April, 2011 Section News

ARRL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION: Section Manager (SM) – Phil Temples,
K9HI; Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Jeremy Breef-Pilz, KB1REQ;
Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) – “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM; Official
Observer Coordinator (OOC) – Ed Parish, K1EP; Public Information
Coordinator (PIC) – Bob Salow, WA1IDA; Section Emergency Coordinator
(SEC) – Rob Macedo, KD1CY; Section Traffic Manager (STM) – Marcia
Forde, KW1U; State Government Liaison (SGL) – Shawn O’Donnell, K3HI;
Technical Coordinator (TC) – Eric Falkof, K1NUN.
APRIL, 2011 SECTION NEWS:

As most of you know, the ramifications of passage of H.R. 607 are
rather serious–the potential loss of 420-440 MHz! Fortunately, the
response from clubs and individuals in Eastern MA and across the U.S.
to H.R. 607 has been excellent. ARRL Media & PR Manager Allen Pitts,
W1AGP has produced a clear, concise video recapping H.R. 607. I
encourage you to download the video at <http://www.arrl.org/hr-607> and
play it at your next radio club or public safety meeting.

Amateurs are beginning to make their voices heard in Washington, and
the popular press is taking notice, too. USA Today recently carried a
story entitled “Ham radio operators concerned about losing band” with a
favorable slant. Keep up the good work, everyone! And if you haven’t
already drafted a letter to your House Representative, I urge you to
check out the auto-letter generator program by KD4PYR. Details can be
found at <http://ema.arrl.org/node/1828>.

Spring is here (April 1 snow storms not withstanding), and public
service events are popping up all over the area. They are great
opportunities for you to dust off your H-Ts, charge your spare battery
packs, and head outside to assist worthwhile charities and other
non-profits with communications and coordination. Never participated
before? No problem! The folks who organize comms for these events are
always eager to help a first-timer. So don’t be shy. Check the Eastern
MA ARRL home page at <http://ema.arrl.org> for announcements on
upcoming events.

Thanks to everyone who provided me with LoTW feedback from last month.
I’ve taken the liberty of forwarding your comments (preserving your
anonymity) to ARRL Hq. as well as copying Division Director K1KI.

This SM was privileged to give presentations at March meetings of the
following clubs: the Harvard Wireless Club, the North Shore Radio
Association, and the Colonial Wireless Association. Thanks for your
attentiveness and warm hospitality!

The Fall River ARC – W1ACT is once again conducting a Martha’s
Vineyard DXpedition,”Team HAMCOW” for IOTA & the New England QSO Party
on May 6-8 1200Z-2100Z in Aquinnah. QSL via N1JOY.

WA1TAC presented about linux to members of the Nashoba Valley ARC at
their March meeting.

Kudos to WZ1L for a wacky (and almost-believable) April Fool’s posting
on the CAARA mailing list. Well done, Bill!

Thanks to KB1PJN and N1UEC, the Framingham ARA repeater on 147.15 is
back to full operation.

PART of Westford’s April 19 meeting will have a “CW Show and Tell”
theme.

According to K1WCC, Falmouth Hospital ARES members are “staying sharp”
by conducting informal radiogram traffic sessions at their meetings.

W4RIG of Gloucester has been appointed an Eastern MA Local Government
Liaison.

Waltham ARA recently ordered some spiffy new W1MHL QSL cards, according
to club prez N1JDU.

Nashoba Valley ARC’s “Adopt-a-Highway” cleanup program starts April
24.

Brockton Emergency Management is sponsoring a ham radio class each
Saturday in April from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at the VA Medical Center,
Building 22, in training rooms 1 and 2. The full scoop can be found at
<http://ares.ema.arrl.org/node/550>.

The Boston ARC will provide communications support for the Run of the
Charles Canoe and Kayak Race on April 30. Contact <KB1P@arrl.net> if
you’d like to help.

The Cape Ann ARA has created a scholarship program for high school
seniors pursuing technical careers. Its members are raising funds
through member donations (via PayPal) and monthly breakfasts.

April 17 marks the return of the Flea at MIT in Cambridge. Be sure to
mark your calendars for the third Sunday of each month from April until
October. Details can be found at <http://w1mx.mit.edu/flea-at-mit>.

SEC KD1CY and ASEC KB1KQW traveled recently to Goshen, IN to present on
“SKYWARN Best Practices” at the Indiana-Michigan-Ohio (IMO) SKYWARN
Seminar.

The National Weather Service will hold a special Hurricane Awareness
Tour on May 2 at Otis AFB in Falmouth. More details as they become
available.

Eastern MA Amateur Radio Group continues refurbishing work on the old
CAP trailer at the Mansfield Airport, according to N1UEC. Donations of
building material have been received from several area organizations.
Some of the main floor, most of the windows, and the main entrance door
have been replaced. When completed, the facility will be used for
training, operating and other ham activities.

SKYWARN training sessions will be held in several towns and cities in
Eastern MA and across New England in April and May. Consult
<http://wx1box.org/node/36> for a complete schedule.

Congrats to W1UE of Marlborough for taking 1st place among non-CA
stations in the California QSO Party. And YCCC finished 2nd in the club
category behind Contest Club Ontario, with 24 entries.

Fox hunters have been particularly active on the South Shore of late.
The Whitman ARC and South Shore Fox Hunters conducted a hunt in the
Bridgewater vicinity on March 26. NI1X volunteered to be the
“four-legged critter” at the hunt.

Speaking of foxes, Barnstable ARC is holding a fox hunt in Dennis on
April 15. Details are at <http://tinyurl.com/3cromem>.

Pentucket RA recently put together a group order for some very nice
club jackets.

An exercise was held on March 20 to test communications readiness
involving the newly established South Coast Hospital Emergency Amateur
Radio (HEAR) Network. The full story can be found at
<http://ares.ema.arrl.org/node/552>.

Lots of ham activity will be heard on Boston area repeaters May 1 under
the special events Net Control call sign W4H for the Walk for Hunger. To
volunteer, visit <http://mmra.org/wfh>. [This SM will be one of the
40,000+ walkers participating in the 20-mile event.]

NE1RD has produced for PART of Westford a video set on YouTube
documenting the history of the club. Details can be had at
<http://www.wb1gof.org/F_about/F_history/>.

And now… a word from our Technical Coordinator, K1NUN:

“Do you cringe when you see the word ‘microwave’? Think again about
what you can learn. Even if you never delve above 449.999 MHz, consider
the following. More and more (if not all) your HF, VHF, and UHF radios
use surface-mount devices (SMDs) and surface-mount techniques. Someday,
you will need or want to solder or unsolder one of these tiny gadgets.

“See your April, 2011 edition of QST, pages 97 and 98. One of our own
Eastern MA hams, Paul Wade, W1GHZ has written a super and simple guide
to soldering these SMDs in his column, Microwavelengths. This article
doesn’t even have anything to do with microwaves! You’ll see Paul’s
clear description and pictures of how you can work with these tiny
critters. Even if you don’t ever pick up a soldering iron, isn’t it
good to know just a little bit more technical stuff than you did a few
minutes earlier?”

Thanks, Eric.

Very 73 to all,

Phil, K9HI

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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Phillip Temples, K9HI
k9hi@arrl.org
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