Month: February 2005

Mike Manafo, K3UOC (trustee, W1AF) writes on hwc-list:

Of course, I can’t resist retelling this story. Harvard Wireless Club (HWC) old timers will remember. Back in 1989, under the questionable leadership of President Gunnar Trumbull, a plan was hatched to run an “invisible” long wire from 6 Linden to the bell tower at Lowell House. This mission was in quest of a better radiator for the HF bands since we had very little in the way of antennas back then.

Gunnar, Satish Vangal, Mario Inchosa and a handful of other plotters obtained several thousand feet of very fine gauge copper wire and early one morning before dawn, managed to string the wire from our roof, over the telephone wires on Mt. Auburn St., and all the way to the base of Lowell tower. Our boys then gained entrance to the bell tower (don’t ask) and Satish (known some years later for battling the French Navy who were attempting to board the Greenpeace Warrior upon which he was the chief radio operator) was sent up the bell tower to secure the Lowell end of the wire.
This caper almost succeeded except that the campus police showed up and put a screeching halt to the project. However, the police had not a clue what was going on with all of this monkey business. Satish pleaded that he had been depressed and despondent over his studies, which is why he climbed the tower. The other HWC guys picked up on that line and explained to the police how they had been trying to reason with their desperate classmate. The police apparently felt their anguish. All culprits were released from custody when Satish promised to seek counseling. And that put an end to the HWC-Lowell House long wire caper.

Those of us who were responsible adult members of the HWC at the time naturally distanced ourselves from this clandestine and risky project. Which is not to say that it does not make for a fine piece of HWC lore worth retelling some 16 years later.

Rebecca Harvey, N1GZD writes on bars@hamoperators.com:

Some of you may know that the town of Acton is trying to change the tower zoning laws with respect to ham radio antenna towers.

The current law as it stands today only permits ham tower structures to be about 40 feet (simplification – it can be lower in some cases). When the town of Acton was made aware of the federal and state laws they decided that the town ham tower zoning ordinance was too restrictive. The proposed new ordinance would permit one 80-foot tower (yes, only one).

To my amazement, at the zoning board meeting [on February 22, 2005] we (hams of Acton – who accounted for most of the people in the room) succeeded in convincing them to go one step further. In the end they voted almost unanimously (all but the chairman) to essentially put the words “except ham radio towers” in the town tower ordinance. By this they mean that the way it is written they are now proposing that there be NO town zoning ordinance governing ham radio towers in Acton. After we explained the Federal (and state) laws to them they decided that they had no choice. It is my understanding that this is what the town of Harvard did.

However, I think that getting it by the planning board was the easy part. Convincing 2/3 of the people of Acton that this is a good idea will be very hard. If it fails then the planning board has to start all over (and in the meanwhile we are stuck dealing with the more restrictive ordinance that still stands). I don’t know when the vote will be but anyone who is on this list and lives in Acton should make sure to vote.

New England Area   Ham - Electronic  Flea Market  ***  DATES  *** 2005 P 1 of 2

All events are Ham Radio/ Electronic related except ~_____~

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2005                                                    Contact          Source

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26 Feb Milton VT RANV @HS $5@8AM $10@6:30            Mitch W1SJ 802 879 6589 W

27 Feb Hicksville NY LIMARC @LevitHall $6@9 $20/T@8   Rick K2RB 516 526 6975 W
6 March Northhampton MA MTARA @SmithVoHS $5@9 $15/T@7Gary AA1UE 413 739 3511  
19 Mar Pomfret CT ECARA @CommSch Rt101+169 $2@8 $10/TPaul KE1LI 860 928 2456 F+
26 Mar Lewiston ME AARC St Conv @Ramada  $5@8 $8/T   Rick N1WFO 207 784 1266 W
2,3 April Timonium MD GBARC @FG 6AM                             800 HAM FEST F
2,3 April Watertown MA Photographica ~photo~            Ed Shaw 617 965 0807  +
3 April Framingham MA  FARA @Walsh Sch $5@9 $20/T     Bev N1LOO 508 626 2012  
9 Ap Londonderry NH IRS @Lions Club $10@6 $3@8        Paul K1NL 603 883 3308 F
9 April Montreal PQ MARC @RCLegion $4@8:30 $8@7:30  James VE2VE 514 697 7205 W
9 Ap Norwich CT RANSON Auction @ Fire House         Gary WT1SND 860 884 4218 A+
10 Ap Enfield CT VHF/UHF Conf @Radisson              Mark K1MAP 413 566 2445  
10 Ap Henniker NH CVRC @Comm School B@8 S@7            Jim NS1E 603 428 7436 A 
10 April Unionvale NY MtBARC                     Colleen KC2HUT 845 497 3687 A+
16 April S Portland ME PAWA @AmLegion                Roger N1XP 207 671 0671 W
17 April Cambridge MA          FLEA at MIT                 Nick 617 253 3776

                Third Sunday April thru October  
23 Ap Nashua NH NE Antique RC $15/T@7 $2@9 @StStan's      Marty 603 938 5051 F
23 Ap Rochester NH GBRA 150 WakefieldSt @9AM $10/T Karen KB1KBE 207 698 1618  +
24 Ap Southington CT SARA @HS $5@9 $10@8:30 $18/T@6:30     Alex 860 214 3013 F
6,7 May Hopkinton NH HossTraders @FG x7 I89           Joe K1RQG 207 469 3492  
14 May Goshen CT  SoBARC @ FG Rte 63 $3@8 $10/T@6     Lee K1LEE 860 435 0051  +
15 May Cambridge MA          FLEA at MIT                   Nick 617 253 3776  
20-22 May Dayton OH                                                           
21 May E Greenbush NY EGARA @FireHS $5@8 $10/T@6    Betty N2POS 518 785 0727 F+
28 May WashTownship NJ BARA @WestwoodHS $5@8 $15@6     Jim K2ZO 201 664 6725 F

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LAST UPDATE 2-20-05 de W1GSL  http://www.swapfest.us                 P 1 of 2

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Additions/ Corrections via e-Mail   w1gsl@mit.edu   ***

Page 3 Electronic distribution only.  This page has the overflow if any    P3

from the paper version.

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2005                                                    Contact          Source

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

22 Oct Montreal PQ MSSARC $5@9 $10/T@6           Georges VE2GXE 450 922 8352 R+
4 Nov Feeding Hills MA HCRA Auction @CongCh @6:30PM    Jim KK1W 413 245 3228  
12 Nov E Falmouth MA FARA @KoC $3@9 $9/S@7           Jim WA1GPO 508 840 3021 T
3 Dec Windsor CT VintgeR Museum @8AM @115 Pierson Ln       John 860 673 0518 W+

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LAST UPDATE 2-20-05 de W1GSL                                             P 3

   List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version

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(c)2005 W1GSL   http://www.swapfwst.us        SASE for updated copy as issued.

unlimited reproduction permitted in entirety

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New England Area  Ham - Electronic  Flea Market  ***  DATES  ***     P4

Links to New England Hamfest Web Sites                (c) 2005 W1GSL

***********************************************************************

This section is only included in the electronic distribution.
Cambridge MA    Flea at MIT     http://www.swapfest.us                        
Hopkinton NH    Hosstraders     http://www.qsl.net/k1rqg/
Amherst MA      Mt. Tom ARC     http://www.mtara.org/hamfest/flea.html
Adams MA	N BerkshireARC	http://www.nobarc.org/hamfest                 
Boxborough MA   NE ARRL Conv    http://www.boxboro.org/
Framingham MA	FARA		http://www.fara.org/                          
Newton MA       Waltham ARA Auction    http://www.wara64.org/auction/
S Dartmouth MA  SEMARA          http://www.semara.org/flea/fleamkt.htm       
Whately MA	FranklinCARC 	http://www.fcarc.org/flea.html                
Enfield CT      VHF/UHF Conf    http://www.newsvhf.com                       
Newington CT 	NARL 		http://www.narl.net/1.htm
Southington CT  SARA            http://www.chetbacon.com/sara.htm
Wallingford CT  Nutmeg CT Conv  http://www.nutmeghamfest.com                 
Windsor CT      Vintage R Mus   http://www.NationalCommunicationsMuseum.org/  
Lewiston ME     AARC		http://www.mainearrl.org/convent.htm         +
Portland ME     PAWA            http://www.qsl.net/pawa/fleamarket.html       
Henniker NH     CVRC            http://www.qsl.net/k1bke/                     
Bergen NJ	BARA		http://www.bara.org/
Lake Placid NY  NNY ARA	 http://www.northnet.org/nnyham/hamfest_flyer2004.htm 
Lindenhurst NY  ToB ARES 	http://www.tobares.org/hamfest.html           
Long Island NY  LIMARC          http://www.limarc.org/fest.htm                
Massapequa NY   GSB ARA	        http://www.gsbarc.org/          
Queens NY       Hall of Science http://www.qsl.net/hosarc/hamfest.html
Rensselaer NY   E Greenbush ARA http://www.com-tech.org/EGARA.html            
Rochester NY 	AWA		http://www.antiquewireless.org/
Rochester NY    RARA            http://www.rochesterhamfest.org/            +
Greenwich RI    Fidelity ARC    http://users.ids.net/~newsm/dates.html
Essex Junction VT   Burlington ARC  http://www.vtstetson.net/fest02.pdf
Milton VT       RANV VT Conv    http://www.ranv.org/milton.html
Montreal PQ     MARC            http://www.marc.qc.ca/fest/fest.html        
Montreal PQ	WIARC		http://www.pubnix.net/wiarc/hamfest.htm       
Montreal PQ     MS-SARC         http://www.ve2clm.ca/hamfesta.htm
Sorel-Tracy PQ  CRAS-T		http://www.hamfest.qc.ca/                     
St Therese PQ	CRALL		http://www.ve2crl.qc.ca/hamfest2002.htm       
Halafax NS 	HARC            http://www.halifax-arc.org/
Canada          RAC List   http://rac.eton.ca/data/racfleas.taf?function=form
Phila. Area	VARA List	http://www.qsl.net/w2vtm/hamfest.html         
USA             ARRL List       http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html

		

The January, 2005 EMA traffic net and Public Service Honor Roll totals have been posted to http://nts.ema.arrl.org under “Main Menu | STM Monthly Report“.

Dave Richards, WB1FYH writes:

Greg Richardson, N1QLS, who was a former Technical Coordinator for the Eastern MA ARRL section passed away on Sunday, February 13, 2005. Greg was the Communications Supervisor for the Boston Fire Department and served on several public safety communications committees. He is survived by his wife, Priscilla, N1VQY. Greg was an active member of the Mystic Valley Amateur Radio Group. He will be sorely missed.

Members of the Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford are participating in a unique construction project at their monthly February meeting.

“We will be constructing hand held satellite antennas,” writes “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM. “Allison, KB1GMX, has graciously constructed parts kits for these 2 meter/440 antennas. This antenna design is suitable for working several of the latest ham satellites using just a dual band walkie or a 2 meter and a 440 walkie. The cost for each antenna is $35.” According to Budinger, the antenna has three elements on 2 meters and 6 elements on UHF. The boom is 36 inches long.

Ten club members have signed up to participate in the kit building; a few kits remain available for those members who have not yet signed up.

The February PART meeting will be held at 7:30 PM on Tuesday February 15 at the Westford Police Station. “All are invited to attend whether you’re constructing your own antenna or not,” says WA1QYM.

Boston Amateur Radio Club leaders presented books about Amateur Radio to the Parlin Library in Everett on February 3.

“We wanted to show our support for the library and for appreciation of their courtesy in allowing our monthly business meetings for the past years,” commented Boston ARC President Eric Falkof, K1NUN.

Deb Abraham, Director of the Parlin Library, accepted the gift on behalf of the library.

The club holds its monthly business meetings at the Parlin Library, 410 Broadway, Everett, on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm. BARC’s general meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at the Salvation Army building, 147 Columbus Avenue, Boston.

Gail Held, KB1LSE writes:

There will be a ladies-only YL net on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. on the two-meter Concord, MA repeater (145.11 MHz, PL 110.9). Any woman amateur radio operator is welcome, you don’t have to be a Colonial Wireless member.

Sound like fun? Then join us! All are welcome.

73s,

Gail KB1LSE