Month: May 2006

“Governor Romney has designated the week of June 5th through June 12th as Massachusetts Amateur Radio Week. Their efforts are being recognized because the Commonwealth’s more than 13,000 Amateur Radio operators continue to provide vital assistance to the MEMA, as well as local Emergency Management Agencies and Public Safety entities in times of emergency. Amateur Radio operators have donated these services free of charge, in the interest of the citizens of MA, as well as the world, for over 75 years.”

—MEMA Reports, May 31, 2006, Volume 5, Issue 5

A well-known Massachusetts contester and Yankee Clipper Contest Club member has gone on record urging fellow contesters to participate in the upcoming statewide Hurricane Drill on June 5.

“Ham radio has a long tradition of helping during emergencies,” writes David Robbins, K1TTT on the YCCC reflector. “I have at times suggested that emergency coordinators should team up with contest operators and station owners to improve their capabilities. However due to busy contest schedules and having a large station to maintain I have been less than active following through.”

Robbins says he’s “putting his foot where his mouth is” by participating in the upcoming drill. “I will have at least the local SKYWARN coordinator at my station to participate.”

Robbins encourages YCCC members and other contesters to contact their local coordinators who may be participating and invite them to visit and see their stations’ capabilities. “I will almost guarantee that most of [the coordinators] have no idea of what could be done for HF or even VHF communications from even a moderately well equipped contest station.”

National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, May 9, 2006 broadcast a story on the MIT Flea Market. From NPR’s website: “The place to go for computer nerds and transistorheads in New England is the once-a-month flea market in a parking garage at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

The Flea at MIT is sponsored by the Harvard Wirless Club, the MIT Electronics Research Society, the MIT UHF Repeater Association, and the MIT Radio Society.

N1DT and K1VV plan to activate Three Sisters Lighthouses (ARLHS USA 975, 528 and 976) under the call W1AA on Saturday, May 20, 2006 from 11:30 UTC (7:30 AM EST) until 18:00 UTC (2:00 PM EST).

“These should be new ones for a lot of the members. Middle was last activated in 2001 and Norh and South in 2003,” writes Robert “Whitey” Doherty, K1VV.

Whitey notes that he and Don will begin operations on 75 meters, above 3980 kHz. Later, they’ll move to 40 meters phone–likely below 7270, down to 7225 kHz. “We also will use 20 phone later in the morning above 14310, or 17 meters above 18150 (kHz).”

W1AA will return to 40 meters phone about 1530 to 1600 UTC. Morse code operation will be conducted roughly on the half hour, on 7035, 10116, 14035 and 18080 kHz, plus or minus QRM.

“We will be posting our spots on the DX Summit. but we would appreciate any and all W1AA spots by the members.” He adds, “DX QSLs are via the W1 Bureau and stateside are via W1AA please with an SASE. A photo of the 3 Sisters Lighthouses will be furnished.”

“In 1837, a lighthouse station was established at Nauset Beach – halfway between the single light at Highland, and the twins at Chatham. To distinguish the Nauset Station, a keeper’s house and three small towers of brick were constructed 150 feet apart. This site marked the only station in the U.S. designated by three towers.”

–Thanks, K1VV and Rudy and Alice’s Lighthouse Page

Roland Daignault, Jr., N1JOY writes on bcra-club list:

Great news!! Between the Bristol County Repeater Association‘s last 3 VE sessions, we have passed a gaggle of new hams that are all kids!

Last month a student from KB1CNA’s school passed his Tech exam […] keep an ear open for Sonny on the 145.15 machine.

Last night we had two more students pass their Technician exams, one from KB1CNA’s and one from KB1CNB’s school, respectively. Tonight, four more kids passed their Technician! (Three from Kuss Middle School, and one from Morton Middle School.) That’s seven kids in a month, and even the oldest (by several years) barely has a learner’s permit to drive. All of the others are middle school age, and are plenty excited about ham radio.

Let’s also not forget two brand new adult hams (Technician class) and a passed General written exam for a new ham who has only had his call sign a few days.

Of the seven kids, six took part in the Kuss School program that the BCRA has been supporting for the last three years. So far, we have licensed 12 kids and three adults who have attended the program. How cool is that? It’s so cool that we still have several more kids at Kuss who are planning to take their exams soon. Stay tuned.

Thanks to W2DAN and WA1ESO who came most weeks to help with the classes at Kuss, and especially to the BCRA VE team for conducting two test sessions on consecutive evenings.

So, please keep an ear open for a bunch of new operators, and please welcome them to the hobby in the best ways we know how. Surely we’ll hear a few new voices on the 6 PM youth gathering on the ‘515 repeater.

Eastern MA amateur and ARRL Volunteer Counsel Fred Hopengarten, K1VR will present at a Dayton Hamvention forum entitled “Amateur Radio and the Law: Getting It Up and Keeping It Up” on May 19.

Hopengarten, who is the author of “Antenna zoning for the radio amateur” will present along with other prominent amateurs in the legal field on issues involving restrictive covenants, preparation for tower permits, as well as information on the latest court rulings on RFI, PRB-1 and towers. The panel will also discuss the latest news on the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Legal Defense and Assistance Committee.

Other panel participants include: Jim O’Connell W9WU, ARRL Volunteer Counsel (Moderator), Chris Imlay, W3KD, ARRL General Counsel, Jay Bellows, K0QB, ARRL Dakota Division Director and Volunteer Counsel Tim Ellam, VE6SH, IARU Vice President Brennan T. Price, N4QX, and ARRL Volunteer Counsel John Siepmann, N9NA.

George Clark, W1XW writes:

Harvard’s Cabot Science Library now owns the two ARRL cd-rom journal products. They are kept at the Cabot Science Library front desk:

QST View
QST
1915 to 2004
Author-Title Searchable (you can search only authors and titles)
Cabot Science CDROM PER 6651
link to HOLLIS record

ARRL Periodicals on Cd-Rom
QST, QEX, and National Contest Journal
1995-present
Keyword Searchable (you can search all the text)
Cabot Science CDROM PER 2202
link to HOLLIS record

Cheers,
George, W1XW

George E. Clark, Ph.D.
Environmental Resources Librarian
Harvard University
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~clark5/

New England Division Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI writes:

Dear ARRL Member in Massachusetts,

We need your help in our ongoing fight against Broadband over Power Line (BPL) interference. As you may have heard, the ARRL was successful in obtaining language in a U.S. House of Representatives bill, HR 5252, requiring that the FCC study and report on the interference potential of BPL systems. The bill was adopted by the House Commerce Committee and will be on its way to the House floor for a vote shortly.

Now we must turn our attention to the Senate, where similar language is needed. Senator John Kerry is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which is now holding hearings on telecommunications legislation. We need Senator Kerry’s support of language addressing the BPL interference issue when the Senate bill is marked up in his committee on June 8.

Please write to him today. A sample letter follows. Please personalize it as much as you can and send it, preferably by FAX to the number shown. Please also send a copy to the ARRL’s Government Relations firm:

Attention: Eric Heis, KI4NFC
Chwat & Company, Inc.
625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103
Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax (703) 684-7594
eric.heis@chwatco.com

Thank you for your assistance and support. If you want to email me in reply to this message, please use the email address shown below.

73,

Tom Frenaye, K1KI
Director, New England Division
ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio
k1ki@arrl.org
_____

SAMPLE LETTER TO SENATOR KERRY

[DATE]

Honorable John Kerry
United States Senate
304 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Via FAX 202-224-8525

Dear Senator Kerry,

I am writing as one of the 14,000 federally licensed radio amateurs of Massachusetts to request your help with legislation in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. During the June 8th markup of S. 2686, the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006, please support an amendment directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive study of the potential of “broadband over power line” (BPL) systems to interfere with public safety and other licensed radio services. Appropriate language drafted by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, reads:

“Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Federal Communications Commission shall conduct, and submit to the House Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, a study of the interference potential of broadband over power line systems leading to improved rules to prevent the deployment of systems having a potential to cause destructive interference to radio communication systems.”

A similar requirement that the FCC study and report on the interference potential of BPL systems is included in HR 5252 as reported out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

BPL utilizes electric power lines to serve as the conductors of the broadband signals. Unfortunately, because the power lines are not shielded, they also act as antennas and radiate the signals into the air. These radiated signals will interfere with radio receivers tuned to the same frequency range. BPL has only been deployed to a very limited extent, but Amateur Radio already is experiencing severe BPL interference that the FCC has been unable or unwilling to correct. Unlike BPL, other methods of providing broadband Internet services to consumers, such as cable, DSL, wireless, satellite and Fiber to the Home, do not pollute the radio spectrum.

Not all BPL systems cause widespread interference to radio. The problem is that the FCC rules do not distinguish between BPL systems with a high potential for interference and those that are more benign. The FCC allows both kinds of systems to be deployed. This places an unreasonable burden on radio users, who must deal with the consequences of the interference. It is also unfair to the responsible BPL companies that have addressed the interference issue effectively but must compete with the spectrum polluters.

The reason we need your help is that the FCC continues to resist growing evidence that its rules are inadequate to protect radiocommunication systems, including those relied upon by First Responders, from radio spectrum pollution caused by BPL systems. The FCC needs to objectively and carefully review this evidence and adopt rules that will keep interference from BPL within reasonable bounds. Unfortunately, not only has the FCC shown no inclination to do that, the agency so far has failed even to enforce its existing rules in specific, well documented instances of harmful interference.

Because we need no infrastructure in order to communicate, the Amateur Radio Service is the only 100-percent fail-safe emergency communications resource in the world. The importance of this capability is documented on page 177 of the recent report of the Select Bipartisan Committee of the House of Representatives, “A Failure of Initiative,” on Hurricane Katrina. Amateur Radio is included in the list of “What Went Right” in the White House report, “The Federal Response to Katrina: Lessons Learned.” Amateur Radio is one of the few communications services that succeeded in Katrina’s aftermath. Interference from BPL emissions will significantly disrupt this unique capability.

Please require the FCC to protect radio services from BPL interference. Thousands of radio amateurs will be grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

__________[NAME] ___________[ADDRESS] ___________[CITY, STATE, ZIP] __________[TELEPHONE AND EMAIL — OPTIONAL]

——————————————————————–
ARRL New England Division
Director: Thomas Frenaye, K1KI
k1ki@arrl.org

Geoffrey Allsup, W1OH presents an excellent web article highlighting his recent QRP To The Field operation from the former Marconi “CC” station QTH on Cape Cod April 29, 2006. This year’s theme for QRPTTF was “Park It Here” which encouraged operation from parks.

W1OH reports a “very successful day” with 22 QSOs and several trans-Atlantic contacts. Perhaps more importantly, Allsup interacted with numerous visitors: “a dozen groups, ranging from one or two folks, up to about a half-dozen at a time” affording Allsup the opportunity to hand out Amateur Radio literature.

–Thanks, WB1HGA and bcra-club list

The Southeastern MA Amateur Radio Association plans to operate in the FISTS Spring Sprint from 1700Z to 2100Z May 13, 2006.

“You do not need to be expert in CW, any speed is fine. Come and enjoy the company of fellow hams while having fun making contacts,” writes Ron Silvia, WB1HGA. Silvia and company will be ready with two stations for the event.

“We should score much better this time around,” Silvia notes.

SEMARA has operated in previous FISTS on-air events, logging contacts across the US and Canada.

FISTS is the International Morse Preservation Society, offering nets, “code buddies”, a QSL bureau and merchandising of clothing sporting pro-CW messages.

The Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill will take place Monday June 5th, 2006 from 7-9 PM. The statewide drill coincides with the yearly MEMA Region II Hurricane Drill and will be run in a similar format to last year’s hurricane drill except that for areas outside of Region II, we will guide the scenario with NTS Traffic Messages versus envelopes. In Region II, the exercise will utilize the envelope format as in past years. [Full story]