101^st anniversary of the Loss of the Steamship Portland

DX QSL via the Bureau via K1WCC, W/K via K1WCC on QRZ.COM with S.A.S.E.

Watch the DX Summit for W1P Spots - http://www.dxsummit.fi/DxSpots.aspx?count=50&range=2

On the evening of Saturday, November 26, 1898, New England was struck by the most destructive storm the region had ever experienced. The gale killed over 200 persons and wrecked or sank at least 140 major vessels. The best-known victim of the gale was the coastal steamer Portland, lost off Cape Cod with 191 people aboard. The steamer gave her name to the storm, and has since been memorialized in New England folklore and legend. 

The storm started quietly on the evening of the 26th of November, with a light but strengthening wind. Within hours it had grown to hurricane proportions and was creating havoc all along the coast. The winds raged all through the night of the 26th, all day on the 27th, and did not subside until the 28th, some 36 hours after the storm had started. Winds were clocked at up to 72 mph in Boston, and were probably even stronger along the coast southeast of Boston, especially on Cape Cod.

To call the damage widespread is a vast understatement. Houses were blown over and washed away all along the coast from Cape Cod to Portland, Maine. The coastline was littered with the wrecks and wreckage of dozens of vessels, large and small, smashed or sunk by the fierce winds and seas. In Provincetown harbor alone over 30 vessels were blown ashore or sunk. Damage along Boston's south shore and Cape Cod was probably the worst; telegraph lines were brought down, railways washed out, and even the low scrub trees of Cape Cod were blown away. In Scituate, a small coastal community 30 miles south of Boston, the coastline was permanently altered when mountainous waves cut a new inlet from the sea to the North River, closed the old river mouth, and reversed the flow of part of the river.http://www.hazegray.org/features/1898gale/

from the Brocton Enterprise Tuesday November 17, 2009

"Local Scouts recently took in the Jamboree-On-The-Air an annual Scouting and amateur radio event sponsored by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  Thousands of amateur radio stations around the world participated giving Scouts a chance to exchange greetings all over the world.

For the Past two years Don Burke (KB1LXH) has put together a team of local hams form the Taunton Area Communications Group and the Whitman Amateur Radio Club to participate in the event with Cub Scouts at Camp Norse in Kingston.  Contacts were made with the Cape and Islands Council at Camp Greenough in Yarmouth, and Troup 53 Mattapoisett from the Narragansett Council.  Jeremy Breef Pilz (KB1REQ) was busy contacting stations in Florida, Kansas and Alabama,the Central Nottingham Scout District in Sherwood Forest and others from Illinois, Wisconsin, Estonia and the Check Republic....

At the end of the day the team put 233 cub scouts, scouts and brownies on the air and may have lit the spark for the next generation of hams.... "

Thanks to KB1LXH for a job well done!  And thanks to NI1X for this article.

From the NSRA Email List as provided by WX1N-Dick, Mel Cole-WZ1Q, best known for his support of an attempted rescue for a ship at sea the 'Can Do' during the Blizzard of 78 passed away. The obituary is listed below:

Tickets are now on sale for the Massachusetts QRP Convention to be held at the Westford Regency Hotel and Conference Center in Westford, Massachusetts March 12-13, 2010. Conference admission is $25 per person which includes access to the Friday night meet-and-greet and the Saturday conference event. Ten speakers are scheduled to appear including three members of the QRP ARCI Hall of Fame and Joeseph H. Taylor, Jr., Professor in the Department of Physics at Princeton University and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1993).

A post conference banquet will be held Saturday evening featuring Steve Galchutt, WG0AT, the "goat hiker" and his adventures climbing Colorado's various 14,000 foot peaks with his faithful pack-goat companions Rooster and Peanut. Admission to the banquet is $40 per person.

Tickets can be purchased on-line at http://www.masscon.org/ with PayPal or any major credit card.

Members of the Caribbean Buddies 2010 team (including one from Eastern Massachusetts) will mount a DXpedition to St. Lucia (J6) February 2-10, 2010. Nine operators from eight states will have fixed operations from a cliff-top villa and portable operations from various points on the island using CW, SSB, and digital modes. The team consists of the following operators: Chris Drummond (W6HFP), Budd Drummond (W3FF), B. Scott Andersen (NE1RD), Dan Gagnon (WZ1P), Steve Galchutt (WG0AT), Mike Greenwood (KC4VG), Guy Hamblen (N7UN), Paul Van Dyke (KB9AVO), and Weymouth Walker (K8EAB). Licensing is not yet complete but each operator is expected to receive their owncall sign. QSL via LoTW, eQSL, or mail to operator's home call (SASE required).

The Zola Center for Adults with Disabilities (zolacenter.org)along with the Boston ARC held a licensing class at which 8 new Hams obtained their licenses. Now, BARC is assisting in getting those folks on the air from the community center.

Eric (K1NUN)  writes:

"It was a beautiful day for Donna (KB1QVT and director of the Zola Center), Jeff (KB!QVW), Jean (KB1QVV), Alex (KB1SSN), Tom (KB1P), Hank (K1QK), Phil (K9HI), Eric (K1NUN, and John Rice to assemble, build, and install two Ham Radio antennas at the Brigham House in Newton.

Getting an early start, Hank, Tom, and Eric inserted eye-bolt ring insulators at the sunroom corners. These would be the end termination points for the inverted-V antenna. Indoors, Jeff, Jean, Donna, and Alex built the Cushcraft AR270 V/UHF collinear antenna. Eric and Phil ran around distributing hardware, wire, and tools, and performing quality control on the Cushcraft. Hank and Tom, in the attic, mounted the inverted-V antenna at the top of the attic window  and draped the ends down to the standoff insulators and dropped the two coaxial cable transmission lines down to the sunroom. The MFJ pass-thru panel was cut to size and inserted in a rear window. Hank had hand-made a similar panel for the attic window to allow installing the V/UHF antenna indoors, inside the attic.

Jean, Donna, and Eric made several trips up and down, delivering tools, hardware, and encouragement.

Indoors, cables were attached to the pass-thru panel, into the corner cabinet, and it was done!

Tom connected the Boston Amateur Radio Club's Yaesu FT-897 transceiver to test out the antenna. All worked as expected! Primarily, the V/UHF antenna is our first priority to allow visitors to connect and make contacts through local repeaters. Later, the inverted-V may need pruning for better matching on 20 meters and up through six meters, but the antenna is fine for casual short-wave broadcast listening.

John Rice showed up to pass his approval on the installation. John, by the way, was elected ward alderman just this week, and he continues to serve on the Brigham House Board of Advisors. He said he is pleased to see the Ham Radio antenna and station installation as a means to encourage greater participation in the House's activities as a community center."

Way to Go Gang !  A job well done!

The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association will hold its Eleventh Annual FARAFEST Amateur Radio Fleamarket and exam session at the Upper Cape Regional Tech School, 220 Sandwich Road, Bourne, MA from 9 AM to noon on November 7th, 2009.

Check the FARA web page, falara.org, and click FARA Events at the top of the page for directions and advance registration information. Tables are provided for indoor spaces only. Outdoor spaces are available, weather permitting. 8 foot spaces are $10.00. Refreshments are available and provided by Culinary program students at the school.

VE session will run from 9 AM to 11 AM on-site.

This year, an Electronic Recycler will be available at the site. Bring your old computer monitors and other unwanted electronics (no TV's please) and dispose of them for a small fee.

Talk-in will be on the FARA repeater, 146.655 (-) PL 88.5.

Hope to see you there!

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will hold its Amateur Radio Flea Market and club fundraising event on Saturday, November 14th, at the Pigeon Cove Circle Center located at 6 Breakwater Avenue in Rockport Mass.

The doors will open to those selling items and renting tables at 7 am. The doors will open to all buyers at 9 am. If you would like to rent a table in advance, the cost will be $10.00 and this includes one admission. If you would like to rent a table the day of the flea, it will cost $15.00 including one admission. General admission for all buyers will cost $5.00. The club will also have a consignment table if you would like the club to sell an item for you or if you would like to donate an amateur radio related piece of eguipment for the club to sell with the proceeds going to CAARA. There will be no computers or monitors sold at this event. If you have any questions or would like to reserve a table, please contact Dick Copithorne at dick911@yahoo.com or 1-508-269-4941. During the flea there will be a talk in frequency on the CAARA club repeater on 145.130 Mhz with no pl.

New England Area   Ham - Electronic  Flea Market  ***  DATES  *** 2009 P 1 of 2
All events are Ham Radio/ Electronic related except ~_____~ 

*******************************************************************************
2009                                                    Contact          Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 Sept Windsor ME AARA @FG $5@8                     Bill K1NIT 207 623 9075  

12 Sept Ballston Spa NY SCRACES @FG $5@7              Al KA1IEG 518 677 3316  

12 Sept Windsor CT VR+C Mus 115 Pierson LN @8AM Tailgate   John 860 673 0518 W

13 Sept Newtown CT CARA@TownHall $6@8:30 $15/T$10TG@7 Joe AB1DO 203 938 4880 W

13 Sept Dartmouth MA SEMARA @54 Donald St B@9 S@8      Tim N1TI 508 758 3680  

19 Sept Forestdale RI RIFMRS @VFW rt146 8A flea+auct Rick K1KYI 401 864 9611  

19 Sept Alton NH MASONS @Lodge @7 Tg$10 $20/inside T  Bob W1GWU 603 776 0086

19 Sept Alexander ME StCVARC                        Mike KB1GEO 207 427 3058 A

19 Sept Omeaux PQ WIARC @Shriner's $5@9 $15/T@8      Ken VE2KLF              R

20 September  Cambridge MA       FLEA at MIT               Nick 617 253 3776 F
                 Third Sunday April thru October                       

Members of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association and Cape Cod ARES participated in an emergency evacuation exercise at the Falmouth Hospital in August, 2009.

According to Dan Howard, K1DYO, of Cape Cod ARES, hospital administrators have requested a "list of equipment necessary to establish a permanent station within their building." K1DYO says "the hospital has the necessary funds to cover the cost."

Thanks, Falmouth ARA News, September, 2009