Wellesley Amateur Radio Society POTA Event, November 2, 2024
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET) – Operation November Gale – Saturday 11/9/24 – 10 AM-12 PM EDT
Hello to all…
Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct a section exercise and Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday 11/9/24 from 10 AM-12 PM dubbed “November Gale”. The exercise will practice similar skills as previous exercises conducted over the course of 2024 and will serve as a means of practice heading into the 2024-2025 winter season.
While we encourage participation by Eastern Massachusetts ARES members, RACES/AUXCOMM/USCG Auxiliary Operators and Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters, all are welcome to participate including those outside of the Eastern Massachusetts section. The detailed drill document covering activities and frequencies will be posted by this weekend/no later than Monday 11/4/24. We will also discuss the SET on the November Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net.
Thanks in advance for your support of this SET and Eastern Massachusetts ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box
Subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@wx1box-nwsboston-amateur-radio
USCG Auxiliary Division 5 / 12 Radio Net 20 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM
Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:
The USCG Auxiliary Combined Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was held on Sunday 20 OCT 2024 at 1015 hrs.
Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Radio Roslindale
Net Control: Radio Waltham NCS
Traffic: Facility radio tests were made. The repeater located in Falmouth MA. was shut down and
removed. We are looking for another location in Falmouth. This location would service a
number of stations operating on Cape Cod. Hopefully LCDR Wilcox may have a spot on
his tower to support the repeater.
Traffic included several announcements including the Division 5 meeting is Thursday and
it will be online. ID cards for D1 are on hold as the ID machine is undergoing technical
upgrades. The D1 Conference will be held on APR 2025 25, 26 and 27. The Boat Show in
Boston is coming soon and very early. The dates are JAN 9, 10, 11, and 12. If you wish to
participate please contact your FC or await further info to come out.
Auxiliarist Jim Healy is still on the mend and recuperating.
The Auxiliary Net held on the MMRA network is now averaging 20 participants weekly. The
MMRA has extended our net time until 1230 hrs to accommodate our check ins. We asked
that the Barnstable VHF repeater located in Hyannis be tied into the Auxiliary Net to allow
Hams and Auxiliarists on Cape Cod to be able to participate. This request is going through
the process.
Non Ham members can listen to the Auxiliary Net on their police scanner radio. The frequency
is 146.820 or 146.670. You can tune in and listen or become a Ham by taking a very easy
entrance level exam and getting your callsign. Amateur Radio or Ham Radio exams are given
at numerous locations and times during the month. You can even make arrangements to take
exams online in the comfort of your home. Hams can use the Echo-Link system to check into
the Auxiliary Net on the MMRA network.
Several stations mentioned that they are working on antennas today. Being a very nice WX
day it is perfect for antenna repairs. Now is the time to do those repairs. Don’t wait for the
cold and snow.
Stations are reminded to monitor the 5 Mhz 60 Meter channels during emergency conditions.
The 5 Mhz channels are the best frequencies for Ham radio operators to contact federal stations.
On the Auxiliary Net today we explained the SHARES Net. SHAred RESources Net. The net
was established right after the Cuban missile crisis by President Kennedy. The USCG had a
major role in getting the SHARES net off the ground and operational. If you Google Shared
Resources SHARES National Communications System you will find an old video that shows
the SHARES network in operation.
Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License
PART of Westford Members Featured in Carlisle Mosquito Online Newspaper
Massachusetts – Rhode Island STM Report for September 2024
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.
N1DQ: “PSK Reporter” at Nashoba Valley ARC Meeting, October 17, 2024
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
AREDN Comes to Dartmouth
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
Nashoba Valley ARC Amateur Radio Course, Ayer, Starting November 4, 2024
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]FLDIGI/NBEMS Training On-Air and via Zoom
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.
USCG Auxiliary Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net – Sunday 13 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM
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
K3DRE: “Lessons Learned as a Ham for Broadcast RF and vice versa” at Sci-Tech ARS, Natick, October 8, 2024
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.
CAARA ARES/ARRL Emergency Communications Planning Meeting – Saturday 11/2/24 – 12 PM at CAARA Clubhouse
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.
PART Group-Club POTA US-2435, Carlisle, October 14, 2024
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/
https://docs.pota.app/docs/
Reminder: October 7th, 2024 MEMA RACES/ACS Communications Test Net
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
USCG Auxiliary Division 5 / 12 Radio Nets – Sunday 6 OCT 24 & Sunday 29 SEP 2024
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
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday October 7th, 2024 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System
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
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box
Subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@wx1box-nwsboston-amateur-radio
Massachusetts RACES Nets – Monday 10/7/24 for HF, Region 2D VHF, NBEMS & Winlink – Times and Details Below
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
New AREDN Node on 5 GHz in Dartmouth
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