Massachusetts Amateur Radio Week, June 5-12, 2006

MA EMA logo“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

Contesters: Join In Emergency Communications Drill

Yankee Clipper Contest Club logoA 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 Publicizes MIT Flea Market

MIT Flea parking signNational 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.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stands Down From North Shore Red Cross Assistance

Hello to all…

….Eastern Massachusetts ARES stands down from support of the Northeast Massachusetts and Massachusetts Bay Red Cross Chapters from the Floods of May 2006….

After over a week of support for the NWS Taunton SKYWARN program and ARES activations for Masaschusetts Bay Red Cross damage assessment and distribution of care and clean up kits by the Northeast Massachusetts Red Cross chapter, ARES is standing down its operations as assistance is no longer required.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES had been reactivated to support the Northeast Massachusetts Red Cross distribution of comfort and supply kits to people in Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts and possibly other surrounding areas. At 10 AM Saturday, Dave Belsky-K1DBB requested ARES support for their operations of doing community outreach and distribution of comfort and clean-up kits to various cities and towns including Ipswich and Gloucester by contacting Eric Horwitz-KA1NCF and Jim Palmer-KB1KQW. This latest assistance occurring after working with Mass. Bay Red Cross and completing the damage assessment work in the Peabody, Danvers, North Reading, Salem, Saugus and surrounding areas of Central and Southern Essex County and Eastern Middlesex Counties.

Participating in the operations for the Northeast Massachusetts Red Cross Chapter on Saturday included the following Amateurs:

N1VUX-Bill Ricker
W1KPI-Rich Moroni
KB1MRH-Matt Dempsey
KX1KTY-Gordon Gravelese
K1BTH-Blake Haskell (Home Station Support)

Coordinating Saturday’s efforts were Jim Palmer-KB1KQW, North Shore ARES Emergency Coordinator and Eric Horwitz-KA1NCF, North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator. Rob Macedo-KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator also visited the base of operations which was at the Beverly office of the Northeast Massachusetts Red Cross chapter.

On Friday, Eastern Massachusetts ARES was able to cover the needs for damage assessment on Friday. The following Amateurs participated in the operation Friday:

N1ZJ-John Zornig
W1CAC-Colin Campbell
W1LN-Bud Hartman
K1YTS-Gary Busler
W1KPI-Rich Moroni
K1DYO-Dan Howard

Net Control at the town of Brigewater EOC, which serves as the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Command Center, was done by Carl Aveni-N1FY and Dan Howard-K1DYO. When Carl-N1FY left at 3 PM, Blake Haskell-K1BTH took over net control duties from his home location. In addition, KB1KQW-Jim Palmer, North Shore ARES Emergency Coordinator and KA1NCF-Eric Horwitz, North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator went to the Peabody office and assisted with coordination and planning for the potential weekend operations.

Below are those Amateurs that participated in Thursday’s Operation:

W1FBI-Ed Gustat
K1DAC-Dave Cuscuna
KB1FLH-Matt Chaves
K3GRN-BK DeLong
N1QEH-Al Williams

Overseeing the operations and coordination with Massachusetts Bay Red Cross at the Peabody Office on Thursday were KA1NCF-Eric Horwitz, North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, and KB1KQW-Jim Palmer, North Shore ARES Emergency Coordinator. Jim and Eric worked the phones and coordination with Red Cross and recruited Amateur Radio Operators. Net Control was done by Carl Aveni-N1FY from the town of Bridgewater EOC.

All Damage Assessment operations were on the 145.47-Danvers Repeater PL: 136.5 Hz. Special thanks to the NSRA Club for their use of the repeater for ARES Damage Assessment and SKYWARN Operations during the Floods of 2006. Also, special thanks to WI1U-Charles Anderson for use of the 145.13-Gloucester Repeater on Saturday for outreach and distribution of supplies in the Gloucester area as the Gloucester Repeater has better coverage in that area.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo

1

W1AA To Activate Three Sisters Lighthouses

W1AA/Three Sisters LighthousesN1DT 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

Bristol Co. RA Bringing Forth A “Gaggle” Of New Young Hams!

Kuss Middle School ARISS contactsRoland 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 ARES Activates to Support North Shore Damage Assessment

EMA ARES logoAt the request of Massachusetts Bay Red Cross, Eastern Massachusetts ARES will activate starting Thursday Morning for damage assessment operations in the North Shore. This operation could last several days and more volunteers maybe needed from across the section.

There may also be a need to support Damage Assessment operations for the Greater Newburyport chapter of Red Cross as well per Dave Belsky, K1DBB, Greater Newburyport Red Cross Communications Officer. [Full story]

K1VR To Present At Dayton Hamvention

Antenna Zoning for the radio amateur bookEastern 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.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Activates to Support North Shore Damage Assessment

Hello to all….

At the request of Massachusetts Bay Red Cross, Eastern Massachusetts ARES will activate starting Thursday Morning for damage assessment operations in the North Shore. This operation could last several days and more volunteers maybe needed from across the section. There may also be a need to support Damage Assessment operations for the Greater Newburyport chapter of Red Cross as well per Dave Belsky-K1DBB, Greater Newburyport Red Cross Communications Officer.

At 630 PM Wednesday Evening, Tom Kinahan-N1CPE, Massachusetts State RACES Radio Officer received a call from the EOC liaison to Mass. Bay Red Cross with a request for several Amateurs to support communications for damage assesment. This request was passed on to me and given to North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Eric Horwitz-KA1NCF and North Shore ARES Emergency Coordinator, Jim Palmer-KB1KQW. North Shore ARES will be deploying approximately 4-5 Amateurs with the damage assesment teams and they will meet at the Peabody office of Mass. Bay Red Cross. The Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net Control Center at the town of Bridgwater EOC will be utilized to act as net control. Operations will take place on the 145.47-Danvers Repeater, PL: 136.5 Hz.

In talking with the Mass. Bay Red Cross liaison to the State EOC, this operation could last several days. Therefore, we may need additional Amateurs from across the Eastern Massachusetts section to support this operation. Also, Greater Newburyport Red Cross may need help of their own with damage assessment operations. If you’re available Friday and/or this weekend, please contact all of the following people below:

KA1NCF-Eric Horwitz Email: ka1ncf@ka1ncf.org
KB1KQW-Jim Palmer Email: EagleJRP99@aol.com
KD1CY-Rob Macedo Email: kd1cy@comcast.net

Remember, do NOT self-deploy. Please get approval instructions From Eric-KA1NCF, Jim-KB1KQW or I for involvement in these operations.

Thank you for your continued support of operations for Eastern Massachusetts ARES in the wake of the Great Floods of 2006.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

MEMA Region 1 Stands Down from Supporting Flood Response Operations

Hello to all….

MEMA Region 1 has stood down from their response and the request for Region 1 Operators is no longer needed. Below is the note from Terry Stader-KA8SCP, Region 1 RACES Radio Officer and a list of those who responded and supported Region 1 during the flood event:

The request has been canceled. They have shut down the EOC operation from it’s response mode to a recovery effort and no longer needed the same level of staffing.

This is the list of all radio operators who assisted at Region 1 during this event.

Ernie Bauer – N1AEW
Joe Fratto – N1RLO
Walter Kahn – KB1IBG
Dennis LaFrenier – N1WLH
Darrell Mallory – K1EJ
John McGovern – W1JMC
Ron Quattrochi – KB1KRG
Ron Reder – KA1KCU
Charles Suprin – AA1VS
Terry Stader – KA8SCP
Dave Welsh – WI1R

I hope I did not miss anyone! Once again, thank you all again for your generous support during this event!

Terry

Thanks for your support in the Floods of 2006 in Northeast Massachusetts!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Massachusetts 1

Amateur Radio Volunteers On Flood Duty In New England

When All Else Fails logoThe ARRL Headquarters web site today carried a news item describing the efforts of New England and Eastern MA amateurs in the wake of disasterous flooding that has struck our area.

In the article, Eastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY estimates that “more than 100 radio amateurs have been involved in the operation and spotting work across the region.” He also describes the volunteer activity in staffing the NWS office in Taunton and in the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency State EOC and Region I Headquarters.

[Full story]

Request Eastern Massachusetts ARES To Go to Standby Moblization for Flooding

RACES logoEMA ARES logoSKYWARN logo

….EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES REQUESTED TO GO TO STAND-BY MOBLIZATION TO SUPPORT SKYWARN OPERATIONS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT WORK OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS….
….PRIMARY TARGET ZONE FOR ARES OPERATIONS IS ESSEX, MIDDLESEX, SUFFOLK, NORFOLK AND PLYMOUTH COUNTIES. OTHER AREAS ARE REQUESTED FOR STANDBY MOBLIZATION FOR POTENTIAL ARESMAT OPERATIONS WITHIN THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION….
….POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING RIVALING THE OCTOBER 2005 EVENT IN STORE FOR THE REGION….

[Full story]

Request Eastern Massachusetts ARES To Go to Standby Moblization for Flooding

Hello to all….

….EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES REQUESTED TO GO TO STAND-BY MOBLIZATION TO SUPPORT SKYWARN OPERATIONS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT WORK OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS….
….PRIMARY TARGET ZONE FOR ARES OPERATIONS IS ESSEX, MIDDLESEX, SUFFOLK, NORFOLK AND PLYMOUTH COUNTIES. OTHER AREAS ARE REQUESTED FOR STANDBY MOBLIZATION FOR POTENTIAL ARESMAT OPERATIONS WITHIN THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION….
….POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING RIVALING THE OCTOBER 2005 EVENT IN STORE FOR THE REGION….

Continued heavy rains since Friday Night will stay with us through Sunday Night across Eastern Massachusetts. This will result in the potential for flooding rivaling the October 2005 event. The greatest risk is in South-Central New Hampshire, Northeast Massachusetts including the Greater Boston area and the area south of Boston from the I-95 and Route 3 corridor and points east in Norfolk and Plymouth counties. Widespread rainfall of 5-10″ with isolated higher amounts are possible in this region. The rest of Eastern Massachusetts could experience 3-6″ of rain with isolated higher amounts. The threat for flooding could last through Monday with isolated pockets of flooding possible in any scattered thunderstorms on Tuesday.

ARES Stand-by moblization means prepare for possible deployment but do NOT self-deploy. Prepare your Go Kit and make sure personal preparedness is complete so that if a deployment is required you may do so. We ask all ARES personnel that are cross-trained in SKYWARN to support SKYWARN operations by checking rivers and streams from a SAFE distance for potential flooding. This is especially important in Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Plymouth counties. Home stations that can support net control and liaison tasks are requested to do so. RACES in Region I and II and the State EOC will reactivate at 0800 Sunday Morning. Any MARS stations looking for reports suitable for EEI’s should monitor local VHF/UHF SKYWARN frequencies, 6 Meters or the New-ENG Reflector EchoLink *NEW-ENG, Node: 9123 and IRLP reflector 9123 for information that may meet the criteria.

Hopefully, this does not turn into a major operation, however, if it does, I look forward to working with all of you during this timeframe. Thanks to all of you for your continued support of ARES and SKYWARN and I’m sure Tom Kinahan, N1CPE, our state RACES Radio Officer appreciates the backup support ARES and SKYWARN provides RACES and he thanks those RACES folks that are active for their support.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Harvard Science Library Now Has QST-QEX-NCJ CD-ROM Collection

Harvard Wireless Club logoGeorge 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/

BPL: Your Help Is Urgently Needed!

Power linesNew 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

Eastern MA 2006 Field Day Pages Now On-line

ARRL 2006 Field Day logoMike Neilsen, W1MPN writes in his Monthly Eastern Massachusetts Section News Summary:

“We extremely fortunate to again this year have the services of Bill, NIVUX, as our FD editor. Bill’s fantastic pages are available on our section web pages http://ema.arrl.org/fd, so please check it regularly! As before, the pages offer pertinent information on location, times, and other FD site information. However, his presentation is only as good as that provided by our clubs, so please check them now and offer corrections directly to Bill. He will leave a link directly to his email address for your convenience. Bill also has a wealth of reference pages for your perusal to help with your FD preparations.

“Please also review proper and grounding procedures now with your club, as FD always falls at the height of the thunderstorm season. We are fortunate to have the support of SKYWARN again this year for lightning protection. Please make provisions to guard your nearest Skywarn repeater during the weekend for weather events or to receive other vital information should that be necessary.”

W1OH “QRP To The Field” Operation At Marconi CC QTH!

Cape Cod CC Marconi siteGeoffrey 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

SEMARA Ready For Annual Spring FISTS Sprint

FISTS keyThe 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.

Statewide Hurricane Drill, June 5, 2006

RACES logoEMA ARES logoSKYWARN logo

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]