OCTOBER 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) – 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

OCTOBER 2013 SECTION NEWS

At its annual meeting, the New England Spectrum Management Council
announced a proposal to modify the 2-meter band plan to include new
repeater channels with outputs from 146.41 to 146.49 and inputs 147.41
to 147.49. Also included was a test pair at 147.505 with a 146.505
input. The NESMC membership will vote on this band plan in the near
future. There is no doubt that some existing simplex users may be
affected by this proposed change.

In order to gauge the possible impact, NESMC has attempted to identify
as many simplex users as possible. They are also seeking additional
input from the amateur community. If this interests you, you can find
additional information about the change at
<http://www.nesmc.org/2013-2m.pdf>. You may be interested in joining a
discussion group set up for this purpose
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nesmc>. –Thanks, K1IW.

Amateurs across New England and the country were saddened to hear of
the passing last month of a ham radio legend: Wayne Green, W2NSD/1 of
Hancock, NH. Best known as the publisher of 73 Magazine, Green was an
eccentric and opinionated character who never missed an opportunity to
level criticism at the ARRL. Even so, “Never Say Die” as many knew him,
was a frequent visitor to ARRL Headquarters and a Life Member.

Over the years, Green spoke at various venues and Eastern Massachusetts
radio club meetings, including the Billerica ARS and the Boston ARC. He
entertained and enlightened us with his fascinating insights into
future technologies; also, he supplied us with humorous anecdotes to
pass along to newer generations of hams.

A detailed story about Wayne Green’s career can be found on the ARRL
web site at <http://tinyurl.com/qeu8h3m>.

Plans are proceeding for ARRL’s Centennial Convention, July 17-19, 2014
in Hartford, Connecticut. The League has created a special web page for
the event at <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-centennial-convention-2014>.

Don Burke, KB1LXH is coordinating a Jamboree On The Air operation from
Camp Norse in Kingston on October 19. Burke anticipates that he and his
group will expose over three hundred scouts to the world of Amateur
Radio. “We will operate KC1TAC during JOTA from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
on Saturday on local two-meter repeaters and across the HF bands. Our
goal is to give the Cub Scouts a taste of Amateur Radio and have each
scout make at least one contact.” KB1LXH is asking for assistance from
area hams, in the form of pre-arranged contacts or in-person
demonstrations. “Maybe you have a special skill you can
demonstrate–fox hunting, Morse code, satellite. Anything.” For more
information, see <http://ema.arrl.org/node/2020>.

Members of the Minuteman Repeater Association heard a presentation by
KB1OIQ on “Linux applications in the ham shack” at their September 18
meeting in Northborough.

K1RV reports that “Deek”, AC1M of South Weymouth donated a complete
Kenwood HF station to the K1USN Radio Club. It will soon be installed
at the club shack in the Thomas Watson Museum in Braintree.

IRLP, EchoLink and courtesy tones have been restored to the 147.000
repeater, according to Southeastern MA ARA’s W1RJC. Ricks adds that the
controller was upgraded to a brand new S-COM 7330 and the node PC was
replaced with a Raspberry Pi.

SEMARA members provided communications support for the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation Cycle For Life on September 28.

The Boston ARC still needs additional volunteers to provide
communications for the BAA Half-Marathon on October 13. Contact
<ab1rl@arrl.net> if you can help.

The Pilgrim ARC featured a presentation at its September meeting by an
engineer from WOCN Yarmouth on the station’s FM antenna array.

ARES, along with numerous public safety agencies, was represented at
the Falmouth MA Preparedness Safety Fair on September 28.

WA3ITR of Wellesley attended the recent Antique Wireless Association’s
52nd Annual World Convention in Rochester, New York.

Harvard Wireless Club set up an HF station at the Student Activities
Fair on Sept. 6. According to HWC’s Bill Collins, W1PL, “We put up
AB1LD’s loop antenna on a tripod. We were the highest structure at the
fair, so it was very effective in attracting people… We were able to
sign up 13 undergrads on our signup sheet.” Bill hopes the club’s
presence at the fair will bring in some much-needed “new blood” into
the club.

This SM spoke to a group of Amateurs on September 21 at the Irving K.
Zola Center for Persons with Disabilities at Brigham House in Newton
Highlands on the Courage Kenny Handiham Program.

PART of Westford members participated in a fox hunting training session
on the Westford Common on September 28. KB1MGI led the training.
Attendees were shown how to find hidden transmitters by body fade and
harmonic frequency techniques, along with using directional antennas.
Both KB1MGI and KB1OIQ have been active in deploying hidden
transmitters in nearby Chelmsford on summer weekends.

K1MGY seeks ham volunteers to assist with the CF Cycle for Life on
October 5. The course winds through various metro-West towns, including
Dover, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medfield, Medway, Milford, Millis, Natick,
and Sherborn. See <http://ema.arrl.org/node/2106> for additional
details.

The Nashoba Valley ARC will hold the fifth “NVARC Lantern Battery
Challenge” from October 17, 2013 to March 1, 2014. Organizers hope to
make the event more interesting and encourage even more participation
by rewarding contacts made outside of North America with a higher
score. For additional information, see the article in the September
issue of “The Signal” at <http://tinyurl.com/pymxxog>.

NEAR-Fest XIV is coming to New England on October 11-12. Mark your
calendars for this bi-annual, two-day “ritual” at the Deerfield, New
Hampshire Fairgrounds. Note: there are some important changes regarding
ticket sales, and parking, camping and tenting passes. See
<http://near-fest.com> for details.

The Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC along with one of its members was
featured in a well-written human-interest article in the North
Attleboro Sun Chronicle entitled, “Hamming it up for real.” It can be
viewed at <http://tinyurl.com/nbbvc8o>.

Speaking of SMHARC, the club is offering public service assistance for
the Attleboro Area Council of Churches Crop Hunger Walk on October 20.

NASA is inviting Amateur Radio operators from around the world to say
“HI” to their Juno spacecraft as it flies past Earth on October 9, on
its way to Jupiter. Juno’s radio and plasma wave experiment, called
Waves, should be able to detect a coordinated HF Morse code message if
enough people send it. If you do participate and would like to receive
a QSL card, just send an email to <juno_outreach@jpl.nasa.gov> with
your call sign and mailing address. More information about the
experiment can be found at <http://tinyurl.com/pz2f7nu>.

We all know that men significantly outnumber women in the Amateur Radio
hobby. But that fact didn’t stop an Irish amateur from creating this
YouTube video entitled “YLs Love Ham Radio,” at
<http://tinyurl.com/nvdvkbn>.

73,

K9HI

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