MARCH 2013 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  


MARCH 2013 SECTION NEWS

Eastern Massachusetts and much of New England bore the brunt of the
"Blizzard of 2013" last month, but SKYWARN and ARES operators were
ready. 

"The storm dumped heavy snowfall -- with some areas receiving upwards
of 3 feet of snow -- as blizzard conditions brought hurricane force
winds that created power outages and significant tree and power line
damage over Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island," Section
Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY told ARRL Headquarters. 

"The Amateur Radio mission in our region has evolved into providing
information on damage, power outages and meteorological surface
observations in situations such as this blizzard," said KD1CY. "But our
hopes of escaping the winter of 2012-2013 with nothing more than routine
winter storms ended when this blizzard came to New England. Eastern
Massachusetts ARES was placed on stand-by on Friday, February 9 and
that standby continued through Tuesday, February 12 for both Eastern
Massachusetts ARES and those amateurs remaining active on Cape Cod who
provided communications support for active shelters and for the
Barnstable County Mutual Aid Coordination Center on Cape Cod."
 
KD1CY added, "We sent these reports to multiple agencies, including the
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross and
other non-governmental organizations, as well as the media. These
reports provided critical situational awareness and disaster
intelligence information to all of these entities."

Many of those reports pertained to flooding damage to shore structures
in the Massachusetts coastal towns of Hull, Scituate, Sandwich,
Gloucester and Salisbury. Hurricane force wind gusts coupled with wet
snow caused more than 410,000 homes to be without power in Southeastern
Massachusetts, with more than 170,000 without power in Rhode Island.

In Massachusetts, hams affiliated with RACES staffed Amateur Radio
stations at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Regions 1
(WC1MAA) and 2 (WC1MAB). "Having Amateur Radio operators at these
served agencies helped to provide auxiliary communications," said
Macedo.

Cape Cod ARES members also staffed multiple shelters and multiple
Emergency Operations Centers. "Cape Cod ARES has been active with
rotating shifts to staff the shelters and the Mutual Aid Coordination
Center. I'm very proud of all my people who have put in very long
hours," said ARRL Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator Frank
O'Laughlin, WQ1O. –Thanks ARRL, KD1CY, WQ1O, et al.

Thanks to the aforementioned blizzard, N1EZH's vertical tower became
"horizontal." Ouch. K1NOK in Scituate sustained damage to his Yagi.
W1AY in Norwell suffered antenna damage, as did W1CC in Duxbury. How
did your ham shacks and antenna farms fare during the blizzard?


It's that time of year again -- time to start gearing up for ARRL Field
Day, June 22-23, 2013. ARRL's flagship operating event -- always held
the fourth full weekend in June -- brings together new and experienced
hams for 24 hours of operating fun. Field Day packets are now available
for download and include the complete rules, as well as other reference
items. 

This SM had the privilege of speaking about the ARRL to members of the
Quannapowitt RA at their February 21 meeting in Reading.  Attention
North Shore hams: you're invited to check into the North Shore Simplex
Net. The net meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month, initially
on the Danvers 145.47 machine (136.5 PL), then it QSYs to 147.42
simplex. Send email to <wo1ves@nsradio.org> for more information. 

Technical Coordinator Eric Falkof, K1NUN spoke on stealth antennas to
Boston ARC members at their meeting on February 20 in Brookline.

PART of Westford will again operate special events station K1P on April
15 to commemorate Patriots' Day in Massachusetts. Says PART prez KB1OIQ,
"We typically operate one radio in sideband mode, and have several eager
operators. This is a great opportunity, especially for those with little
experience on HF."

Members of the Massasoit ARA held their annual potluck holiday party.
This year's event was at the Middleborough North Fire Station. After
the meal, the crew was given a tour of the MA Department of the Fire
Services Special Operations Incident Command vehicle that is currently
pre-positioned at the Station. Thanks, MAARA News.

KA1IOR (ops N1TB, K5MA, KA1IOR; Multi/Single; YCCC affiliated) made an
impressive showing, scoring just under a million points in the recent
ARRL DX contest CW weekend.

The Cape Ann ARA will conduct a Technician class License In A Day
session on April 27, 2013 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM in Gloucester. For
more info and to register, email Stan Stone, W4HIX at
<techinaday@caara.net>.

Friends are mourning the loss of Silent Key Russell L. Moore, WA1RKO of
Hudson. "Russ was an avid ham, brilliant engineer, and good friend,"
says W1IS/4.

The Framingham ARA is making plans to celebrate its 80th anniversary
with a special banquet in June!

D-Star enthusiasts: don't forget the New England Amateur D-Star Net
which meets on Reflector 010C on Tuesdays at 8 PM.

The Foundation for Amateur Radio is now accepting applications for
scholarships for 2013. The application deadline is April 15 and May 15
for FAR and QCWA Scholarships, respectively. For more info, go to
<http://www.farweb.org/about>. [SM Note: In the past, youths from
Eastern Massachusetts have benefited greatly from these scholarships.]

Youths from the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown will be
treated to an educational evening of ham radio at the Cape Cod National
Seashore Headquarters in Eastham on May 22 from 7 PM until 8:30 PM.
According to National Park Service Education Specialist and KM1CC
trustee Barbara Dugan, N1NS, members of the Barnstable ARC will be on
hand to assist with demonstrations. "The Perkins School has been coming
to the park for over 35 years to stay in our Coast Guard Station in
Eastham. We've done a few ham programs with them in the past." 

DEC KB1NCG presented an overview of Amateur Radio at a recent CERT
class in Brookline. Marek says: "Looks like there will be a lot of
interest in the next Technician class!" 

Marathon Amateur Radio Communications still needs volunteers to assist
with the 2013 Boston Marathon on April 15. Visit
<http://marc.mmra.org>.

The Framingham ARA will hold its annual Spring Flea Market and Exams on
April 7 at the Keefe Technical School in Framingham. Details can be
found at: <http://www.w1fy.org/Flea.aspx>

K1NUN reports that three amateurs from the Wellesley ARS have stepped
forward to assist in developing ham radio programs for the Zola Center
in Newton. "They, plus the three others who have assisted in the past
will be meeting soon to get us in production once again. In that there
will be a group instead of just one or two, the shared responsibility
will make it easier to keep our program running."

The Cape Ann ARA Morse code classes are off to a great start, according
to CAARA's Rick Maybury, WZ1B. Rick and other volunteers assist
participants in reaching a proficiency "of their own choosing" after
which they are awarded certifications. According to WZ1B, congrats are
in order to WB1EAZ and AB1LT. Ron and Bob passed the 5 WPM and 13 WPM
tests, respectively, and will receive certificates in a future class.

Speaking of CAARA, the club now has a modern, reliable Kenwood TKR-750
repeater with better range and excellent audio quality. It's still on
the same frequency of 145.13 MHz, but it now requires a 107.2 PL tone,
says CAARA prez W4HIX. 

South Shore ARES, in cooperation with the South Eastern MA ARA will
hold a District meeting at the SEMARA clubhouse in Dartmouth on March
16 from 10 AM until 2 PM. All South Shore ARES members are invited to
attend a day of presentations about Amateur Radio and emergency
communications. The meeting theme will be "From Tactical to Digital." 
More info can be had by contacting DEC Ed Caron, KA1RSY at
<ka1rsy@comcast.net>. 

On a somewhat Amateur Radio-related topic: how many of you have ever
picked up those mysterious stations in the utility bands whose
transmissions consist solely of spoken numbers? A new Hollywood motion
picture starring John Cusack deals with this subject. Entitled "The
Numbers Station" it premieres in theaters on April 26. You can see the
movie trailer at <http://tinyurl.com/argjgpa>.

And before we leave the subject of Hollywood: Velveeta has recently
been airing a television commercial that prominently features ham
radio. See <http://tinyurl.com/arh45rh>. (Am I the only one who thinks
it's a bit bizarre?)

73,

Phil, K9HI

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