Author: k9hi

Field Day

Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day

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From ARRL Web:

With one month to go before 2020 ARRL Field Day, June 27 – 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the event:

1)      For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points.

Field Day rule 4.6 defines Class D stations as “Home stations,” including stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations ordinarily may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C, E, and F Field Day stations, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows Class D stations to count contacts with other Class D stations for QSO credit.

2)      In addition, for 2020 only, an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions).

Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day.

For example, if Podunk Hollow Radio Club members Becky, W1BXY, and Hiram, W1AW, both participate in 2020 Field Day — Hiram from his Class D home station, and Becky from her Class C mobile station — both can include the radio club’s name when reporting their individual results. The published results listing will include individual scores for Hiram and Becky, plus a combined score for all entries identified as Podunk Hollow Radio Club.

The temporary rule waivers were adopted by the PSC on May 27, 2020.

ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar, with over 36,000 participants in 2019, including entries from 3,113 radio clubs and emergency operations centers. In most years, Field Day is also the largest annual demonstration of ham radio, because many radio clubs organize their participation in public places such as parks and schools.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many radio clubs have made decisions to cancel their group participation in ARRL Field Day this year due to public health recommendations and/or requirements, or to significantly modify their participation for safe social distancing practices. The temporary rule waivers allow greater flexibility in recognizing the value of individual and club participation regardless of entry class.

ARRL is contacting logging program developers about the temporary rule waivers so developers can release updated versions of their software prior to Field Day weekend. Participants are reminded that the preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions for submitting entries after the event. Entries must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 28, 2020.

The ARRL Field Day web page includes a series of articles with ideas and advice for adapting participation this year.

Public Service

Boston Marathon Cancelled

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WBZ BOSTON (CBS): There will be no Boston Marathon this year. Initially the race was moved from Patriots’ Day to September 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but on Thursday the in-person event was canceled.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the city and Boston Athletic Association will work to hold the event virtually.

The race had never been canceled or rescheduled in its 124-year history until this year. The marathon brings in more than $200 million to Boston’s economy each year, according to Walsh, and raises $36 million for charities. About 30,000 people run the Boston Marathon each year with about a million spectators along the 26.2-mile course.”

—
The BAA (“Boston”) Marathon is one of the largest Amateur Radio public service events in the country. Approximately 350 hams, organized by the Boston Marathon Communications Committee, are positioned with buses, the starting line in Hopkinton, along the 26.2 mile course, at a remote Net Control location, and the finish line in downtown Boston. 

[See also: https://wma.arrl.org/boston-marathon-amateur-radio-effort-cancelled.html]
All

Historic SpaceX Launch Carrying Radio Amateur, Fellow Astronaut, to ISS is Scrubbed

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Int'l Space Station

From ARRL Web:
 
05/27/2020 – NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, and Doug Hurley will have to wait a few more days to see if the can make US space history, as human spaceflight is poised to return to the US for the first time in almost a decade. SpaceX and NASA scrubbed the launch, which was set for 1833 UTC on May 27. It has been reset for Saturday, May 30, at 1922 UTC.
 
“Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable weather in the flight path,” SpaceX tweeted minutes before its Dragon spacecraft was to head off into space for the “Demo-2” test flight powered by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle and headed to the International Space Station (ISS).
 

The next back-up launch opportunity is on Sunday, May 31, at 1900 UTC. The Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station, SpaceX said.

Launch video from the Kennedy Space Center will be available on the SpaceX website.

 
 
Licensing Education & Training

Signing Up for Remote Volunteer Exams–One Ham’s Experiences

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Ray Cord, K2TGX, writes on the Study Memorial Hospital ARC mailing list:

Fo those who are interested in remote license exams, Kevin, KM1KEV, has put this together. -Ray

—–Original Message—–
From: Kevin Murray <kevin.murray21@verizon.net>
To: raycord@aol.com <raycord@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, May 26, 2020 11:28 am
Subject: Remote Exam

Ray, 

How to Sign Up for a Remote Exam   
   – Register at https://hamstudy.org/
   – Take a practice test and pass.
   – Click Find a Session
   – Look for an open Remote or Online Exam Session       
      – There are a number of Groups doing Online Exams. The sessions get filled quickly! When reading about an exam session, make sure it does not say “This session is full! “

   – Once a session is found, register. You will receive a PIN. Write the PIN down, it will be needed for the exam. There should be directions on how to proceed. Also, how to pay. Each group is doing the remote exam differently. Follow the VE instructions.
   – I took my General Exam with Rexburg Ham group – N7TMS Todd was the coordinator.         
      – I paid using Google Pay at the link provided.
      – I emailed an official copy of my Tech License to N7TMS   
      – I online signed a CSCE/Form 605 for the EXAM
      – I setup Zoom on my Laptop and Phone
      – One day prior to the Exam, I received the Zoom Meeting link
      – The day of the Exam, I joined the Zoom meeting at the appropriate time
      – I displayed my drivers license for identity verification
      – The VEs had me scan my room to make sure there were no materials to aid the test. No physical calculators allowed, only the Windows calculator.   
      – I propped the phone so that the 3 VEs could watch me.
      – I set the Laptop up so only Zoom and the windows calculator were running   
      – I shared control of my Laptop with the VEs so that they could sign me into the Exam using my PIN.
      – The VEs watch you via the phone and the shared desktop screen
      – I took the exam and passed
      – The VEs then released control of my Laptop

   – I took the Exam on a Saturday, the FCC updated the ULS database on Wednesday. Three business days later.
There are a number of groups that are doing Remote Exams that say invite only, including one out of Natick MA. I do not know how to get on the invite list. Maybe one of the club officers could inquire about getting on the invite list. The Natick group is: New England Amateur Radio – (ONLINE) by invitation only   
| Notes: | THIS SESSION IS BY INVITATION ONLY – REGISTER ONLY IF DIRECTED BY NE1AR VE TEAM..DO NOT REGISTER UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD TO..EXAM CANDIDATES MUST REVIEW RULES AND PROTOCOL AT https://nescitech.org/exam/ 

Clubs

Nantucket Amateur Radio Association Web Page now on ema.arrl.org

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New Affiliated Club Service Offered: Your Club on the Web:

 

“We understand it’s difficult to recruit and retain a webmaster for your club. In fact, some clubs’ web sites have fallen into disrepair.  That’s why we’re excited to offer this new service to ARRL affiliated clubs—a hosted page on the EMA ARRL web site. The address is of the form, https://ema.arrl.org/<Your Club Name>. The pages would be maintained by our webmaster, with input from your club officers.”

We’re pleased to announce the Nantucket Amateur Radio Association has accepted this service for its web presence. To view their new site, visit <https://ema.arrl.org/nara>.

Clubs / Youth

Northeastern University Wireless Club Special Presentations

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Adriana Knouf Art Talk:

On May 26th (Tuesday!) at 11am, our faculty advisor Adriana Knouf (KC1EKK) will be presenting live online her art project that was recently flown to and returned from the International Space Station!

She will be speaking about the project itself, named TX-1, and the audacity of thinking about transgender people in space.

For more information about the project itself, see the link below:
https://tranxxenolab.net/projects/tx-1/

The details of how to connect to the livestream will be released on May 26th on the below page:
https://bioartsociety.fi/activities/fragile-life-and-celestial-matter-s

Satellite Communications Seminar:

Are you interested in learning how to work with signals transmitted by satellites?

This fall, Adriana Knouf plans to give a talk about the antennas, hardware, and open source software used to schedule, track, receive, and decode those signals. She’ll also speak about how she used these techniques herself to create an art project using many recordings created through this process!

Please fill out this super quick survey to show your interest. We plan to schedule it sometime during the fall semester, and we’ll release more details then.

Clubs / Licensing Education & Training

Yankee Clipper Contest Club Special Interest Zoom Meetings

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YCCC President Dennis Egan, W1UE, writes on the YCCC mailing list:

Since we can’t meet in person for the foreseeable future, and using Zoom allows us to make some presentations that are hard to do in person, I’ve decided to offer four sessions on operating specific contest modes, as outlined below:

Thur May 28   CW
Wed June 10   FT4
Tue June 23    SSB
Thur July 9      RTTY
??                    VHF/UHF

The Zoom Sessions will start at 7 PM and plan to end at 8:30 PM, although if there is enough interest we could stay on until 9 PM.

I am looking for a moderator for the VHF/UHF session, as I don’t know enough about it to do so.

There will be some prepared material, but my hope is that members will step forward and we can make this a participatory roundtable.  I, of course, have my preferences on how to set up N1MM and operate, but there are others that do it just as successfully.

Some of the topics that will be covered in the CW session:

1. Station Tune-up
2. Operating Game Plan
3. RX Tips
4. Tx Tips
5. N1MM+ Setup/Use
6. Telnet
7. How to Get to Carnegie Hall

If you are interested in preparing some material for any of the above sessions, please feel free to contact me.  I hope these will become sessions with a lot of participation and questions answered.

We will also be recording the session, so you can concentrate on what’s being said without having to take copious notes.  It should be available in the day or two after the session.

Log-in Info for the Zoom meetings will be sent out on Wednesday or Thursday for the CW session.

Dennis W1UE
President, YCCC

Clubs / Field Day

W1MJ: Field Day Presentation at Waltham ARA Meeting Online, May 27, 2020

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This presentation by Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, will include contesting basics, the age-old question about whether ARRL Field Day is a contest, some training for popular logging program N1MM Logger Plus, and some thoughts on goals for FD 2020.

Monthly meeting are now being held online. In order to receive emails with the meeting links, do one of the following:

  1. If you are not already signed up on the WARA Yahoo Group, you may do so by sending an email request to wara64-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
  2. If you only want the meeting link emails and not any other email that might be distributed to the Yahoo Group, send a request to Ron, KG1T, with this form: http://walthamara.org/contact/contactform-president.
[Source: Waltham Amateur Radio Association website]
Public Information

“Social Distancing? COVID-19 Made it Real. Ham Radio Made it a Hobby”

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“A close-knit culture, with separation at its core” is a story and accompanying video produced by Christian Science Monitor staff photographer Anne Hermes. It explores how Amateur Radio operators are taking COVID-19 and social distancing in stride and features interviews with Eastern MA hams. It portrays the hobby in a very positive light.

Eastern MA Public Information Coordinator Kayla Creamer, W2IRY, was instrumental in working with Ms. Hermes to identify individuals and clubs for interviews and subject material.  

“The Christian Science Monitor, commonly known as The Monitor, is an internationally known nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist.” -Wikipedia.

 

Clubs

Nashoba Valley ARC Meets Online, May 21, 2020

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The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s May meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, May 21st at 7:30 PM . This meeting will be conducted via WebEx. Meeting details are below. Thanks to Jim Hein, N8VIM, and Medtronics for the WebEx conference.

This month’s presentation is by the “Science Program Around Communications Engineering with High Achieving Undergraduate Cadres (SPACE HAUC)” from UMASS Lowell. They have an interest including some elements of amateur radio in their project and will speak about this really impressive undertaking. 

See their website here: 

 https://www.uml.edu/research/locsst/research/spacehauc/ 

Thanks and 73. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Bruce, K1BG

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

— Join WebEx meeting (contact K1BG for conference info)

Clubs / Operating

Yankee Clipper Contest Club DMR Net, May 20, 2020

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Reminder: YCCC DMR Net

When: Wednesday, 20 May 2020, 8:00pm to 9:00pm, (GMT-04:00) America/New York

Where: DMR TG NETAC1

View Event

Organizer: ne1b.c6awb@gmail.com

Description: YCCCers!

Join us every Wednesday evening at 8pm ET for contesting talk on the DMR repeater network. There are several methods to access the Net:

 
  • By RF
    Access via 2 meter or 70 cm DMR repeater.  See the list of 91 repeaters near you at http://nedecn.org  The frequencies are in the left menu “DMR Repeaters>New England”.  Use the NETAC1 talk group.
  • By Dongle or Hot Spot
    You can use openSpot, JumboSpot, ZumSpot, MMDVM
  • By EchoLink
    Get the software app on your smartphone or laptop at: http://www.echolink.org/  Contact KM3T or NE1B to put your callsign on the Access List.  Echolink node is K1QVC-L  Connect and RX B4 TX.

73 and see you there!

Clubs

K1BG: “CWOPs CW Academy” at K1USN Radio Club, May 26, 2020

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The next K1USN Radio Club online meeting will feature guest presenter Bruce Blain, K1BG, who will speak about CWops CW Academy.  Immediately prior to Bruce’s talk, Phil Temples, K9HI, will briefly recap his experiences in helping conduct remote VE tests with the New England Amateur Radio, Inc., VE team.

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 26, 2020 at  8 PM.

For Zoom conference details, contact Pi, K1RV, at k1rv -at- arrl -dot- net.

Field Day

Field Day: “A Difference Experience in the COVID-19 Environment”

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Rick Palm, K1CE, writes in the ARRL ARES Letter, May 20, 2020:

ARRL Field Day is my favorite operating event of the year. For most radio clubs and large groups, it’s going to be a different experience this year in light of the COVID-19 environment. With CDC protocols in place, many will not gather in their usual Field Day locations. ARRL offered some tips and suggestions to help you plan this year’s operation — ARRL Suggests Taking a Creative Approach to Field Day 2020. A few of them applied to my own recent operating experiences and thought I would share as possible inspiration.

My personal, longtime Field Day experience revolves around my recurrent entry class: 1E – home station on emergency power, yes, the “couch potato” class. It’s easy to look down on us E class operators but every year I learn something new about my station and operation, usually dealing with 12V power management and solar panel efficiency, etc. “Remember, Field Day is a non-adjudicated operating event and not a ‘full speed ahead’ contest,” says ARRL.

The League also suggests not forgetting about 6 meters: FD is not an HF-only event. Summer propagation on the “Magic Band” can be interesting and sometimes thrilling. This past year, I have used my 40-meter dipole to work local stations on 6 meters. I just ordered a three element 6 meter Yagi. I’m looking forward to trying it for FD (and the preceding June VHF Contest) for openings.

Recently I have had a blast discovering FT8 and the underworld (under the noise-level world, that is) of weak signal work. A suggestion from colleague Mike Corey, KI1U, and the WSJT suite of weak signal software opened this door to excitement for me. I’m not sure how to configure it for Field Day yet, but that will give me something fun to learn and apply before next month’s event. The software reportedly does support the ARRL Field Day exchange.

It strikes me that derivatives of FT8 will render high value modes for emergency/disaster response communications when conditions are less than optimal, its essence. See, for example, JS8Call. JS8Call is a digital mode built on the popular FT8 protocol; however, it instead offers real-time keyboard-to-keyboard messaging as well as store-and-forward capabilities and other similar features.

Remember: In Field Day, “a premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio.” – ARRL Field Day Rules

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.” – Archilochus

Clubs

North Shore Radio Association Meets Online, May 18, 2020

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North Shore Radio Association logoRick Savage, KB1LYJ, writes on the North Shore RA mailing list:

“We have a Zoom meeting set up for our May meeting. It will be on Monday, May 18th. The link is open at 7:00 if you want any pre-meeting discussions. Please share this information with the members on any and all formats available web page, email, Facebook etc.

Rick Savage is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: NSRA Meeting May 18th
Time: May 18, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
[Contact kb1lyj at nsradio dot org for Zoom meeting URL] Meeting ID: 851 8789 8833
Password: [Contact kb1lyj at nsradio dot org for password]

Clubs

KE5AL: “JJ Flex Radio” at Zola Center Amateur Radio Club Online Meeting, May 23, 2020

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Frank Ventura, N1FMV, writes on the Middlesex ARC mailing list:

Dear all,

The next meeting of the Zola amateur radio group will be online only, no in person component.

Date: Saturday, May 23, 2020

Time: 11 AM to 1 PM Eastern

Our very special guest speaker will be Jim Shaffer, KE5AL, developer of JJ Radio and JJ Flex Radio. He will join us in speaking about the origins of the blind-friendly CAT software, JJRadio, to operate his Flex-Radio and field our questions.  All are welcome for this month’s meeting. Please use to conference information below my signature.

For conference URL and password, contact Frank at frank.ventura -AT- littlebreezes -DOT- com.

Please join us every Thursday evening at 7PM Eastern for our weekly net. We can be found at 147.360 MHz with a PL of 67.0 Hz tone, or on Echolink at call sign W1LJO-R node number 462341.

Licensing Education & Training / Youth

New England Sci-Tech General Course Online, July 21-24, 2020

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New England Sci Tech logoFor anyone interested in wireless communications and electronics, this ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the Amateur Radio GENERAL license exam. Geared toward adults, as well as junior high, high school, and homeschool students.

Topics range from the science of radio electronics to the FCC rules governing the radio spectrum. Some preliminary preparation is necessary to get the best results from this course.

This is a FULL course taught by a 40-yr veteran teacher, not a discussion group or video service. You will learn so much more than just watching a video.

Current offering:

Four day course: Tu-W-Th-F July 21-24, 3:00-6:00 pm Eastern Time each day.

The FCC General test will be scheduled for an upcoming weekday evening or weekend, as an online test, run by our VE team which has authorization to run online tests.

System Requirements: Computer or Chromebook capable of running ZOOM Meeting, either by Zoom app or through a browser, a built-in camera/mic, and a color printer.

Included with course fee: downloadable lecture study guide 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 once the facility reopens.

Note that the standard $15 license exam fee is NOT included and must be registered separately; our VE team is authorized to give ONLINE exams, so you can schedule an exam within a week of the course. (Price is $15 across the country.)

One additional member of the same family may take this course for the price of one, if sharing one computer, video screen, and materials.

A few hours before the session you will receive an email with a Zoom link and ID. If you don’t see the email, check your spam filter. If you still don’t see it, call 508-720-4179 for help.

For questions, e-mail bobphinney at nescitech.org or call 508-720-4179.

Licensing Education & Training

New England Sci-Tech Amateur Extra Course Begins June 1, 2020

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New England Sci Tech logoFor anyone interested in wireless communications and electronics, this ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the AMATEUR EXTRA Radio license exam. Geared toward adults, as well as high school and homeschool students.

This is a FULL course taught by a 40-yr veteran teacher, not a discussion group or video service. You will learn so much more than just watching a video.

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 and General material before taking this course.  If you are already a licensed Tech or General but have been away from radio for a while, you may request to audit (at half price) one of our Tech and/or General courses to catch up.

Current offerings:

ONLINE for 8 days, Mondays June 1 – July 20, from 6:00-9:00pm Eastern time. (Content is NEW AE material for the July 2020-2024 exams)

The FCC Amateur Extra test must be registered separately; our VE team is authorized to give ONLINE exams, so you can schedule an exam within a week of the course.

System Requirements: Computer or Chromebook capable of running ZOOM Meeting, either by Zoom app or through a browser, a built-in camera/mic, and a color printer.

Included with course fee: downloadable lecture study guide 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 once the facility reopens.

One additional member of the same family may take this course for the price of one, if sharing one computer, video screen, and materials.

For questions, e-mail bobphinney at nescitech.org or call 508-720-4179.