The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
January 19, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + ARRL Board of Directors Holds 2012 Annual Meeting, Okays Electronic
Balloting for Division Elections
- + ARRL Bestows Awards at 2012 Annual Meeting
- + ARRL Board Welcomes Rick Niswander, K7GM, as New Treasurer
- + A Reminder: Postage Rates To Rise this Month
- + Army MARS Resumes Use of Winlink 2000
- + US District Court for Maine Issues Order Granting Summary Judgment
against Glenn Baxter, K1MAN
- Solar Update
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + ARRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS HOLDS 2012 ANNUAL MEETING, OKAYS
ELECTRONIC BALLOTING FOR DIVISION ELECTIONS
The ARRL Board of Directors held its 2012 Annual Meeting January
13-14, 2012 in Windsor, Connecticut, under the chairmanship of
President Kay Craigie, N3KN. Newly elected Delta Division Director
David Norris, K5UZ, attended his first Board meeting as Director. In
addition, two recently elected Vice Directors -- Glen Clayton, W4BDB,
Delta Division, and Dale Williams, WA8EFK, Great Lakes Division --
attended their first Board meeting.
After viewing a demonstration of electronic balloting, the Board
adopted amendments to the ARRL Bylaws that will permit the
implementation of electronic voting in the 2012 fall elections for
Director and Vice Director of the Central, Hudson, New England,
Northwestern and Roanoke Divisions. Plans call for paper ballots still
to be mailed to those members who have not shared their e-mail
addresses with the ARRL, or who simply prefer to cast their votes by
mail. Supervision of the balloting is the responsibility of the Ethics
and Elections Committee. Read more here
.
> + ARRL BESTOWS AWARDS AT 2012 ANNUAL MEETING
The ARRL Board of Directors had the pleasure and distinction of
bestowing three annual awards on six recipients at its 2012 Annual
Meeting: The George Hart Distinguished Service Award, the Bill Leonard,
W2SKE, Professional Media Award for print, audio and video, and the
ARRL International Humanitarian Award. Read more here
.
> + ARRL BOARD WELCOMES RICK NISWANDER, K7GM, AS NEW TREASURER
When ARRL Treasurer Jim McCobb, K1LU, announced last year that he would
retire after more than three decades of volunteer service to the ARRL,
ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, appointed a search committee to find
a suitable replacement. The committee received many resumes from League
members, and after interviewing several applicants, selected Rick
Niswander, K7GM, of Greenville, North Carolina. At the 2012 ARRL Annual
Meeting, Niswander was elected by the Board of Directors as the sixth
Treasurer of the ARRL.
Niswander -- an ARRL Life Member -- has been the Vice Chancellor for
Administration and Finance for East Carolina University since 2010,
where he is the senior executive responsible for all financial,
administrative, and operational activities at the university. Prior to
that appointment, he served as ECU's Assistant Dean for Graduate
Programs and Dean of its College of Business. He is also a Professor of
Accounting at the university. Niswander is also the Executive Treasurer
for the ECU Foundation, the ECU Medical Foundation, the ECU Alumni
Association and the Pirate Club (the ECU athletic booster club). A
Certified Public Accountant since 1981, he holds a BBA in Accounting
from Idaho State University and a PhD in Accounting from Texas A&M
University. Read more here
.
> + A REMINDER: POSTAGE RATES TO RISE THIS MONTH
Beginning Sunday, January 22, it will cost more to mail first class
letters, postcards and packages within the US. The cost to mail a first
class letter will be 45 cents, an increase of 1 cent. According to the
USPS, this is the first increase since May 2009. The cost of mailing a
postcard will be 32 cents, an increase of 3 cents. This is the second
increase for postcard postage in less than a year; in April 2011, the
USPS boosted the postcard stamp price from 28 cents to 29 cents. You
will also pay more to send letters to Canada, Mexico and other
international destinations. Click here
for more information on all the postal increases.
> + ARMY MARS RESUMES USE OF WINLINK 2000
According to Government Liaison for Army MARS
Pudge Forrester, AAA9GL, Lieutenant
General Susan Lawrence has reversed the decision to phase out the use
of the Winlink 2000 global radio e-mail
system by Army MARS members. General Lawrence stated that the Army --
after reviewing its capabilities -- had decided that the continued use
of Winlink 2000 was a valuable asset to Army MARS members and to the
agencies that were using the service. She issued a statement to that
effect on December 21, 2011. On January 5, 2012, the Chief of Army MARS
officially notified his membership that the phase out notice had been
rescinded. Army MARS members and agencies who had been using the
service hailed the decision by General Lawrence and resumed use of
Winlink 2000.
> + US DISTRICT COURT FOR MAINE ISSUES ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY
JUDGMENT AGAINST GLENN BAXTER, K1MAN
On January 10, the US District Court for Maine issued a ruling in
the FCC's lawsuit to collect monetary forfeitures issued to Glenn
Baxter, K1MAN, of Belgrade Lakes, Maine. The FCC had assessed
forfeitures in the amount of $21,000 against Baxter
on
three asserted violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and its
regulations: Failure to respond to an FCC inquiry in violation of Title
47, Section 308 of the US Code
,
willful or malicious interference with other radio transmissions in
violation of Section 97.101(d)
,
and engaging in communications in which he has a pecuniary interest in
violation of Section 97.113(a)(3)
.
Chief US District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr, in writing for the Court,
agreed with the FCC on the first two counts -- willful or repeated
failure to respond to FCC requests for information, and willful or
malicious interference -- and granted summary judgments to the FCC in
the amount of $3000 and $7000, respectively. On the third claim --
communications in which an amateur station licensee or control operator
has a pecuniary interest -- the Court declined to grant a summary
judgment to the FCC, holding that there were issues of material fact to
be litigated in the Court in later proceedings. Find a link to the
complete decision here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "Fooling me like the Sun in the winter
" Cook, K7RA, reports: New
sunspot groups appeared on every day over the past week. On January 12,
new sunspot group 1396 appeared, and the next day two more -- 1397 and
1398 -- popped into view. On January 14, four new sunspot groups
appeared: 1399, 1400, 1401 and 1402. January 15 saw group 1391 vanish
and new group 1403 emerge. Two more appeared January 16 -- 1404 and
1405 -- while 1397 vanished. On January 17, 1406 appeared and 1395
disappeared, while 1407 emerged on January 18. The average daily
sunspot numbers rose this week, from 90.6 to 116.9, while the solar
flux stayed about the same, changing from 134.9 to 133.4. The latest
predictions have a solar flux of 150 on January 19-20, 155 on January
21-22, 160 on January 23-25, 155 on January 26, 140 on January 27-29,
and 135 on January 30-February 6; we are still looking for a solar flux
peak of 165 on February 17-21. The predicted flux values of 160 on
January 23-25 are markedly higher than the 145 predicted last week for
the same dates. The predicted planetary A index is 6, 8, 5, 8 and 12 on
January 19-23, and 5 on January 24 through the end of the month. Look
for more information on the ARRL website on Friday, January 20. For
more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Max Graham's Sun in Winter
.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- January 20 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- January 21 -- Feld Hell Sprint; LZ Open Contest
- January 21-22 -- North American QSO Party (SSB); Hungarian DX
Contest; YL-ISSB QSO Party (SSB)
- January 21-23 -- ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
- January 25 -- SKCC Sprint
- January 25-26 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
Next week:
- January 27 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint; NCCC Sprint Ladder
- January 27-29 -- CQ 160 Meter Contest (CW)
- January 28-29 -- BARTG RTTY Sprint; REF Contest (CW); UBA DX Contest
(SSB); SPAR Winter Field Day
- January 28 -- WAB 1.8 MHz Phone Contest
- January 29 -- QRP ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint
- January 29-30 -- Classic Exchange (CW)
All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page , the ARRL Contest Update
and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar for more
information. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out
the ARRL Special Event Stations Web page
.
> UPCOMING ARRL SECTION, STATE AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS
- January 27-28 -- ARRL Mississippi State Convention
,
Jackson, Mississippi
- February 4 -- ARRL Virginia State Convention
,
Richmond, Virginia; ARRL South Carolina State Convention
,
Ladson, South Carolina
- February 10-12 -- ARRL Northern Florida Section Convention
,
Orlando, Florida
- February 17-18 -- ARRL Southwestern Division Convention
,
Yuma, Arizona
- February 18 -- ARRL Arkansas Section Convention
, Hoxie,
Arkansas
- February 25 -- ARRL Vermont State Convention
,
South Burlington, Vermont
- March 3 -- ARRL Santa Clara Valley Section Convention
,
Del Rey Oaks, California; ARRL South Texas Section Convention
,
Rosenberg, Texas
- March 3-4 -- ARRL Alabama Section Convention
,
Birmingham, Alabama
- March 9-10 -- ARRL Louisiana State Convention
,
Rayne, Louisiana; ARRL Oklahoma State Convention
,
Claremore, Oklahoma
- March 10-11 -- ARRL Roanoke Division Convention
,
Concord, North Carolina
- March 17 -- ARRL Nebraska State Convention
,
Lincoln, Nebraska; ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention
,
Stuart, Florida; ARRL West Texas Section Convention
,
Midland, Texas
- March 23-24 -- ARRL Maine State Convention
, Lewiston,
Maine
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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