New England Division Update – What’s new? Webinar: August 7th

ARRL logoPlease join us for an ARRL update Webinar on Thursday, August 7th at 7pm. We’ll be able to give you a summary of actions taken at the July ARRL Board meeting as well as activities in Newington, and by some of the Board committees.

We’ll also have plenty of time for your questions and input.

Here is the link to use to connect to the Webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81014888314?pwd=Czx9fr3buMAoc8zM8PDiSY7agcPUXi.1

Hope you will join us next week!

Tom Frenaye/K1KI
ARRL New England Division Director

Phil Temples/K9HI
ARRL New England Division Vice Director

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ARRL New England Division
Director: Thomas Frenaye, K1KI
k1ki@arrl.org
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W1EVT Tower Farm Dismantling, Acton

 Gary Budiansky, WA1MCR, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:
 
Clem Moritz, W1EVT, unfortunately became a Silent Key about 3 or 4 years ago.  Clem lived in Acton and had an array of Rohn R25 towers on his property off of route 2, just west of the Concord Rotary.  There’s about 15 of these 100-foot towers in the woods behind his old ham shack.  Some are still standing, some are broken or have fallen down.  I took a tour of the property over the weekend.  See photos, below.  Internet wisdom says that Clem used the towers to construct a very large “Sterba Curtain Array” that covered 3 to 30 MHZ, one wire antenna for each band culminating from a central feed point.  See ARRL antenna book.
 
 
The Town of Acton voted tonight to begin the process of acquiring the property (33 acres) from the Moritz Family to use as conservation land.  The remaining towers and antennae will be removed from the property by the family per the proposed agreement.   
 
Did anyone personally know Clem or anything more about his station and Sterba Array?
 
P.S.  I took a town sponsored tour of the land this past weekend.  The towers are at least 40 years old and I noted rust on many of them.  Some are standing and some fell down (Clem had these balanced on cinder blocks with guy wires – no sign of any concrete in the woods!  They’re very heavy and in the midst of trees in the woods.  It would be a major job to retrieve these if they were available).  I asked the tour leader if the town would consider putting a plaque along the trail commemorating the ham radio station that was there.  They’ll consider it. 
 
Pictures below show the old ham shack and some of the tower material.
 
 

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday August 4th, 2025 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all…

The August Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday August 4th, 2025 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements for the net.

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
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Massachusetts RACES Nets – Monday 8/4/25 for HF, Region 2D VHF, NBEMS & Winlink – Times and Details Below

Don Rolph, AB1PH, Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

The MEMA RACES nets are held on the first Monday of the month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, when it is delayed one week. For Aug 2025, the MEMA RACES nets will be held on Mon Aug 4 at:

********************************************************************************
80 meter Voice net
6:45 PM
Frequency: 3930 KHz working up until the first free frequency

Jeff N1JCM will be net control

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Region 2D VHF net:
7:30 PM ET VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.

Don using WA1PLE will be net control.

********************************************************************************
HF 80 meters NBEMS net:
7:00 PM ET
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins, followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.
Don AB1PH will be net control

*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:
Jon N1ILZ will be net control.
end a winlink checkin form to N1ILZ , copy AB1PH, between 0600 Monday Aug 4 and 2400 Monday Aug 4.

We look forward to you checking in!

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net (EMHN) – Saturday 8/2/25 – 1000 AM

Jeff-N1SOM and the South Shore Hospital Group W1SSH writes:

Good Evening,

On Saturday August 2, 2025 the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10:00AM.

Home or alternative locations are also welcome to check into the net. Even if you cannot reach all the systems being used, please check-in on those you can.

We will use the following repeaters in the order listed.

1. West Bridgewater repeater 146.775 dcs 244
2. Plymouth Repeater 146.685 tone 131.8
3. Attleboro Repeater 147.195 tone 127.3
4. Sharon Repeater 146.865 tone 103.5
5. Simplex 147.420

We will then return to the West Bridgewater Repeater for 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, EOC of any city or town as well as RACES or ARES members to check in during the NET.

We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested in trying your hand at Net Control please let us know. We can be reached by sending an email to ssharg@outlook.com or replying to this message. The goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many individuals and groups as possible.

We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct these monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event.

We hope to hear you Saturday.

73,

Jeff N1SOM and the South Shore Hospital Group W1SSH