Month: August 2019

Licensing Education & Training

Dayton Hamvention Radio Club of the Year to Hold Ham Bootcamp at New England Convention

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From ARRL Web: “The Nashua (New Hampshire) Area Radio Society (NARS) will conduct a free Ham Bootcamp at the ARRL New England Division Convention next month to encourage and assist new and inexperienced radio amateurs in becoming more active and engaged in the various facets of ham radio. NARS, the Dayton Hamvention® Club of the Year for 2019, operated a guest exhibit for ARRL at this year’s show. It will also sponsor a Ham Expo for Young People at the New England Division Convention, with hands-on activities, videos, and displays about Amateur Radio and wireless communication.” [Full story]

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Licensing Education & Training

Falmouth ARA Technician Course, October 12-26, 2019

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The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA) will be offering a Technician class amateur radio license course on October 12, 19, and 26, 2019 at the Falmouth Fire Station, Main Street, 2nd Floor, EOC Room.  The fee is $50 and includes:   Nine hours of classroom instruction Course Manual Online test practice and tutoring Refreshments Access to instructors for questions & tutoring License exam One-year membership with FARA Admission to the 2019 FARAFest, amateur radio flea market   The exam will be conducted on the afternoon of October 26.   For additional information, contact Charlie Bresnahan, K1CB, at kilo1cb (at) aol.com. …

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All

Northeast HamXposition @Boxboro 2019 Forum Schedule Now Online

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Bob DeMattia, K1IW, writes: The forum schedule for the Northeast HamXposition @Boxboro! 2019 is now available on our website.  On it you will find a wide variety of topics – everything from antique radio to the newest technology.   There are technical presentations and speakers that will tell you about all sorts of ham activities. All new for this year is “Ham Bootcamp.”  Just got your license, or know someone who just got theirs and doesn’t know what to do with it?  Join the bootcamp and join the fun! Another new addition this year is Sunday morning music band and brunch.  …

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Affiliated Clubs / Public Service

Algonquin ARC, Marlborough EMA Support for Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, September 14, 2019

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Eric Williams, KV1J, writes on the Algonquin ARC mailing list: To: Algonquin Radio Club and Marlborough EMA Team Please mark your calendars for our support of the biannual joint Hudson-Marlborough Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day on Saturday, September 14th.  Our support is a combined effort by the Algonquin Amateur Radio Club and the Marlborough Emergency Management Team.  Using our radio communications skills, we manage the traffic flow and validate residency for the approximately 400 cars that come to the event.  We use the Emergency Management’s UHF radios.  If you have them, please bring your Ham UHF portable radio since we …

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NTS

MASSACHUSETTS TRAFFIC REPORT FOR JULY 2019

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As noted last month we lost two of our fellow traffic handlers and friends in the month of July. Jim Ward N1LKJ and Greg Bennett KC1CIC are both greatly missed.   The nets continue on however and we welcome Peter Doherty KC1HHO as the new net manager of the EM2MN.  Peter is interested in training and we plan to incorporate that into the net.  We welcome all to participate in this net as we do all our traffic nets, but we feel it is important for fellow amateurs to have the skills in accurate message handling and net operation and …

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All

Flea at MIT, Cambridge, August 18, 2019

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Steve Finberg, W1GSL, writes: The July FLEA at MIT is this coming Sunday, August 18, 2019   Also known as SWAPFEST it is held in MIT’s Albany St garage near the corner of Albany and Main St in Cambridge.   It features “hi tech” goodies such as electronics, computers and ham radio,”all things nerdly.”   We have had real Enigma machines to a NASA Gemini spacecraft  show up.   It starts at 9 AM for buyers and runs till 2 PM,  be early for the  good stuff.   All vendors are in the covered garage, which makes a weather proof event.   …

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Licensing Education & Training

ARRL Volunteer Exams at Northeast HamXposition, September 7-8, 2019

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Three volunteer exam sessions will be conducted by an ARRL VEC-accredited team at the Northeast HamXposition (“Boxboro”) at the following times: Saturday, September 7, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM Saturday, September 7, 1:00 PM-5:00 PM Sunday,  September 8, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM All sessions will be held in the Deck Room of the Boxboro Regency Hotel & Conference Center (Formerly the Boxboro Holiday Inn), 242 Adams Place, Boxborough, MA 01719, Phone: 978-263-8701.  No pre-registration is required. For more information, visit https://hamxposition.org/get-licensed.

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Operating

Fox in Hiding, Westford, August 10, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the fox-hunting list at 10:53 AM on August 10, 2019: Fox hunters: get ready! I am headed out shortly to hide two foxes in Westford.  Get your gear ready for 2m and 80m fox hunting! I will send another email in an hour or so with a clue about the location. — Wait until 12:30 PM before fox hunting in Westford.  The highly encrypted clue uses the ROT1 decrpytion algorithm. BCDE_UFYBT_SPBE_BCDE

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Operating

KC1DKY Fox Deployed in Billerica, August 9, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Nick Mollo, KC1DKY, writes on the foxhunting list at 11:08 AM on Friday, August 9 2019: Get your HTs and your bug spray and head to Billerica to hunt for my fox.  Fox is on 146.525MHz, and a DTMF of 1 will activate it for 20minutes or so.  If it does not seem to be transmitting, try a few DTMF #’s to kick start it (I sometimes think someone is messing with the programming).  Be sure to sign the log book if you find it. Happy Hunting!

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Cape Cod ARES Summer Exercise – Saturday 8/10/19 1000 AM-1200 PM

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Rob Macedo-KD1CY writes: Cape Cod ARES will conduct their summer exercise on Saturday August 10th, 2019 from 1000 AM-1200 PM. The exercise will be led by Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator, WQ1O-Frank O’Laughlin. All are welcome to participate. The Cape Cod ARES Exercise document can be seen at the following link: Cape Cod ARES August 10th 2019 Exercise Plan

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Operating / Technical

New Hampshire Tower Tragedy: Lessons Learned

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Mark Pride, K1RX, writes on the YCCC Reflector: To all Tower owners in the Amateur Radio Community – a must read!  By Mark Pride, K1RX Many old timers in the hobby that own a tower, perhaps in the air for 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, need to take this article seriously as it could provide life saving information to you and your ground crew. This is a cautionary article for all that have a tower no matter how long its been the air.  What occurred at a NH amateur station recently provides a lesson for all of us tower …

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All

Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, Keynote Speaker at Northeast HamXposition, September 7, 2019

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Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, will be the featured keynote speaker at the Northeast HamXposition @ Boxboro’s Saturday Grand Banquet September 7, 2019. Barstow is Senior Education Manager for the International Space Station National Lab. In this role, he supports large-scale use of the ISS by students, teachers and the public. He does this work through the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the Space Station Explorers program. Dan has a long-term interest in ham radio and its space connections. Through Space Station Explorers, he supports the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) program to connect students with astronauts, and has developed …

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Emergency Communications

Cape Cod ARES and SKYWARN Provide Support in Rare Cape Cod Tornado Event

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From ARRLWeb: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, ARES, and SKYWARN Amateur Radio volunteers were promptly pressed into action as a storm system on July 23 produced severe thunderstorms that spawned three tornadoes over the Cape. Hurricane-force wind also resulted in significant tree and utility wire damage across Cape Cod, with particularly hard-hit communities including Hyannis, Yarmouth, and Chatham. Some pockets of wind damage also occurred in the northwest corner of Martha’s Vineyard. Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters were the first to provide critical ground truth information regarding the significant wind damage and tornadoes across Cape Cod. Under the direction of Cape Cod District …

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All

One Dead, One Injured in New Hampshire Ham Radio Tower Mishap

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From ARRLWeb: A tower dismantling turned tragic on Saturday, July 27, in Deerfield, New Hampshire, when two radio amateurs working some 40 feet up on the tower were carried to the ground when the structure collapsed. Joseph Areyzaga, K1JGA, 52, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, did not survive his injuries sustained in the fall, while the tower’s owner, Michael Rancourt, K1EEE, 65, was seriously injured and remains hospitalized. Rancourt was taking down the tower in preparation for selling his house, and the pair had nearly completed their work. They were tied into the tower and went down with it as it …

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Governmental

Massachusetts Distracted Driving Legislation Stalled

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WBZ/ CBS Boston reported House and Senate Democrats “failed to reach a compromise on long-discussed distracted driving legislation after a marathon session Wednesday [July 31, 2019], abandoning the issue about four hours after Senate President Karen Spilka said a resolution appeared imminent.” In its current form, the legislation–also known as the “handheld cellphone ban”–would exempt “federally-licensed 2-way radios” allowing for the unimpeded use of amateur radios in vehicles. [See also: Massachusetts Hands-free Mobile Device Legislation Update] Both branches held sessions open from Wednesday afternoon until after 12 a.m. Thursday in what was expected to be the last day before a …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net – Saturday August 3rd, 2019 – 1000 AM EDT

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Good evening, Since we do not have a Net Control Volunteer for the upcoming August Net, the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH will once again act as Net Control. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters and simplex frequency in the order listed. Please note: The simplex frequency for this month’s net has changed. Because we will be using the frequency in simplex mode, without tone, if it is not already programmed into your radio, the frequency can easily be entered into your radios “VFO” channel without the need …

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