Clubs

The Pilgrim Amateur Wireless Association will meet via Zoom on May 20, 2022 for a business meeting at 6:30 PM, followed at 7:00 PM by a special presentation on Propagation and Space Weather by Phil Erickson, W1PJE.

Dr. Erickson is head of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences group, a Principal Research Scientist, and an associate director at Haystack Observatory, a multidisciplinary radio observatory operated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A licensed radio amateur, he is a member of ARRL, RSGB, and TAPR, vice president of the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club. He is on the scientific steering board of the Ham Science Citizen Initiative (HamSCI). Dr. Erickson is also a member of the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Radio Frequencies, which advocates on scientific radio frequency requirements and interference protection for scientific and engineering research.

For Zoom link information, contact Mike Nye, N1NTM, at n1ntm@hotmail.com.

The next AARC meeting will be held in­ person on May 12 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.

The speaker this month will be Lou Tramontozzi, KA1HIH, presenting on antique radios. 

Lou will appear on Zoom and will present at the beginning of the meeting shortly after 7:30.   If we are unable to connect to Zoom at the library due to network or equipment challenges,  the presentation will continue on Zoom.

After the presentation we will review the election results and share Lantern Battery Challenge anecdotes.

The Bristol County Repeater Association will hold an “Antenna Build” and in-person club meeting on May 14, 2022 from 1:00-3:00 PM at the Swansea Baptist Church, 25 Church Street, Swansea, MA 02777.

“We will meet in the upper parking lot, near the back of the church/hall.  We’ll have tables setup, tools and help in building your dipole antenna.  Details on the build will be discussed during the Tech Talk at the May 2nd monthly meeting.  We are going to have the builders choose their antenna, within reason.  More details will be sent out by email.

Norm Cantin, WA1LNG, writes on the Barnstable ARC mailing list:

We will be meeting in-person [on May 2, 2022 at 07:00 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.

The Zola Center ARC meets on April 23, 2022 at 11:00 AM. Following introductions, Tim Duffy, K3LR, of DX Engineering will speak about the history of DX Engineering and what it is today. The talk will be followed by a “virtual” pizza party, a wrap-up of Boston Marathon activities, and a repeater update.

[Contact Frank Ventura, N1FMV,  at frank -at- littlebreezes -dot- com for Zoom conference details.]

The USS Salem Heavy Cruiser museum ship is returning to the airwaves.

Hank, KQ1V,  and Ron, W1OF, wish to announce the recently formed USS Salem Radio Club, N1SLM. They have forged an agreement with the new director and have plans for the USS Salem to be quite active over the next few months. Lots of work needs to be done preparing Radio Room #5. Hank and Ron are hoping that some volunteers will come forward.

If you would like more information, please contact either Hank <hwpiel@yahoo.com> or Ron <w1of@nsradio.org> directly.

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s April meeting is Thursday, April 21st at 7:30 PM at the Pepperell Community Center (in Pepperell). Doors will open at 7:10 PM.

We will also “simulcast” this meeting via Zoom (contact K1BG for details), giving people who live outside the local area or who have concerns about meeting in person an opportunity to participate.

This month’s guest speaker will be Mike Murphy, WU2D, who will walk us through “Shortwave Dream Receivers of the 60s.”

For many of us, ham radio was an offshoot of an earlier budding radio hobby, specifically shortwave listening in the 1960s. It was the middle of the Cold War, and the bands were full of exciting signals. Even the marine frequencies between 2 and 3 MHz were busy back then. So as a kid, you no doubt had your eye on what would be called your Dream Receiver.

The hobby magazines were full of these shortwave sets, adorned with many shiny knobs and big slide rule dials.  Of course obtaining such would cost many hours of mowing lawns, delivering papers and even pumping gas. And yes –  begging, trading, threatening  and pestering your parents were all part of the game.  

Mike will walk us though those golden years by showing off some popular shortwave dream receivers of the late 50’s through about 1972. Don’t be surprised if you see your old Hallicrafters or Lafayette, or Heathkit receiver in this presentation.

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

PS. Thanks to the Pepperell Community Center for the use of the building, and thanks to Jim Hein, N8VIM, and his employer, Medtronics, for the use of the Zoom account.

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

The March PART meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 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.

Our speaker for the April meeting is Mindy, KM1NDY, who will give a presentation on SOTA and POTA operating. Portable operation can inspire amateur radio operators to get outside and play radio. While structured programs such as Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) and Summits-On-The-Air (SOTA) provide ready made opportunities for portable radio pursuits, the actual number of ways a ham can enjoy operating in the field is limited only by imagination. One bonus of portable radio is its ability to draw people together and promote the amateur radio hobby to the public at large. This talk will discuss gear choices, operating strategies for both individual and group events, and other factors that can help lead to a successful outdoor radio experience.

Mindy was licensed in February 2019, and holds an extra class radio license. She has activated 57 peaks for SOTA, now 21st in the W1 (New England) Association, and is an active POTA participant.

Attendees are reminded to bring donations for the Westford Food Panty. Items such as canned soups and Dinty Moore beef stew are always appreciated.

I’ve heard a rumor from a reliable source that there will be free stuff at the meeting!

73,
George K1IG

The next general meeting of the Boston Amateur Radio Club will be held on Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 PM. The meeting room will be opened at 7:00 PM for a period of socializing. The speaker will be Barbara Dougan, N1NS, who will present “A Little Bit About Forest Fires.”

A link will be published in the upcoming issue of The SPARC and will appear on www.barc.org on the day of the meeting.

73,

Joe Chapman NV1W / Secretary, Boston Amateur Radio Club

The next [Algonquin Amateur Radio Club] meeting will be hybrid held on April 14 at 7:30 PM in the library of the 1st Lt. Charles W. Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Ave, Marlboro. Enter from Agoritsas Drive next to police station and use door #1 at rear of building.

AARC Vice President “Skip” Youngberg, K1NKR, will present on amateur image modes.

My name is Steve Hoberman, KC1MWF, and I am writing to you about the Blue Hill Observatory Wireless Society which is just getting started, in case you have any interest in getting involved.

Those of us helping to get the club underway are in no way whatsoever trying to take you away from any club(s) to which you currently belong but, rather, just trying to be supportive of Blue Hill Observatory and help them get their club and initial activities started. In fact, for all of us currently involved, it will represent the second, third, or more clubs of which each of us individually are concurrently members.

Below for your info is the initial newsletter which Bob Phinney, K5TEC, and Rusty Moore, K1FVK, sent out in late February so you can get some more background. We have had two Zoom meetings to-date in recent weeks getting things started. Elections have been postponed a bit relative to what’s in the newsletter, but there is a lot of interest in beginning to plan for the May 14 Mt. Washington event described in the newsletter.

If you have any interest in hearing about or participating in this new club, please join us for the next Zoom meeting. It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6, from 7:00 – 8:00 PM using Zoom link: […]. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks and 73,
Steve
KClMWF
Steve Hoberman
53 Allen Ave
Waban MA 02468

Please join the Waltham Amateur Radio Association  at 7 PM on March 30, 2022 when Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, will present “Helping Hams and Young People to Develop New Skills and Get On The Air.” 

[Contact Waltham Amateur Radio Association President Ron Senykoff, KG1T, at <rsenykoff@gmail.com> for video conference details.]