JANUARY 2013 SECTION NEWS – Eastern Massachusetts ARRL

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  


JANUARY 2013 SECTION NEWS

I'd like to wish each and every one a happy and prosperous New Year.
I'm happy to report I've just achieved the first of my New Year's
resolutions: I remembered to type January "2013" instead of "2012."

January 2013 marks the beginning of my new two-year term as your
Section Manager. I'd like to take a moment and reflect on just a few of
the many Amateur Radio activities and events that occurred in our
section during the past twelve months: 


Last January, members of the South Shore Hospital ARC put several young
patients and their family members in contact with Santa Claus at the
North Pole. All the young people received a special Santa QSL card. 

February saw the re-introduction of proposed legislation that could
potentially impact how mobile telephones in automobiles in the
Commonwealth could be used. Our State Government Liaison, K3HI kept a
watchful eye to ensure that no ambiguously worded amendments surfaced
that might cloud the legality of Amateur Radio mobile operations.

In March, the Framingham ARA conducted another of its ever-popular
"License in a Weekend" events.

April is always a very "radioactive" month in the section.  Boston
Marathon Amateur Radio communications dominated the airwaves, utilizing
numerous repeaters and simplex frequencies between Hopkinton and Boston
on Patriots' Day. Also, PART of Westford operated special event station
K1P over the Patriots' Day weekend, commemorating the battle of
Lexington and Concord at the start of the Revolutionary War. And, the
Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club operated special event station KM1CC from
the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Another special event
operation (K1T) was also conducted at the historic Marconi station site
in Wellfleet.

May is traditionally the month where amateurs turn out for numerous
public service events, and 2012 was no exception. In addition, of
course, no month of May is complete without the bi-annual NEAR-Fest
(a.k.a. Deerfield). Also, amateurs operated in the New England QSO
Party.

June is all about what we know as that part-time picnic, part-time
emergency communications exercise, and all-time fun event known as
Field Day. Held the last full weekend of June, Field Day frequently
includes weeks of careful planning and coordination. I was privileged
to visit with clubs from Falmouth to Gloucester during Field Day.
Thanks to the efforts of Sen. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, N1UIU, and
LGL W4RIG, the Eastern and Western MA ARRL Field Organizations obtained
from Gov. Deval Patrick's office an official document proclaiming June
23-30, 2012 as Amateur Radio Week in the Commonwealth!

July saw over 100 amateurs from a variety of radio clubs volunteer for
the first full-scale test of the World Radio Team Championship which
will be held in New England in 2014. Approximately 15 stations were put
on the air for a 24-hour period from 12 different locations along the
I-495 corridor. 

In August, the biennial ARRL New England Division Convention in Boxboro
dominated the local scene. Such a massive undertaking could not have
succeeded without the efforts of many dedicated volunteers. Mike
Raisbeck, K1TWF served as the General Chairman. Also, the Cape Ann ARA
led another successful DXpedition to Thacher Island off the coast of
Gloucester.

In September, the Whitman ARC was named the recipient of a Harvard
Pilgrim Health Care Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant for $500. The club
used the grant money to purchase radio equipment for 2-meter and HF
Go-Kits. WARC also held its annual Labor Day flea market.

October marked another Jamboree On The Air. One notable JOTA effort in
our section was the KC1TAC operation at Camp Norse in Kingston by
KB1LXH and the Taunton Area Communications Group. Members of the
Whitman ARC and Genesis ARS also assisted. The Nashoba Valley held its
annual W1 QSL sorting party. And the Falmouth ARA conducted a highly
successful ARISS contact with school kids at a Falmouth elementary
school.

Early November saw the arrival of "Super Storm Sandy" which left almost
400,000 residents of Massachusetts without power. According to SEC Rob
Macedo, KD1CY, "Hurricane Sandy prompted an Eastern MA ARES stand-by
and the staffing of the MEMA Region Two Bridgewater facility, various
city and town Emergency Operation Centers, shelters, and Red Cross
chapters as well as SKYWARN activation with operations at the Amateur
Radio Station at the National Weather Service in Taunton, WX1BOX."

These were just a few of the notable events and activities of 2012. I'm
sure that 2013 will be an even more momentous year for ARRL members in
Eastern Massachusetts. Stay tuned.


Kudos goes to Billerica ARS members who continued their annual
tradition last month of collecting dry and canned goods for donation to
the Billerica Food Pantry. 

Thanks to the efforts of N1JOY, Bristol Co. RA members are enjoying
their new Echolink node on the Fall River 2-meter repeater. KB1VXF
reports hearing a QSO between W2DAN and a station in China!

The Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club, KM1CC plans to conduct a special event
operation to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Marconi's first
trans-Atlantic transmission from the USA to Europe. Barring a blizzard,
the group will be QRV on January 18-19.

South Shore amateurs mourn the loss of Silent Key F. Wendell ("Wen")
Boyden, Jr., K1LWI of Hull. A longtime Quincy resident, Wen was a
regular on the MMRA Quincy 146.67 machine.

SEC Rob Macedo, KD1CY writes about ARES activities in 2013: "We are
looking to conduct more emergency communication workshops similar to
past years and plan for one to two exercises in mid-2013." Rob adds,
"Due to some changes in my own personal status, I'll be looking to our
Assistant SECs and DECs to do more in their respective districts,
including more training sessions, meetings, and exercises to provide
additional, localized support across our section." Eastern MA ARES
will, of course, continue to support hospitals and non-governmental
organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army and to "build
upon the work done in 2012."

Members of the South Shore ARC once again participated in Operation
Santa, allowing kids to talk with Santa Claus on the North Pole via
Amateur Radio. Twelve amateurs participated. KS1Q coordinated the
event. 

Cape Ann ARC hopes to introduce a new crop of operators to the joys of
Morse code by kicking off a 2013 Winter CW class on January 19 from
9:30AM to 12:00PM. The class will run through May 1. CAARA's goal is to
assist individuals in reaching a proficiency of "their own choosing"
recognized by several certification levels. For more info and to RSVP,
email WZ1B at rmaybury at ppg-I dot com. 

What's all the hoopla over Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System
(NBEMS)? Check out WQ1O's YouTube video at
<http://tinyurl.com/axmgjq6>.

"Public-safety and critical-infrastructure entities soon will have a
new option for long-distance, last-resort communications when local and
even regional infrastructure is unavailable. Intrado announced a new
product called 'HF 9-1-1' that will leverage HF spectrum previously
reserved for maritime use." See <http://tinyurl.com/anmo2hy>.
--Urgentcomm.com

Rumor has it that Jerry, K0TV has been keeping the Billerica ARS crew
in "knots" with his demonstrations of Bowline, Bowline on a Bite,
Alpine Butterfly, Taut Line Hitch, and Clove Hitch!

The Quannapowitt RA holds its weekly club net on Tuesday evenings at
7:30PM on the 147.075 repeater, PL 151.4.
 
Massasoit ARA has extended an invitation to members of the Whitman ARC
to attend MARA's potluck Holiday Party on January 15.

In conjunction with the Waltham ARA's 75th anniversary, KA1MOM is
seeking the club's sponsorship for the W1S special event station at the
Watch City Festival May 10-11. Bill says, "This time we will have
equipment to operate on 10- and 20-meters based from the same tent used
for Watch City Festival 2012." Twenty thousand people are expected to
attend this year's event.

Southeastern MA ARA members were saddened to learn of the passing of
Lawrence "Larry" Lygren, W1DBX of Acushnet. 

The Eastern MA ARRL Speaker's List was recently updated. If your club
is looking for a new, engaging speaker or presentation, visit
<http://ema.arrl.org/node/1816>.

Nashoba Valley ARC held a "homebrew" night for members to show off
their projects at its December meeting.

Welcome back to Clayton, W5PFG, ex-KB5TBB who is visiting the area and
plans to attend the Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC breakfast on January
6.

Congrats to the Algonquin ARC for its recent purchase of an Elecraft
K3-100 transceiver. AARC intends to use the new rig "for club-sponsored
events such as Field Day or Museum Ship operations and to circulate
among the members on a monthly basis."

N1WCO would like to remind everyone to mark your calendars for the
Annual SEMARA Tailgate Flea Market on May 11 from 9:00AM to 2:00PM.
Details can be found at <http://ema.arrl.org/node/1981>.

Finally, this from the Start-'Em-Young-On-CW-Department: Evan, the 26
month-old harmonic of N1JOY and KB1TQB of Westport, asks for Morse code
practice daily. Roland says Evan is disappointed when they skip a
session! See <http://tinyurl.com/bkno3jv>.

73, and ARL SIXTY TWO NEW YEARS!

K9HI

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