Month: May 2011

Bruce Hayden, NI1X writes:

The Whitman Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual fundraiser at the Saftler’s flea market in Whitman on Sunday, May 29 and Monday, May 30. The flea is located at Saftler’s parking lot at the intersection of Routes 14 and 18 in Whitman. This is a general flea market with only one other vendor selling amateur radio equipment.

The WARC club station WA1NPO will be on the air operating from the event. Event organizers encourage everyone to check in on the Whitman 2-meter repeater on 147.225 (67 Hz PL) sometime during the fundraiser, or stop by.

Shown, right: the WARC crew at Saftler’s from Memorial Day weekend in 2006.

Do you have a MA ham radio license plate? Do you need an inspection sticker?

According to Kevin Paetzold, K1KWP and other amateurs, you might run into a bit of a snafu getting your car inspected–at least for the moment.

Paetzold says he went to get his car inspected on May 12, and was told that the Registry of Motor Vehicles “cannot process inspections” for ham radio plates at this time.

According to Paetzold, “After hearing this from my inspection station I was able to verify this with the RMV itself.”

K1KWP was told there is supposedly “a fix in the works which should be available next week”. He adds, “The guy at the RMV told me [over the phone] that they changed their software to not accept anything but alphas and numbers. Therefore, ‘slant bar’ (the character that represents the “lightning bolt” on the plate) no longer works.”

In the meantime, those who have stickers that expire in May will just have to keep their fingers crossed.

The Young Ladies Radio League will hold its 2011 convention July 21-24, 2011 at the Best Western Adams Inn, Quincy, MA. Activities include an all-day tour of Boston, including the Freedom Trail; a general meeting; tours for the OMs; a luncheon tour of the Adams Historical Site in Quincy; a tour of the Marconi Site at Cape Code National Seashore; and a possible tour of ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut.

Hotel reservations must be made by June 21 to obtain the convention room rate. For more information, see the convention flyer at http://tinyurl.com/43xrshn.

Organized in 1939, YLRL is a nonprofit organization of women Amateur Radio licensees. With a membership of approximately 800, it is international in scope. Approximately 100 of its members are DX YLs.

A Technician class will be taught in July at the Dennis, MA Police Department at 90 Bob Crowell Road, Dennis MA 02660. The class will be held from 1-5 PM on July 9, 10, 16, & 17, 2011. At the conclusion of the last class, a volunteer exam session will be conducted. The class is free of charge, but participants are asked to purcahase a copy of the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual in advance.

Complete details and a flyer can be found at <http://ema.arrl.org/local/Dennis_Tech_Class_2011_07.pdf>.

Don Burke, KB1LXH writes:

Seven scouts from Troop 40 in Taunton visited the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Region 2 Headquarters in Bridgewater on April 4. To fullfill the requirements for an Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge, the scouts meet with a local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director and learn how that person prepares, responds to, recovers from, and mitigates and prevents emergency situations in our community.

James Mannion, MEMA Region 2 Director gave the scouts a great presentation about hurricanes, storm surge and tornadoes. Mr. Mannion was recently in Florida to visit the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He came back with new video of damage caused by storms across the Gulf coast and the Eastern US states. Mannion also explained the role MEMA Region 2 and the surrounding cities and towns play in Plymouth Nuclear Power Plant drills. He allowed the troop members a chance to use a Geiger counter and dosimeters.

The scouts also toured the RACES radio room where Mike Leger, N1YLQ, Region 2 Acting RACES Officer, talked about the role Amateurs Radio operators play in EMA events.

Each scout was given an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) which they may make use of on their next backpacking trip.

On hand for the visit were Bruce Hayden, NI1X and Bill Foster, KD1NX, both of whom are Region II RACES radio operators.

–Thanks, TACG newsletter, May 2011.