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
JUNE, 2011 SECTION NEWS:
As I write, recovery efforts are presently underway in Western and
Central MA in the wake of severe storms and tornadoes that have killed
three people, injured hundreds, and destroyed dozens of homes in 19
communities. The Governor has declared a state of emergency. On the
Amateur Radio front, Eastern MA ARES is in a “stand-by” mode; ARES
leaders are offering assistance to their counterparts in the Western MA
section. SKYWARN volunteers from both sections are involved in helping
the National Weather Service conduct damage assessment. ARRL
Headquarters posted a comprehensive news story about the disaster today
on its web site at <http://tinyurl.com/5wbfdao>.
From Alabama to Joplin, MO to Springfield, MA, it seems that Mother
Nature is striking with a vengeance. And pitching in in the recovery
efforts are the Amateur Radio operators. This week at an FCC
conference, a FEMA spokesperson had this to say about Amateur Radio:
“We get so sophisticated and we have gotten so used to the reliability
and resilience in our wireless and wired and our broadcast industry and
all of our public safety communications, that we can never fathom that
they’ll fail. They do. They have. They will. I think a strong Amateur
Radio community [needs to be] plugged into these plans. …When you
need Amateur Radio, you really need them.” [ARRL Letter]
Field Day will soon be upon us–June 25-26, to be precise. Planning by
most clubs is well underway. Is YOUR club ready? N1VUX, who maintains
our Eastern MA Field Day pages, says, “We’re looking for club Field Day
plans for those not already confirmed, whether you’re operating from a
prior years’ location or a new one, for 12th Annual EMA Field Day
Directory <http://fd.ema.arrl.org/field_day>.” He adds, “Folks in
Eastern MA looking for nearby Field Day sites to join in on the fun can
find them listed here, along with advice for doing a first Field Day, or
for making the most of a repeat experience.”
Efforts are currently underway to obtain an Amateur Radio Week
Proclamation from the Governor’s office and/or the Massachusetts Senate
to coincide with Field Day. If successful, an update will be sent to all
ARRL members in the section prior to Field Day weekend.
Members of the Cape Ann ARA and Algonquin ARC have decided to operate
in the Class “F” category from their respective Town Emergency
Operation Centers.
As in previous years, several members of my Eastern MA ARRL staff will
be touring various Field Day operating sites across the section. This
SM will also be out and about, hoping to visit as many sites as
possible over the roughly 24-hour period. I’ll be on the local VHF/UHF
repeaters, and also, “live tweeting” about my visits on Twitter as
@k9hi.
Of course, Field Day isn’t about just emergency preparedness and making
QSOs on the air. AB1HD reports that PART of Westford will again conduct
its popular Field Day “Toolbox” talks. The talks are 15-20 minute
presentations followed by Q&A on a variety of topics, such as: PSK31,
using an antenna analyzer, APRS, and computer logging.
FEMA’s Independent Study Program offers courses that support Emergency
Communications, Emergency Management, Logistics, and other critical
areas of national preparedness. For a full list, visit FEMA’s web site,
at <http://training.fema.gov/IS/>.
Southeastern MA mourns the loss of Silent Keys W1VUG of Fairhaven, and
W1ESG of New Bedford.
Congrats to W1HUB, who was recently appointed as Emergency Management
Director for the Town of Ipswich.
This Section Manager presented to members of the Minuteman Repeater
Association at their May meeting in Westborough.
Nashoba Valley ARC published the results of its recent Lantern Battery
Contest. Participants operated from October 2010 to March 2011, making
as many on-air contacts as possible until power from their lantern
batteries were exhausted. Although everyone who participated was a
“winner”, top finishers included K1BG (Unlimited, CW class) with a
record number of 259 QSOs in 81 DXCC countries; and K1NKR, who took
first place in the Unlimited, SSB class. The club received a total of
eleven log entries.
Members of the Bristol County Repeater Association and Team HAMCOW, led
by N1JOY, conducted their ever-popular annual DXpedition to Martha’s
Vineyard Island May 6-8, operating W1ACT on 160 meters through 1296
MHz.
The Southeastern MA ARA awarded its 2011 SEMARA Scholarship to Amanda
Mendes, a student at New Bedford High School. She will soon begin
studying nursing at U. Mass. Dartmouth. SEMARA president W1MLD awarded
the $500 scholarship to Mendes at the club’s May business meeting.
Framingham ARA wishes to publicly recognize W1EQW for his contributions
to the club. According to club president Gordy Bello, K1GB, “Jim is a
key part of FARA’s programs, especially for leading FARA’s Volunteer
Examination Team.”
Cape Cod ARES DEC WQ1O reports he had a fruitful meeting recently at
Sandwich Emergency Management Agency. The group reviewed hospital
communications capabilities and upcoming exercises. ARES and Sandwich
EMA are working closely together to outfit their EOC with a “wide
assortment of communications gear.” Frank adds, “It’s nice working with
folks who think outside the box and wish to make the most of
opportunities that come our way.”
Attention affiliated club presidents: New England Division Director Tom
Frenaye, K1KI and Vice Director Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF cordially invite
you to attend the next Division Cabinet Meeting on June 18 at the Four
Points Sheraton in Leominster. This is an excellent opportunity for you
to provide direct input to the ARRL board of directors on policy issues.
For more info and to RSVP, contact K1KI at arrl dot org.
The Boston ARC provided communications support Boston Brain Tumor Ride
on May 15. The event course traversed numerous towns and cities,
including: Waltham, Weston, Lincoln, Acton, Carlisle, and Concord.
KA1GTA of Gloucester became a recent Silent Key.
KA1VCQ points out this nifty Morse code ring tone generator program for
your cell phone, available at <http://tinyurl.com/7ksdh>.
The latest 1RN Net Report by W1KX includes this interesting statistic:
1RN Cycle 4 representation by MARI stations was 30 for 30. That’s 100
percent. Good job, folks!
KA1RSY reports the South Coast Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio (HEAR)
Network plans to purchase laptops for each member-hospital for digital
communications this summer. HEAR held a successful communications
exercise in March 2011.
KB1LXH is looking for help to teach the Radio Merit Badge at Annawon
Council’s Merit Badge Mania, to be held at Camp Norse in Kingston on
August 20-21. If you’re interested, please contact Don at DonEB425 at
verizon dot net.
Amateurs in Carlisle and Concord garnered great publicity via an
article in the Carlisle Mosquito newspaper on May 18 entitled, “Ham
radio antennas to aid town’s emergency communication” at
<http://tinyurl.com/5rqoce2>.
A hearty congrats to graduates of the Cape Ann ARA “Tech-In-A-Day”
class on May 7: KB1VSS, KB1VST, KB1VSU, KB1VSV, KB1VSW, KB1VSX, KB1VSY,
KB1VSZ, KB1VTA, and KB1VTB. And kudos to all the CAARA members who were
involved in this grand effort to expand the ranks of the hobby. As
Bill, WZ1L puts it, “I for one do not believe the hobby is
disappearing. We have new blood coming in.”
KB1LQC and KB1LQD of Chelmsford have been very busy at the Rochester
Institute of Technology ARC (K2GXT) building a high-altitude balloon
with Amateur Radio equipment on-board as part of the payload. The
balloon was launched on May 7 in nearly perfect weather. It rose to
almost 100,000 feet before it burst, and the payload floated to Earth
via a parachute. The payload consisted of electronic circuitry,
sensors, and a camera, and was entirely constructed by Bryce, Brent,
and others at K2GXT. For a more detailed description, visit
<http://collegearc.com/arhab/> archived: <https://web.archive.org/web/20110728085313/http://collegearc.com/arhab/>.
73,
Phil, K9HI
——————————————————————–
ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Phillip Temples, K9HI
k9hi@arrl.org
——————————————————————–