JULY 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) – Arthur "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  


JULY 2013 SECTION NEWS

I hope that everyone enjoyed the opportunity to participate in Field
Day from a club or group site, or from a home station. As you know,
Field Day is part picnic, campout, practice for emergencies, an
informal contest and, most of all -- fun. Consequently, you can
appreciate the fact that a successful Field Day operation can judged on
numerous levels. I saw good turnouts by operators and the visiting
public, as well as some great publicity tables. I saw exceptional
station setups. I saw dedicated operators pounding out (shouting out?)
contacts at a rapid pace. 

What I didn't see, however, was a lot of different sites. Unfortunately
for me, my car broke down Saturday morning (the engine overheated) and I
was forced to return back to Watertown; and later, to search for a
rental car at the airport. All told, I managed to squeeze in visits to
only six sites in the section. During those visits, I displayed the
Amateur Radio Week proclamation signed by Massachusetts Governor Deval
Patrick. (My counterpart in Western Massachusetts also had a signed
copy from the Governor to show.)

I would like to take a moment and thank all of those hardworking Field
Day chairpersons/coordinators (fill in the title) for their efforts at
organizing this massive event for their group. I know it can sometimes
feel like a thankless job, but in the end it's well worth it --
especially when you see the face of a new club member making that first
contact on a new mode, or when your crew gets to enjoy a delicious home
cooked meal on the BBQ, et cetera. So, radio clubs -- please be sure to
give your Field Day leaders a BIG round of applause at your next radio
club meeting.

The Whitman ARC's Field Day operation was chronicled in a special
12-page Field Day newsletter edition, complete with lots of action
photos from its operation from the Old Colony YMCA site in East
Bridgewater. See <http://tinyurl.com/lsb2l3q>.

Mystic Valley ARG garnered a Field Day story about its operation in the
Patch, Wicked Local, and MyTown online news outlets.

Lowell Sun readers were treated to the story, "Amateur radio operators
connect in Pepperell" covering the Nashoba Valley ARC's Field Day
operation, at <http://tinyurl.com/nrag8gc>.

The Stow Independent carried a story, "Hams to the Rescue" describing
PART of Westford's Field Day effort,
<http://stowindependent.com/hams-to-the-rescue>.

The Bristol County RA-Fall River ARC's Field Day operation photos can
be viewed at <http://tinyurl.com/mk4g3rk>.

Ken, WO1N is stepping down after 15 years of publishing the Billerica
ARS's monthly newsletter.

K6ND shared photos from the joint Yankee Clipper Contest Club /
WRTC2014 planning meeting in Milton on June 1, at
<http://tinyurl.com/krv3g5a>.

Falmouth ARES members participated in a tabletop emergency
communications exercise at their June 13 meeting, according to K1WCC.
"KB1DOS worked up an exercise scenario designed to test our ability to
find and report lost runners," adds Henry. The group dispersed to
various locations on hospital floors to simulate locations in a road
race.

Six-meter aficionado K1SG presented on the "magic band" to members of
the Boston ARC at their June meeting.

Some PART of Westford members participated in the PMC Kids Ride in
Concord benefiting the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Congrats to Charlotte, KQ1F for passing her instrument flight-test
recently.

The monthly VE session at the Billerica Public Library continues with
good attendance on the part of both VEs and candidates, according to
Billerica ARS VE team liaison W1LUS. 

Kudos is in order to Matt Chao, N1IBB of Newton, who earned a bronze
medal in the recent IFDS Blind Sailing World & International
Championships 2013 held in Japan.

K1JRO reports the South Shore Hospital ARC provided communications for
the recent "Set the Pace Road Race" at Wampatuck State Park in
Hingham.

The Greater Lowell Bar Association awarded the Normand D'Amour Attorney
of the Year Award to Lee Gartenberg, K1GL of Framingham. 

The "Thirteen Colonies" special event operation runs July 1-6, 2013.
Massachusetts's duties will be shared by operators from the Cape Ann
ARA in Gloucester, and PART of Westford. Look for the call sign K2H/MA
on the bands. More info can be found at <http://www.13colonies.info>.

NT1FD presented on fire extinguishers and fire safety to members of the
Massasoit ARC at the May meeting.

No, you're not seeing things. That APRS map symbol for KJ1S-9 isn't a
car or a truck -- it's a motorcycle! Justin has an APRS station
installed on his 1998 Honda Pacific Coast 800. "I usually have it on
whenever it's a quick hop around town, a day trip, or a longer trip
than that."

The FCC is inviting public comments on a proposal from W.D. Rolph, III,
AB1PH, of East Walpole to amend the Part 97 Amateur Service rules to
permit the encryption of certain amateur communications during
emergency operations or related training exercises. For more
information, see
<http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive/ARLB015/2013>.

Trained SKYWARN observers reported an 80-mile per hour "microburst" in
Western Massachusetts along with wind damage and flooding on the North
Shore on July 1.

For the academically inclined: the Journal of Radio & Audio Media for
May 2013 (Volume 20, Nr. 1) contains a fascinating paper entitled,
"Disembodied Voices and Dislocated Signals: The World of Modern-Day
DXing" by author Michael Nevradakis.

73,

Phil, K9HI

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