SEMARA Boy Scout Operation, Oct. 6

Southeastern MA ARA logoA Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association member is planning to operate Amateur Radio stations with a Boy Scout troop at Fort Tabor in New Bedford. Brad Anselmo, N1VUF will set up an HF and a 2-meter/440 MHz station and keep it operational from 0900-1700 ET on Saturday, October 6, 2007 with volunteer assistance from other club members. “Two people for 2-3 hours each throughout the day would be great,” writes Anselmo. He adds, “I will be there with a troop October 5-7 and will probably have another station set up on Friday night through Sunday morning.”

“CQ CQ CQ This Is Whiskey One Alpha Whiskey”

TACG members at W1AWMembers of Taunton Area Communications Group visited ARRL headquarters to tour the facilities and operate ARRL Headquarters station, W1AW. The group visited the research lab, where they saw “staff engineers tinker with new commercial radios for product review and home-brew radios and antennas of all kinds.” They also toured the office of ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, as well as the Field and Educational Services, Advertising, DXCC, and Contesting.

The highlight of any trip to ARRL Headquarters is operating the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW. The group was honored and excited to make 22 QSOs on 17 meters using an Icom 781 and eight QSOs on 20 meters with a Yaesu FT-1000. Contacts were made with Belgium, England, France, Germany, Finland and the Canary Islands as stations “lined up” for contacts with the TACG W1AW guest operators.

Shown here: L to R: KB1LXH, W1VFB, WP4US, K1BAR, and NI1X

–Thanks, TACG Newsletter, October, 2007

Open System Ubuntu OS And Ham Radio: A Great Combo

Ubuntu logoUbuntu Linux enthusiasts are holding the first-ever Installfest on October 13, 2007 from 9:00 am-5:00 p.m. at MIT’s Media Library in Cambridge.

According to the group’s press release, “Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions, present demonstrations and help users install the free, open source Linux operating system.”

“This is of particular interest to hams wanting to try open systems that run well on old hardware,” writes Bill Ricker, N1VUX. Ricker adds that these workshops may rotate around the state. “Drop in on your way home from NEARfest!”

[See http://wiki.ubuntu.com/AmateurRadio/Software https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuHams?action=show&redirect=AmateurRadio for information on Amateur Radio-specific software for linux.]

-Thanks, N1VUX

QRA Fox Hunt, Oct. 10, 2007

fox photoTom Charbonneau, NZ1X writes on the QRA mailing list:

[The Quannapowitt Radio Assocation] will have a 2 meter fox hunt on next Wednesday, October 10, starting from the Senior Center in Reading at 7:00 PM. It usually takes about 15 minutes to line people up in cars, so that we should get rolling by 7:15. That means that if you arrive later than that time the parking lot may be empty, so please try to get there by 7:00.

(If you don’t have a radio and/or directional antenna, you’ll want to go in a car with someone who does.)

We will use the frequency of 146.500 as usual (simplex of course). A compass and a map of the area will help. My cell phone number is 781-258-0625 if you need to call me. Also, I’ll be monitoring the 145.290 repeater prior to the fox hunt.

New England Area Flea Markets Oct. 2, 2007

New England Area   Ham - Electronic  Flea Market  ***  DATES  *** 2007 P 1 of 2
All events are Ham Radio/ Electronic related except ~_____~
*******************************************************************************
2007 Contact Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6 Oct Feeding Hills MA MTARA $5@11 $20/T@10 John N1JIO 413 563 1605 W

6 Oct Lake Placid NY NNYARA NNY Conv Richard WZ2T 518 483 6483 A

7 Oct Wallingford CT Nutmeg Conv $20/sp $7@9 John N1GNV 203 440 4468

7 Oct Queens NY HoSARC $5@9 $10/sp@7:30 Stephen WB2KDG 718 898 5599 W

7 Oct Wakefield MA Photographica @AmericalCtr ~photo~ John 781 592 2553 W

12-13 Oct Deerfield NH NearFest @FG Mike K1TWF 978 250 1235 W

20 Oct Manchester NH NEAntqRC @BingoCtr $15@7:30$5@8:30 Charlie 603 898 4821 F

21 October Cambridge MA FLEA at MIT Nick 617 253 3776 F
Third Sunday April thru October

27 Oct Waterford CT TCARC Auction @OswegatchieSch@10 Tom WA2RYV 860 464 6555

27 Oct Montreal PQ MSSARC @PlDesauln.. $5@9 $10/T@6 Roch VE2DU 514 765 0363 W

28 Oct Hicksville NY LIMARC @ Levit Hall $5@9 Richie K2KNB 516 694 4937 W

2 Nov Feeding Hills MA HCRA Auction @CongCh @6:30PM Jim KK1W 413 245 3228

3 Nov Londonderry NH IRS @Lions Sellers$15@7 $3@9 Gayle KB1LHA 781 598 1442

10 Nov Bourne MA FARA @UpperCC VoTech $5@9 $10/S@7 Ralph N1YHS 508 548 0422

8 Dec Windsor CT VR+C Mus 115 Pierson LN @7AM Indoors John 860 673 0518 W
*******************************************************************************
LAST UPDATE 10-2-07 de W1GSL http://swapfest.us P 1
List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version
*******************************************************************************
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.
*******************************************************************************
2008 Contact Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*******************************************************************************
LAST UPDATE 10-2-07 de W1GSL P 3
List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version
Additions/ Corrections via Internet w1gsl@mit.edu
US Mail W1GSL POB 397082 MIT Br Cambridge MA 02139
(c)2007 W1GSL http://www.swapfest.us SASE for updated copy as issued.
unlimited reproduction permitted in entirety
*******************************************************************************

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

Be sure to check for the latest version as updating is under the control
of the page owner.

* You can have the list e-mailed directly to you as it is updated. *
* Just send a request to be added to the distribution to w1gsl@mit.edu *

73 Steve F
W1GSL

***********************************************************************
New England Area Ham - Electronic Flea Market *** DATES *** P4
Links to New England Hamfest Web Sites (c) 2007 W1GSL
***********************************************************************
This section is only included in the electronic distribution.

Cambridge MA Flea at MIT http://www.swapfest.us

Hopkinton NH Hosstraders RIP :-( 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.htm

Boxborough MA NE ARRL Conv http://www.boxboro.org/

Dartmouth MA SEMARA http://www.semara.org/flea.htm +

Falmouth MA FARA http://www.falara.org/

FeedingHills MA MTARA http://www.mtara.org/flea07.html +

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/

Wakefield MA Photographica http://www.phsne.org/ +

Whately MA FranklinCARC http://www.fcarc.org/news.htm

Enfield CT VHF/UHF Conf http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html

Newington CT NARL http://www.narlhamfest.org/

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/

Hermon ME PSARC http://n1me.org/index.php?pr=Hamfest +

Lewiston ME AARC http://www.mainearrl.org/convent.htm

Portland ME PAWA http://www.pawa-maine.org/fleamarket.html

Deerfield NH NEAR-Fest http://www.near-fest.com/ +

Henniker NH CVRC http://www.qsl.net/k1bke/

Manchester NH NEAntiqueRC http://www.nearc.net/

Rochester NH GBRA http://www.kb1kbe.com/hamfest.html

Bergen NJ BARA http://www.bara.org/

Sussex NJ SCARC http://www.scarcnj.org/www.scarcnj.org/flyer_2007.htm

LaGrangeville NY MtBARC http://www.wr2abb.org/hamfest.php +

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://hosarc.org/hamfest.html

Rensselaer NY E Greenbush ARA http://www.w2egb.org/ +

Rochester NY AWA http://www.antiquewireless.org/

Rochester NY RARA http://www.rochesterhamfest.org/

Wallkill NY OCARC http://www.w2ho.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

St Albans VT STARC http://www.starc.org/

Drummondville PQ leCRdeD http://www.9bit.qc.ca/~ve2crd/hamfest/index.html

Greenwood PQ GARC http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/esmith/GARC/activities.htm

Montreal PQ MARC http://www.marc.qc.ca/fest/fest.html

Montreal PQ WIARC http://shell.pubnix.net/~wiarc/hamfest.htm

Montreal PQ MS-SARC http://www.ve2clm.ca/hamfesta.htm

Montreal PQ UMS http://www.ve2ums.ca/agenda/pub_2007_hamf.pdf +

Laval PQ CRALL http://www.ve2crl.qc.ca/

Sorel-Tracy PQ CRAS-T http://www.hamfest.qc.ca/

St Romuald PQ ARES http://www.aresqc.org/ +

St Therese PQ CRALL http://www.ve2crl.qc.ca/hamfest2002.htm

Summerside PEI SPARC http://www.summersidearc.com/ +

Halafax NS HARC http://www.halifax-arc.org/

Timonium MD GBHC http://www.gbhc.org/

Montreal Area MARC List http://www.marc.qc.ca/fest/festcal.html +

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

ARRL Goes to Washington with Members of Congress to Visit

Hello to all….

ARRL HQ personnel will be in Washington DC today with several folks from Army MARS and they are expecting a visit from members of Congress. This visit is coinciding with a MARS exercise planned for today where various parts of the country get hit with various natural disasters in an attempt to stress the MARS system and promote interoperability between MARS, ARES, RACES and SKYWARN.

Understanding that this great event is unfortunately happening during work hours between 10 AM-5 PM EDT (1400-2100 UTC) Wednesday 10/3, any Amateurs that are available are asked to check into the operation on HF voice, 14.250 MHz and 7.250 MHz as well as PSK-31 on 14.070 MHz. Manager of Preparedness and Response, Dennis Dura-K2DCD, who is also the Assistant Director for VoIP Hurricane Net Operations has asked that Net Controls monitor the *WX-TALK* EchoLink Conference Node: 7203 and IRLP reflector 9219 as they hope to sign on there and take drill traffic reports from this exercise using those means as well.

A link to the national article is listed below:
Amateur Radio Goes to Washington

If you do get time to check in via HF, PSK-31, or EchoLink/IRLP, please let me know so I can post some further information on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES web site. Thanks to all 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
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SKYWARN “Refresher CD-ROM” Planned

SKYWARN logoEastern Massachusetts amateurs may soon be able to review educational material on a CD-ROM and update their weather spotting credentials, writes NWS Taunton SKYWARN volunteer and South Shore District Emergency Coordinator Carl Aveni, N1FY.

According to Aveni, the SKYWARN “Refresher CD” has been in the planning stages for awhile. “National Weather is trying to work out the logistics of how to keep track of those folks who do the refresher course by way of the CD and then update their spotter IDs.”

N1FY says that the scheme needs to be finalized by the National Weather Service before the CD can be released for actual use.

Interoperability Projects Receive Kudos From ARRL

ARRL flag iconVarious interoperability projects are receiving high praise from ARRL, and Eastern MA amateurs are playing a prominent role in a couple of them.

In his monthly QST column, “It Seems To Us” ARRL Chief Executive Officer Dave Sumner, K1ZZ writes about Amateur Radio’s role in communications interoperability. He describes the progress made in applying advanced technologies to emergency communications, as reported at the Third Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference (GAREC-07), held in Huntsville on August 16-17.

Sumner cites the success of the VoIP Hurricane Net. “It was a pleasure to hear how the VoIP Hurricane Net (…) is utilizing both EchoLink and IRLP to provide ‘ground truth’ reports to the National Hurricane Center.”

A lot of the success for this program can be credited to Eastern Massachusetts amateur Rob Macedo, KD1CY. Macedo serves as Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net. He also serves as the Eastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator and is an ARRL Assistant Section Manager.

The VoIP Hurricane Net web site is hosted by another active Eastern MA amateur, Phil McNamara, N1XTB. McNamara built the web reporting form and linked database for the web-based reports.

Coincidentally, N1XTB is also a prominent player in another interoperability area mentioned in Sumner’s editorial: increased collaboration in linking the digital networks among the Army, Air Force and Navy-Marine Corps MARS organizations.

[See also: MARS to Assist TSA “When All Else Fails”]

Sumner’s column can be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2007/10/01/1/.

Boston ARC Members Participate in Strategic National Stockpile Exercise

Boston ARC logoBoston Amateur Radio Club members who are also a part of Eastern Massachusetts ARES participated in a Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) exercise on September 23, 2007.

Sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the SNS is a national repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, life-support medications, IV administration, airway maintenance supplies, and medical/surgical items. The SNS is designed to supplement and re-supply state and local public health agencies in the event of a national emergency anywhere and at anytime within the U.S. or its territories. [Full story]

Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for October

Hello to all….

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for October is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for October is Monday October 1st, 2007, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Thanks for your continued support of 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
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