The Acton Exchange: “Anyone out there? Ham radio operators participate in nationwide field day”

PART of Westford logoThe American Radio Relay League (ARRL) hosted its annual Field Day over the June 28-29 (2025) weekend at the Concord Rod and Gun Club on Strawberry Hill Road, within handheld radio broadcasting distance from the Acton town line. Around 40,000 amateur radio operators, also known as “hams,” participate each year over the fourth weekend of June in the most popular on-the-air event in North America. The event has been running since 1933, interrupted only by World War II, and the operators who set up at the Concord site are members of the PART (Police Amateur Radio Team) of Westford club. [Full story]

W1IS, KC1DSQ: “An All-Band 160-Meter OCF Antenna” in August 2025 QST

PART of Westford logoGeorge Allison, K1IG, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:

Congratulations to the two Bobs: W1IS and KC1DSQ, for their article “An All-Band 160-Meter OCF Antenna,” published in the August 2025 issue of QST. This antenna design is the first-place winner in the 160 meter, LF or VLF category of the 2024 WST Antenna Design Competition, and this issue is now available for ARRL members on the ARRL website.

If you like this article (and if you’re an ARRL member), you can cast your vote for the QST cover plaque award, starting on August 1. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you.

73,
George, K1IG

W1MJ Fox at Nashoba Valley ARC Field Day, Pepperell, June 28-29, 2025

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on NEMassFoxHunters:
 
I will be deploying my fox this morning in the Heald Street Orchard in Pepperell, MA.  I hope to get it on the air by 10 AM, and leave it on until 2 PM on Sunday.  It will sleep from 9 PM to 7 AM.
 
The fox transmits once per minute on 147.540 MHz.  It outputs 4 watts to a roll-up J-pole.
 
If there is cell service at the orchard, I will send a brief follow up here to confirm deployment.
 
This fox hunt is a side activity of the Nashoba Valley ARC’s Field Day.  If you come to hunt, please stop by the FD site in the orchard to say hi.  You can even make a few contacts if you’d like.  If you are not an HF operator, visit the “Get on the Air” station, set up specifically for you.
 

Cape Ann ARA Field Day, 12 Noon-5 PM, June 28, 2025

Cape Ann ARA logoOn behalf of the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA), I’m excited to announce our participation in the 2025 ARRL Field Day, a nationwide annual event that showcases the fascinating world of amateur radio. We invite the public to join us on Saturday, June 28th, 2025, from Noon to 5:00 p.m., at our clubhouse, located at 6 Stanwood Street in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

What is Field Day?

Field Day is more than just an event for ham radio operators; it’s an emergency preparedness exercise and a chance to highlight the vital role amateur radio plays in our communities, especially during times of crisis. When traditional communication systems fail, amateur radio operators, or “hams,” can provide crucial communication links.

During Field Day, CAARA members will operate our radio stations, attempting to make as many contacts as possible with other amateur radio stations across North America. This simulates operating under challenging conditions, honing our skills in effective communication.

Join Us!

We welcome everyone, from curious onlookers to aspiring hams, to visit our clubhouse on Saturday afternoon. You’ll have the opportunity to:

  • See amateur radio in action: Observe experienced operators making contacts around the country.
  • Learn about emergency communications: Understand how ham radio can be a lifeline when other systems are down.
  • Try your hand at transmitting: Under the guidance of a licensed operator, you can even get on the air and make a contact!
  • Discover the hobby: Learn about licensing, different modes of operation, and how to get involved in amateur radio.

ARRL Field Day is a fantastic opportunity to see firsthand the dedication and ingenuity of amateur radio operators. We look forward to sharing our passion with the community and demonstrating the value of this essential public service.

For more information about CAARA or the Field Day event, please visit our website at http://caara.net or contact us at info@caara.net.

Sincerely,

Brandon Hockle, NQ1W

President, Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association

Wellesley Amateur Radio Society Field Day, June 28-29. 2025

Wellesley ARS logoCourtesy Needham Patch:

Wellesley, MA – 6/20/2025 – The Wellesley Amateur Radio Society (WARS) will participate in the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day exercise on 28-29 June 2025, at the Needham Memorial Gazebo, 92 Rosemary St, Needham, MA 02492, demonstrating the critical role amateur radio plays in emergency communications and public service. The public are invited to visit our demonstration between 2-6 pm on Saturday and 9 am – 12 noon on Sunday to learn about amateur radio Field Day and the WARS club.

Field Day is amateur radio’s premier annual event, bringing together thousands of radio operators across North America to test their emergency preparedness and showcase their ability to communicate without relying on traditional infrastructure. During the 24-hour exercise, participants operate from temporary outdoor locations using emergency power sources to simulate real-world disaster conditions. Clubs compete with each other on Field Day, by earning points based on the number of contacts made and bonus points for emergency preparedness activities. The real value, however, lies in the training, fellowship, and public education that Field Day provides.

“Many members of WARS will be participating in Field Day by erecting antennas, connecting radios, and making contacts around the US” said Club President Charlie Bures. “The public is warmly invited to stop by and see amateur radio in operation. We’ll be most happy to demonstrate our operations and

answer any questions. We expect to have at least 3 stations operational in various modes, such as voice, Morse code, and the newer digital modes.”

Amateur radio operators, known as “hams,” are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and have a long history of providing emergency communications during disasters. Recent examples include support operations during Hurricane Ian, the Texas winter storm of 2021, and numerous wildfire evacuations across the western United States. Locally our club assisted in the Boston Marathon by providing communications infrastructure.

The WARS Club meets every third Tuesday of the month at Kingsbury Room of the Wellesley Police Station, 485 Washington St. (Rte 16), in Wellesley. For more information about amateur radio or the club’s activities, visit the WARS club website: https://ema.arrl.org/wellesley-amateur-radio-society/ or contact the Club President by email: c.bures@comcast.net

About Amateur Radio 

Amateur radio is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk to friends, conduct emergency communications, experiment with electronics, and even communicate with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Information about amateur radio is available from the American Radio Relay League at www.arrl.org.

About Wellesley Amateur Radio Society 

The WARS club is celebrating its 75th anniversary in the upcoming year, having served the local community and greater ham community. Currently the club has over 50 members and the Club’s radio callsign is W1TKZ.

https://ema.arrl.org/wellesley-amateur-radio-society/

https://www.arrl.org/field-day

https://ema.arrl.org/field_day/ClubDetail.php?club=WARS

https://maps.app.goo.gl/q99xCh5ygyahznMU7

AC1KY: “Aircraft Tracking using SDR” at Sci-Tech ARS Hybrid Meeting, June 17, 2025

New England Sci Tech logoTuesday, June 17: “Aircraft Tracking using SDR” by Peter Morrison, AC1KY.

Description: In this presentation, Peter Morrison will discuss how anyone can use low cost software-defined radios to track aircraft using ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) signals. He will provide some history of the development of ADS-B and will also talk about aircraft patterns around Beverly.

Bio: Peter was first licensed in 1960 in Montreal and still holds a Canadian call sign, VE3IDX. He moved to the U.S. in 1981 and acquired U.S. call sign AC1KY several years ago. Peter is a retired EE who specialized in computer design. His former employers include Raytheon, Wang, Digital, and Intel. For many years Peter travelled back to Canada to join a group of friends to operate for Field Day. Computers currently occupy a fair chunk of his time.

Please note: Peter will be presenting in person at [New England Sci-Tech], but you can also choose to participate over Zoom, as always.

Amateur Support Requested for Gloucester Horribles Parade, July 3, 2025

Dean Burgess, KB1PGH, writes on the Cape Ann ARA mailing list:

I would like to take this time to ask some more [CAARA] members to help us with the Gloucester Horribles parade communications coming up on Thursday, July 3rd at 6 PM. We have a few people signed up, but we could really need a few more members to join us make it work to cover spots along the entire parade route, so any help would be greatly appreciated. The City of Gloucester requests CAARA`s presence every year to help the parade organizers. If you can join us, please mail me back.

73, Dean Burgess KB1PGH

W1MJ Fox Deployed, Waltham, June 15, 2025

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list at 8:04 AM ET on July 15, 2025:
 
It looks like the weather will be nice today, so I am heading out now to hide my fox in DCR Beaver Brook Reservation North.  It should be on the air by 9:00 AM, and I will confirm deployment here once it is on the air.  I will retrieve it tomorrow (June 16) at 4:00 PM or later.
 
Parking areas for Beaver Brook Reservation North:
 
Fox frequency:  147.540 MHz
 
The W1MJ Fox transmits with 4 watts to a roll-up J-pole antenna.  Depending upon the equipment used, this can make finding the fox harder than with the more typical 50 mW foxes used by this group.  An attenuator can be helpful, as can tuning into the 3rd harmonic when you get close.  There is no logbook at the fox, but if you hunt for the fox, please let me know how it went at fox@w1mj.com.
 
73 DE W1MJ

2025 Nashoba Valley ARC Field Day Press Release

Nashoba Valley ARC logoMark it on your calendar – ARRL Field Day is just two weeks away!  Once again this year, the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club will participate from the Heald Street Orchard in Pepperell (entrance is adjacent to 112 Heald Street).  We will be setting up Saturday, June 28th after 9 AM, with operation from 2 PM Saturday June 28 th through Sunday June 29th at 2 PM.

We will feature four operating stations – an HF phone station (primarily for voice operation), an HF CW station (primarily for Morse code and data operation), a VHF/UHF station (which will also communicate via satellite), and a GOTA station.  GOTA stands for “Get-on-the-Air”.  This station is specifically set aside for unlicensed operators (operating under the supervision of a licensed operator), newly licensed hams, and generally inactive hams.

Besides the Field Day stations, there will be educational activities, social activities, food, etc.  Something for everyone!  Please come and join us.  Bring your family, friends, kids, and grandchildren.  Everyone is welcome.

Attached is the official press release which will give you more information.

I look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Bruce, K1BG

978-772-2773 or bruce.blain@charter.net

Wellesley ARS POTA Event Cancelled, June 14, 2025

Wellesley ARS logoCharlie Bures, WA3ITR, writes:

We have had a beautiful stretch of sunny, warm days but, (of course) the nice weather is ending Friday night. Rain is forecast for Saturday in the morning and day. 

After discussions with others and various weather outlets, it is not looking good [to hold a Parks On The Air event]. There will be other opportunities this summer.

73, Charlie

K1USN QRV for Museum Ships Weekend 2025

USS Salem RC QSL card“Pi” Pugh, K1RV, writes in K1USN Happenings, June 3, 2025:

This upcoming Friday, Saturday & Sunday we will be operating at the Bare Cove Fire Museum in Hingham on 45 Bare Cove Park Drive! This invitation is being set to help us better prepare for our June 7/8 Museum Ships weekend setup operation.

Hopefully we will have a good turnout for this Thursday’s work party as we put our heads together to figure out the station and antenna configuration, etc.

BTW, there will be no meeting this Saturday @ the Tufts Library due to our Museum Ships special event operation @ the Bare Cove Fire Museum! Please plan to drop by the BCFM to visit, operate, drink coffee, etc.

We are planning a work party this Thursday beginning at 3 PM to setup the three HF operating stations as well as the VHF talk-in station which will be on 145.39(W1ATD, Marshfield) & 146.535 (simplex).

On Friday we expect to continue setting up antennas, etc in preparation for the 8 PM EDT (0000 UTC) start of MSW 2025.

There will be three HF stations (SSB, CW, FT8) available during our hours of operation this weekend.

Fri 8 PM – 11 PM
Sat 8 AM – 8 PM
Sun 8 AM – 4 PM

There will also be our VHF talk-in station available and needing operators. See Bob – WA1Q (wa1qbob@gmail.com) for schedule needs.

We will be running the three HF radios @ 100 watts simultaneously and using band-pass filters to minimize inter-station interference. Since this will be or first time operating from this location, I’m sure that we will need to do some tweaking to minimize interference since there will be two vertical and two horizontal antennas to switch between, etc.

The stations will be setup as follows:

Station 1 IC-7610 SSB
Station 2 IC-7300 FT4/8
Station 3 Elecraft K4D CW

BTW, I’m looking for a “volunteer” to handle our HF station operator scheduling. If you are willing, please step forward ASAP so that we can get the ball rolling.

You will need to be able to receive text messages and/or emails from prospective operators and build a simple listing consisting of one or two hour operator slots for each station throughout the weekend. Please text me (617-827-5492) if you’d like to handle this important scheduling task ASAP so that we can start the ball rolling!

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Is Your Club on the Map?

ARRL Field Day locator map
Use the ARRL Field Day Site Locator to make in-person connections during the event! 
 
With a little more than a month to go until the big weekend, there are almost 650 sites listed on the locator. To search for a site near you, just go to the map and zoom in on your area. Click on the red map pins for details about each site. To add information to the locator, click on “Add a Station”
 
 

NQ1W Pico Balloon Launch, Essex, May 26, 2025

Brandon Hockle, NQ1W, writes:
 
Just a heads up (no pun intended) about our latest pico balloon launch that took place this morning around 9AM from Pony Express Fields in Essex to celebrate Memorial Day.
 
You can track this new balloon at:
 
We are transmitting on the fours :04; :14,  :24, etc. using WSPR aka Weak Signal Propagation Reporting on 20m at 14.09718 MHz at 10mW as NQ1W.
 
Wish us luck as this one was a bit of a last minute Hail Mary and has some quirky balloon characteristics. We’re not expecting a lot but gave it a shot anyway since we probably won’t get another window until after hurricane season. We checked the winds this morning and saw a straight shot out over the Atlantic and rolled the dice.
 
We’ll do more of these in the future and hope you’ll get involved with us tracking or building one of your own!
 
Regards and 73!
Brandon NQ1W
 

Authors Track at HamXposition

Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:
 
I’m tinkering with the idea of having an “Authors Track” or “Meet the Authors” at this year’s HamXposition.
 
Calling all hams in New England who are book authors! Your books do not have to include ham radio, but it would be fun if they did.
 
If you are interested in learning more, please contact Larry, W1AST, at W1AST@HamX.org with your name and call.