a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
Members of the Taunton Emergency Management Agency recently participated in training from the American Red Cross on “Interacting with People with Disabilities.” The training was arranged by EMA Director Rick Ferreira, KB1KWF. Six amateurs participated in the course.
–Thanks, Whitman ARC Spectrum, May 2007
Richard J. Cabral, W1RJC writes on SEMARA list:
If anyone is interested, I have the Acushnet Simplex Node connected to IRLP Reflector 9877 which is live NASA Space Shuttle and Mission Control audio. I will leave it connected until at least midnight. All you have to do to listen in is to put your 2m radio or scanner on 146.595 MHz.
More information on the mission is here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association presented a special certificate and cake to Sharon Machlis Gartenberg, KC1YR for her 10 years of service to the club as its webmaster and publicity director on June 7, 2007.
“It was an honor to be recognized for my years of service to the club, considering how many other people have also done so much for FARA over the years,” writes Gartenberg.
[Photos, courtesy WA1HAM: “Thank you” cake; FARA President Gordy Bello, K1GB (left) presents certificate to Sharon Machlis Gartenberg, KC1YR (center), while Sharon’s “OM”, Lee Gartenberg, K1GL (right) applaudes.]
A June 6, 2007 posting of a letter from ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND concerning recommendations to owners of repeaters allegedly causing interference to military radars in California and Massachusetts has stirred up considerable discussion on the eHam.net web site.
“Below is a letter from the ARRL essentially telling 104 UHF repeater operators in Northern California to reduce the output power of their repeaters to 5 watts from the transmitter, which cannot be adjusted up for system losses. This action also affects a number of repeaters in Massachusetts.” [Full story]
See also:
Cape Cod Times: “Ham radio users face military interference”
Barnstable ARC 443.500 Repeater Off The Air
ARRL Submits Plan to Mitigate Repeater Interference to Military Radars
ARRL Aiding Effort to Mitigate Repeater Interference to Military Radars
NESMC PAVE PAWS/UHF Repeater Update
Mike Goldberg, K1LJN received the Quarter Century Wireless Association‘s 50th Anniversary Award at a meeting of his home club, the Billerica Amateur Radio Society on May 2, 2007. Presenting the award to Goldberg on behalf of QCWA was Bob Veth, K1RJV.
Goldberg, a native of Chelmsford, was first licensed while serving in the military in 1950. He has held a number of positions during his long, distinguished electronics career, including stints at National Radio, Tektronix, WGBH and WHDH. Goldberg is active in SKYWARN, and the FCC Amateur Auxiliary (OO) program. K1LJN currently serves as ARRL’s Official Observer Coordinator for Eastern Massachusetts.
The City of Gloucester has renewed the lease for the the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association‘s club shack for a year, according to CAARA President Curtis Wright, AA3JE. The club has been in negotiations with the City over the property, and as recent as April, 2007, the City indicated that it would sell the property. (See also: Cape Ann ARA, City of Gloucester In Negotiations Over Club House Property.)
“It has been a wonderful month for the club,” writes AA3JE. “The City of Gloucester has renewed our lease for a year (6 months with a renewal) and is publicly committed to finding a win-win solution for the club’s location. They (and we) are interested in finding a new location for us that reduces our fixed costs (heat, light, utilities) and repair costs (roof, electrical system, heaters, etc.).”
Wright continues, “In return, they hope to find a location on land or in a building to which they are committed and which lowers the cost to the city of providing us a home.”
AA3JE asks CAARA members, “If you know of a City location with good RF propagation and room for a tower, let us know!”
–Thanks, CAARA Newsletter, June, 2007
The Pentucket Radio Association is planning to participate in the annual National Wildlife Refuge Week operating event October 13-21, 2007 from the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island.
Pentucket RA members discussed the operation at the club’s May 17, 2007 meeting. According to PRA’s Larry Caruso, K1LGC, Park River NWR Director Graham Taylor was “very happy to see interest from a ham group.”
According to the Parker River NWR website, “Plum Island is a natural barrier island stretching along the Massachusetts Atlantic coast between the mouth of the Merrimack River to the north and the mouth of the Ipswich River to the south.”
Caruso will “work out the details” with Taylor for the on-air event in which amateur stations across the U.S. will operate from national wildlife refuges to promote interest in them and also, Amateur Radio.
“It’s a win-win situation,” K1LGC writes.
–From PRA625-Group List
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has added several ICS Classes to its training calendar. [Details]
North Shore SKYWARN activated as a powerful Supercell downed large trees in numerous communities and prompted two Tornado Warnings along with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for Essex County, Massachusetts on the evening of Saturday, June 2, 2007. [Story]
This is the annual Massachusetts Statewide ARES-RACES Hurricane Drill.
Click here for more information
Roland Daignault, N1JOY writes on BCRA list:
Tomorrow (Friday, June 1, 2007) is looking great for the high altitude balloon launch by Kuss Middle School. Here are the last minute details as of just a few minutes ago:
Balloon launch is planned to happen from the Silvia School at the North End of Fall River in the 9:00 to 10:00 AM time frame, depending on how well things go. The balloon will have a 900 MHz transmitter (sorry, I wasn’t told the frequency and/or mode), and will also have 2 Meter APRS on board. (144.39 MHz). The balloon call sign for APRS will be KB9ZNZ-11. If you do not have APRS, you should still be able to track the launch via the Internet at:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kb9znz-11.
The students have prepared several other non-radio payloads that will be carried aloft on this balloon. The balloon will not be allowed to reach its full potential altitude simply because it will land too far off the coast to make recovery practical, so there is a remote control release that is planned to be deployed at a predetermined altitude, which will better control where it will land, and greatly increase the likelihood of a successful recovery.
Several other stations will be online for the APRS tracking of this launch:
KB1LJG-1 – Kuss Middle School Ham Club Station
KB1LJG-8 – manned by the launch team at Silvia School
KB1LJG-15 – this will be the recovery team
KB9ZNZ-11 – Balloon
The balloon as of today is predicted to land somewhere in the middle of Buzzards Bay. As the launch window gets closer, the prediction software can give a more accurate estimate, but that’s about as good as it gets for tonight’s message.
Most of the communications will be handled by Kuss students, and their primary frequency will be the Fall River 145.150 repeater, and possibly migrating the the Falmouth 146.655 repeater to communicate with the recovery boat as needed. I hear the USCG may be assisting in the recover effort also!
Good Luck to the Kuss Middle School Ham Radio Club!