[SFDXA] LoTW heading for Statistical Cliff? - SFDXA letter and response

[Bill Dzurilla]

FYI, the SFDXA board decided to send a letter to our ARRL officers about the LoTW issue.  Here is the text of our letter and the ARRL's response:
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To: Greg Sarratt, W4OZK
Director, ARRL Southeastern Division
 
cc:  James Millsap, WB4NWS, Vice Director

From: South Florida DX Association

Re: LoTW  Issues

 
Greg,
 
The South Florida DX Association is a large, 100% 
ARRL-member club.  Lately, I (like you, I expect) have been receiving a 
great number of complaints from my membership about the performance of 
LoTW.  I would be happy to respond to these complaints, and resolve them locally (i.e., before they reach your inbox), except that I have 
received no guidance from the ARRL on the issue, and therefore cannot 
offer any assistance.  This situation reflects badly on both the ARRL 
and the SFDXA.
 
I would very much like to receive an official, comprehensive report on the status of LoTW from ARRL HQ, describing:
·         The present staff and budget of the LoTW program;
·         The hardware and software used;
·         The performance issues encountered in the past year; and
·         The action plan to resolve these problems.
 
With this information, I and other club officers in your Division can “run 
interference” for you, and present facts into a public debate sorely 
lacking them.  The ARRL can then start the process of converting LoTW 
from its present public relations disaster back into the crown jewel of 
innovation it once was.
 
In addition, your membership contains persons knowledgeable in database 
design and administration; many are ready to help, but have no means to 
do so.  This report would enable these opinion leaders to provide public support for the ARRL’s action plan, and also to provide technical 
support to the plan, if it were needed.
 
I hope you will agree with me on the above points.  Could you let me know if such a report could be made available, and if so when?
 
Thank you and 73,
 
Bill Dzurilla, NZ5N
President, South Florida DX Association

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Thanks Bill for your email and letter. I have been following the issues and 
reports published, both on the ARRL site and emails and understand everyone’s 
frustration. I have read that at least 100 very knowledgeable folks have and are 
involved in resolving the issues, both hardware and software. Hurricane Sandy 
and the Nor Easter didn’t help with the resolution efforts as well. There is 
progress that has been made and being made to improve the system. I have 
attached the latest email below from ARRL CEO Dave Sumner. Please pass on and 
re-assure everyone that improvements have been made and much forethought has 
been received from experts in the IT field. As with any computers, “stuff 
happens” a.k.a. “Murphy’s Law”, and hopefully the new hardware and upgrades will 
be more robust to handle the enormous entries submitted daily. Please instruct 
folks to watch for future announcements at the ARRL website. Thanks for your 
patience and the group’s. 
Respectfully,
Jim Millsap
ARRL SE Division Vice Director