Author: k9hi

Brockton Emergency Management is sponsoring a ham radio class each Saturday in April from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at the VA Medical Center, Building 22, in training rooms 1 and 2.

Terry Stader, KA8SCP writes on PART-L:

A heads-up to all our D-Star and Echolink users….

As everyone knows, Japan has been under the influence of a horrific situation as a result of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. There are rolling blackouts and complete loss of power as well as major breaks to communications infrastructure throughout the country.

Many of the “ancillary” communications portions of Amateur Radio in Japan are also suffering from power and internet connectivity loss as you can probably understand. Only vital communications support is being provided in and out of the country.

Please do not initiate any Echolink or D-Star connections to JA stations. Because of the way D-Star and Echolink function in Japan, it is possible that you could interrupt an important communications link in progress by blindly calling in to a link.

If a Japan station is functional and they wish to initiate connections, that is of course their prerogative, but we do ask that you do NOT initiate those connections inbound at this time.

Thanks for your understanding.

Terry

Ron Silvia, WB1HGA writes:

If you all don’t already know, QRP Amateur Radio Club International is currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary (Golden Jubilee) this year. I been a member of this club since 1980. Our goal is to promote (discover) and encourage QRP activity. The club holds as many radio ‘tests as ARRL does and are very popular and well attended. There are also QRP calling frequencies on each bands. Awards are also provided, such as the 1000 miles per watt, QRP WAS, etc. To celebrate this anniversary, they are having one state represented each week. The club call is issued to that state and for one week, make as many QSOs as possible.

I have volunteered to be the point of contact for MA. I have two tasks to perform in preparation: To select a week to represent MA, then gather ops to use their stations with the club’s call.

I would like to select a week that can be both radio related or historically related to MA.

(NEQSO Party week has been selected by another state)

The purpose of this email is to solicit input from everyone regarding a good week to put MA on the map.

Please Email suggestions to wb1hga@arrl.net.

Afterwards, there will be an announcement as to which week MA will be represented in the QRPARCI web site.

The next phase will be seeking ops to volunteer their time to op that week using the QRPARCI club call. (Of course, you will be using 5 watts or less.) This is a fun event.

For more information about the club including the scheduled states, go to:

http://www.qrparci.org

Thank you,

Ron, WB1HGA

Former Harvard Wireless Club member Jacob Chambers, K4JQV, of Lexington, KY has received permission from the HWC to operate as W1AF/Aeronautical Mobile on a trans-Atlantic flight from Kentucky to Belguim beginning Sunday, March 13 at 0730 ET. Chamber’s jet will refuel in Bangor, Maine prior to beginning the international leg of the flight.

“I’m sure I will make it on the cluster,” said Chambers. “I don’t have an operating plan–just get QRV as the workload and other conditions permit.”

Look for W1AF/AM on the DX clusters, and possibly, the 20 meter band. QSLing instructions are expected to be posted on W1AF’s page on QRZ.com.

Thanks, W1PL and K4JQV

The Whitman Amateur Radio Club and the South Shore Fox Hunters remind everyone that there will be a fox hunt on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM.

KB1CYV has agreed to be the fox. He will be hiding in one of the three “Bridgewater” towns. The fox frequency will be 146.535 MHz simplex. Coordination will occur on the Whitman, 147.225 repeater (PL 67.0 Hz).

-Thanks, NI1X

The Southeastern MA Amateur Radio Association has been invited to participate in the Original 13 Colonies Special Event on July 1-5, 2011, according to SEMARA’s Radio Events Chairman Bob Kelley, K1KVV.

[Full story]

Greg Glynn, W1VFB writes:

The Taunton Area Communications Group is proud to present Vadim Afonkin, KB1RLI from Amateur Radio Direction Finding and Orienteering to give us a presentation on the many facets of Foxhunting and ARDF.

Please follow the attached link to find out more about Vadim.

http://www.arrl.org/news/ardf-update-foxhunting-fun-in-the-blue-hills-of-boston

This presentation will be at the TACGroup’s regular meeting of March 21, 2011 starting at 7:00 pm. We meet at Morton Hospital and Medical Center, 88 Washington St. in Taunton, MA in the Margaret Stone Conference Room. A short business meeting will precede the presentation.

If you have ever wondered about foxhunting or participated in an event this will be a great time to find out more of the finer points and techniques form a master of the sport.

Please pass this email along to all your club members and associates. This is not just for amateurs. This presentation is for anyone interested in foxhunting and direction finding.

We look forward to seeing you March 21 @ 7:00 p.m. at Morton Hospital and Medical Center, 88 Washington Street, Taunton, MA. 

Attention EMA ARRL Members:

The following is an important message from Dan Henderson, N1ND, Regulatory Information Manager at ARRL Headquarters:

“As you may have read, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has introduced the ‘Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011’ and the bill has been assigned HR 607 as its number. The full story about the Bill’s introduction can be found on the ARRL web at

http://www.arrl.org/news/spectrum-management-bill-threatens-amateur-frequencies

As you will read, while the ARRL supports spectrum for the Public Safety needs, we oppose HR 607 in its current form because of the inclusion of the 420-440 MHz spectrum (most of the Amateur 70-cm UHF allocation) as part of a spectrum swap.

At the request of ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, we are asking ARRL members to contact their local Representative asking them to oppose HR 607 in its current form. Members should be directed to http://www.arrl.org/sample-letters for resources tools to assist them in their letter writing. These include:

• A sample letter opposing HR 607 in its current form
• A link to the ARRL Webpage that gives the ARRL member the contact information for their Members of Congress
• A link to information sending their letters to our Washington lobbyist to hand-deliver to Capitol Hill

A couple of key points to remember when discussing our opposition to HR 607:

• We understand and support the principle that Public Safety and First responders should have the D-Block frequencies.
• Our opposition to the bill stems from the inclusion of the 420-440 MHZ Amateur allocation as part of the proposed “frequency swap”.

Time is of the essence on this request, as the bill is gathering steam in Congress. So please make your membership contacts as soon as possible. Finally, please include my address n1nd@arrl.org in what you distribute to the ARRL membership (for our records here at HQ.)

Thanks for stepping up to the plate to assist with the direct threat to our Amateur Radio spectrum. What you bring to the table helps us keep this ship heading in the right direction. Please contact me if you have any problems or questions with this request.

73

Dan Henderson, N1ND
Regulatory Information Manager
ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio(tm)
860-594-0236
dhenderson@arrl.org

Rob Macedo, KD1CY writes on MRAS list:

We have confirmed a site for an Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Workshop at the Concord Academy in Concord Massachusetts for Saturday March 5th, 2011 from 9 AM to 4 PM. [Full story]

The Genesis Amateur Radio Society and Bourne RACES, in cooperation with the Bourne Emergency Management Agency have announced they will hold an Amateur Radio licensing class for the Technician license in March.

The proposed dates are as follows:

• Friday, March 18, 2011 7PM-9PM 6:30-9:30pm
• Saturday, March 19, 2011 9am-2pm (between a 30min – 1hr break for lunch)
• Saturday, March 26, 2011 9am-1pm (30 min break for lunch)
• Testing, March 26 2pm-4pm for all amateur class licenses

(The location is tentative at this time; the class and testing may be held at the Plymouth Airport.)

The Town of Bourne RACES (the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) is trying to build a team of amateurs to staff EOCs and shelters in the Town during emergencies and to operate stations from their homes for the monthly RACES nets. RACES operators are a vital link between the Massachusetts State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Framingham, the Area EOC in Bridgewater, and the Town of Bourne in relaying vital messages during emergencies.

If you are interested in earning your Amateur Radio license and assisting your town with communications, please join us for these classes. You’ll need to purchase the Technician Q&A manual from the ARRL. The book costs $17.95 plus shipping and handling, but order through Genesis ARS and you can save $0.95 plus shipping and handling. GARS will offer the books for only $17.00; save on shipping and handling.

A second book, “The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual” is also highly recommended. It usually costs $29.95, but you can purchase this book for $29.00 with free shipping. If you order both, you can save an additional $1.00.

If you are interested in attending the course, email the Town of Bourne RACES at bourneraces@gmail.com, then mail your payment to: Genesis Amateur Radio Society, PO Box 230, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 and mention which books you would like to order.

There is a $15 testing fee due at time of testing. ALL REGISTRATION AND BOOKS MUST BE ORDERED BY MARCH 5, 2011.

–Thanks, Genesis ARS

In an effort to spur growth of ARES activity in and around the metro Boston area, ARRL District Emergency Coordinator Marek Kozubal, KB1NCG has created a new mailing list.

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will conduct a Morse code class beginning Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 9 AM until 12 noon, according to CAARA Clerk Dean Burgess, KB1PGH.

Burgess says that the class will be led by CAARA member Rick Maybury, WZ1B. The class will run throughout the month of February at the CAARA club house, 6 Stanwood Street, in Gloucester. CAARA has held successful Morse code classes in the past.