Author: k9hi

Microwave Update 2011 & The 37th Eastern VHF/UHF Conference. Both sponsored by the North East Weak Signal Group at:

Holiday Inn
1 Bright Meadow Blvd
Enfield, CT, 06082 USA

October 13 – 15, 2011

This year the premier amateur radio microwave conference and the Eastern VHF/UHF conference will include tours, hospitality, swap session, equipment for measuring and tweaking, banquet and, of course, technical presentations.

Please visit http://www.microwaveupdate.org/ for the latest updates, registration and hotel information. Contact Paul Wade W1GHZ at  w1ghz at arrl dot org by July 15, 2011 for paper and talk arrangements. Papers must be submitted by August 30.

Bruce Hayden, NI1X writes:

The Whitman Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual fundraiser at the Saftler’s flea market in Whitman on Sunday, May 29 and Monday, May 30. The flea is located at Saftler’s parking lot at the intersection of Routes 14 and 18 in Whitman. This is a general flea market with only one other vendor selling amateur radio equipment.

The WARC club station WA1NPO will be on the air operating from the event. Event organizers encourage everyone to check in on the Whitman 2-meter repeater on 147.225 (67 Hz PL) sometime during the fundraiser, or stop by.

Shown, right: the WARC crew at Saftler’s from Memorial Day weekend in 2006.

Do you have a MA ham radio license plate? Do you need an inspection sticker?

According to Kevin Paetzold, K1KWP and other amateurs, you might run into a bit of a snafu getting your car inspected–at least for the moment.

Paetzold says he went to get his car inspected on May 12, and was told that the Registry of Motor Vehicles “cannot process inspections” for ham radio plates at this time.

According to Paetzold, “After hearing this from my inspection station I was able to verify this with the RMV itself.”

K1KWP was told there is supposedly “a fix in the works which should be available next week”. He adds, “The guy at the RMV told me [over the phone] that they changed their software to not accept anything but alphas and numbers. Therefore, ‘slant bar’ (the character that represents the “lightning bolt” on the plate) no longer works.”

In the meantime, those who have stickers that expire in May will just have to keep their fingers crossed.

The Young Ladies Radio League will hold its 2011 convention July 21-24, 2011 at the Best Western Adams Inn, Quincy, MA. Activities include an all-day tour of Boston, including the Freedom Trail; a general meeting; tours for the OMs; a luncheon tour of the Adams Historical Site in Quincy; a tour of the Marconi Site at Cape Code National Seashore; and a possible tour of ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut.

Hotel reservations must be made by June 21 to obtain the convention room rate. For more information, see the convention flyer at http://tinyurl.com/43xrshn.

Organized in 1939, YLRL is a nonprofit organization of women Amateur Radio licensees. With a membership of approximately 800, it is international in scope. Approximately 100 of its members are DX YLs.

A Technician class will be taught in July at the Dennis, MA Police Department at 90 Bob Crowell Road, Dennis MA 02660. The class will be held from 1-5 PM on July 9, 10, 16, & 17, 2011. At the conclusion of the last class, a volunteer exam session will be conducted. The class is free of charge, but participants are asked to purcahase a copy of the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual in advance.

Complete details and a flyer can be found at <http://ema.arrl.org/local/Dennis_Tech_Class_2011_07.pdf>.

Don Burke, KB1LXH writes:

Seven scouts from Troop 40 in Taunton visited the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Region 2 Headquarters in Bridgewater on April 4. To fullfill the requirements for an Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge, the scouts meet with a local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director and learn how that person prepares, responds to, recovers from, and mitigates and prevents emergency situations in our community.

James Mannion, MEMA Region 2 Director gave the scouts a great presentation about hurricanes, storm surge and tornadoes. Mr. Mannion was recently in Florida to visit the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He came back with new video of damage caused by storms across the Gulf coast and the Eastern US states. Mannion also explained the role MEMA Region 2 and the surrounding cities and towns play in Plymouth Nuclear Power Plant drills. He allowed the troop members a chance to use a Geiger counter and dosimeters.

The scouts also toured the RACES radio room where Mike Leger, N1YLQ, Region 2 Acting RACES Officer, talked about the role Amateurs Radio operators play in EMA events.

Each scout was given an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) which they may make use of on their next backpacking trip.

On hand for the visit were Bruce Hayden, NI1X and Bill Foster, KD1NX, both of whom are Region II RACES radio operators.

–Thanks, TACG newsletter, May 2011.

Tom Bertolino, KB1P writes:

Hams are needed to assist in the command and control of the Boston Brain Tumor Ride on Sunday May 15, 2011. Your participation in this event will help to ensure the safety of the riders and make this event a success. The Brain Tumor Ride has three routes; a 10 mile, 25 mile, and 50 mile ride. All 3 rides start and end in the front parking lot of Reservoir Woods, Waltham, MA. The rides start at between 0800 and 1000 hrs and and will end in the early afternoon. The rides follow basically the same route with variations. The all 3 rides will travel through Waltham and Lincoln. The turnaround point for the ten mile ride is in Lincoln and it will return to Waltham through Weston. The 25 and 50 mile route with continue to Concord. The turnaround point for the 25 mile ride is in Concord. It will return to Waltham through Lincoln and Weston. The 50 mile ride continues to Carlisle, with a turnaround point in Westford. It will return to Waltham by way of Acton, Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln, and Weston.

Assignments will be at water stops, in sweep and recovery vehicles, and shadows at Reservoir Woods. Assignments start between 0700 – 1000 hrs and end between 1200 to 1400 hrs depending on the assignment. There will food and entertainment available after the ride in the start and finish area.

A 2-meter, 5 watt hand-held radio is satisfactory for most of the assignments at this event. A better antenna then the “rubber duck antenna” that came with your radio is desirable, and a “mag mount” antenna would be better still (not required) if you are assigned to a vehicle.

Our Ham supported public service events are interesting and fun experiences. The communication load is light, but safety and support for the participants are always primary. If you are new and want to get more public service experience, this is an excellent opportunity to learn the ropes. If you are an experienced public service volunteer we need your help.

If you can help with this event please reply to me with all of the following information as soon as possible. Reply by email is the best method. If you know other hams who would like to volunteer, ask them also send the following information to me.

Your assistance is valuable. Please let me know promptly if you can help. I will get the assignments and more details to you as soon possible. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to recommend another ham to join us.

Full name
On-air name
Call sign
Postal mailing address (including 9-digit ZIP code)
Evening phone
Day phone
Cell phone
Email address
Does your 2-meter radio have CTCSS (PL)?
Do you have a dual-band radio?
Do you have a magnetic mount antenna?
T-shirt size

Let me know your event preference. Note that we cannot assure you that all preferences can be granted. Try to get back to me as quickly as you can.

73,
Tom Bertolino, KB1P
kb1p at arrl.net
781-608-6186

The National Weather Service Taunton Massachusetts forecast office in coordination with the National Hurricane Center will be hosting the P3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft, part of the NOAA/National Hurricane Center Hurricane Awareness Tour on Monday, May 2, 2011 at the Otis Air Force Base (AFB) in Falmouth. Public tours will be open from 2:30-5:30 PM.

Roland Diagnault, N1JOY writes:

Members of the Bristol County Repeater Association and Team HAMCOW will be on Martha’s Vineyard Island for our annual DX-Pedition. The HAMCOW trailer will be set up at the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah Circle operating from 160 Meters through 1296 MHz. Work W1ACT for NEQP Dukes County, IOTA, Gay Head Lighthouse, or the Spring Microwave Sprint on 903 & 1296 MHz on Saturday 5/7 from 6AM to 1PM.

Follow the event with regular web updates and photos at http://hamcow.net and check if you are in our logs by clicking on the green ONLINE button to search our contest logs in near real time. This page is also a good place to see what frequencies we are currently operating on.

The Cape Ann Amateur radio Association is offering a Tech-in-a-Day Course on Saturday, May 7th at the Lanesville Community Center on 8 Vulcan Street in Gloucester.

The course, led by CAARA President Stan Stone, W4HIX starts at 8:00 AM with sign up and will consist of six study periods throughout the day until 4 PM, with an hour for lunch and breaks in-between. Attendees can bring their lunch or visit one of several nearby restaurants. A volunteer exam session will be held at the end of the day.

The course fee is $20.00 which covers course materials, testing fees and snacks. Space is limited. Register via email to stan@lanescove.us to reserve your spot. Please bring two forms of identification. One must be a picture ID; the other must include your Social Security Number to process your FCC license application.

“This course will provide a quiet place to study and prepare for the test,” according to CAARA Clerk Dean Burgess, KB1PGH.

Bob Kelley, K1KVV writes on SEMARA discussion list:

CQ CQ CQ

If you’ve been licensed for three years or less (or you know someone like that) then give the ARRL’s Rookie Roundup a try on April 17th. It’s a contest in which the Rookies (that’s you) are sought after by the experienced stations instead of vice versa! This is the Phone version – there will be an RTTY and a CW version later in the year! Try web-based logging at In The Log. Stay tuned to the ARRL Rookie Roundup page for more information about on-line logging and certificates.

PART of Westford members will operate special event station K1P in Concord on Patriots’ Day weekend in Massachusetts, a state holiday which commemorates the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord–the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.

Look for K1P on the bands April 16-17 on 80 through 10 meters as conditions permit. More details are available at http://www.wb1gof.org/K1P/K1P.html.

The Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Rado Association has placed its new 224.800 repeater on the air, along with a temporary APRS station (W1AEC-1) on 144.390 MHz.

A short exercise was held March 20, 2011 to test communications readiness involving the newly established South Coast Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio (HEAR) Network.

Ham help is needed for the BAA’s 5k & 1 Mile Races, Sunday April 17, 2011.

The BAA 5K & 1 Mile Races start and finishes in Boston’s Back Bay the day before the Marathon.

The 5k race starts around 8:00 AM just forward the marathon’s finish line and heads down Boylston St. to the Boston Common, around the Common, down Beacon Street to Arlington St to Commonwealth Ave down Commonwealth Ave to Hereford ST then to Boylston St ending at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The Mile Races start after the 5k race. The mile races use the marathon’s finish line as the start and finish points. The 1 mile races start just after the finish of the 5k race. This is another excellent event for Hams new to public service to gain experience. Ham support for these races starts around 7:00 AM and ends around noon. (Note that this is the day before the Boston Marathon, but no logistical interference is expected between these events, and the Ham communications will be independent of the Marathon.)

Ham support for this event is straightforward, however, our communications support will make the day safe and smooth for all. For those who are new to ham public service, this event is a good introduction and we need your help. For those who have done this before, your help is needed more than ever.

A 2-meter, 5 watt hand-held is satisfactory the assignments at the BAA’s 5k & 1 Mile Races. A dual-band radio is desirable, but not required. The “rubber duck” antenna that came with your radio should all you need for this event, but if you have a better antenna for your radio take it with you. It will be helpful. Be sure you charge the radio’s battery before the event. If you have extra batteries for your radio take them as a back-up.

Ham public service is interesting and offers fun experiences. The communication load for this event light, but safety and support for the participants are always our primary concern.

If you can help with the BAA’s 5k & 1 Mile Races, Sunday April 17, 2011, please reply to me with all of the following information as soon as possible. If you have already volunteered, bear with me and reply to this message, also. Reply by email is the best method.

Full name
On-air name
Call sign
Postal mailing address (including 9-digit ZIP code)
Evening phone
Day phone
Cell phone
Email address
Does your 2-meter radio have CTCSS (PL)?
Do you have a dual-band radio?
Do you have a magnetic mount antenna?
T-shirt size

Let me know if you have volunteered for this event before and want the same assignment. While I cannot guarantee the same assignment, I will try my best to give you the assignment you want. Note that we cannot assure you that all preferences can be granted. Try to get back to me as quickly as you can.

If you know other hams who would like to volunteer, ask them to send the above information to me. If you are new and want to get more public service experience, this is an excellent event to get your feet wet. As significant as our communications will be, this event is a low impact opportunity to learn the ropes.

Your assistance is valuable. Please let me know promptly if you can help. I will get the assignments and more details to you as soon possible. If you have already volunteered, bear with me and reply to this message, also. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to recommend another ham to join us.

73,

Tom Bertolino, KB1P
kb1p@arrl.net
781-608-6186