Clubs

Rob, WA1UMU, writes in the Wellesley ARS “The Spark Gap”, November, 2018:

I had a terrific visit to the WWII Museum in Natick recently. 

To my surprise, they had a lot of radio gear including this biscuit tin radio, which reminded me of Bruce, KC1FSZ’s peppermint bark tin QRP rig at Field Day.

The founder of the museum, Kendall Rendell, states:

“The mission of the Museum is to have people gain a sense of direct contact with the World War II generation, to see them as people ourselves today, to identify with their concerns and fears, to understand what caused World War II internationally, and how it was brought to an end at a terrible price.”

The museum has revolving exhibits specializing on subjects such as women of WWII, the resistance, Enigma machines, etc. They seek donations of artificats and volunteers. If you’ve not been there, I highly recommend it. 

The International Museum of World War II
8 Mercer Street
Natick, MA 01760
https://museumofworldwarii.org/

The Museum is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 AM to 4 PM for walk in visitors. Last entry is 3 PM. You do not need to schedule your visit ahead of time. You do need to fill out a waiver form beforehand and bring an I.D.

Don Melanson, KA1MAP, QRA President writes:

The ARRL-affiliated Quannapowitt Radio Association (QRA), a general interest ham radio club founded November 19, 1948, is still active and open to new members. The club celebrates its 70th birthday at the December 20, 2018 meeting at 7 pm. In this current day of computers and the internet, this is a truly unusual achievement.

The QRA was founded by members of a World War II home front emergency communications organization known as the War Emergency Radio Service. After the end of WWII the WERS was disbanded, but the members reorganized themselves as an amateur radio club. From a core of ten members the club has waxed and waned through the years and currently has 20 actives and another 20 members at large. It continues the tradition of promoting radio technology, education about amateur radio, and being able to provide emergency communications when (fortunately rarely) needed.

Members of QRA are active in all facets of ham radio operation. Imagine the difficulty of sending a radio signal to the moon, and detecting its return two and a half seconds later. Imagine the difficulty in communicating with Europe using a signal with only the power of the nightlight in your bathroom. Imagine the difficulty of making radio waves, with the speed of light and with a crest-to-crest length of your knuckle, and then using those radio waves to communicate from the top of Mount Washington to Pennsylvania. These are the challenges that motivate and involve the members of the Quannapowitt Radio Association.

QRA is a general interest radio club serving the Boston and Boston-North suburb radio amateurs, computer enthusiasts and communities for seventy years. “QRA” stands for “amateurism” at its best. Membership meetings are autumn, Winter, and Spring months, third Thursday of the month, 7 PM, at the Pleasant Street Center, 49 Pleasant Street, Reading. Come on by and see what will keep us going to our club’s 100th birthday.

 

The ARRL-affiliated Quannapowitt Radio Association is seventy years young this November, according to QRA President Don Melanson, KA1MAP.

Melanson reports the club has decided to “combine their November 70th anniversary and December Christmas celebrations at the December meeting, to be held on December 20, 2018.” QRA’s actual birthday is November 18. The club meets at the Reading Senior Citizens Center, 49 Pleasant Street, in Reading.

Kudos to QRA and its membership on this historic occasion.

Don Rosinha, WA1BXY, writes on the SEMARA mailing list:

This Sunday (October 14) we will start and hopefully finish the build of the new TH-11DX beam and 40-meter rotatable dipole that’s replacing the log periodic array on the tower. Anyone willing to lend a hand would be great. [We’re] in need of two sets of saw horses. Thanks in advance.