a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
The Massachusetts STM report for March has been posted and can be found at MASSACHUSETTS-STM-REPORT-FOR-MAR-2023.pdf. Note upcoming dates to mark on your calendars including annual traffic handlers picnic Sunday August 6 in Concord MA, forums of interest at NE HamXposition, and help request for possible NTS involvement at Big E. Also note special recognition of Bob Sparkes KC1KVY as well as the Cape and Islands Traffic Net,
UPDATE: “Setup 2 Meter Handheld for Boston Repeaters” has been rescheduled to for May 27th at 11 AM.
Ethan Hensen, KC1OIP, writes on the Boston ARC mailing list:
I wanted to share the news that I’ll be teaching a class at Artisans Asylum on May 13th at 11am! The class is “Setup 2 Meter Handheld for Boston Repeaters” and is intended to help out hams (or potential hams) with programming their CHIRP compatible radio! It’ll be a combination of presentation and live demos, might even be able to help program some radios if time allows. I wanted to thank Greg, AC1NY, for helping me get this class together and reviewing the slides.
Please share the link around with anybody you think might be interested or feel free to sign up if you need a refresher on how to program using CHIRP. Hopefully this will be the first of many sessions of this class and will encourage others to submit class proposals.
https://artisans.spaces.nexudus.com/events/1415192714/setup-2-meter-handheld-for-boston-repeaters
73,
Ethan KC1OIP
Terry Stader, KA8SCP, will present on Emergency Communications at the next meeting of the Framingham Amateur Radio Association.
This meeting is hybrid, meaning on Zoom and in person, and will be held at the Framingham Library McAuliffe Branch starting at 7 pm. Members will receive a zoom invitation. Non-members may request an invitation by sending an email to John at president@w1fy.org.
From The ARRL Letter, April 27, 2023:
International Marconi Day celebrates the accomplishments of radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi on the Saturday closest to his birthday each year. Stations around the world activate a special operating event to celebrate.
National Parks Service Director Charles ” Chuck” Sams, III (left) operates as KM1CC from the South Wellfleet Historic Site at Cape Cod National Seashore. Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club Trustee Barbara Dougan, N1NS, (right). (Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club KM1CC, photo)
On January 18, 1903, the first public two-way wireless communication occurred between the United States and Europe. A message from President Theodore Roosevelt was sent to King Edward VII from the South Wellfleet site. The site is preserved within the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. [full story]
To: Stow area ARES and Marlborough ARES Teams
From: Eric Williams, KV1J, Marlborough EMA and Bob Glorioso, W1IS, Stow ARES
We are planning a joint Stow-Marlborough radio exercise the morning of Saturday, May 6, 2023. After lunch, we are planning to hold a training session on the WinLink radio messaging tool at the Marlborough Fire Station Emergency Operations Center. Similar to previous drills, our purpose is test and practice communications capabilities within our region using multiple frequency bands and methods. We will also have a remote station setup at the Crow Island air strip.
One of the areas we want to improve our skills is the ability to communicate text style messages without the dependency of the internet or cellular systems. Over the past couple decades, the WinLink system has been an effective tool for digital message transmission. In the past Marlborough EMA has been using WinLink but the equipment at our EOC used older hardware. We have recently upgraded our equipment as have the Stow ARES group. In the afternoon, Carl Howe, WG1V, will give a presentation to the Stow and Marlborough ARES teams on the use of WinLink.
Schedule for Saturday May 6
1000 – 1030 hrs – Western Middlesex area ARES net on the W1STO Stow Remote Base frequency – 147.435 MHz PL 110.9 Hz
1030 – 1045 hrs – Marlborough EMA net with Stow check-ins – N1EM repeater – 446.675 MHz PL 88.5 Hz
1045 – 1100 hrs – Marlborough EMA secondary freq net – KV1J repeater – 147.240 MHz PL 71.9 Hz
1100 – 1200 hrs – HF tests – 75 meters 3930 or 3940 KHz+- , 60 meters 5330.5 KHz, 6 meters WC1MA MEMA repeater 53.310 MHz pl 71.9 hz
also other bands with Crow Is and also WinLink tests
1200 noon – start to congregate at the Marlborough Fire Station EOC (215 Maple St, Marlborough). Get take-out lunch from Kennedy’s Deli or McDonalds. Both only 400 ft from the station. Eat lunch at the Fire Station.
1300 – 1400 hrs – WinLink presentation by Carl, WG1V, at the Fire Station.
For the Marlborough Team, please let me know if you want to be at the EOC for the morning to operate the radios. Bob will coordinate the Stow operations.
Hope to see you, or at least hear you on the air, on Saturday May 6th. Thank you for your support of our regional emergency radio communications capabilities.
Regards,
Eric Williams, Marlborough Emergency Management, Bob Glorioso, Stow ARES
The New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society will meet on-line and in-person on April 25, 2023 at 7 PM and feature: “Dual Band Antennas” by Ed Fong, WB6IQN.
Description: Ed Fong, WB6IQN, is the inventor of the DBJ-1 and DBJ-2 antennas that were featured in the February 2003 and March 2007 QST. His most recent antenna is the TBJ-1, a tri-band base antenna that was published in the March 2017 QST. The DBJ-1 is a highly effective dual band VHF/UHF base station antenna and the DBJ-2 is the portable roll up version. The DBJ-2 won the QST Plaque of the Month Award. Both of these antennas are featured in the ARRL VHF antenna Handbook and also in the ARRL Antenna Classic Handbook. There are over 40,000 of these antennas in use today. About half are used by hams and the other half by government and commercial agencies. Ed will give a history on how these antennas were developed and the theory on how and why they work so well.
Bio:
Ed obtained BSEE and MSEE degrees from the Univ. of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the Univ. of San Francisco. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, he has 12 patents and over 40 published papers and books in the area of communications and integrated circuit design. Presently, he is employed by the University of California, Santa Cruz as an instructor teaching graduate classes in Antenna Design, RF design and high speed interface. In his 35 year career, he has done work for Stanford University, National Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices, and numerous startup companies in Silicon Valley.
From KM1CC—Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club Facebook page:
KM1CC’s International Marconi Day special event operation [on April 22, 2023] at the historic Marconi Wireless Station Site hosted National Park Service Director Charles Sams.
Director Sams made a scheduled contact with W1AW at ARRL Headquarters. Then he made a CQ call that made contact with K1KLF operating in the New Hampshire White Mountains. Watch the video for his message to the ARRL and the ham radio community.
From nediv.arrl.org:
Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:
Ralph, KD1SM, writes:
“… The Groton Road Race continues to be a major event for Amateur Radio in North Central Massachusetts. Those of you who have joined us in previous years know that the runners sincerely appreciate our presence. Many say so as they run past. This event is so large that Police Departments and other public safety organizations from several communities come to assist the Groton PD. Part of our role is to provide the communications from the Groton Police to these out-of-town officers who come to help with this event.
Contributing to the public good is one of the reasons Amateur Radio exists. Our public service events are a key opportunity for us to show our colors, volunteer our skills and equipment, and demonstrate why it is in the public’s interest to continue to allocate precious RF spectrum to our the Amateur Radio Service. The Groton Road Race is a low-stress event and a great way to gain more experience with the public service aspect of amateur radio. …” [Full story]
Scott Gaudet, K1SU, writes on the Boston ARC mailing list:
Joe, N1QD; Brandan, NW1S and I scouted Millennium Park [West Roxbury, Suffolk County] yesterday afternoon. We can only use one station, so we will just use battery power for the radio and computer.
We will operate [in the New England QSO Party] as multi-operator, one station since there is no category for multi op multi station . We think there will be plenty of room. We plan to use the Buddihex™ and a wire for 40m. Remember to bring your own food as lunch will not be provided. Bring a chair for yourself and lets all enjoy each other’s company.
The following have confirmed for Sunday:
K1SU
NW1S
NQ1D
Anyone else?
I can put a Google spreadSheet together if we’d like to sign up for one-half- or one-hour intervals.
73,
Scott, K1SU
From nediv.arrl.org:
Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:
The Massachusetts W1AW/1 Volunteers On The Air event was held from April 12th through April 18th. Team VOTA MA consisted of 15 hams contributing to a total of 9449 QSOs. It was a team effort and everyone contributed!
I would like to thank the following hams for their part in the MA Spring VOTA effort. They made it a success:
There were plenty of pileups in all the modes including FTx, CW and SSB right up to the last minute of operation.
W1AW/1 Massachusetts VOTA will activate again the first week of November. If your transmitter is in MA and you would like to join the team, contact Larry, W1AST at W1AST@arrl.net.
Alan H. Martin, W1AHM, reposts on the PART of Westford mailing list:
From: Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library
MIT Haystack Observatory Visit
Thursday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Meeting Room
Join us for part of our Earth Month celebration as we host the MIT Haystack Observatory, a radio science & technology research center located right in our hometown of Westford! A representative from the Observatory will be on hand to discuss what the Observatory does and what exciting projects they are working on. This program does not require registration and will be offered in a hybrid format. Attend in person or virtually.
Please contact Justin Liberti for the Zoom link at jliberti@westfordma.gov.
This program is hosted in conjunction with Westford Climate Action.
Terry Stader, KA8SCP, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:
Hello fellow PARTers, NMARES and BARS hams:
It is that time of the year where we start pitching for ham radio support for the annual Apple Blossom Parade. This years parade will be held rain or shine on Saturday, May 13th. The parade starts in Westford Center and ends at the Abbot School. It has been hosted by the Westford Kiwanis (https://westford.org/kiwanis/
All you need is a 2 meter FM handheld that works with the 955 repeater. Some assignments are stationary at specific parade route locations, others may be to be a shadow to one of the Kiwanis Parade organizers.
If you are interested, please let me know via email directly or send to info@wb1gof.org.
Rick Emord, KB1TEE, writes on the Whitman ARC mailing list:
Good afternoon/evening everyone:
The USTNR [Uncommon Service to Nautical Radio] will be once again on the USS Massachusetts in the Wardroom annex on the main deck port side (left side). We will be operating from 1000-1530 (10:00 am – 3:30 pm) . We will arrive around 0830-0845; gate access on the left side of the ship’s store building. Anyone who would like to come down and operate is more than welcome. We will have a couple of HF radios set up. We are usually on 40 and 20 meters around .259 of course starting with 7 or 14. We hope you can come down. If you’re later than 0900, you can sign in at the ship’s store in the volunteer log book on the left side of the desk. Look for the USTNR page to sign in.
We will be celebrating the Motor Torpedo Boats of World War II (PT boats). Our local hero, John F. Kennedy, was on such a boat in August of 1943—80 years ago—when it was sunk in combat in the Pacific.
You can call my cell phone if there is any problems: 508-844-7856
Thank you,
Rick Emord, KB1TEE
Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, writes on the Sci-Tech ARS mailing list:
[New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society] is working with AMSAT to help make a positive ID of these new satellites for inclusion in the AMSAT orbital elements distrubution. If you are so inclined, please listen for any of these new birds and send any observations, i.e. early or late passes based on the Celestrak Two Line element sets described below.Our friends at Libre Space show 16 spacecraft using amateur frequencies on the recent Space-X transporter 7 launch.
https://community.libre.space/t/spacex-f9-transporter-7-2023-04-15-06-47-utc/10255
Celestrak has published element sets derived from Space-X deployment data. See https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/sup-gp.php?FILE=transporter-7&FORMAT=tle
Celestrak also made an attempt to match Space-X derived TLEs to USSF tracked objects: https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/transporter.match.txt but I don’t consider that authoritative. Note that RoseyCubesat-1 and INSPIRE-Sat 7 share the same element set which seems strange as I understand that they are two independent spacecraft.
We are particularly interested in INSPIRE-Sat 7. INSPIRE-Sat 7 carries a 435.200 MHz telemetry channel with BPSK mode – GR3UH 9k6 along with an FM transponder and student experiments to be activated after on-orbit checkout.
The following is from https://www.uvsq.fr/inspire-sat-7
“To receive the telemetry, a software has been developed: KissTool . It is available for Windows & Linux:
Linux: https://site.amsat-f.org/download/118791/?tmstv=1680945385
Windows : https://site.amsat-f.org/download/118784/?tmstv=1680945385
The user manual is available in French ( https://site.amsat-f.org/josast-kisstool/ ) and English ( https://code.electrolab.fr/xtof/josast/-/blob/27-new-application-for-spino/ApplicationKissTool/src/site/markdown/UserManual.md ) ”
de KM1P Joe
Bruce Blain, K1BG, writes:
The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s April meeting is Thursday, April 20th at 7:30 PM at the Pepperell Community Center (in Pepperell). We start gathering at 7 PM to socialize before the meeting starts.
April’s speaker will be Tom Frenaye, K1KI, whose presentation is “The New England QSO Party Today and Yesterday”. The NEQP has become one of the most popular regional ham radio operating events, gathering worldwide attention. Personally, it’s my favorite local event. Held May 6 – 7 this year, it’s fast approaching. Old timers and new hams alike will get a lot out of this presentation. Please join us.
April is also when NVARC holds our annual elections. Please consider running as an officer or a director!
Need directions? Click here and put your own address in box “A”.
Thanks and 73. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Bruce, K1BG
978-772-2773 or bruce.blain@charter.net
Doc Kinne, KE1ML / M7RCK, writes in Boston ARC’s “The Sparc,” April, 2023:
One of the things that the pandemic truly robbed from amateur radio operators was the ability to congregate and get together. Yes, we could (and did!) get together via radio and computer, but somehow we hams like to see each other. For me one of my best experiences after talking to someone on the air for a period of time is to finally physically meet them, and usually mentally be forced to say, “Wow! You are nothing like how I pictured you!” It continually amazes me how much of a mental picture we build up of people only to have it just completely changed by reality.
One of the best ways Boston hams got to do that in the summers was the Flea at MIT. Taken down by the college during the pandemic, the Flea at MIT returns again this year on the 3rd Sunday of each month from April to October at the Albany St. Garage between Main Street and Mass Ave in Cambridge.
Famed for having nearly anything electronic or…nerdy…over the years objects both big and small can be found at the Flea, including, one time, famously, a Gemini test capsule.
The only question I’ve ever had was where I’d ever put it! See w1mx.mit.edu/flea-at-mit for more information.
Chris Winczewski, W1TAT writes on the Cape Ann ARA mailing list:
The Twin Lights Half Marathon 2 Twin Lights Good Harbor Beach
April 30 Start 9:00 am Half Marathon Thatcher Road Gloucester, MA
CAARA. Has A Great Public Service Team. Come Out And Have Some Fun With Us Why?
You are using amateur radio to provide a needed public service to ensure the safety and smooth running of a public event in local communities.
If you are unable to be there for the whole race, any amount of time you can give would be helpful. If you don’t have a radio, we have loaner radio’s available with a mag mount that will work in your car by just plugging it into the cigarette lighter socket. We have loaner handheld radios as well!
Please let me know if you can staff a communication. checkpoint for the event so I can plan staffing positions
Please let us know what type of equipment you plan to use ( Mobile; HT; ¼-Wave Mag-Mount; Rubber-Duck; etc.) so we have a better idea of where to locate you along the event course per the potential of your equipment.
The course will be open and supported By CAARA. For Four hours Runner safety is everyone’s top priority.
Local EMT crews and ambulances will be available for three hours to help.
Thank you in advance for your participation!
Chris Winczewski, W1TAT <w1tat@outlook.com>
From the Titanic Marconi Memorial Radio Association Of Cape Cod (W1MGY) QRZ.com:
The Titanic event for 2023 is fast approaching.
Sorry for the long delay, but it was difficult getting responses from the Seashore. Just heard yesterday (yes, Easter) that it was a go. This week is expected to be beautiful weather. I will need help setting up on Tuesday afternoon [April 11, 2023]. I plan on being there setting up Titanic displays and inside equipment around 2 PM and will plan on setting up antennas around 3 PM.
I have had several express a desire to operate, but no one is yet actually signed up. I had one but something came up and they will not be able to operate. We will operate on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM. Friday after 4 PM we need to remove all antennas and equipment.
A couple of new emails this AM as I try to get this out. I will put in the times you requested. Attached is a pdf of the times. Thank you to all.
Barry / KB1TLR ; Trustee / W1MGY
[This is a radio group to promote and preserve radio history by preserving the memorial call sign of the HMS Titanic, “MGY”.]
Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:
Massachusetts is ready and anxious to work everyone during its spring VOTA (Volunteers On The Air) week starting Wednesday, April 12th and going through Tuesday, April 19th.
We have a team of 17 amateurs that will be operating on all bands on multiple modes. We even have hams located in “other” states remoting through transmitters located in Massachusetts through K1TTT and some other stations.
We will be operating as W1AW/1 and per VOTA rules, each contact will be worth 5 points. Those of the team ops that have field or other positions may also be running their own call alongside the W1AW/1 to give you additional points as well. For example, if I am operating I can also run as my own call W1AST and not only give you the state W1AW/1 for 5 points contact but a 30-point contact as well. This is up to each VOTA MA op if they decide to do so.
All the points are calculated via LOTW submissions. There are no paper logs and no physical QSL cards; it’s all done via LOTW.
Watch for the spots being posted and find W1AW/1 and work us. I hope to hear you on the air!
73,
Larry, W1AST
VOTA MA Manager