a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
Operating, on-the-air events and activities, contests, DXing
Rob Leiden, K1UI, writes:
Barry Hutchinson, KB1TLR, is heading up the [Jamboree On The Air] operation at Camp Greenough. There will be a merit badge class and several rigs on the air using different modes.
[See also: https://barnstablearc.org/?q=node/224]
Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC members will operate special event station W1S to commemorate the club’s 40th anniversary on November 10, 2018 from 11 AM-10 PM and November 11, 2018 from 11 AM-5 PM. Everyone is welcome to operate from the club station.
“Please try to attend this meeting to volunteer your time to operate,” writes club secretary Ray Cord, K2TGX. “Even if you are a Tech we will have a General or Extra to work with you. It is not a high pressure contest. We are just making contacts to celebrate our 40-year history. This is a great learning experience for HF operating. If you absolutely can’t make the [October 16] meeting please email me with the hours that you can operate.”
The club was formed in the aftermath of the Blizzard of 1978, when members with Sturdy Memorial Hospital served their community with emergency communications.
UPDATE: See https://www.qrz.com/db/w1s for times/modes of operation.
Hello to All,
Net Control for the October 6, 2018 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH, The South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters in the order listed and last approximately 1 hour.
1.Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
2 Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0
3.Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Simplex 147.42
The Net will then return to the Sharon Repeater for final comments and Net closing.
NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check in procedure which is: Here is.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give yours or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.
We extend an invitation to any health care facility or EOC of any city or town that is served by one of the participating hospitals to join the Net. We also extend an invitation to any RACES or ARES member to check in during the NET.
Any hospital wishing to join the net that needs assistance with equipment or personnel should contact us at ssharc@gmail.com. We can assist you with getting your location on the air.
We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control. If you are interested please contact us at the email address listed above. Our goal is to rotate Net Control throughout the year among as many groups as possible.
We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct the monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. The following list of repeaters are available for our use. Only a few systems are used each month with the selection of those used made by Net Control for that month.
Attleboro 147.195 tone 127.3 (Sturdy Memorial Hospital)
Belmont 145.430 tone 146.2
Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Danvers 145.47 tone 136.5
Dartmouth 147.000 tone 67.0
Fall River 146.805. tone 67.0
Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9
Mansfield EMA 446.925 tone 100.0
Mansfield 147.015 tone 67.0
Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0
Norwood 147.210 tone 100.00
Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8
Salem 146.88 tone 118.8
Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
Weymouth 147.345 tone 110.9 (South Shore Hospital)
W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244
Wrentham 147.09 tone 146.2
We look forward to hearing you all on the Net.
Respectfully,
South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth MA 02190
Barry Fox, W1HFN, writes on the foxhunting list at 12:52 PM on October 4, 2018:
At 12 noon today, Thursday, Oct 4th, I deployed the fox in the George and Lucy Lapp Conservation land off Newtown Road in Littleton. The frequency is 146.565, constantly running, and a voice ID of 20 seconds every minute. NO PI within a 100 ft diameter circle of the hide.
Good luck!
Hello to all…
We will be continuing our monthly ARES Net in October. The monthly ARES Net for October is Monday the 1st, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_index_by_linkstate.html
We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.
As part of our relationship with MARS and our own situational awareness gathering we will be asking for any known infrastructure issues that you are aware of. The information must either be personally observed, or obtained “over the air” via amateur radio. Items considered to be infrastructure include but are not limited to: electrical power, water, medical facilities, sanitation, communications, and transportation. Examples of failure would be: small or large area power failure, water main breaks, hospitals’ ER closed, sewage issues, TV/radio station off the air (including public safety), interstate highway or major road closed. No known issues are just as important as reporting failures.
Additionally we are interested in relay of any weather information from airport ATIS/ASOS stations that you can directly receive via radio. These stations broadcast continuously in the 120.000 – 138.000 MHz frequency range using amplitude modulation. Information from the ATIS should include airport, temperature, altimeter (barometer), wind, precipitation, and visibility.
A list of stations with their frequencies and a map can be found at: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/weather/asos/?state=MA
A brief introduction to ATIS can be found at: https://www.vatsim.net/pilot-resource-centre/general-lessons/understanding-atis
We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ema.arrl.org/ares
Thanks for your continued support of ARES!
Rob Macedo, KD1CY
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Cape Ann ARES Emergency Coordinator KA1BTK-Gardi Winchester II, writes:
All:
‘Operation Equinox’ is definitely taking on a life of its own! From it’s humble beginnings as a suggestion that we try setting up a CAARA member’s new portable antenna mast to an event almost as big as Field Day itself, it has blossomed in just five days! The ideas have come down so fast that I just can’t keep up with administering it! With the numbers of people who are informed and planning to attend, I doubt making many QSOs are going to be likely.
But that is not what it’s all about!
As of right now, the basic plan is for a portable equipment test and set-up practice of our (your) remote emergency communications response plans, on a more individual level, as opposed to Field Day exercises that run more at a club level. We’ve been ‘dodging the bullet’ as of late, and the latest hurricane, Florence, was certainly a big Red-Flag. There are still areas of the Carolinas and Virginia that are relying on Amateur Radio communications for life support.
Are YOU ready?
So, come and bring your Go-Kits and exercise your emergency operations plans and test your equipment for readiness, Check out the plans of other Hams and maybe get some new and fresh ideas. Help us show the public what Ham Radio can do for their safety and well-being, and show newer Hams what the craft holds with higher license grades.
While there has been very little time to plan for this event, we’re sort of ‘winging-it’ this year. But, that works a bit in our favor, as a real emergency will give very little time to prepare and may give a more accurate assessment of our responses. Plans and possibilities for future events are endless!
Hope to see you there!
Operation Equinox:
Sunday, September 30th
12:00 Noon until 5:00PM +
Hospital Hill, Top of Summit Ave.
Rockport, MA, 01966
Semper Paratus! & 73’s ___________________#\____
Gardner H. Winchester II, KA1BTK, ARRL EC Cape Ann
“The most important tool for disaster recovery is communication”.
gardiw2@gmail.com
http://www.google.com/profiles/gardiw2
Cape Ann ARES Emergency Coordinator KA1BTK-Gardi Winchester II, writes:
Who: All Amateur Radio Operators:
Please pass this along!
Barry Fox, W1HFN, writes on the foxhunting list on September 15, 2018:
Barring sudden catastrophe, the W1HFN fox will be loose at:
https://
UPDATE 7:36 AM, September 16, 2018:
Sorry, I left out the important bits; 146.565, it runs constantly, no tones needed. A 20 second voice ID every minute, so there is 40 seconds of no signal. Makes for a bit of a challenge.
Hopefully, it will run through Thursday the 20th. In any event, it will be recovered then.
Good luck,
Barry – W1HFN
Tony Fiore, K1AMF, writes on the YCCC reflector:
Two petitions have been started on the White House’s “We the People” petition site calling for restoration of funding for these two essential radio stations. Each needs at least 100,000 electronic signatures by mid-September to generate a response from the White House.
The petitions can be found at:
<https://petitions.whitehouse.
<https://petitions.whitehouse.
Matt Chao, N1IBB, writes on the Middlesex ARC list:
Now that summer’s officially gone (Labor Day), it’s time to resume our activities for the rest of the year. The first session of the Zola Net for the other three seasons will be starting up tomorrow at 7 PM on the Newton repeater (147.360, PL of 67 Hz. The purpose of the Net is to give both new and experienced hams the opportunity to participate in a controlled Net environment. The Net usually lasts for about half an hour.
Looking forward to hearing all of you on the Net tomorrow, weather permitting. (T-storms are forecast for tomorrow as a cold front comes through).
Larry Gray, W1IZZ, writes on the Falmouth ARA web site:
“Brian, W1HXN, has started a 6 meter net on the N1YHS 6M repeater in Barnstable. The repeater operates at 50 watts and is located in Barnstable village by the courthouse complex. The repeater is on 53.010, – 1MHz offset, PL tone is 173.8. The time-out timer is set for 180 seconds.
“Brian set a date of 8/29/18 @ 7:00 pm as the 1st meeting of the 6M net. If you need to check your equipment before that time, Brian will try to monitor the repeater as much as he can. Thank everyone for showing an interest. It is an open net, so everyone is welcome to check-in.”
Jack Buckley, W1AKN writes in the Genesis ARS Newsletter:
Joe Costa, KC1ECK, writes in the Genesis ARS Newsletter:
The Paul Tura (N1KFD) Memorial Fox Hunt is scheduled for Saturday, September 15th at the GARS Meeting Room at the Plymouth Airport.
This is the day of the GARS breakfast also. Come for breakfast or the fox hunt or both! Breakfast is 9:00 AM at Kevins restaurant. We will start the hunt at 10:30 AM +/-.
Mike Rioux, W1USN and Bob Reiser, AA1M, will operate onboard the Lightship Nantucket on Sunday, August 19 as part of International Lightship/Lighthouse Weekend. 
The South Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (SEMARA) will host a presentation entitled Contest College @ SEMARA on September 9, 2018 at approximately 12 PM.
An article by Sumner Weisman, W1VIV, of Framingham, appears in the June, 2018 CQ Magazine entitled, “Wireless Ham Radio for the Hearing Impaired.”
“I am pretty hard of hearing, where one ear is completely gone and the other is about half gone,” writes Sumner. “I use a hearing aid in my ‘good’ ear. I like to do a few contests each year, and the earphones blasting into my hearing aid really abused my hearing.”
Sumner’s article tells how to use Bluetooth to stream the audio from your ham transceiver directly into your hearing aid, for very clear and pleasurable radio reception.
The USTNR (Uncommon Service To Nautical Radio) club will operate from the USS Massachusetts museum ship at Battleship Cove in Fall River on September 22, from 0900-1500 or 1400Z-2000Z. 
Dennis Egan, W1UE, Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Rich Assarabowski, K1CC, represented the Yankee Clipper Contest Club at the 2018 LRMD (Lithuania) Hamfest held on July 27-29, 2018.
The event was held in Miego Klinika, a rural resort on a small lake in the middle of a forest in the northern part of Lithuania. Dennis, Fred, and Rich traveled to LY-land following the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship in Germany. (See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2018/07/06/yccc-well-represented-at-wrtc2018-july-12-16-2018/)
“The tradition of summer radio amateur meetings in Lithuania goes back to 1989. This was at the end of the Soviet occupation, when the country was a republic in the Soviet Union. This year, Lithuania is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence right after the First World War. This was a turning point for many European nations. It looks like the Lithuanian Amateur Radio is going through a very active and successful period right now.”
For the complete story, visit https://dxnews.com/lithuanian-hamfest-2018/.
The Titanic Marconi Memorial Radio Association Of Cape Cod (W1MGY) plans to operate from the Stage Harbor Light in Chatham during National Lighthouse Day on August 7, 2018, according to the club’s QRZ page. “[Stage Harbor Light is] privately owned … we have received permission to operate from.”
International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, ILLW began in 1998 as the Scottish Northern Lights Award sponsored by the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. ILLW is a popular Amateur Radio event that takes place on the third full weekend in August each year. It attracts over 500 lighthouse entries in over 40 countries.
The Nashoba Valley ARC participated in a Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSci) experiment with the Canadian CAScade, Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) spacecraft over Field Day weekend.
Courtesy the HamSci web site:
“’We’re really happy with our results this year’ remarked Dr. Gareth Perry, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary, CASSIOPE’s home institution. ‘The Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) recorded plenty of chatter between Field Day participants, especially during our passes over the eastern and central United States on the evening of the 23rd’.
“Members of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) group coordinated with the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club (NVARC, N1NC) and the Hoosier DX And Contest Club (N9NS) and the Indianapolis Radio Club to ‘direct traffic’ – asking their members to stick to pre-selected frequencies during the passes, and to record their transmitting logs.”
The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation project is a platform for the publicity and promotion of projects that: