[SFDXA] LoTW heading for Statistical Cliff? - SFDXA letter andresponse

[Pete Rimmel N8PR]

Bill,

He says:  " 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"

What happened to the attachment?  I didn't see it.

PeteR

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bill Dzurilla
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 3:29 PM
To: Richard M. Gillingham ; The Romagni's ; Norman Alexander
Cc: sfdxa ; Mark Horowitz
Subject: Re: [SFDXA] LoTW heading for Statistical Cliff? - SFDXA letter 
andresponse

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:
*******************************
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

*************

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
______________________________________________________________
South Florida DX Assoc.
SFDXA WebSite: http://qsl.net/k4fk
SFDXA Repeater 147.33+ 103.5 Tone
To Post: mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net
Subscribe or UNSubScribe:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa
DX Net Wed 7:33 PM Repeater

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html