a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
The Whitman Amateur Radio Club is having it’s FIRST Ham R
adio Open House on Saturday July 19th at the Knights of Columbus on Rte 18 in Whitman. We’ll be promoting and explaining Amateur Radio to the public from 8- Noon. You are welcome to attend, the event is FREE and we can supply your club with a table indoors if you want to display any equipment/demonstrations or information. If you have any questions, please email me.
Thanks, Ross W1EKG 73
Falmouth ARA (FARA) volunteers supplied communications and medical support for the 46th Annual Paul White Road Race in North Falmouth. This is a new volunteer opportunity for FARA.
Held every July, the 4.81-mile race begins and ends on Chester Street between North Falmouth Library and Megansett Park (the site of the market owned by Paul White and his wife, Audrey, for many years). This race was created to commemorate local legend Paul White. The Race is the main fundraiser for the North Falmouth Village Association. The monies raised will be used to fund NFVA operating costs and four college scholarships for North Falmouth graduating seniors.
FARA members Mel-K1ELB, Barry-KB1TLR, Ralph-N1YHS, Jeremy-WA1JRC, Matt-KB1MLP, Tim-W1TCD, Chris-WA1CMR, Tegan-KC1VOS, Henry-K1WCC, Alden-K1IZB, Phil-KB1DOS, and Glen-KC1GKT volunteered to assist with the event. Mel and Alden worked with the Medical Team. Phil and Glen did double duty with both Communications and Medical.
From Tim, K1DC:
If you didn’t have enough fun last weekend during Field Day there are two events running this week to feed your addict… err.. radio hobby.
– 13 Colonies ( http://www.13colonies.us/ ). This event has been around awhile and is very popular! There are teams representing each of the 13 original colonies plus 3 ‘bonus’ stations. The goal is contact each of them at least once during the week long event. It is in progress now and runs through July 7 Midnight (Eastern time).
– World Wide Award ( https://hamaward.cloud/wwa/award ). This is a new event patterned after the month long event in Jan. It runs for 7 days\ (Jun 30-Jul 6). The goal is to contact as many of the activating stations (there are over 100 teams all over the world) on any band, any\ mode, every day! The scoring is done in real time so you can be sure you contact made it into the log. I believe this is the future of ham radio contesting.
I’ll be activating both events (Yeah, I’m a glutton) at various times over the week.
FARA’s Field Day (FD) began on Friday, 27 June. The setup group met at the club storage container, which holds the club’s FD materials. The group loaded up and transported the towers, beams, coils of coax cables, dipoles, tools, tables and related items to the FD location at the Morse Pond School.
Once at the FD location, the primary tasks were to setup the communications trailer and generators, assemble and test three beams, setup three towers with beams and dipole halyards, and run coaxial cable between the towers and the trailer. The goal was to have the towers ready to raise on Saturday. Setup went smoothly and was quickly done.
On Saturday morning, the SSB and CW stations were setup in the communications trailer. The towers were raised. The generators were started early to allow for testing. The GOTA station was setup under the fixed shelter to be more publicly accessible. A VHF station, primarily for use for Winlink message traffic, was also setup under the fixed shelter. In addition, a VHF/UHF station for satellite operation was setup when satellite passes were available.
Operations commenced at 1400 local time and continued until 1400 on Sunday, 29 June. The SSB station operators made 839 contacts and the CW station operators made 1,439 contacts. Contacts were made with all US ARRL sections and nine of the fourteen Canadian sections. Two DX contacts were made via CW.
The GOTA station had one youth operator who made eleven contacts. Messages were sent via Winlink to the EMA section manager and to ten local and state officials. Two satellite contacts were also made during FD.
FARA’s total contact points, which include a 2X multiplier for CW contacts and another 2X power multiplier for all contacts, are 7,434 points. We also qualified for bonus points totaling 1,625 points. FARA’s total claimed score is 9,059–a great score.
We had a nice cookout on Saturday with hot dogs, burgers, and sausages. A sausage, hash browns, and egg breakfast was served on Sunday morning for the overnight crew and anyone else that attended. Mike, KC1HKW, kept us all well fed and hydrated throughout the FD weekend.
Sunday afternoon, the teardown crew took everything down, packed it into vehicles and transported the equipment to the storage container. The container was loaded and locked by approximately 1600–a very quick and efficient disassembly operation!
A gallery of photo’s taken by Ralph, N1YHS and Larry, W1IZZ can be viewed at this link:
H
i gang,
Summer Solstice approaches!
Check out the latest K1USN news and get ready for Field Day!
73,
Pi – K1RV / K1USN
The 14th Falmouth Soldier Ride took place on Friday, June 6th, 2025. Fifty Wounded Warriors from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan rode from the start of the Shining Sea Bikeway in North Falmouth down to Woods Hole and back. The twenty mile round trip on the bike path allowed lots of room to find a spot to cheer the Warriors on as they rode.
Three Falmouth ARA members (Ralph-N1YHS, Mel-K1ELB, and Matt-KB1MLP) manned net control, which was located in the FARA Communications Trailer at North Famouth.
Eight Falmouth ARA members (Barry-KB1TLR, Jeremy-WA1JRC, Jay-WB4KYW, Steve-KC1TMJ, Harold-N1ZTV, Phil-KB1DOS. Henry-K1WCC, and Larry-W1IZZ) manned stations located along the Bikeway, providing rider location and status updates. Henry was assisted by his grandson Sterling acting as scribe.
Community groups were present at the various Bikeway street crossings and at the Woods Hole end of the Bikeway. Members of Coast Guard Group Woods Hole were also on hand in Woods Hole. The groups put together colorful displays and cheered the riders as they passed.
I’ve been doing ‘virtual NTS training’ (https://groups.io/g/VNTN) for the past couple of months over Zoom. I thought that maybe I could help other clubs in the area by doing an abbreviated training session focused on Field Day radiograms.
I’ve put a web page at https://www.qsl.net/n1cvo/FDNTS.htm with the details. These sessions are at 8pm on June 11th, 18th and possibly 25th. The Zoom sessions will be recorded and I’ll post the recording link to the FDNTS page the day after a session.
If you want a head start, there is a good intro to creating and voicing radiograms at: https://www.k8amh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/National-Traffic-System-and-Radiograms.pdf .
Shawn – N1CVO
Billerica Amateur Radio Society
If your club is planning to participate in Field Day, please consider listing YOUR club’s Field Day location on the ARRL Field Day Locator page: https://www.arrl.org/field-day
If your club is already listed, Thank You!
If you know of any clubs or individuals who are not ARRL Affiliated who will be operating Field Day stations, please encourage them to use the Field Day Locator page.
We are looking for volunteers to help out with the 46th Annual Paul White Road Race in North Falmouth. This year, the race will be held on Saturday, July 5th, starting at 9:00 am, and typically last 2 hours. Your mission is to report to Net Control when the first runners arrive at your station, when the last runner has passed your station, and report any incidents or problems. A 2-meter HT, preferably with a hi-gain whip antenna, will work in most all locations. It’s also a good idea to wear a hi-visibility traffic vest if you have one, and a callsign badge. Volunteers would need to be in place by 8:30, and should be released when the last runner passes their location.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email Mel Trott, K1ELB at trottcape@gmail.com
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), founded on Labor Day weekend in 1965, is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025. The net, known for relaying surface observations into the National Hurricane Center, is also seeking volunteers to serve as net control operators. Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, reports HWN is preparing for what could be, yet again, an above-average hurricane season, and that the net needs more amateur radio operators to help.
“We are starting early this year in preparations and looking to add more net control stations to our roster,” said Graves. “We are looking for dedicated new members willing to train to become net control operators (NCOs). While being bilingual is not a requirement, being fluent in Spanish and English or French/Creole and English is a plus.” If you are interested in training to become a net control operator for the Hurricane Watch Net, please visit HWN’s net control information page.