Month: September 2018

Emergency Communications / Operating

Operation Equinox – Portable HF Ops Event Update – 9/28/18

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Cape Ann ARES Emergency Coordinator KA1BTK-Gardi Winchester II, writes: All: ‘Operation Equinox’ is definitely taking on a life of its own! From it’s humble beginnings as a suggestion that we try setting up a CAARA member’s new portable antenna mast to an event almost as big as Field Day itself, it has blossomed in just five days! The ideas have come down so fast that I just can’t keep up with administering it! With the numbers of people who are informed and planning to attend, I doubt making many QSOs are going to be likely. But that is not what …

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All

SEMARA Flea Market, October 6, 2018

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The SEMARA Flea Market 2018 will be held on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at the SEMARA Clubhouse located at 54 Donald Street, Dartmouth, MA.  The event will be held rain or shine from 9:00 AM to 12 noon, with vendor setup beginning at 8:00 AM.  There is handicapped parking and access available.  Over the air talk-in will be on the SEMARA 147.000 repeater.  We will also be conducting a VE exam session inside the clubhouse at 10:30 AM for anyone interested in obtaining or upgrading their amateur radio license. For more information, please contact us at (508) 997-7070 or hamfest [at] semara [dot] org.

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NTS

MASSACHUSETTS TRAFFIC REPORT FOR AUGUST 2018

- by kw1u - Leave a Comment

Earlier in September we saw a nice NTS presence at the ARRL Convention at Boxboro MA. At an NTS Forum we had a good turnout and some good discussion with traffic handlers from all over New England, as well as some ARES folks. We also had an excellent presentation on digital messaging for both NTS and ARES by Greg KC1CIC. Anyone who missed that can contact Greg for more information. On Sunday there were two presentations by W1YSM of CT on how to be an effective net control as well as some of the “nuts and bolts” of formal message …

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Emergency Communications / Operating

Portable HF Ops Event

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Cape Ann ARES Emergency Coordinator KA1BTK-Gardi Winchester II, writes: Who:  All Amateur Radio Operators: What:  Portable HF Operations and equipment exercise. When: Next Sunday, September 30th (Weather permitting) from about 12:00 Noon – 5:00 or 6:00 PM Where: Hospital Hill, at the top of Summit Avenue (through the stone pillars) in Rockport, MA, 01966 Why:  Fellowship, practice, making sure your go-bag plans are complete and all of your equipment is functional, and a whole host of reasons! Come and join fellow Hams in exercising and testing your equipment and plans, and have fun walking all over one another in a …

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Emergency Communications / Public Information

Cape Cod ARES Participates in Falmouth Public Safety Fair

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Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator WQ1O-Frank O’Laughlin writes: I felt just well enough to attend the Falmouth Emergency preparedness/Safety fair day here on Cape Cod to support my new ARES ADEC Henry Brown K1WCC who headed up the event for the Falmouth ARES area of the Cape Cod and Islands ARES District. I was pleased to see the aluminum case kit that I built for him a few years back and the cooler based kit he personally built. I only brought my small camera bag radio kit. It was well attended and organized by Assistant Falmouth EMD Kim Strohm. …

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Technical

W1PJE Presents at 37th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference

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Dr. Phil Erickson, W1PJE, was the invited banquet speaker at this year’s annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference held on September 14-16, 2018, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Erickson is an assistant director and head of MIT’s Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences group at Haystack Observatory.  He holds B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and space plasma physics from Cornell and is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the International Radio Science Union. Dr. Erickson is an Extra class ham and member of TAPR, ARRL, RSGB, Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club and the HamSCI initiative. He is the lead …

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Affiliated Clubs / Licensing Education & Training

Whitman ARC Offering Technician Class, September 4-27, 2018

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The Whitman Amateur Radio Club is currently conducting a Technician training class at the Whitman police station at 20 Essex Street on Tuesdays until September 27, 2018. Ross Hochstrasser, W1EKG, and Paul DeLory, W1GTX, are instructing. The class will culminate in a volunteer exam on October 2, 2018. For details, visit http://www.wa1npo.org/training/training.htm.

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Emergency Communications

Amateur Radio Newsline Highlights Eastern MA ARES Standby for Merrimack Valley Incident, VoIP Hurricane Net Support

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Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes:   Amateur Radio Newsline #2134 for Friday, September 21, 2018, featured a story about the recent Eastern MA ARES standby for the Merrimack Valley gas explosions and fires, and the VoIP Hurricane Net report. The text transcript and audio can be found at:   https://www.arnewsline.org/news/2018/9/20/amateur-radio-newsline-report-2134-for-friday-september-21-2018  

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Affiliated Clubs / Public Information

Barnstable ARC Presence at Harwich Cranberry Arts & Music Festival, September 15, 2018

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The Barnstable Amateur Radio Club had a presence for the second year at the Harwich Cranberry Arts & Music Festival on September 15, 2018 from 10 AM – 6 PM. The festival featured food trucks, music, community and vendor tables, and a bicycle event. According to BARC organizers, “excellent weather and band condition made for a good weekend.”

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All

IPAWS National Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

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UPDATE:  Due to the ongoing Florence storm activities, this test has been postponed to October 3, 2:18 PM EDT. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on September 20, 2018. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed. https://www.fema.gov/emergency-alert-test

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Public Information / Youth

Mass Jam Volunteers Needed, Falmouth, October 6-9, 2018

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Glen Dowden, KC1GKT writes: The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association is looking for volunteers on October 6 through October 9, 2018 for Mass Jam. Mass Jam is held at the Barnstable County Fairgrounds in East Falmouth. The event brings Scouts from all over Massachusetts and Rhode Island for a weekend of activities. Mass Jam provides the scouts the opportunity to participate in fellowship and activities throughout the weekend. We would be providing an opportunity for Scouts to learn more about Amateur Radio and the opportunity to get on the air. Falmouth Amateur Radio Association can provide the necessary equipment (Radio equipment …

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All

“Woodstock of Amateur Radio”: NEAR-Fest, October 12-13, 2018

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NEAR-Fest will be held on October 12-13, 2018. It is held twice annually, spring and fall, rain or shine, at the Deerfield Fairgrounds in Deerfield New Hampshire beginning on Friday at 0900 and ending Saturday at 1500 hours. Admission is $10. Persons under 18 and over 80 are admitted free of charge upon presentation of government-issued ID. Inside parking is available for $10 and includes a “reasonable amount of flea market selling space” for PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS selling their own personal property. Commercial vendors must register and pay applicable fees. If you are wondering if you are a “commercial vendor” you probably …

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Public Service

Volunteers Sought, Lone Gull 10K, Gloucester, September 30, 2018

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Christopher Winczewski, K1TAT, writes on the CAARA list: CAARA has a great public service team. Come out and have some fun with us. We have loaner radios if you need one. Come out and join the event. Contact us and we will set you up with a radio. We are looking for operators to staff the Lone Gull 10K on Sunday, September 30th. Please be on location at your Check Point by 8:30 for a 9:00 AM start. Please let me know if you can staff a communications check-point for the event by September 28th so I can plan staffing positions …

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Operating

W1HFN Fox Deployed in Littleton

- by k9hi - 2 Comments.

Barry Fox, W1HFN, writes on the foxhunting list on September 15, 2018: Barring sudden catastrophe, the W1HFN fox will be loose at:   https://littletonconservationtrust.org/tws_holding/bumblebee-park/ UPDATE 7:36 AM, September 16, 2018:   Sorry, I left out the important bits;  146.565, it runs constantly, no tones needed.  A 20 second voice ID every minute, so there is 40 seconds of no signal.  Makes for a bit of a challenge.   Hopefully, it will run through Thursday the 20th.  In any event, it will be recovered then.   Good luck,   Barry – W1HFN  

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Public Service

PMC Kids Ride, Volunteers Requested, Manchester-by-the-Sea, September 22, 2018

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Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF writes on the North Shore RA mailing list:   I have a last minute event that has come up.  I need a few people to help with a KIDS PMC event.   Rick, WZ1L, in Gloucester has asked if I can get a few people to help him with a friends event to raise money for a kids cancer charity event.   The event is next Saturday, September 22 in the AM before noon in Manchester-by-the-Sea.   I know some people are doing a public service event on Sunday as well, but if you can help out …

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Public Service

Ride to Defeat ALS, Volunteers Needed, September 23, 2018

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David Wolfe, KG1H writes: The Worcester Emergency Communications Team is looking for volunteers on Sunday 9/23/18 for the Ride to  Defeat  ALS.  This is a low key event with the primary focus being on charity rather than racing.   The 70 mile bicycle course begins at the Longfellow club in Wayland and continues through several towns with rest stops in Hudson, Bolton, Acton, Concord, and Sudbury.  While the race runs from 6AM to 3PM, some stations open as late as 9AM and some close as early as 11AM.   Operators working at a course station can report directly to their station.  Lunch …

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Emergency Communications

Lawrence/North Andover, Mass Natural Gas Related House Fire Situation and Eastern Massachusetts/North Shore ARES Monitoring

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Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes:   While we have Eastern Massachusetts Amateurs engaged in Hurricane Florence monitoring, we are well aware of the incident and are prepared to support any agencies if necessary. Please see our status update from North Shore ARES DEC, KB1KQW-Jim Palmer. We are sending this to Mike-KI1U as well at his request as he wanted a status update   Hello to all…   At approximately 5:00pm this evening, an incident involving several home explosions and fires began unfolding in the Merrimack Valley, specifically affecting the towns of Andover, North Andover, and Lawrence.  There have …

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Public Service

Request For Operators, YuKanRun Half-By-The-Sea Half Marathon, September 23, 2018

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Chris Winczewski, K1TAT, writes on the CAARA mailing list:   CAARA has a great public service team! Come out and have some fun with us. We have loaner radios if you need one. Come out and join the event. Just contact us and we will set you up with a radio. We are looking for operators to staff the YuKanRun Half-By-The-Sea Half Marathon. on Sunday, September 23rd. Please be on Location at your Check Point by 9:30 AM for a 10:00 AM start. Manchester Essex Memorial Elementary School, 43 Lincoln Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA 01944 Please let me know if you can staff a communications check-point …

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