Clubs

George Allison, K1IG, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:

To All PART Members and Friends,

The March PART meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, beginning at 7:30 PM at the Cameron Senior Center, 20 Pleasant Street, Westford, MA, and via Webex video conference.  For those attending via video conference, a meeting link is below; just click on the green button to join in.  You can join the conference any time after 7:00 PM to check out your gear or just rag chew until the meeting starts. Bear in mind that internet connectivity from the senior center may be unreliable.

We’ve got several topics for the meeting. Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, will give a short 20 minute talk about “Digital Voice using M17,” and there will be a live demonstration.  For more information about M17, click on this link: http://www.m17project.org. In preparation for Field Day, Ryan Leary, N1RL, is starting a CW course, and he’ll talk about the course and how you can become proficient enough in the next three months to make some CW contacts at the event. Speaking of Field Day, planning has begun and we’ll talk about what’s happening so far.

If your ARRL membership is going to run out in the next three months and you need to renew your membership, or if you’re not a member of ARRL and want to join to get all the benefits, fill out this application and bring it to the PART meeting along with your ARRL dues payment. Joining ARRL or renewing ARRL membership through PART helps support our club, and renewing early doesn’t penalize you in any way.

All members are encouraged to bring donations of non-perishable food for the Westford Food Pantry.

See you Tuesday!

73,
George, K1IG
President, PART of Westford

The March Algonquin Amateur Radio Club meeting will feature Ray LaJoie, AA1SE, Section Manager for Western MA, speaking about the Amateur Radio display at The BIG E in the fall. Ray will talk about booth display planning as well as ARISS space station contact and how it all came together for the seventeen-day event.

The meeting will be held in­ person March 9, 2023 at 7:30 pm in the library of the 1st Lt. Charles W. Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Street, Marlboro, MA. Enter from Agoritsas Drive next to police station and use Door #1 at rear of building.

The Barnstable Amateur Radio Club will meet in-person on March 6 at 7:00 PM at the Brewster Police Department Community Room, 631 Harwich Road (Rt 124), Brewster, MA 02631. In addition we will provide a Zoom link to the meeting. This month,  Ed Moxon, K1GGI, will present “Cape Cod’s Fabulous Radio History.”

[Contact Norm Cantin, WA1NLG, at norman.cantin@gmail.com for Zoom details.]

After a fantastic President’s day weather and excellent 10M propagation, it is time to think about Charlie WA3ITR’s talk on FT8 Tuesday night!

Topic: Wellesley Radio February Meeting!

Time: Feb 21, 2023 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

[Contact WARS President Dan Brown, W1DAN, for Zoom meeting invite link.]

Next meeting is Wed Feb 22nd at 7:00 pm
(zoom opens at 6:30)

The next meeting of the Waltham Amateur Radio Association will be this Wednesday [February 22, 2023] at 7:00. The meeting will be held on-line with no in-person gathering this month. (zoom links below). After a short business meeting, Fred, W6BSD, will be giving a presentation providing an overview of the various Digital Voice Modes:

Digital Voice Modes for Amateur Radio

You don’t need a General or Extra class license to enjoy QSOs with people worldwide. All amateur license classes can use Digital Voice (DV) modes such as Fusion, D-Star, DMR, and many others to connect with people throughout the US and other countries using digital repeaters or amateur hotspots. During his presentation, Fred will discuss the differences between the DV modes and how the backend infrastructure works.

[For meeting information, see https://walthamara.org/.]

Northeastern University Wireless Club President Marty Sullaway, NN1C, writes on on the NUWC mailing list:

Tonight was the Super Bowl. Unfortunately the Patriots did not make an appearance, but nonetheless, I am sure people tuned in to watch. While our Super Bowl for Wireless does not involve parties, TV ads, and millions of people, our soldering workshops are our next best thing.

The staple of our workshop series are our soldering workshops. This week we are offering the same workshop twice. Join us at 7 PM in Dodge 050 on Monday 2/13, or in our club space (503 Hayden) at 7 PM on Thursday 2/16. We will be building a revised version of our popular traffic light project. Both sessions are expected to fill up, so be sure to arrive on time to make sure you get a seat. If for some reason we are filled up, have no fear, we will work you in.

For those who might already know how to solder, take the time during the workshops this week to pay our club space a visit, pay your door code dues and solder up a small project; study for a ham radio exam. We just restocked the club space, and plan to do so again soon.

Here’s to soldering week!

The Barnstable Amateur Radio Club will meet  in-person on February 6 at 7:00 PM at the Brewster Police Department Community Room, 631 Harwich Road (Rt 124), Brewster, MA 02631. In addition we will provide a Zoom link to the meeting. This month, Bruce, WA3SWJ, will present “All about Home Automation.”

[Contact Norm Cantin, WA1NLG, at norman.cantin@gmail.com for Zoom details.]

Bruce Blain, K1BG, will present on “CW Basics” at the Billerica Amateur  Radio Society on February 1, 2023 at 7:00 PM.

Bruce was first introduced to amateur radio by his neighbor Jim Payne, W1GPN, when he was 4 years old. He was first licensed as WN1KBG in 1968 (Canton, MA) and upgraded to WA1KBG. He earned a BSEE from Northeastern University in 1976, and became K1BG in 1977.

Bruce is past president of the Norwood Amateur Radio Club, and is a founding member and past Vice President of the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club where he currently serves as a member of the board. He is also a member of the First Operators Club, CW Ops, the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, and the Radio Club of America. Bruce has been a member of the ARRL for over 50 years.

He has been “advising” CW Academy classes for the past 4 years, where he is currently a “youth academy” advisor. Attracting and mentoring young people and supporting local radio clubs are areas that Bruce is passionate about.

The next Wellesley Amateur Radio Society Zoom meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 7:30 PM will feature Dom, N1DM, who will discuss satellite communications.

[WARS President Dan Brown, W1DAN, will email a Zoom meeting invite link before the meeting.]

Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF, writes on the North Shore Radio Association mailing list:

This month’s meeting is on Tuesday! Speaker will be in house this month.

Andy (KB1OIQ) Stewart will talk about a software collection which he created called “Andy’s Ham Radio Linux.” It is based on Ubuntu 22.04 with additional software specific to ham radio. There have been over 100,000 downloads of this software since 2011. Andy’s talk will be an overview of the available software, where to get it, installation hints, etc. No previous knowledge of Linux is required to enjoy this talk.

Andy is an Amateur Extra licensee who has enjoyed this fine hobby since 2007. Related interests include repair of antique radios circa 1930s/1940s, hacking uBITX, Arduino code, the M17 project, and kit building. Andy is a former president of PART of Westford. By day, Andy is a digital logic verification engineer living in simulated reality.

Hope to see you all at the meeting.

The January PART of Westford meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, beginning at 7:30 PM at the Cameron Senior Center, 20 Pleasant Street, Westford, MA, and via Webex video conference. For those attending via video conference, a meeting link is below; just click on the green button to join in. You can join the conference any time after 7:00 PM to check out your gear or just rag chew until the meeting starts. Bear in mind that internet connectivity from the senior center may be unreliable.

Topic: PART has been awarded a grant of $22K by the ARRL Foundation for a project headed by PART member Lucas, W1BTR, to incorporate ham radio into the popular online game Minecraft. At the January meeting we’ll be showing the presentation on this project given to the ARRL HQ staff last week, and we’ll explain what the project is, how it will be run, what it means for the growth of ham radio, and how it affects PART. If time permits, we also have a presentation on the 2023 Volunteers on the Air event.

Attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items (canned soups, stews, etc.) for donation to the Westford Food Pantry.

See you on Tuesday!

George, K1IG
President, PART of Westford
wb1gof.org

The January Algonquin Amateur Radio Club meeting will feature Greg, WA1JXR, who will give a presentation on the NanoVNA. The meeting will be held in­ person January 12, 2023 at 7:30 pm in the library of the 1st Lt. Charles W. Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Ave, Marlboro, MA. Enter from Agoritsas Drive next to police station and use Door #1 at rear of building.

Boston Amateur Radio Club (BARC) is moving forward with its affiliation plans with the Artisan’s Asylum (A2) makerspace. At its October 2022 general meeting, the BARC membership voted to approve the plan. The step marks a turning point for the thirty-three-year-old club which has been without an official home for a long time.

In 2022, Artisan’s Asylum relocated from offices in Somerville to 96 Holton Street in Boston. According to its website, the popular makerspace “is a non-profit […] devoted to the teaching, learning and practice of fabrication.” It offers classes on a wide range of skills and topics to the general public.

“As you know, we have been looking for a space to hold meetings, conduct testing, and eventually hold license classes,” writes Boston ARC President Brendan Baldonado, NW1S. “Getting a regular meeting space that also allows us to hold events, and host antenna and project builds will help grow the club.

“They (A2) are a maker/hackerspace that includes a wood shop, 3D printers and other heavy machinery.”

Prior to BARC’s decision to affiliate with Artisan’s Asylum, the makerspace was working to develop an RF station, mostly for testing and building other maker projects to bridge the gap between ham radio and DIYers. A2 applied for, and was awarded funding this past year from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to establish an amateur station to “create, build, test and use amateur radio in various ways.”

Artisan’s Asylum currently counts among its ranks several licensed hams, and more are interested in obtaining their tickets.
“A2 is excited to get a club with our experience under their roof and have worked hard to keep the costs of renting a space very low for our club,” Baldonado says.

One important component of the collaboration involves BARC sponsoring courses. A2’s other members currently offer classes to the general public on such wide-ranging topics as woodworking and bicycle repair. BARC hopes to expand upon A2’s class offerings with courses on Amateur Radio-related topics like digital communications and kit construction. BARC is currently polling its membership to find interested individuals who will step forward and volunteer to instruct.

“There is a world of possibility in these spaces,” says Mindy Hull, KM1NDY. She and Greg Kenley, AC1NY, are passholders who have full access to the building and the club space. Soon, additional members will be added as passholders with unlimited access. In the long term, the club hopes to sort out access issues for its entire membership.

Hull notes that the A2 facility is enjoying tremendous popularity. “There are no more suites available at the A2. All suites are now on a waiting list.” She adds, “We got ours just in time.”

[December 30, 2022 Update: “Joe Chapman, NV1W, and Brendan NW1S, installed an off-center dipole and coax down into the BARC studio. We have a Yaesu FT-847 that will remain at the club station along with a power supply. There is also a Kenwood for UHF/VHF. Mary Sullaway, NN1C, installed the copper grounding. AC1NY will bring another folding table for the studio, along with a Lenovo laptop and Samsung monitor. He also plans to construct a WFVIEW remote transceiver setup for the studio as well as digital protocols station. We are almost operational!” -AC1NY.]

Bruce Blain, K1BG, writes:

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s December meeting will be TOMORROW, Thursday, December 15th, at 7:30 PM at the Pepperell Community Center (in Pepperell). Doors will open at 7:00 PM for socializing etc.

This month’s program will feature our annual “Homebrew Night”. Come in and show off what you’ve been working on over the past year. No project is too small—or too large. If your project is physically too big, don’t fret. Bring along some pictures, JPEG files, or anything else. We will have a computer, projector, and screen if you have pictures or video. Homebrew, kits, software, restoration, innovative solutions, anything that is not commercial off-the-shelf. Come. Brag. Converse. Have coffee. This is one of the best “social” meetings of the year….

We will also be discussing topics for upcoming meetings.

Need directions? Click here and put your own address in box “A”.

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

Bruce, K1BG

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