a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
The Minuteman Repeater Association will hold its October Business Meeting on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 7:30 PM. MMRA members can obtain Zoom conference information by visiting https://mmra.org/.
The next meeting of the Norwood Amateur Radio Club is Thursday October 22nd, 2020 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.
Meeting ID: 992 8003 0690 – Passcode: 398582.
Club meetings are usually held on the fourth Thursday of the month from January through June.
The North Shore Radio Association will feature Phil Temples, K9HI, ARRL New England Division Vice Director, who will present on ARRL Board Topics and the recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, on October 19, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Zoom conference information will be sent via the NSRA groups.io mailing list. Contact Eric, KA1NCF, at ka1ncf -at- nsradio -dot- org to be added to the groups.io list.
From the Boston ARC website:
In a very exciting development, [Boston Amateur Radio Club] member Brendan Baldonado, the newly licensed KC1NEF, lets us know about an upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) activation he’s about to attempt. He says:
“As you may know I am getting ready to take my General and Extra exam, but thought it could be a fun challenge to “Activate” a park using only Tech bands and Abilities. My Plan is to activate using 5 bands, if I can, with no data and no CW and mostly VHF!
The activation is not a contest so spotting is allowed, I only need to make 10 contacts to activate. For more information on POTA, go to http://parksontheair.com/
I am asking for help in activating the park by trying to contact me on the frequencies and modes listed below. I will submit a log through Parks On The Air where your callsign will receive hunter credit for you as well as activation credit for me! In addition to uploading the logs to eQSL and LoTW, I plan to buy either post cards as QSLs, or take a few pictures and turn them into Special Edition QSL cards for all the people who help me activate.
I plan to activate on Wednesday October 21, 2020. I’ll be at the Bunker Hill Monument and Park, a registered National Park, with my battery powered FT897 and Matchbox Random Length End Fed Dipole in a Tree. I’ll be starting around 2:00 PM (1800z) and going until about 6:00pm (2200z).
If you can reach out via these frequencies and let any other hams know to try and reach me I would be greatly appreciative.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
10 Meters: 28.450 – USB
6 Meters: 50.294 – USB
2 Meters: 146.450 – FM
1.25 Meters: 223.450 – FM
70 CM: 446.00 – FM
For the most up to date spots please look at parksontheair.com and look for my callsign: KC1NEF
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UPDATE
Special announcement from Ray Lajoie, KB1LRL, Western MA Section Manager to Eastern MA ARRL members:
Ken Burstall, WB8PKK, has secured for us the Masonic Hall in Gardner for a tech in a day class and VE sessions in January and February. This will be done with Covid and Board of Health Guidelines to ensure safety. We need volunteers to aid in conducting these sessions. I am inviting EMA section and others as well. This is a great opportunity. Let’s not pass this up.
Calling all VEs and Teachers:
The Western Mass. section needs your help! As you know Covid has squashed most of the classes and testing sessions this year. I have been informed by Ken Burstall, WB8PKK, that the Masonic Hall in Gardner has a new air filtration system and is allowing us the use of their dining hall to host a Tech-in-a-day course and an open and walk-in VE session. We need volunteer teachers and VEs to assist in conducting the testing and teachings. There are also 25 Boafeng radios preprogrammed for those that have passed.
This will be in compliance with the guidelines of the Board of Health and testing materials will be sterilized using UV-C process and heat-sealed bags. Ken has provided the materials for sterilization and has provided the means to get this off the ground.
Session dates are open and can be either a Saturday or Sunday in January or February. We need to know who can participate to do what and when in order to secure the date to advertise. Please contact Ken at backhoeken@yahoo.com. This invitation will also be open to our EMA neighbors as well.
Thank you, Ken, for your generous effort and donation. Please pass this along to anyone interested. And please let’s not let this opportunity pass by.
Thank you,
Ray KB1LRL
Dan Brown, W1DAN, writes in the Wellesley ARS Spark Gap:
Our next Zoom meeting will be Tuesday October 20, 2020 at 7:30PM, when Dom, N1DM, will talk about Natick Public Safety communications.
Dom notes: “The presentation will concentrate on radio systems used in Natick’s 911 dispatch center. A discussion of the dispatchers equipment capabilities and the various interagency systems in use at the dispatch center will be included.”
I will email a Zoom meeting invite link before the meeting. Also, if you are not by your computer, you can call in to the meeting via telephone.
From nediv.arrl.org:
Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed [this past August]. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.
The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.”
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“The fees Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the October 15, 2020 Federal Register (https://tinyurl.com/yyk8f2yp). The deadline for comments is November 16, 2020, and the Reply comment deadline is November 30, 2020. As you discuss this [with your fellow amateurs,] or write articles for your newsletters, you might find the following suggestions helpful.” -David R. Siddall, K3ZJ [Full story]
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association‘s November 5, 2020 meeting will feature Bob DeMattia, K1IW, who will present on, “Computer Assisted Ham Radio.”
This will be a zoom meeting and members will receive the zoom meeting details via email. A limited number of prescreened guests may be able to attend. If you are a non-member, contact our president, John KB1VXY, president@w1fy.org, to request an invitation.
Andy Wallace, KA1GTT, writes on the Billerica Amateur Radio Society website:
All, I am extremely excited to announce our next Zoom meeting will be a tour of the W1AW station at ARRL HQ in Newington CT!
Some of you have been lucky enough to work W1AW on the bands – some even in the A.M. mode. Even QSLed it. Even luckier BARS members have been on a field trip down to tour the station! I have not – and like many of you will find this a great first time experience!
Courtesy of BARS’s Doug Bruce, KC1MJK – who worked W1AW recently and got us in touch – we have arranged a virtual tour of W1AW for our November meeting. Thanks, Doug, and especially thank you, Joe! He has done other virtual tours so helping BARS in this way should go well. As a bonus our meeting time coincides with W1AW actually being on the air so we will see it in operation.
W1AW is the “voice” of the American Radio Relay League and as an ARRL affiliated club BARS has a stake in their heritage. Joe will field questions and it sounds like this tour will be “the next best thing to being there” as they say.
We will have a bit of club business – our club election in fact – at the beginning of our meeting, and Joe’s tour will commence thereafter.
Let’s show a great turnout for this! Thank you Doug and Joe.
We will announce the link to join the Zoom meeting before the meeting, but it will be posted to the BARS email list and should not be shared outside our Club. Are you on the email list? If not, please send an email to bars-subscribe@w1hh.org and then simply reply to the robot response from the server and you will be subscribed.
Observing our Zoom meeting requires only a web browser and headphones/speakers. You do not need a webcam or microphone unless you want to speak or be seen.
Before our meeting date, please go to https://zoom.us/test and see if it will function for you. If you have problems, we can try to assist – feel free to ask questions on the BARS email list.
I am looking forward to “seeing” many of you Wednesday 11/4/20.
Andy
KA1GTT
President, Billerica Amateur Radio Society
Members of the Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society and the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society activated Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts for Summits On The Air on Saturday, October 10, 2020.
Fourteen STARS and WARS members and friends hiked or drove up the mountain. They logged more than 48 QSOs on 20 meters and several more on 2 meters making contacts from California to France to the base of Wachusett Mountain. The group plans to get the two clubs outdoors and operating once a month.
From nediv.arrl.org:
Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) will be held this year on October 16, 17, and 18. Register online as an individual or as a group.
Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world. In a typical year, more than 1 million Scouts participate in JOTA, with over 11,000 stations operated by 20,000+ young radio amateurs from 150+ countries around the world.
JOTA details are available on the K2BSA website. The website menu will direct users to additional supporting information. K2BSA’s Jim Wilson, K5ND, says many locations are already offering virtual radio merit badge classes “and no doubt will be using similar approaches for Jamboree on the Air.”
The October meeting of the Quannapowitt Radio Association will feature Paul Topolski, W1SEX. Paul will speak about the interesting and colorful “History of the Heath Company,” the company founder, and the subsequent owners of Heath and how the Company’s rapid growth was bolstered by numerous economic factors that came to fruition at the close of World War II.
The meeting is this Thursday, October 15th at 7 PM. For Zoom information, email Bruce Bain, K1BG, at bruce.blain@charter.net.
David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA, writes on Facebook on October 4, 2020:
The Boston Amateur Radio Club will hold its general meeting on Thursday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. on the Zoom teleconferencing platform. Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, President of the Nashua Amateur Radio Society will present, “The Road to Club of the Year.” For Zoom meeting details, contact Doc Kinne, KE1ML, at ke1ml @arrl.net.
Dear all:
Everyone is invited to our October Zola meeting.
Location: Online only, no in-person component
Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020
Time: 11:00 AM Eastern
Meeting format:
11:00 AM
Introductions and call to order
11:15 AM
Announcements, questions and answers
11:30 AM
Previously we asked ourselves as to what type of topics everyone would be interested in hearing about while we are having remote meetings. One of the subjects that was asked for was information about AMSAT. This month we are privileged to have Leandra, AF1R with us. She will have a presentation about AMSAT and will answer our questions afterwards.
[Contact Frank Ventura, N1FMV, at frank -at- littlebreezes -dot- com for Zoom conference details.]
Thanks
Frank, N1FMV
Alan Hicks, KD1D, writes on the NEMass Fox Hunters List on October 9, 2020:
The KD1D Fox transmitter went on the air again in Westford MA at 1530 EDT on Friday 9 October 2020.
It will transmit a voice message on 146.565 MHz for approximately 30 seconds which will repeat at 60 second intervals. I expect the Fox to be operating through the weekend until at least Tuesday afternoon. For additional information on our club’s Fox Hunting activities, please visit: http://www.wb1gof.org/
Some clues:
– It is located on conservation land in the northeast section of town and can be heard from Route 40 (Groton Road).
– You may park at a public playground (with a porta-potty) near the trail entrance.
-The Conservation area has a name similar to that of Tarzan’s family of origin.
– The name is also a compound word consisting of “neither black nor white” and a hard natural object.
Once you find the trail, the Fox will not be far away, but it may be difficult to see.
If you’re unfamiliar with the area, drop me an email at my callsign @arrl.net and I will help you zero in on the location before you go hunting.
ADVANCED LEVEL:
Amateur radio (or “ham radio”) is used by people all over the world to communicate over radio waves. Some people use ham radio for emergency preparedness, to provide communications support for community events, to report on severe weather and natural disasters, as a social activity, and even occasionally to contact crew members on the International Space Station!
This ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the Ham Radio AMATEUR EXTRA license exam, the THIRD of three certification levels. Geared toward adults, as well as junior high, high school, and home-school students. Yes, we give online ham radio exams, too! (See below)
This is a FULL course taught by a 40-yr veteran teacher, not a discussion group or video service. You will learn much more than just watching a video or buying a book.
Topics range from the science of radio electronics to the FCC rules governing the radio spectrum. Recommended text: ARRL Extra Class License Manual, 12th edition, for exams through June 30, 2024, (purchase on ARRL website). Regular practice and study is necessary to get the best results from this course.
NOTE: You MUST have a thorough understanding of the Technician level material before taking this course. If you are already a licensed Tech but have been away from radio for a while, you may request to audit (at half price) one of our Tech courses to catch up.
Current offerings:
ONLINE for 8 days, Sundays Oct 18 – Dec 6, from 6:00-9:00pm Eastern time.
(Content is NEW AE material for the July 2020-2024 exams)
System Requirements: Computer or Chromebook capable of running ZOOM Meeting, either by Zoom app or through a web browser, a web camera/mic, and a printer.
Included with course: You will get downloadable lecture study guides and charts, free access to our weekly Online Radio Shop Talk sessions, and a guest pass to the NEAR/STARS Radio Rooms and radio club meetings for 3 months, online or in-person.
Family Free: Additional members of the same family may join this course at no extra charge, if sharing one computer and zoom screen.
Zoom Link: A few days before the session you will receive an email with instructions to the course details, documents, and Zoom link. If you don’t see the email, check your spam filter. If you still don’t see it, call or email us.
Please be aware of our Cancellation and Refund Policies. For questions, e-mail info@nescitech.org or call 508-720-4179.
License Exams:
YES, our exam team is authorized to give ONLINE exams, so you can schedule your FCC AMATEUR EXTRA exam within a few days of the course. Note that we must collect the standard $15 exam fee for the ARRL VEC separately. (Fee is $15 across the country.)
We administer ham radio exams both online and in-person, having proctored nearly 2,000 exams over the past decade. We’ve taught amateur radio classes for over 15 years with tremendous success. Hundreds of people have taken our classes with 99% having passed the exam to become licensed operators. We offer classes for all three levels of ham radio licenses: Technician, General, Amateur Extra, as well as Morse Code.
Please be aware of our Cancellation and Refund Policies. For questions, e-mail info@nescitech.org or call 508-720-4179.
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