MARCH 2017 SECTION NEWS

EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION NEWS – March 2017

ARRL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION STAFF

Section Manager (SM) – Tom Walsh, K1TW

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Phil Temples, K9HI

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Rob Leiden, K1UI

Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) – Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ

Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) – Ed Parish, K1EP

Public Information Coordinator (PIC) – Open

Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) – Marek Kozubal, KB1NCG

Assistant SEC (ASEC) – Rob Macedo, KD1CY

Assistant SEC (ASEC) – Mike Leger N1YLQ

Section Traffic Manager (STM) – Marcia Forde, KW1U

Assistant STM (ASTM) – Greg Bennett, KC1CIC

Section Youth Coordinator (SYC) – Jeremy Breef-Pilz, KB1REQ

State Government Liaison (SGL) – Hank Mc Carl, W4RIG

Technical Coordinator (TC) – Dan Brown, W1DAN

HOW TO CONTACT EMA STAFF MEMBERS:

To contact section staff members directly simply visit

<http://ema.arrl.org> for contact information.

HOW TO BECOME AN EMA FIELD VOLUNTEER

To apply for an ARRL field appointment read about the different roles on the ARRL web site at <http://www.arrl.org/field-organization>.  If you are interested, contact <k1tw@arrl.org>.

SECTION NEWS UPDATES

For the latest updates to section news, please check our website regularly at <http://ema.arrl.org>.

EVENTS:

March 25, 2017

Cape Ann ARA Tech-in-a-Day

Contact Rick Maybury, WZ1B   <RMAYBURY@PPG-I.COM>

April 1, 2017

NH ARES Academy

<http://www.nh-ares.org/academy.php>

Monday, April 17, 2017

Boston Marathon

April 22, 2017, International Marconi Day (IMD)

KM1CC Marconi Wireless Wellfleet Station (1901);

W1AA, Marconi Nantucket Station;

0000Z April 22 through 2359 April 22.

KM1CC information at <https://www.facebook.com/KM1CC/> and <https://www.qrz.com/>;

W1AA information can be looked up on <https://www.qrz.com/>; IMD information at <http://gx4crc.com/gb4imd/> Information via Barbara, N1NS

Sunday, April 23, 2017 – 09:00 AM

Framingham ARA Spring Flea Market and Exams

Keefe Technical School

Framingham, MA <http://w1fy.org/flea.aspx>

May 5-6, 2017

NEAR-Fest

Deerfield, NH <http://www.near-fest.com/>

May 6-7, 2017

New England QSO Party (NEQP) <https://www.neqp.org/>

June 2-4, 2017

Museum Ships on the Air (MSOTA) weekend

0000Z June 2 through 2359Z June 4

Find further information at <http://ema.arrl.org/node/2186>

ARRL Field Day

June 24-25, 2017

CLASSES:

Nashua Radio Club Classes:

April 28-30     Amateur Extra Class

Classes are held at Dartmouth Hitchcock Nashua, 2300 Southwood Drive, Nashua, NH. You can find more information at <http://n1fd.org/license-classes/>.

General License Class:

May 13 and 20, 2017

Genesis ARS

Plymouth Airport, Genesis ARS meeting room

Contact: Chris N1IR, <chrisjohnson2003@gmail.com>

NETS (INCLUDES BOTH EMA/WMA)- Information via Marcia, KW1U EMA STM

The Massachusetts Rhode Island Phone net (MARIPN) which meets Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 6 PM on 3978 KHz (plus or minus for interference) is open to all amateurs, whether traffic handlers or not.  While we pass message traffic at the beginning of the net, we hope folks will join in for general amateur conversation and socialization.

EM2MN           145.230 MHz              8 PM Daily                    EMA 2 Meter

MARIPN          3978 KHz                 6PM Tu, Th, Sa                MASS/Rhode Island

HHTN            MMRA Repeaters  10PM Su, M, W, F                Heavy Hitters

CITN           147.375 MHz               7:30PM M, Tu, Th, Sa   Cape & Islands

MARI           3565 KHz                  7PM Daily                      MASS/Rhode Island

CM2MN          146.970 MHz               9PM Daily                      Central MA

WMTN            146.910 MHz             10AM Daily                      WMA

WMTN            146.910 MHz             1PM Daily                       WMA

WMEN            3944 KHz                8:30AM Su                       WMA

NEPN            3945 KHz                8:45 Su                         NE Phone Net

February BPL (500 or more points): N1IQI (1141), KW1U (878) February PSHR (70 or more points): KW1U (130), KC1CIC (125), N1SYC (115), N1IQI (110), N1TF (105), N1LAH (100), W1RVY (100), AB1UF (78), AC7RB (80), AB1UF (75), N1LKJ (74). Congratulations to all!

From Marek, KB1NCG – EMA ARES Nets (all times ET):

Monthly ARES – First business Mondays 2030 on the MMRA network <http://mmra.org/>

HF ARES/RACES Net – First business Monday 1845  3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until clear frequency.

Eastern MA Hospital Net First Saturdays 1000 on various repeaters (see ares.ema.arrl.org)

W. Middlesex ARES Simplex Net – Second Tuesdays 1900 147.435S PL110.9

Cape Cod ARES Net

– Every Wednesday 2000 Barnstable Repeater 146.955– PL88.5

South Shore Skywarn Net

– Every Saturday 2000 Bridgewater Repeater 147.180– PL67.0

Norfolk Country Emergency Preparedness Net

– Every Sunday 2000 Walpole Repeater 146.895- PL123.0

News items:

Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, ARRL CEO is visiting the NSRA as their special guest speaker on Monday, April 3.  NSRA invites you to join them for this very special occasion.  Details at <http://www.nsradio.org/>

Pete, K1PJS, NH section manager reports the Granite State Phone Net is returning to air after a hiatus of many years and will operate Monday through Friday nights.  Check them out at 8:30p on 3965 KHz.

The 7th Annual NH_ARES Academy will be held on April 1.  Go to <http://www.nh-ares.org/academy.php> for information on the program and attending.

PART OF WESTFORD has been asked once again by the Westford Kiwanis club to help with communications at the Apple Blossom Parade, to be held on Saturday, May 13th. PART has a long history of helping the Kiwanis with this event.

George, K1IG, Field Day chair for PART of Westford says, “Response to the first call for volunteers has been very good; we’ve got stations for CW, SSB, VHF, and Get-On-The-Air (GOTA), a Safety Officer, food team leader, and antenna team leader identified. Important slots we need to fill are the digital station leader and generator coordinator.”

At the March 20 NSRA meeting Steve, W3EVE, presented “My Experiences with Emergency Ham Communications and How to Prepare.”

North Shore Radio Association (NSRA) has updated their Public Service list for 2017. If you want to help, visit <http://www.nsradio.org/> and sign up to help.

John, K1JRO reports “The April 1, 2017 Eastern MA Hospital Net is approaching. We are always looking for groups or organizations to take a turn at Net Control duties.”  If interested contact him at <ssharc@gmail.com>

From Bob, K1IW, comes a report that recent snow has forced cancellation of the March 18 Ashland Half Marathon which will be deferred until October 28, 2017.

MMRA had to cancel its March 15 meeting due to the snow storm.

Here is a list of upcoming meetings at the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society (WARS) that you may want to consider attending.  Lots of great topics here!

– April-18: Solar Ham Radio KB1OTQ

– May-16: The Maker Scene N1ZCE

– June-20: Elections, Field Day planning

QRV by Dan, W1DAN, President of WARS.  “We hold our weekly radio net on Wednesdays at 8PM throughout the year. Tune in to the W1TKZ repeaters on 147.030 (PL123Hz) or 444.600 (PL88.5Hz) and check in! Net control is either Don, KB1OTQ or myself. Sometimes a topic is discussed, other times anything goes, as this is an informal net. We always enjoy newcomers whether they are members or not.”

The Framingham ARA is having their annual flea on Sunday April 23, at Keefe Tech, 750 Winter Street in Framingham. $5 admission. Tables $25 (email tables@fara.org for reservation). Coffee and donuts available.  Grand prize a dual band HT. <http://w1fy.org/Flea.aspx>

The Billerica Amateur Radio Society (BARS) invites all parents, grandparents, and scout members to join them for a very special youth-oriented presentation on Wednesday, April 5 at 7 PM.  Skip Youngberg, K1NKR, will talk about Girl Scout Thinking Day on The Air.  Skip’s a member of the Nashoba Valley ARC in Pepperell.  BARS meeting details at <http://www.w1hh.org>

The NVARC has been supporting TDOTA for the past three years and finds it a rewarding way to conduct outreach to youth.  This year NVARC supported two event-activations, one in Shirley, MA and their usual one in Raymond, NH.  NVARC details at <http://www.n1nc.org/> .

The BARS VE session held in Chelmsford on March 9 reported three new Technician licensees, two General upgrades, and two Amateur Extra upgrades.  (From Gary W1GFF)

The March 16 Quannapowitt Radio Association meeting featured a slide show on a recent operation by club members Mike W1USN and Bob AA1M in Panama (HP8). QRA holds a weekly net on Tuesday at 7:30 PM on the 147.075 WA1RHN repeater.

Local 10-meter interest seems to be growing.  Please send in your reports of regular 10-meter gatherings in EMA to include in the news.  Last month, we highlighted evening activity around 28.430 in the Lowell

area.

The Middlesex Amateur Radio club is showing interest in gathering on 28.325.  They also have a local 2-meter net Thursday evening at 7 PM ET at 147.360 MHz with no PL tone, or on Echolink at W1LJO-R node number 462341.

Cape Ann ARA is hosting a Tech-in-a Day session on March 25th.  Contact Rick Maybury, WZ1B <RMAYBURY@PPG-I.COM> for information.

The folks at K1USN Radio Club report, “Thanks to the efforts of many people, K1USN now has a brand new Elecraft K3S in place at Operating Position #1. Hopefully you will get an opportunity to drop by some Saturday morning to check it out.”  (Forwarded by Pi, K1RV)

Phil, K9HI would like to remind everyone about the Eastern MA ARRL online activities calendar, a publically accessible Google calendar at http://ema.arrl.org/node/2131. Club officers: please peruse it to ensure that your club meetings and other activities are listed and up-to-date. Send updates or corrections to Phil at <k9hi@arrl.org>.

SILENT KEYS

We have received the sad news that Bob Hill, W1ARR passed away on February 27, 2017.  Bob was an early member of the YCCC, worked at ARRL Headquarters many years ago and was known for his entertaining columns on amateur radio contesting. Recently, he was very active with the shortwave and medium wave listener community around Boston.

You may have seen the Boston Globe article about a terrible fire in Warwick, MA in early March claiming the lives of Lucinda Seago, and four of her five children. We learn now that Lucinda was also an amateur radio operator—KB1VPO—who had gotten her ticket to teach

her children.

FINAL WORD

Spring where are you hiding?  EMA would like to know.

73,

Tom, K1TW

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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section

Section Manager: Thomas D Walsh, K1TW

k1tw@arrl.org

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