a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
The Massachusetts – Rhode Island STM report for September 2024 can now be found here. Note a link to the NTS2.arrl.org website with information on what’s happening with the NTS 2.0 project. Particularly find at this site a link to the NTS Letter archive and instructions on subscribing to receive this newsletter in your email mailbox monthly. Also note information on the Radiogram Portal, a web-based means to send messages via the National Traffic System without checking into a net or accessing the Digital Traffic Network. This is available to non-hams and hams alike. We also acknowledge the passing of two of our own over the past few months, Bernie KC1MSN and Doc KE1ML with links to their obituaries. We are also looking for CW operators to help out with MARI CW traffic net.
Bruce Blain, K1BG, writes:
The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s October meeting is TOMORROW, Thursday, October 17th at 7:30 PM at the Pepperell Community Center (in Pepperell). We start gathering at 7 PM to socialize before the meeting starts.
For October, our guest speaker will be Phil Gladstone, N1DQ, author of PSK Reporter. PSK Reporter is an amateur radio signal reporting and spotting network which allows hams to see where their radio signals are being received. The platform works by collecting digital signal reports from software clients like WSJT and FLDIGI, then mapping them to show which stations are being heard by other clients.
I personally can’t wait to hear this presentation!
Come and join the fun!
Need directions? Click here and put your own address in box “A”.
Thanks and 73. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Bruce, K1BG
978-772-2773 or bruce.blain@charter.net
N1WBV-Ben Jackson on the Southeast Mass Amateur Radio Association Email list writes:
Hi Everyone:
If you have ever thought about becoming involved with AREDN (https://www.arednmesh.org/) but also wondered “Well it sounds interesting, but who would I communicate with around the South Coastal MA Area?” I am happy to report that I have established an outdoor node just a touch NNE of UMass in FN41lp.
What is AREDN? AREDN is the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network which provides a way for Amateur Radio operators to create high-speed ad-hoc data networks for use in emergency and service-oriented communications. This is often done via consumer or “pro-sumer” 802.11 wireless networking gear running custom software. Currently, there are mesh networks in Rhode Island and they
reach as far as Tiverton, and there is an emerging effort on Cape Cod.
As I am always over engineering things I have also opted to make my node 100% solar powered and I’ve also put it up at 20ft AGL. Right now, I am putting it in “open Beta” and I want to let people know about it, however, I will expect it to randomly go down for testing as I am still hammering out bugs.
So if you have a 5GHz directional WiFi Access Point, please point it my way on Channel 149 of your 5GHz dial; and if you WANT to grab a 5GHz directional access WiFi Access Point, (especially if you have a tower!) please just let me know and I would be happy to point you in the right direction. I am also working out a full Bill of Materials (BOM) for what I assembled my node for.
73
Ben, N1WBV
Bruce Blain, K1BG, writes:
The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club (NVARC) is offering a free amateur radio licensing course beginning on November 4th. The eight night course will prepare students for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Technician licensing exam that will be offered at the completion of the course. The Technician level radio operator’s license is the first of three amateur licenses offered by the FCC. Each license has increased levels of operator privileges.
The course consists of twice weekly sessions beginning on Monday, November 4th, and meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays for four weeks (with a break on Thanksgiving week ). The course will be held at the Grady Research building, 323 West Main St., in Ayer. Sessions will start at 7PM and last for 2 hours. An FCC license exam will be scheduled for the end of the sessions. The course is free, but there will be an FCC required $15 testing fee if you take the exam. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 5th edition, will be the study guide used for the class. A limited number of study guides may be purchased from the instructor for $30 or online from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) or Amazon.
This course is open to all, there are no age limits. Pre-registration is required, no walk-ins will be allowed. To register you must contact the instructor, Bruce Blain at (508) 341-5124 or via email at bruce.blain@charter.net.
[Course announcement]Jon N1ILZ writes
We will be holding two Zoom sessions to help people get familiar with FLDIGI using NBEMS to pass formatted messages (Radiograms, ICS-213s, etc.); and net operations, specifically how to check-in to and interact with the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Digital (NTS) Net (MARIDN).
Thursday October 17, focused on the NBEMS programs FLMSG, FLAMP for message passing, and
Thursday October 24, focused on how to interact with a digital NTS Traffic Net, specifically, the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Digital Net (MARIDN).
Both sessions are 7:00 PM – ~8:30 PM or until finished. Zoom coordinates (below) are the same for both sessions.
A PREREQUSIITE for these courses is to have the FLDIGI suite configured and operational at your station (computer and radio). If you successfully completed the FLDIGI session with Don AB1PH on October 10, you have met the prerequisite.
You will be attending a Zoom session from the PC controlling your station. The training host will transmit several messages over the air in different formats. We will work with you to ensure that you successfully copy the messages. If there are failures, we will work to debug them via screen sharing during the Zoom session. In some cases, issues will be resistant to debugging during the session and we will deal with these individuals in one-on-one sessions later.
To participate effectively in the Zoom session, your Zoom session and FLDIGI connected to your radio should be running on the same computer.
The Zoom invitation follows:
—
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89342243637?pwd=RfasbGHaXGLU2xdhUDXQfIVBkBpPGx.1
Meeting ID: 893 4224 3637
Passcode: 013058
—
Please contact Jon N1ILZ (n1ilz@arrl.org) with questions.
Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:
The USCG Auxiliary combine Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was held on Sunday 13 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM.
Check Ins: Wilmington Radio
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Net Control: Waltham Radio NCS
Traffic: Radio tests were made of all radio facilities. It was announced that Flotilla elections are
forthcoming. January 10th is the Boat Show. Discussions of the Hurricane Milton and
Hurricane Helene events. Amateur Radio did a great job helping with communications.
Our Auxiliary Net held on the MMRA amteur radio network is going strong. This morning
we had 17 check ins. K1UVH Mike from Holbrook, a retired firefighter gave an account of
his assistance with Hurricane milton. Mike was on scene in the area at a IAFF convention
and volunteered his time working with their fire departments. He worked there for a week.
In addition to rescues they had several large working building fires to deal with.
Florida has a very progressive state and local government system and they did a great
job. It seems they were on top of everything and the fatality count was low. I saw a news
clip of the USCG Helo working a rescue. A gentleman’s boat went down during the storm
and the survivor was able to cling to a large ice cooler. He stayed afloat all night through
the storm until spotted by the USCG and rescued the following morning.
The D7 USCG Auxiliary COMMS. Team assisted the USCG and State government with
radio communications assistance throughout the storm. Hopefully we will continue on
through the month of November with NO more storm activity. I think it will show that the
tornados did more destruction and caused more loss of life than the hurricanes.
Emergency Ham radio communications for the hurricane are still on Broadcastify APP.
Use the N2GE repeater network on the APP.
Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License
The Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society will meet on-line and in-person on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7 PM and feature: “Lessons Learned as a Ham for Broadcast RF and vice versa” by Doug Evans, K3DRE.
Description: From broadcast radio into ham radio and back. Doug will share with us lessons learned in professional radio and how they led him into ham radio. From there, he’ll move to the things he learned as a ham that helped his career. Doug’s been to a lot of places and has seen some very interesting things, but found that the basics of RF always apply. Today’s modern digital broadcasting owes a lot to early hams.
Bio: Doug received his first FCC license (a third class radiotelephone operator, with broadcast endorsement) after he graduated from high school. The day after he graduated, he started working with his first rig, a 3000 watt FM transmitter, at the now defunct WMSP FM. After several years in commercial radio, Doug went to work for Public Broadcasting in Hershey, PA. After 23 years there, Doug left as a Producer/Director, having done a number of other roles as well. He then took a job doing HD wireless cameras and support communication and control for broadcast networks, and remained in that role for a number of years. Since Doug retired, he volunteers at ultra marathon special events and is a ham radio operator for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
KB1PGH-Dean Burgess, Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) ARRL/ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:
There will be an ARRL/ARES Emergency communications planning meeting for the Cape Ann area at the CAARA clubhouse at 6 Stanwood street in Gloucester on Saturday November 2nd at noontime. This meeting is open for all those who are interested in attending. This will be a first in a series of informal meetings as we start to plan out a ARRL emergency communications group on Cape Ann. The meeting will be run by ARRL/ARES emergency coordinator Dean Burgess KB1PGH and ARRL/ARES assistant emergency coordinator Bill Morris W1WMM.
Adam Smith, AA1N, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:Hi PART’ers – I took some time to read through the POTA web site again. Under the rules we can either do multiple individual activations, or a club/group activation.
As a group, all activity from a single callsign from the same park in the same (UTC) day would count toward the activation (but it’s possible to log the operator for each QSO under a shared call – and ops get some credit). If we wanted to do this (for this or future ops) then we’d want to register a group call with POTA – not sure if WB1GOF is registered, or if there’s a protocol for approving use of the club call for events?
https://docs.pota.app/docs/
and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night.
Due to the news reports and reports from operators out of the North Carolina area and other
Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:
The combined Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was called on the Roslindale repeater 6 OCT 24 at 1015 hrs.
Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Radio Roslindale
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Net Control: Radio Waltham NCS
Traffic: Stations were able to radio check their equipment. I spoke to the Comms people in D7.
D7 Florida area will be implementing their Emergency Communications Nets starting on
this Tuesday. Another hurricane will be hitting Florida on Wednesday. They have noticed
how we have had good luck using Ham radio assets in D1N. They will in addition to USCG
Auxiliary channels be using the Florida SARNET a robust Amateur Radio Network that
covers their whole state. The D7 area Auxiliary has one high site Auxiliary repeater in
Stuart Florida. This is a wide area coverage repeater.
In addition D7 will be utilizing the SHARES network. DHS has not activated the SHARES
net for Hurricane helene. D1N HF stations will be able to assist D7 on their 14 meg nets.
Any SHARES station is authorized to activate a SHARES net when needed. The SHARES
ALE network will also be in play on Tuesday.
D1N stations are reminded to continue to monitor the 5 Mhz 60 meter channels for any
distress calls. 5 Mhz is clearly heard in New England during the evenings.
The Auxiliary net is going strong on the MMRA network. We had 17 stations checked in today.
Anyone using a police scanner radio can tune us in on 146.82 or 146.69 Mhz to hear the net.
Again we are asking all members to consider getting their Amateur Radio License to be able
to participate.
Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License
The Sunday morning Divisions 5 / 12 Combined Radio net was held on Roslindale repeater – 29 SEP 2024 at 1015 hrs.
Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Radio Roslindale
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Radio Harvard
Net control: Radio Waltham NCS
Traffic: Radio tests were conducted. Flotilla elections are coming up. Hurricane
Helena is threatening the Southeast coast of the country. The Florida
Governor has reported that up to 1.2 million homes and businesses are
without power.
The Hurricane Net on 7.268Mhz was very busy handling emergency
requests and health and welfare radio traffic. HF assets are reminded
If the USCG is quiet and the Auxiliary is not needed please join in on
the Hurricane Net, Salvation Army Net (SATERN) or the Red Cross
activated nets.
Even though you reside in New England, HF covers the world and you
will be appreciated for helping these nets handle and move traffic. As a
reminder during Hurricane Katrina the SATERN radio Hams handled
over 50,000 Health and Welfare messages. A number of these messages
were for people in need of emergency rescues. I counted over 100 calls
for rescue that came to the SHARES HF network.
We operate a valuable resource that can be of real assistance in times of
emergency. At the least perform increased monitoring of the 5 Mhz 60M
channels for emergency calls.
The Auxiliary Net is held on the MMRA Minuteman Repeater Association
and is going well. We had 17 check ins this morning. The Auxiliary Net
starts at 1100 hrs every Sunday morning. Scanner radios can receive the
Net on 146.82 or 146.67 Mhz. Tune in or get your Ham Radio Technician
license and join us. A question came up on the Net as to joining RACES,
the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. RACES is a federally spon-
sored and authorized Ham radio Network. RACES is locally managed by
Emergency Management Director of a city or town.
When and if the president of the United States were to impose the War
Powers Act, Amateur Radio or Ham radio as we know it would be shut
down. The only Ham radio stations allowed to operate and transmit would
be RACES stations. RACES stations have to be designated and authorized
by EM Agencies for Official Business Only. Federal stations such as the
Auxiliary would continue to operate as usual for official business.
Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License
Hello to all…
The October Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday October 7th, 2024 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.
For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)
We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements for the net including training announcements in the areas of NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System), NTS training and the date for the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET).
Thanks for your continued support of ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
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Don Rolph, AB1PH, Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:
The MEMA RACES nets are held on the first Monday of the month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, when it is delayed one week, For Oct 2024, the MEMA RACES nets will be held on Mon Oct 7 at:
********************************************************************************
80 meter Voice net
No 80 meter voice net this month: No NCS.
*********************************************************************************
Region 2D VHF net:
7:30 PM ET VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.
Jim WJ1R will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF 80 meters NBEMS net:
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins, followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.
Don AB1PH will be net control
*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:
Bryan Marcotte KF1D will be net control.
Send a winlink checkin form to KF1D, copy AB1PH, between 0600 Monday Oct 7 and 2400 Monday Oct 7.
We look forward to you checking in!
—
73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph
Ben Jackson, N1WBV, writes on the Bristol Co. Radio Association mailing list:
If you have ever thought about becoming involved with AREDN (https://www.arednmesh.org/) but also wondered “Well it sounds interesting, but who would I communicate with around the South Coastal MA Area?” I am happy to report that I have established an outdoor node just a touch N/NNE of UMass in FN41lp.
What is AREDN? AREDN is the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network which provides a way for Amateur Radio operators to create high-speed ad-hoc data networks for use in emergency and service-oriented communications. This is often done via consumer or “pro-sumer” 802.11 wireless networking gear running custom software. Currently, there are mesh networks in Rhode Island and they reach as far as Tiverton, and there is an emerging effort on Cape Cod.
As I am always over engineering things I have also opted to make my node 100% solar powered and I’ve also put it up at 20ft AGL. Right now, I am putting it in “open Beta” and I want to let people know about it, however, I will expect it to randomly go down for testing as I am still hammering out bugs.
So if you have a 5GHz directional WiFi Access Point, please point it my way on Channel 149 of your 5GHz dial; and if you WANT to grab a 5GHz directional access WiFi Access Point, (especially if you have a tower!) please just let me know and I would be happy to point you in the right direction. I am also working out a full Bill of Materials (BOM) for what I assembled my node for.
73
Ben, N1WBV
Don Rolph, AB1PH writes:
We will be holding a Zoom session to help people get configured with FLDIGI:
Don Rolph is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: FLDIGI Class
Time: Oct 10, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86397317457?pwd=NFMfTJun4Du17Hba3uUhB96wImzQva.1
Meeting ID: 863 9731 7457
Passcode: 854541
—
In subsequent weeks we will have Zoom + on-air training for NBEMS and how to interact with a digital traffic net. Please stay tuned for announcements.
John Iwuc, KB1VXY, writes on the Framingham ARA mailing list:
Billerica ARS President Doug Bruce, N1WRN, writes:
We are pleased to announce that Terry Dennison, K9TAD, will be our Guest Speaker via Zoom on Wednesday Night, October 2, 2024. Terry will give a talk on Sunspot and Radio Propagation.
Here are some biographical details about Terry:
We will announce the link to join the Zoom meeting before the meeting, but it will be posted to the BARS email list and should not be shared outside our Club. Are you on the email list? If not, please send an email to bars-subscribe@w1hh.org and then simply reply to the robot response from the server and you will be subscribed.
Observing our Zoom meeting requires only a web browser and headphones/speakers. You do not need a webcam or microphone unless you want to speak or be seen.
Before our meeting date, please go to https://zoom.us/test and see if it will function for you. If you have problems, we can try to assist – feel free to ask questions on the BARS email list.
I am looking forward to “seeing” many of you there on Wednesday 10/2 at 1900.
Welcome to the September 2024 EMA Section Update! I am publishing this update to the EMA Section and NE Division websites. The email-blast-to-all-section-members function is still down, a casualty of the cyber-attack on ARRL HQ; there is currently no ETA. I’m publishing the Update on the EMA website and sending it to all the clubs I have email addresses for, with a request to distribute it widely. Please spread the word.
It’s now officially Autumn. That means the population of our Cape Cod communities has reverted to mostly normal. Many businesses have shuttered for the season, with many more planning their last hurrah for shortly after Columbus Day. This is by far my favorite season, as the temperatures moderate, the traffic calms down, the leaves turn, and things quiet down. And I’ll take my beverages without pumpkin spice, thank you very much!
* Election for New England Division Director
Nominations are now closed for ARRL New England Division Director and Vice Director. Incumbent Vice Director Phil Temples K9HI was the only person to submit nominating paperwork for Vice Director, so he was declared elected for the next three-year term. Incumbent Director Fred Kemmerer AB1OC faces Director Emeritus Tom Frenaye K1KI in the upcoming election for Director, New England Division. Emails have already been sent to all ARRL members in the Division with instructions on how to vote. Whomever your choice is, I strongly encourage you to vote in this very important election!
* HamXpo Was a Huge Success!!
In my not-so-humble opinion, HamXposition 2024, held this past August 22-25, was an unmitigated, smashing success. The vendor area was full to bursting, the list of seminars was broader and deeper than what one finds at HamVention (Dayton), and I believe a truly great time was had by all who attended. Please forward your HamXpo stories to me for inclusion in the next Section Update. The HamXposition website, https://hamxposition.org has thousands of photos, if you want to revisit the fun.
I’m already looking forward to next year!! Please mark your calendars for August 21-24, 2025, the dates for next year’s event.
* Boston Area GMRS Club Seeks New Members
Gregg Lebovitz, KD1MU, writes on the Boston ARC mailing list:
I wanted to let fellow GMRS licensees know that we are now taking memberships for the Boston Area GMRS Club.
The club is a not-for-profit 501c(3) corporation and focuses on two main areas 1) technology, operator proficiency, and emergency communications education and 2) building a GMRS infrastructure to aid agencies in their emergency communications efforts.
More details at https://ema.arrl.org/2024/09/19/boston-area-gmrs-club/
* Successful Walpole EMA/CERT Amateur Radio Field Exercise Held on Sep 21, 2024
On Sat. Sept 21, the Walpole Emergency Management Agency and Community Emergency Response Team sponsored an amateur radio field exercise. Operating portable and despite the rain, nine stations were deployed, eight at Adam’s Farm in Walpole and one on High Rock in Foxboro. Full details at
* Northeastern Wireless Club “Yagi Build” a “Fantastic Success”
Jonah Lefkoff writes on the Northeastern Wireless mailing list:
The Northeastern Wireless Club held a workshop on building tape measure yagi antennas that was a fantastic success. Attendees built many awesome antennas, and learned a bit about impedance matching and soldering along the way. Next step: use these new antennas in a fox hunt around campus. Full details at https://ema.arrl.org/2024/09/12/northeastern-wireless-club-yagi-build-a-fantastic-success/
* NTS Traffic Handling Training Session, October 14, 2024
Mark your calendars! Interested in NTS and Traffic Handling? Join us Monday, October 14 at 7:00 PM via Zoom. This training will incorporate videos and open discussion to get you started in an exciting aspect of the hobby that’s been around for over 100 years! Full details at https://ema.arrl.org/2024/09/09/nts-traffic-handling-training-session-october-14-2024/
* Recruiting Volunteer Webmaster(s) for the EMA Website
Phil, K9HI has done a fantastic job of maintaining the https://ema.arrl.,org website. I (still) need to recruit some backup resources. If you have basic skills with WordPress and can help maintain the website – mostly posting new articles at the suggestion of me and others – please contact me at n1ilz@arrl.org. You’ll be helping me – and the League – immensely!
* Recruiting a New Section Youth Coordinator
Last month I reported that our Section Youth Coordinator, Paul K1YUB, had stepped down from his position. I’m even more sad to report that Paul is now a Silent Key. I need to fill this important position on the EMA Section Staff. The SYC requirement and job description is at https://www.arrl.org/section-youth-coordinator If you are interested in this volunteer position, please contact me at n1ilz@arrl.org – I’ll appreciate it greatly!
* N1ILZ for a Final
Stay safe and warm out there! Autumn is here, the traffic is (mostly) calming down, and the weather forecasters are predicting – well, who listens to those crazy long-term weather forecasters anyway? Go pick some apples, go peep at some leaves, and enjoy all that a New England Autumn has to offer! And get those outdoor antenna projects done before the snow starts flying fierce and it’s too cold to go out (proving a great excuse to stay by the space-heater – I mean linear amplifier – and make some QSOs.
Can you write a paragraph or two about what you’re up to, so I can publish it in the Section Update? Let me know via email at n1ilz@arrl.org!
* For always up-to-date news, please visit the EMA Section website at http://ema.arrl.org
This Section News Update is brought to you by Assistant SM and Vice Director Phil Temples K9HI, and Section Manager Jon N1ILZ.
From The Foxboro Reporter, September 26, 2024:
A local woman found a unique skill to be helpful to the community and beyond.
Joanne McLaughlin of Foxboro, a retired teacher, has been a licensed amateur radio operator since October 2000 when the Federal Communication Commission issued her call sign, KB1FVN.
McLaughlin said she started the hobby because she saw first hand some family members who are licensed amateur radio operators. Amateur radio operators can talk across town or across the world without a phone or internet.
“It also allowed me to learn something new and share a hobby with my husband and son,” she said.
[Full story]