[OkHam] Fw: An Assistance Request From The Amateur Radio Newsline

[Lloyd Colston]

THE AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE SUPPORT FUND
Providing Financial Support To The Amateur Radio Newsline, Inc.
(A Federal 501(c)(3) Non Profit Corporation)
Post Office Box 660937
Arcadia CA. 91066
Tel/Fax: (661) 296-7180
E-Mail: newsline@arnewsline.org
on the web at: www.arnewsline.org

April 14, 2003

Dear Friends and Listeners,

I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, and since 1977, I have been the unpaid 
volunteer producer what is today the Amateur Radio Newsline. I am here
for 
one reason. In just one word, money. Money to keep Amateur Radio Newsline

in operation.
Simply stated, Amateur Radio Newsline is once again in deep financial 
trouble and we need an immediate infusion of funds to keep the service 
alive and the weekly newscasts coming your way.

Here's the score. As this is being written, our Support Fund
Administrator 
Andy Jarema, N6TCQ, says that there is only $24.80 left in the Newsline 
Support Fund bank account. There are also outstanding bills totaling $661

sitting on his desk that must be paid immediately.

No extensions of time will be given to us. No delays will be entertained.

These creditors -- namely telecommunications providers -- want to be paid

right now. Otherwise our ability to communicate goes away and the news 
gathering process grinds to a halt. It could happen before the next 
newscast gets to you a week from now.

Actually, you would not have heard this week's Amateur Radio Newsline 
report (#1339) if I had not made partial payment on some of these bills
out 
of my own pocket. But candidly, that's it. I just do not have the money
to 
keep Amateur Radio Newsline going all by myself.

For those of you who do not understand where the money is spent, let me
lay 
it out for you. The biggest single cost is worldwide long distance 
telephone service. For example, I just got off the phone after talking to
a 
ham in Kuwait City who had news of possible resumption of Amateur Radio
in 
Iraq by broadcast engineers assigned to news bureaus. Calls like this are

how we get most of the news that we deliver to you.

Even with the discounts we have negotiated through long-term contracts, a

12-minute call like this does not come cheap. But it is the price we pay
so 
that we can bring you the most accurate and up-to-date news regarding 
Amateur Radio operations worldwide.

Currently, it costs Amateur Radio Newsline an average of $500 to $600 a 
month in long distance fees. And this is in addition to the cost of
normal 
local phone service and any domestic long distance -- the latter also 
negotiated at deep discount rates. Summing it up, the telephones total 
close to $800 a month. Sometimes a bit more. Sometimes a bit less. But
$800 
is a solid average these days.

But that's not all. There is also the cost of high speed Internet access,

website hosting, file transfer space (FTP site), and everything else that

comes with maintaining an interactive home in cyberspace. That's the home

that we must retain to get the news out to you. It's called 
http://www.arnewsline.org

And there are still tape cassettes and portable recorders. Yes, we still 
use good old cheap audiocassettes and mostly Sony consumer recorders to 
gather the news. And we go through quite a few tapes every month and a 
recorder or two a year. Even at the wholesale prices we pay, it's still
an 
average of $20 to $30 for what we use.

That's assuming that nothing goes wrong, of course. That nothing breaks.
Or 
that online protocols do not change, and necessitate expensive software 
upgrades. So you see, the total cost of bringing you the news is over 
$1,000 a month or about $250 a week.

Some of you will say that this is an awful lot of money, so here is a
point 
of comparison. As some of you know, I work in the broadcast industry. As 
such, I can tell you that amortized across the business day, it costs the

"average" local television station around $1,000 to $1,500 per hour -- 
depending on the market -- just to cover a single story that may run 30 
seconds on a newscast. If they fly a news helicopter, you can add another

$700 an hour.

And that's local news! International news coverage costs a lot more than 
that. When you compare our rather meager budget with the news department
of 
an "all news" local radio station, it's easy to see that Amateur Radio 
Newsline has learned to squeeze a nickel so hard that it yells "uncle!"

The reason we can do this is because there is no paid staff. Everyone -- 
this writer included -- and the corporation's Board of Directors -- is a 
volunteer. We have no salaries to pay and none of the peripheral expenses

that come with maintaining a full time group of employees.

But, what if something does go wrong? What if a fax machine or cassette 
recorder breaks and needs to be replaced? Or a computer dies and needs to

be repaired? Or we are faced with a mandatory software upgrade because 
providers no longer support the software that worked just fine three days
ago?
Well, it works this way. If it's a "must do," I pay for it out of my own 
pocket and hope that donations will cover it at some later date. That's
the 
way that it has been since 1977, when I took over the then Westlink News 
Service from Jim Hendershot, WA6VQP. And believe it or not - that's the
way 
it is, to this day!
If anyone else on our all-volunteer staff has a problem, they fix it and 
submit a bill. If there is money in the account, they get reimbursed. No 
money, and they wait. No bill submitted -- no repayment.

And oh yes. There is the $1,100 or so that it will cost us this August to

present the Young Ham of the Year Award. Yes, Vertex-Standard and CQ 
Magazine cover all the expenses of the youngster chosen to receive the 
award, but we have to pay to send a representative to Huntsville,
Alabama, 
to present the award and also -- this is a biggie -- cover the costs of
the 
mini-banquet to honor the youngster the committee has selected. (The 
Huntsville Hamfest, like most Amateur Radio shows, discontinued its
annual 
banquet several years ago.)
I was just over on ORBITZ.com, the airline travel site. I plugged in 
Burbank, California -- the airport closest to us -- and Huntsville, 
Alabama, as the destination. This year's fare for this summer - the
21-day, 
discounted purchase price, is $543. And that's if we buy it now -- before

prices go up in early May. And we would -- if we had the money to do it!

Here's the bottom line. I am a working stiff just like the rest of you.
So 
are all of those who volunteer their time and talent to producing these 
weekly newscasts. I can personally help out with finances in a real
pinch, 
but I am not made of money and cannot keep shelling out what it costs to 
keep the Amateur Radio Newsline newscasts coming your way. The money just

isn't there!

If you want Amateur Radio Newsline to continue, you will have to vote
"yes" 
with your checkbook, and you have got to do it right now! Today! Not next

week or next month. Today is it!

Again, this is the bottom line: If we do not raise the $661 immediately, 
and an additional $1,000 a month -- every month -- month after month
after 
month -- we will be gone and we will not be back.

Remember, Amateur Radio Newsline is a federal, 501 (c)(3) non-profit 
corporation. Your contributions are tax-deductible. So we end this 
far-too-long announcement with the address for the Newsline Support Fund,

PO Box 660937, Arcadia, CA 91066.

We hope that you will respond and that this week -- or next week -- will 
not be the last week we bring you the news. Let's hope that it can, and 
will, continue to be with you for weeks, months and years to come. Either

way, it has been a great 26-year-run -- and we thank you for supporting
us 
over the years.

Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
President: ARNewsline, Inc.





Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
Writer - Producer
The Amateur Radio Newsline, Inc.
wa6itf@arnewsline.org
http://www.arnewsline.org
"Since 1976 - Hobby Radio News
for Todays Radio Amateur"