December, 2018 Section News Now Available
The December, 2018 Section Newsletter is now available at https://ema.arrl.org/december-2018-section-news/.
Month: December 2018
Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net – Saturday January 5th, 2019 at 1000 AM
Good Morning Everyone,
Net Control for the January 5, 2019 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters in the order listed.
1. Plymouth 146.685 Tone 131.8
2. Boston 145.230 Tone Encode 88.5 Tone Decode 100.0
3. Norwood 147.210 Tone 100.0
4. Simplex 147.42
The Net will then return to the Plymouth Repeater for final comments and Net closing.
NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check in procedure which is: Here is.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.
We extend an invitation to any health care facility or EOC of any city or town that is served by one of the participating hospitals to join the Net. We also extend an invitation to any RACES or ARES member to check in during the NET.
Any hospital wishing to join the net that needs assistance with equipment or personnel should contact us at ssharc@gmail.com. We can assist you with getting your location on the air.
We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested please let us know. Our goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many groups as possible.
We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct the monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. The following list of repeaters are available for our use. Only a few systems are used each month with the selection of those used made by Net Control for that month. More systems are being added to the list on a regular basis.
REMINDER: The BARC Repeater is now using split tone. Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Repeaters
Attleboro 147.195 tone 127.3 (Sturdy Memorial Hospital)
Belmont 145.430 tone 146.2
Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Danvers 145.47 tone 136.5
Dartmouth 147.000 tone 67.0
Fall River 146.805. tone 67.0
Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9
Mansfield EMA 446.925 tone 100.0
Mansfield 147.015 tone 67.0
Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0
Norwood 147.210 tone 100.00
Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8
Salem 146.88 tone 118.8
Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
Weymouth 147.345 tone 110.9 (South Shore Hospital)
W. Bridgewater 146.775 DCS 244
Wrentham 147.09 tone 146.2
We look forward to hearing you all on the Net.
Respectfully,
John Barbuto
KS1Q
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South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190
New England Sci-Tech Amateur Extra Course, Take Any 9 Sessions
New England Sci-Tech is offering ongoing Amateur Extra study sessions for high school students, homeschool students, and adults who already have a General level license. This slower-paced course will get you ready to take the Amateur Extra license exam. You may jump into this course at any time, pay one course fee, and take nine weeks worth of classes. A different topic group is covered each week; all topics covered in nine-week intervals. Take the exam whenever you are ready.
The course runs most Thursday evenings, 6-9 PM from November, 2018 until March, 2019 as a combination “study group” and keynote presentations by experienced instructors. Study group meets 6:00-6:30, presentations run 6:30-8:15 approximately, and remainder of time is Q and A with instructors or more study group time. Regular homework reading and study is necessary to get the best results from this course. [Full description]
YCCC 1st Place in WPX CW US Club Category
According to YCCC member Jack Schuster, W1WEF, the Yankee Clipper Contest Club achieved first place among US Club scoring in the CQ WPX CW. “We had 92 entries and 166 million points versus the number 2 Potomac Valley Radio Club with 143 entries and 144 million points.” Kudos to YCCC members for their achievement.
Fessenden Commemorative Transmission Set for Christmas Eve
From the ARRL Letter, December 20, 2018:
As he’s done in years past, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, of Forest, Virginia, will commemorate what may have been the first radio broadcast [from Brant Rock, Massachusetts] to include speech and music by experimenter Reginald Fessenden on Christmas Eve 1906. Justin will fire up his vintage-style transmitter operating on 486 kHz under Experimental license WI2XLQ to mark the 112th anniversary of Fessenden’s accomplishment. Justin will begin his transmission on December 24 at 1700 UTC and continue until December 26 at 1659 UTC. [Full story]
See also: Fessenden’s Christmas Eve Broadcast
FCC Releases Plan in the Event of a Partial Government Shutdown
ARRL reports “the FCC has released its Plan for Orderly Shutdown in case funds become unavailable to continue operation.” [Full story]
UPDATE: FCC to Suspend Most Operations on January 3 if Government Shutdown Continues
Countdown to Third Annual AM Rally Has Begun
Townsend amateur Steve Cloutier, WA1QIX, and others are spearheading the third annual AM Rally in February. The event is sponsored by Radio Engineering Associates (REA), in cooperation with ARRL.
From the ARRL Hq. web site:
The third annual AM Rally is on the near horizon — just about 6 weeks away — getting under way at 0000 UTC on February 2 and continuing until 0700 UTC on February 4. The event aims to encourage the use of AM on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, and 6 meters while highlighting the various types of AM equipment in use today. The event is open to any and all radio amateurs running AM using any type of radio equipment — modern, vintage, tube, solid-state, software-defined, military, boat anchor, broadcast, homebrew, or commercial.
New England Sci-Tech Technician Course, December 21, 2018
New England Amateur Radio, Inc. is pleased to offer as part of the school vacation-week workshops, a radio Technician license class course for adults, children, and child-parent pairs to facilitate their successful completion of the FCC radio license test on December 21, 2018 from 9 AM to 12 noon. This course is appropriate for children 4th grade and up. Details are at <https://www.ne1ar.org/event/amateur-radio-course-for-kids-tech-5>.
New England Sci-Tech Technician Course, December 20, 2018
New England Amateur Radio, Inc. is pleased to offer as part of the school vacation-week workshops, a radio Technician license class course for adults, children, and child-parent pairs to facilitate their successful completion of the FCC radio license test on December 20, 2018 from 9 AM to 12 noon. This course is appropriate for children 4th grade and up. Details are at <https://www.ne1ar.org/event/amateur-radio-course-for-kids-tech-4>.
New England Sci-Tech Technician Course, December 19, 2018
New England Amateur Radio, Inc. is pleased to offer as part of the school vacation-week workshops, a radio Technician license class course for adults, children, and child-parent pairs to facilitate their successful completion of the FCC radio license test on December 19, 2018 from 9 AM to 12 noon. This course is appropriate for children 4th grade and up. Details are at <https://www.ne1ar.org/event/amateur-radio-course-for-kids-tech-3/>.
China and Russia band together on controversial ionospheric heating experiments
The South China Morning Post carried this story, “China and Russia band together on controversial heating experiments to modify the atmosphere” December 17, 2018, describing the continuing military “race to control the ionosphere.” The experiments are similar to the US program’s super-power High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program ( HAARP) transmitters in Gakona, Alaska.
KC1DKY Fox Deployed, Billerica, December 14, 2018
Nick Mello, KC1DKY writes on the fox-hunting list on December 14, 2018 at 1:37 PM:
The KC1DKY fox is hiding in Billerica on conservation land. Fox is on 146.565 MHz. Send a DTMF of 1 to activate the fox. If the fox does not seem to be responding, send a couple DTMF # and then a 1 to possibly whack it back into shape. The fox will signal for 30 seconds and be silent for 15 sec, and repeat for 15 minutes. The fox is located around a third of a mile from the trail head and about 20 ft or so in from the trail. Don’t forget to sign the log book in the plastic bag next to the fox. I recommend some boots, as there are a few mucky spots. And please, as it will be the topic of my daughter’s Girl Scout project, try to avoid stepping on the princess pines, which are very short plants, 2 to 3 inches tall, which look more like fern frons than pine trees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
While not endangered like lady slipper flowers, they are protected…and they are found all along this particular trail.
*******SPOILER ALERT*******
OI24NF DNA NI24NF FO REDROB EHT NO
N1SV QRV on 630 Meters for the Weekend
Les Peters, N1SV, in Townsend, MA writes:
Finally got my 160m inverted-L loaded up on 474.2 kHz using the variometer and impedance transformer I built. I can only get about 1 mw out of my K3S so real QRPP! So far only W1XP hears my flea signal (-20 SNR) but I’m hoping for more reports after dusk. I’ll keep the signal on both Friday and Saturday nights and would appreciate any reports.
Experimental Station Heard on 30 Meters
From the ARRL Letter:
IARUMS has received reports of short “beeps” exactly 1 second apart, as well as frequency hopping between 10,108 and 10,115 kHz and 18,834 and 18,899 kHz. The signals are believed to emanate from a site near Chicago associated with an FCC-licensed experimental operation involved with low-latency exchange trading on HF (see “Experiments Look to Leverage Low-Latency HF to Shave Microseconds off Trade Times <http://www.arrl.org/news/expe
YCCC member Fred Coelho, WX1S writes on the YCCC reflector:
“More on our 30 meter intruder. I’m not sure if this is what we were hearing last month but a signal (beep) at 1 second apart sounds about right. I copied this from the latest ARRL letter.”
WSJT-X with FT8 Support Now Available
Randy Thompson, K5ZD, writes on the YCCC reflector:
There is a big event happening in ham radio today. The new release of WSJT-X is out and it will require a major migration for FT8 users. The new WSJT-X support for FT8 is incompatible with the old one. I don’t think we have seen this kind of dramatic change in a mode before. I installed the new version and got on 30 meters. Lots of signals, but not many decoding. But, this is day 1. I am sure people will upgrade quickly.
https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.htmlThe current General Availability (GA) release is WSJT-X 2.0.0The FT8 and MSK144 protocols have been enhanced in a way that is not backward compatible with older program versions.
The new protocols become the world-wide standards starting on December 10, 2018, and all users should upgrade to WSJT-X 2.0 by January 1, 2019. After that date, only the new FT8 and MSK144 should be used on the air.
Release Notes for Version 2.0.0:
h
<https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt>
Upgrading from a previous WSJT-X version will be seamless. There is no need to uninstall a previous version or move any files.
Emergency Antenna Platform System Tool
A fusion of robotics, amateur radio, and emergency service the Emergency Antenna Platform System (E-APS) is a tool for Amateur Radio operators (ARES, RACES) as well as First Responder organizations to turn any parking lot lamp post into an instant antenna tower.
See: <http://wc2fd.com/index.php?title=Emergency_Antenna_Platform_System> for details.
November, 2018 Section News Now Available
The November, 2018 Section Newsletter is now available at https://ema.arrl.org/november-2018-section-news/.
Joe Reisert, W1JR, Wins Third Place in the 2018 QST Antenna Design Competition
Congratulations to Joe Reisert, W1JR, on winning third place for his design of “The3/8-Wavelength Vertical for 20 Meters, a Hidden Gem”. Steve Ford WB8IMY described the “requirements for the 2018 QST Antenna Design Competition included an antenna for one or more bands between 2200 meters and 10 meters that could fit within a 30×50-foot area and be no taller than 30 feet above ground at any point.”
A former resident of Chelmsford, Joe lives in Amherst, NH. He is a regular presenter at Boxboro. The full story is found at <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2018-12-06#toc02>
KC1DKY Fox Deployed, Billerica, December 6, 2018
Nick Mollo, KC1DKY, writes on December 6, 2018 at 1:13 PM:
The KC1DKY fox is hiding in south west Billerica on conservation land. Fox is on 146.565MHz. Send a DTMF of 1 to activate the fox. If the fox does not seem to be responding, send a couple DTMF # and then a 1 to possibly whack it back into shape. The fox will signal for 30seconds and be silent for 15 sec, and repeat for 15minutes. The fox is located around a quarter to third of a mile from the parking area and about 30ft or so in from the trail. Don’t forget to sign the log book in the plastic bag next to the fox. I recommend some boots, as there are a few mucky spots on the trail. Dress warm too – cause baby it’s cold outside 😉
GOOD LUCK and 73!
Nick
KC1DKY
*******SPOILER ALERT*******
DNAL EFILDLIW LAREDEF NO YLLAUTCA SI XOF EHT
Youth Survey
Sean Waite, WA1TE, writes:
If you know any young hams, could you please direct them to this survey?
https://goo.gl/forms/4d0S5HpM5fV1jK1Q2I’m in contact with the ARRL and am trying to gather information to feed them about how they can help get more of the younger crowd involved, and also retain others. I also have offered to yell from whatever mountains I can to help amplify any reasonable initiatives they come up with.
Target demographic is 26 and under. Like it or not, those of us in our 30s aren’t as young as we think we are.
Thanks and 73,
Sean Waite, WA1TE