Month: August 2018

Technical

ARRL Headquarters Gets On AM!

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On July 14, 2018, Eastern MA Technical Coordinator Dan Brown, W1DAN, traveled to ARRL Headquarters along with Tim, Smith, WA1HLR, and Steve Cloutier, WA1QIX, to help get the lab station, W1INF, on AM… in a big way!

The ARRL Headquarters lab is in possession of a tube-based Gates BC1T AM broadcast transmitter from the late 1950s. On loan from the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut, this transmitter was designed to make 1 kilowatt on the AM broadcast band, and was not meant for ham use. Product review engineer Bob Alison, WB1GCM, and lab manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, greeted us at a closed ARRL. We got a very quick tour, and went to work. Tim installed a transmit/receive (T/R) relay inside the transmitter, which he had previously modified for 160- as well as 80 meters. The power was also reduced to FCC limits. Steve installed his software modulation monitor and I installed two audio limiters as well as an audio distribution amplifier.

After a tasty lunch provided by Ed, all work was done by mid-afternoon. Bob was making contacts with other hams on the AM mode on 75 meters.

The W1INF lab station also includes a Flex 5000 transceiver, and a K7DYY Super Senior. The station will be on the air for AM events and contests, as well as occasional lunch break contacts by the staff.

The lab’s test gear is truly state of the art. It also holds the museum exhibit that once was in the lobby of headquarters. Ed runs the lab, and Bob does the product reports you see in QST. The lab staff also includes RFI engineer Mike Gruber, W1MG, and senior lab engineer Zach Lau, W1VT.

Dan, W1DAN

ARRL Technical Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts Section

 

 

WA1HLR-Relay
WA1QIX-a
Steve-Tim
Steve-Soldering
Tim-Coils
Bob-Tim
Ed-TunaTin
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Bob-Operates
Outside

[Show slideshow]
Clubs / Field Day / Public Information

Framingham ARA Field Day Featured on “Access Framingham TV”

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Screenshot of "Framingham Beat" featuring story about FARA Field DayThe Framingham Amateur Radio Association‘s recent Field Day operation at the McAuliffe Library was featured on Framingham’s community access channel accessfram.tv. According to FARA’s Glenn Axelrod, KC1HPZ, the coverage “is expected to be part of Access Framingham’s ‘Framingham Beat’ news magazine show at 7:30 PM on August 2.”

“Sumner, W1VIV, was featured prominently… his explanation of Field Day became the narration for the video that KC1HPZ shot and AFTV’s staff edited.”

Access Framingham can be viewed on RCN 3, Comcast 9, or Verizon 43. It can also be live-streamed on the web at accessfram.tv/watch.

UPDATE: the program can also be found on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZjHmHfIP90>.

Operating / Technical

W1VIV Article Featured in CQ Magazine

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June, 2018 CQ Magazine table of contents pageAn article by Sumner Weisman, W1VIV, of Framingham, appears in the June, 2018 CQ Magazine entitled, “Wireless Ham Radio for the Hearing Impaired.”

“I am pretty hard of hearing, where one ear is completely gone and the other is about half gone,” writes Sumner. “I use a hearing aid in my ‘good’ ear.  I like to do a few contests each year, and the earphones blasting into my hearing aid really abused my hearing.”

Sumner’s article tells how to use Bluetooth to stream the audio from your ham transceiver directly into your hearing aid, for very clear and pleasurable radio reception.

Operating

USS Massachusetts “Big Mamie” 77th Birthday Special Event Operation, September 22, 2018

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NE1PL QSL cardThe USTNR (Uncommon Service To Nautical Radio) club will operate from the USS Massachusetts museum ship at Battleship Cove in Fall River on September 22, from 0900-1500 or 1400Z-2000Z. 
 
“We will be celebrating the 77th birthday of ‘Big Mamie’ operating as NE1PL,” according to USTNR trustee Rick Emord, KB1TEE. QSL information can be found on the “Contacts” page of the USTNR website . 
 
Rick says this is the first time they are commemorating the famous battleship’s anniversary. He “hopes to continue long into the future.” 
Operating

YCCC Members Attend Lithuanian Hamfest

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W1UE at 2018 Lithuanian Hamfest
Dennis, W1UE, conveyed greetings to the hamfest participants from the Yankee Clipper Contest Club in New England. Simonas, LY2EN, is on the right.

Dennis Egan, W1UE, Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Rich Assarabowski, K1CC, represented the Yankee Clipper Contest Club at the 2018 LRMD (Lithuania) Hamfest held on July 27-29, 2018.

The event was held in Miego Klinika, a rural resort on a small lake in the middle of a forest in the northern part of Lithuania. Dennis, Fred, and Rich traveled to LY-land following the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship in Germany.  (See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2018/07/06/yccc-well-represented-at-wrtc2018-july-12-16-2018/)

“The tradition of summer radio amateur meetings in Lithuania goes back to 1989. This was at the end of the Soviet occupation, when the country was a republic in the Soviet Union. This year, Lithuania is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence right after the First World War. This was a turning point for many European nations. It looks like the Lithuanian Amateur Radio is going through a very active and successful period right now.”

For the complete story, visit https://dxnews.com/lithuanian-hamfest-2018/.

All

Previous Year’s Boxboro Program Videos Now On-line

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The Boxboro Committee is pleased to announce the creation of a video collection of talks and presentations at the 2017 Boxboro – New England Division Convention.  The collection can be found at https://archive.org/details/femarainc.  (FEMARA, Inc. is a Massachusetts non-profit corporation which sponsors and runs the ARRL New England Division Convention.) 
 
The Committee plans to add future videos to the collection as well as older programs.
 
Contact committee member Kayla Creamer, W2IRY, if you have questions about the videos.
 
All

2018 Boxboro! Program Schedule Announced

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The 2018 Boxboro! New England ARRL Division Convention has released its program schedule of forums, meetings and presentations on September 7-9, 2018. 

“We’ll feature a wide variety of technical and non-technical talks and presentations throughout the weekend,” said Phil Temples, K9HI, Boxboro Program Chair. “Everything from: SKYWARN Training, AMSAT and MARS forums, Easy RF Fingerprinting, along with several sessions on Youth STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and much, much more.”

The entire schedule is now available for viewing on the Boxboro web site at: http://boxboro.org/forums-and-classes.

Clubs / Youth

Massachusetts Maritime Academy ARC Granted ARRL Affiliation Status

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The Massachusetts Maritime Academy Radio Club has been granted ARRL Affiliation status. 

In a letter dated July 31, 2018  from ARRL’s Norm Fusaro, W3IZ,  Field Services and Radiosport Department Manager to MMAARC club trustee Andrew Perron, AB1YN, Fusaro writes: “It gives me great pleasure to advise you that the ARRL has approved your club’s application for affiliation with the ARRL.  The Massachusetts Maritime Academy Radio Club is hereby declared a duly affiliated society.” 

The League will generate a “handsome” charter and send to the club in the near future. 

Fusaro added, “Your club is now eligible for the benefits of ARRL affiliation; we hope you will make full use of our services. ”

Congratulations to the officers and members of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Amateur Radio Club for this important milestone!

 

Amateur-Auxiliary / Organization

ARRL Board Adopts Volunteer Monitoring Program; Official Observer Program to be Retired

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“The ARRL Board of Directors has adopted the recommendations of the Official Observer Program Study Committee, which would retire the Official Observer (OO) program and institute the Volunteer Monitoring (VM) program. The Board took the action at its July 20 – 21 meeting in Windsor, Connecticut, instructing that the transition “be implemented as soon as practicable.” Under the terms of the new program, current Official Observers will be invited to apply for appointment as Volunteer Monitors (VMs). The Board expressed its appreciation for the OOs and their dedicated volunteer service over the years.”

[Full story, ARRLWeb]