Compiled by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor
news@arrl.org

This feature -- including convenient Web links to useful information -- is a concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment covers the month of August.

ARRL Sections along the Atlantic Coast are watching and monitoring the progress of Hurricane Earl, with many assisting WX4NHC and the National Hurricane Center.

Responding to solicitations in the July and August issues of QST, ARRL members in the Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeastern, Southwestern and West Gulf Divisions have nominated 16 candidates for the 10 positions of Director and Vice Director.

ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, led a contingent of Scouters at the K2BSA Amateur Radio station at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. K2BSA VEs administered 393 exams in seven test sessions. From these, 182 new and upgraded licenses were earned.

The town of Midwest City, Oklahoma -- after being sent a letter from the ARRL General Counsel -- agreed with the ARRL that its RFI ordinance does not apply to Amateur Radio operators.

In early August, the ARRL filed a Petition to Deny Applications with the FCC to deny 68 pending Public Safety Pool license applications associated with the ReconRobotics Video and Audio Surveillance System. Less than two weeks later, the League amended their Petition to include another 16 applications.

The ARRL filed comments with the FCC concerning a Notice of Proposed Rule Making regarding changes on the five channels allocated to the Amateur Radio Service in the 60 meter (5 MHz) band.

The Southern Florida Section and the Oklahoma Section will have new Section Managers starting in October, and the incumbent Section Manager of Ohio was re-elected in the summer Section Manager election cycle.

John Dilks, K2TQN -- who pens the “Vintage Radio” column in QST every month -- was awarded the AWA Houck Award for Documentation by the Antique Wireless Association at their 2010 World Convention.

W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, received a donation of a number of audio products from Heil Sound, including mic adapters, mic booms with associated hardware, two PR781 microphones and four PRO Set Elite headsets. Repairs were made to the rotator on top of the 120 foot tower outside W1AW. Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, assembled and installed an antenna side-arm on the satellite tower that holds a 23 cm vertical antenna used with the Icom ID-1 D-STAR 23 cm radio.

ARRL Volunteer Examiners can now look on the ARRL Web site to find out how many exam sessions they have participated in.

The 2010 Field Day logs received list -- listing all logs received, including applet, non-applet e-mail and paper logs -- was posted on the ARRL Web site.

Dates and location of the 2010 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) were announced.

Expended results for the ARRL International DX SSB Contest are now available on the ARRL Web site.

The second Rookie Roundup -- based on the Novice Roundups from decades past -- was held.

The ARRL Facebook page now has more than 11,300 fans, gaining more than 1000 fans in the month of August alone.

Five new Official Observers successfully completed their qualifying exams, bringing the total number of OOs to 720.

The September issue of QST and the September/October issues of NCJ and QEX arrived in mailboxes. The October issue of QST was sent to the printer.

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for August is James Garland, W8ZR, for his article “The StationPro Master Station Controller.”

Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, represented the ARRL at the Tokyo Ham Fair, checking cards for various ARRL awards.