Month: March 2021

Emergency Communications / Public Service / Technical

Request for Assistance: Two Meter Interference, Hudson MA

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Bob Glorioso, W1IS, writes on NE Mass Fox Hunters list on Mar 11, 2021 at 6:06 AM:

W. Middlesex ARES uses 147.435 MHz with 110.9 Hz tone simplex for our net and emergency calling frequency.   When the local Fire Dept. moved to a new building and left the tower in the center of town for Fire and Police repeaters, we were stuck with a 2M antenna at 90 ft but no place for a rig.  We worked with Fire Chief Landry and shared the expense of putting a new antenna and remote base in the equipment shack at the base of the tower that has automatic power back-up.  Its input is on 70 cm..

Interference from a strong intermittent broadband signal started on 147.439 MHz late last year. It is dead full quieting into our remote base on 147.435 and wipes out direct calls on 147.435 around town. The base only comes on when someone with the right tone triggers it but, if the noise comes on, many of the handheld stations around town are wiped out.  I found it was strong near the Intel plant in Hudson by driving around when it was on.  Early in January it went off and, unfortunately, came back on yesterday right after our monthly net.  I heard it today coming back from getting our Covid shots at Gillett when we got to Hopkinton on 495.

Any assistance locating and silencing this noise will be appreciated.

Thanks & 73,
Bob W1IS
EC Stow

Public Information

K9HI to be Featured on Pittsfield Community TV, WTBR-FM, March 10, 2021

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Eastern MA Assistant Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI, will be the featured guest on Ham On!, simulcast on Pittsfield Community Television and WTBR-FM 89.7 on March 10, 2021 at 9 AM. The early morning program is produced and moderated by Western MA Assistant Section Traffic Manager Peter Mattice, KD2JKV. Phil will speak on ARRL matters and other wide-ranging topics.

Technical / Youth

WØMXX Experimenting With Weather Balloons

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Shoebox containing W0MXX balloon payloadfrom WickedLocal.com:

Ten-year-old amateur radio operator Max Kendall is having a blast with his latest weather balloon project. The Medway youth has been constructing a balloon payload around a Raspberry Pi computer and camera. The microcomputer he’s programming will collect atmospheric data, and convert the temperature values to the Fahrenheit scale “because I have a better feel for Fahrenheit than Celsius.”

A fourth-grader at the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin, Max spends many hours of his free time preparing for a spring launch of his very own weather balloon. He launched his first weather balloon from a field in Agawam, predicting it would eventually land many miles to the east in or near Halifax. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get the balloon airborne using party balloon helium purchased at Target, the apparatus went aloft but soon afterward, the tracker stopped sending signals. Max suspects it went too far out of his limited range  or “may have frozen as it drifted higher” despite the disposable hand warmer he placed in the box with it.
 
Max has founded the Medway Balloon Society, a club for youths and families who meet online and “share messages, files, chats, text messages and voice and video calls.” When the club has enough local members, he plans to hold in-person meetings and launches. Max’s mother, Jennifer Kendall, says Max is working with the Medway Public Library’s Makerspace coordinator, Diane Busa, to find interested individuals and families to participate.
 
“He would just love to have more people in the area to collaborate with him on weather balloons.” She adds, “there is just so much to love about them–the engineering and coding needed in building them, the thrill of the launch, and the adrenaline rushing when you attempt to recover them after the launch.”
 
In hopes of avoiding the same loss of contact with his second balloon that he experienced with his first,  Max studied online and earned an FCC General class amateur radio license.  His callsign is WØMXX. With his amateur radio privileges he hopes to track his second balloon and retrieve its data and images via ham radio. He’s currently studying to earn his Amateur Extra license.
 

Max is focusing on his next weather balloon. He thinks it will be ready for launch later this month, or in April. 

 
“The highest weather balloon went up 140,000 feet,” Max says. “My goal is 100,000 feet. That’s just about 63,000 feet short of the top of the earth’s stratosphere.”
 

For details about Max’s first weather balloon project, visit  https://maxkendall.wixsite.com/home/post/first-weather-balloon.

 

Operating

ARRL SSB DX Contest, March 6-7, 2021

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

from nediv.arrl.org:

ARRL International DX Contest logoARRL SSB DX Contest, March 6-7, 2021

Contest Objective: 

To encourage W/VE stations to expand knowledge of DX propagation on the HF and MF bands, improve operating skills, and improve station capability by creating a competition in which DX stations may only contact W/VE stations. One contest period is CW-only and one is Phone-only.  Use only the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands.

W/VE amateurs: Work as many DX stations in as many DXCC entities as possible.

DX stations: Work as many W/VE stations in as many of the 48 contiguous states and provinces as possible.

Date: Phone: First full weekend in March (March 6-7, 2021).

Contest Period: Begins 0000 UTC Saturday and runs through 2359 UTC Sunday.

2021 Multoperator Accommodations:

ARRL has issued temporary accommodations for multioperator stations competing in the 2021 International ARRL DX Contest (CW and phone). Individual team members may operate from their home stations in conjunction with the multi-op station. The home stations must be within a radius of 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the multiop station, and must be within the same DXCC entity, US State, or Canadian province.  For more information, visit the link below.

www.arrl.org/news/guidelines-issued-for-arrl-dx-contest-multioperator-stations

Contest rules are now maintained as a single downloadable document (see “Full Contest Rules” below).

For contest information contact contests@arrl.org or (860) 594-0232

Emergency Communications / Licensing Education & Training / Public Service

2021 National Weather Service Boston Virtual SKYWARN Training Sessions Announced

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

SKYWARN logoDue to COVID-19 concerns, SKYWARN Training classes will again be held virtually in 2021. SKYWARN Training sessions will occur on three weeknights and two weekends in April and May. The weeknight sessions will be taught by NWS forecasters and the weekend sessions taught by Amateur Radio operators.

[Full story]
Clubs

W1UE: “Using Propagation Prediction Software” at Algonquin ARC Meeting Online, March 11, 2021

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Dennis Egan, W1UE[Algonquin Amateur Radio Club] member Dennis Egan, W1UE, will speak on the topic of “Using Propagation Prediction Software” at the March 11, 2021 AARC meeting at 7:30 PM online via Zoom. Information on joining this virtual meeting will be sent out in advance via email.

[For Zoom conference information, email Mike Powell, W1KU, at <president@n1em.org>.]

 

Public Service

MARS Volunteers Recognized with Gold-Level President’s Volunteer Service Award

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

A Taunton, MA amateur is among  twelve US Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) volunteers being honored with gold-level recognition for the President’s Volunteer Service Award for 2020.

Bob Mims, WA1OEZ, the former Director for Region One (New England) along with eleven other award recipients will receive a letter signed by the President of the United States, a certificate of achievement, and a presidential volunteer service lapel pin. Volunteer awards are based on the certifying organization’s recommendation and the number of documented volunteer hours for the year.

[Full story]
Clubs

KC1MCW, KC1LOM: “Flying the Beam: Navigation by Air & Space,” New England Sci-Tech ARS Meeting Online, March 9, 2021

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

New England Sci Tech logoOn Tuesday March 9 at 19:00 Wayne Hansen, KC1MCW, and Mark Rudd, KC1LOM, will present,“Flying the Beam: Navigation by Air & Space.”

Wayne will cover past and present methods to use radio for aircraft communication and navigation. Mark will cover how the Apollo 1967 mission used radio for the space mission’s communication and navigation to the moon and back.

For Zoom conference information, email Bob Phinney, K5TEC, at bobphinney -at- nescitech -dot- org or call 508-720-4179.

Clubs

Correction: Slow Speed Test (SST) Now Friday and Sunday Evenings

- by k1tw - Leave a Comment

Note: This is a time correction to the February 2021 EMA Section News.

Normal Date and Times:
NEW: 20:00-21:00 UTC Friday; 
00:00-01:00 UTC Monday. 

 

The K1USN Radio Club sponsors the one-hour, twice-weekly Slow Speed Test (SST) every Friday and Sunday.  For those who prefer a more leisurely CW pace or are new CW operators this just might be what you are looking for!  Details can be found at <http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html>.