Affiliated Clubs

WU3C: “An Introduction to Synchronization in Modems” at Nashoba Valley ARC Meeting Online, July 16, 2020

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Bruce Blain, K1BG writes: The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s July meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, JuLY 16th at 7:30 PM . Under normal circumstances, NVARC does not have meetings in July or August. But this summer, NVARC’s board of directors has decided to extend our on-line meetings through the summer. This meeting will be conducted via WebEx. Meeting details are below. Thanks to Jim Hein, N8VIM, and Medtronics for the WebEx conference. The meeting will feature Jessica, WU3C, who will give us “An Introduction to Synchronization in Modems.” I also expect there will be a report on NVARC’s recent participation …

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Public Service

2020 Head of the Charles Regatta Cancelled

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This premiere rowing event, attracting competitors from all over the world, relies upon Amateur Radio communications for coordination and medical support of both land and boat-based services along the beautiful Charles River. From Boston.com: “Organizers of the Head of the Charles Regatta, a two-day [October 17-18, 2020] annual event drawing thousands of rowers from around the world, announced the cancellation of the 2020 event Wednesday, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “’As you know, our top priority has always been holding a regatta that is safe, competitive and fun,’ Head of the Charles executive director Fred Schoch wrote in a Facebook …

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All

Mark Your Calendars for the DXE Virtual Hamfest and DX Academy, July 25, 2020

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Join the Elmers at DX Engineering and a host of Ham Radio luminaries on Saturday, July 25, 2020, for the first DXE Virtual Hamfest and DX Academy—two online events combined into a full day of fun, learning, and drawings for DX Engineering gift cards. Both events are free and open to all.  Once signed up, you will receive a link to access the events in real-time on the Zoom webinar platform, or you can watch live on the DX Engineering YouTube channel. The day kicks off with the DXE Virtual Hamfest, featuring presentations from top contributors to OnAllBands (DX Engineering’s blog site), …

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Public Service

2020 Baystate Marathon Cancelled

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Terry Stader, KA8SCP, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: From the Lowell OEM folks: After speaking with the Lowell Cultural Affairs Special Events office they confirmed that these events have been cancelled for this year. I just wanted to  send a courtesy update everyone involved each year. Hopefully we will resume in 2021: Asian Water Festival (August) Kinetics Race (September) Bay State Marathon (October) River Regatta (October)

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NTS

MASSACHUSETTS TRAFFIC REPORT FOR JUNE 2020

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Greetings all. Hope summer and the partial reopening of activities in the Commonwealth is finding all you great folks doing well. June was a very active month as far as the traffic nets and message handling was concerned. From Peter KC1HHO, manager of EM2MN: the training program has been going well and three new traffic handlers, Bernie KC1MSN, Scott N1KMX and Steve KC1NBI are becoming quite proficient and are on the road to becoming Official Relay Stations. Peter’s training has included radiograms containing Trivia questions which require a radiogram response in proper format and transmitted according to standard NTS protocol …

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Public Information

“The Uncertain Future of Ham Radio”

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From IEEE Spectrum, July 10, 2020: Will the amateur airwaves fall silent? Since the dawn of radio, amateur operators—hams—have transmitted on tenaciously guarded slices of spectrum. Electronic engineering has benefited tremendously from their activity, from the level of the individual engineer to the entire field. But the rise of the Internet in the 1990s, with its ability to easily connect billions of people, captured the attention of many potential hams. Now, with time taking its toll on the ranks of operators, new technologies offer opportunities to revitalize amateur radio, even if in a form that previous generations might not recognize. …

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All

QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo 2020, August 8-9, 2020

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We are reaching out to let you know that despite the closure of all ham radio events, there is a great opportunity to join your fellow hams and us at the first ever QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo on Saturday and Sunday, August 8 – 9, 2020. Attendance is free and registration is now open at https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/ with early bird prize incentives for registering by July 24, 2020. Built on a live, virtual reality platform used by Fortune 500 companies and major universities, this ARRL-sanctioned hamfest will let you: Learn from a packed line-up of 70+ world renowned ham radio speakers such as Ward Silver, …

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Field Day / NTS

Eastern MA Traffic Handlers Enjoying Field Day 2020

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Joe Thomas, WB1EMS, reports a group of 20 hams from the South Shore area participated in Field Day at Great Hill in Weymouth overlooking Boston Harbor. Many of this group have been regular participants on the East Mass Two Meter Net on the Boston 145.23 repeater. Mike, K1UVH, was the event coordinator putting much of the setup together along with Peter, KC1HHO and Scott, N1KMX. Other EM2MN regulars included: Bernie, KC1MSN; Chet, KB1NZZ; and Alex, KC1NBT. The group operated simplex, repeaters, two-meters, HF, six-meters, digital, packet, and APRS. Joe reports that N1KMX made 45 contacts via simplex contacting local stations …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday July 6th 2020 at 830 PM EDT

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Hello to all… The July Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday July 6th, 2020 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: http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_index_by_linkstate.html We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will do a brief review of severe weather events that have affected the section particularly …

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Emergency Communications

MARS Announces HF Skills Exercise, July 20-24, 2020

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

From ARRL Web: Members of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) will conduct an HF skills exercise July 20 – 24 to hone their operating skills and messaging-handling capabilities. MARS members will be reaching out to the amateur radio community via the 60-meters Channel 1 Net (5330.5 kHz dial) twice a day, the SATERN HF net (14.265 MHz), and by contacting various stations via HFLink throughout the exercise. MARS members will be requesting assistance with collecting county status information as well as airport weather information, called METARs. MARS members will also be passing ICS 213 messages to numerous Department of …

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

July Eastern MA Hospital Net Cancelled Due to Independence Day Holiday

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John O’Neill-K1JRO writes: Good Evening Everyone, My apologies for the very late note. Where the first Saturday of July is holiday, we will not have a Net this month. We will have a Net in August. A notice will be sent out about the August Net well in advance. I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th. Regards, John O’ – K1JRO South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH 55 Fogg Road, Box 42 South Weymouth, MA 02190

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Operating

W1 QSL Card Sorting Session Cancelled, August 13, 2020

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Eric Williams, KV1J, writes on the Algonquin Amateur Radio Club mailing list: Hope all are well. I am cancelling our QSL sort session that was scheduled for August 13, 2020. Two reasons: one, of course, is the current virus situation.  The Fire Station is not available and our work is not “Essential.” The other reason is with the worldwide precautions, we are not receiving the boxes from the countries.  So at this point that are not enough cards to sort.  It may be that the mail embargoes will be released and we’ll get a surge of cards at some point.  …

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Technical

Power Line Noise Resource at National Grid

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John Salmi, KB1MGI, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: I have had a S-9+ power line noise on my VHF beams on 2 meters and 6 meters along with my HF vertical antenna during the dry spells this spring and summer. When it rained the noise reduced or stopped all together. I traced it down to a pole 200 feet from my QTH. I called National Grid a week or so ago about the issue. This morning a National Grid Senior Engineer from the Engineering Laboratory NE Lab & Testing services from Worcester stopped by.  The first thing …

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Licensing Education & Training

New Amateur Extra Class License Manual and Extra Q&A Now Available

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From ARRL Web: Go all the way to the top! ARRL has everything you need to pass the Amateur Extra Class license exam with confidence. The ARRL Extra Class License Manual for Ham Radio is your ticket to every privilege granted to amateur radio operators — all frequencies, operating modes, and power levels. It has all the questions and answers, with detailed explanations, for examinations taken between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2024. Use this book with ARRL Exam Review for Ham Radio online to review the material. You can even take practice exams, so there are no surprises on exam day! …

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Affiliated Clubs / Licensing Education & Training

Falmouth Amateur Radio Association Resumes In-Person VE testing

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The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association has announced that its Volunteer Examination team has resumed in-person test sessions. According to the Falmouth ARA website: “Lee Thomas, NQ1L, FARA’s [VE team coordinator] has arranged for the use of a facility that allows for proper social distancing.   Examinations are now available on the second Saturday of the month by reservation only.  Contact Lee Thomas at NQ1L38 at gmail.com to schedule an examination.”

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All

FCC Settles With Two Beantown Radio Pirates

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(Radio World) – The Federal Communications Commission says it reached a settlement with two operators of pirate radio stations in the Boston area. It said Acerome Jean Charles and Gerlens Cesar admit fault, will pay fines and agreed to 20-year compliance commitments. And they’ll dispose of their radio equipment. It’s an unexpected development. In December the FCC issued notices of apparent liability to the men for operating Radio Concorde and Radio TeleBoston, respectively. “The Enforcement Bureau negotiated the two Consent Decrees, which provide for a strict compliance plan over a period of 20 years to prevent Jean Charles and Cesar …

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