N QSL Branch There is no delay in opening mail and a 2 day delay in slotting of cards. This week, 93 pounds of cards were received from members. W1AW W1AW has a new MARS callsign. It is now AAN1ARL. Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He also installed cabling for four (4) 6-meter operating positions in each of the Operating Studios, and for two radios in the main area. He began construction of the "new" digital operating position, which will be located near the front door in the main area. Joe installed a new bulkhead Harris patch panel for the additional 6-meter spots and radios. He also readied two PCs for use at the new station. Joe is also working with an outside individual to eventually sponsor the W1AW D-Star repeater system. Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the latter part of the month of September and early October. Field Organization/Public Service Team Michael Albers, K0FJ has withdrawn his Section Manager nomination petition. Therefore, there will not be an election in the Kansas section as stated in last week's report. Leona Adams has been preparing for the Alaska and Tennessee SM elections. The following incumbent SMs will begin new terms in January: Frank Filipowski, AD3M (Delaware); Ron Cowan, KB0DTI (Kansas); Dale Williams, WA8EFK (Michigan); Rob Griffin, K6YR (Santa Barbara); and Ed Emco, W1KT (Western Massachusetts). Also new SMs starting in January include Jay Isbell, KA4KUN (Alabama); Jim Latham, AF6AQ (East Bay); and Don Wood, W5FHA (New Mexico). Steve Ewald worked on the Public Service column for November QST, and he learned that the ARRL and National Weather Service will once again co-sponsor the SKYWARN Recognition Day operating event on December 1. We hosted a Section Manager teleconference with SMs of the Pacific Division on Thursday night, the 13th, and Steve, Chuck Skolaut, Dennis Dura, and Katie Breen were HQ staff representatives. Chuck Skolaut received the monthly Intruder Watch monitoring report from Region 1. Intruder reports this week included an OTH radar that has been heard on 14002 kHz and 1823 kHz. The FCC is reportedly checking out reports furnished them earlier concerning unlicensed fishermen who are causing interference to channel 4 on 60 meters. Official Observers have been keeping track of a repeat offender on two meters in Missouri as well as interference and obscene language on a St Louis repeater. Another report of unlicensed users of two meters in West Virginia was noted. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Leona Adams 10/19 Vacation Jon Bloom 9/26-10/5 Vacation Steve Ewald 9/19-10/2 Vacation Steve Ford 9/28-9/29 ARRL/TAPR Digital Comm. Conference, Windsor, CT `` 11/5-11/6 Vacation `` 11/11-11/12 MDC/FAR Digital Conference, Washington, DC Scott Gee 9/21 Vacation `` 11/12-11/13 Vacation `` 12/10-12/12 Vacation `` 12/26 Vacation Mike Gruber 10/1-10/5 Vacation Ed Hare 9/19-9/21 Central VA Coop BPL/IBEC `` 10/22-10/25 ANSI asc C63 meeting for EMC Committee `` 11/8-11/10 IEEE EMC Society Standards Dev. Comm (Ed-Secretary) Dan Henderson 9/21-10/1 Wash. State Conv., Spokane, WA/PC NW VHF Conf., OR `` 10/11-10/15 Vacation Mary Hobart 10/5-10/6 DARA Board meeting, Dayton, OH Bob Inderbitzen 10/5-10/8 Vacation Zack Lau 9/28 Digital Communications Conference, Windsor Locks, CT Dave Patton 9/14-9/19 W9DXCC Convention N. Illinois DX Assoc./Vacation John Proctor 9/27-10/9 Vacation Maria Somma 10/4-10/15 Vacation Dave Sumner 9/25-10/5 Vacation Mike Tracy 10/26 Vacation Larry Wolfgang 9/28-9/30 Digital Communications Conference, Windsor Locks, CT