Field Day

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Interim Field-Day-@Home Update

- by Bill Ricker - Leave a Comment

Eastern Mass Section summary from ARRL Contest Branch logs-received as of 7/19 Deadline for FD logs is as usual one month, so 7/28. Clubs can check for members’ logs via Contest Branch Logs Received. As of today, there are 150+ FD logs citing EMA as the section, with 19 clubs with 2+ entries (total 117 stations),  plus a handful of  single club home stations and representing clubs spanning multiple sections, and a couple dozen 28 claiming no club affiliation. Compared to 39 station logs in 2019, this is a very successful COVID-19 Field Day @Home for EMA. Status (as of …

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Field Day / NTS

Eastern MA Traffic Handlers Enjoying Field Day 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Joe Thomas, WB1EMS, reports a group of 20 hams from the South Shore area participated in Field Day at Great Hill in Weymouth overlooking Boston Harbor. Many of this group have been regular participants on the East Mass Two Meter Net on the Boston 145.23 repeater. Mike, K1UVH, was the event coordinator putting much of the setup together along with Peter, KC1HHO and Scott, N1KMX. Other EM2MN regulars included: Bernie, KC1MSN; Chet, KB1NZZ; and Alex, KC1NBT. The group operated simplex, repeaters, two-meters, HF, six-meters, digital, packet, and APRS. Joe reports that N1KMX made 45 contacts via simplex contacting local stations …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

PART of Westford 2020 Field Day Awards

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

PART of Westford will hold a fun competition to recognize members who operated in the 2020 Field Day and who finish first in several categories: Highest number of contacts (subcategories: overall, CW, Phone, Digital, VHF/UHF) Highest score Highest score by a Technician Farthest DX “Home Run”–at least one contact on each mode (SSB, CW, digital, and VHF-FM simplex) Club president George Allison, K1IG, asks applicants to email him once they receive confirmation from ARRL Headquarters that their logs have been received. He adds, “this is all on the honor system.”  Winners will be announced at the August PART meeting.  

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Emergency Communications / Field Day

Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #5

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The following is the fifth and final message in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 17 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program.   After the Saturday afternoon and early evening beneficial rain of around 0.10″-0.90″ around the area with lesser amounts in parts of Northeast Massachusetts, Sunday will feature a warm and humid day with the potential for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms across the region. The most likely timeframe …

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Emergency Communications / Field Day

Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #4

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The following is the fourth in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 17 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program.   After the afternoon and early evening beneficial rain of around 0.10″-0.90″ around the area with lesser amounts in parts of Northeast Massachusetts, clearing will occur and result in a hazy, warm, humid day on Sunday with the risk of isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms for Sunday Afternoon and Evening. The …

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Emergency Communications / Field Day

Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #3

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The following is the third in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 17 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program.   2020 Field Day weekend will mostly be dry but has potential shower and thunderstorm risks in isolated to scattered locations each day including the threat for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms and becoming hot and humid Saturday and Sunday.   The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has continued much of Southern New England …

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Field Day / Public Service

Scattered Strong to Severe Storms Possible on Field Day Weekend, June 27-28, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes:   Need to keep an eye on the severe weather potential for the entire timeframe of Field Day Weekend but especially the Saturday Afternoon/Evening timeframe and the Sunday Afternoon/evening timeframe. While we don’t have many “traditional” Field Day sites setup, there are a few and also those that have home station field setups that will want to monitor the severe weather potential. I’ll be updating the Amateur Radio Field Day/Severe Weather Coordination Message in the next couple of hours. I’ve elected to copy EMA ARRL Staff for their awareness as well.   Regards,   Rob M. …

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Field Day

Field Day Listings on ema.arrl.org

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Bill Ricker, N1VUX, writes: I have created a non-place Site for FD@Home cumulative scoring in the FD Directory  (geographic coordinates in Boston Harbor but not on an island; county=mixed, same as “Nowhere”; it will get the Harbor forecast, oops). It currently shows these clubs:   Club Plans BARC:Boston ARC Confirmed Fal:Falmouth FARA Inc Confirmed Fram:Framingham Amateur Radio Assn Fara.org Confirmed K1USN:K1USN Club Probable MARA:Massasoit ARA Inc Confirmed MITLL:MIT Lincoln Labs Confirmed Msex:Middlesex-Zola ARC Probable NEAR:New England Amateur Radio, Inc. Confirmed PARC:Philips Amateur Radio Club (PARC) Confirmed PART:Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford Confirmed PRA:Pentucket RA Confirmed STARS:Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

K1USN Radio Club On-line Meeting, June 23, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

“Pi” Pugh, K1RV, writes on the K1USN RC mailing list:   Our discussion topic on Tuesday, June 23rd @ 7:30 PM will be 2020 ARRL Field Day plans.   We want to hear from you to learn what you expect to do for the 2020 ARRL Field Day. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances this year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.   The recent K1USN Zoom session presentation by Bruce – K1BG about his past one person Field Day operation may have given you some ideas on how you might operate.   Do you plan to get on the air during …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

Waltham ARA Field Day Training Sessions, June 17 & 24, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the Waltham ARA mailing list: In preparation for “[Waltham Amateur Radio Association] Field Day 2020 – Alone Together”, the club will hold two online training sessions. Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 7:30 – 830 PM: N1MM Logger Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 7:30 – 8:30 PM: FD 2020 Q&A It would be helpful if you install the latest version of N1MM Logger Plus from https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/ before the June 17 session, or at least try, so that you will know what you don’t know. If you are new to N1MM, be sure do the “Full Install” and then the “Latest …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

Algonquin ARC QRV for Field Day 2020 from Crow Island

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The Algonquin Amateur Radio Club will operate Field Day from Crow Island in Stow on June 27 or the evening of June 26.  “Please email the activities chair for more information,” writes Joe Reynolds, KA1GDQ.  (ka1gdq -at- arrl -dot- net.) “We will have to social distance and can’t have any more than ten people at a time at the location.” Joe requests those wishing to help out with set up/break down or operating to provide him with the following information: Name: Call: Position:   Operate  / Setup  / Breakdown Days and times  you would like to be there Friday night setup …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

K1BG: “Single Operator Field Day” at Falmouth Amateur Radio Association, June 18, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Bruce Blain, K1BG, will present, “Field Day Single Operator – What can you do when social  distancing prevents traditional Field Day operations” at the June 18 meeting of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association online meeting via Zoom.  For meeting details, contact Henry Brown, K1WCC, at k1wcc -at- comcast -dot- net.  

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Field Day

ARRL Contest Program Issues Field Day 2020 FAQ

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From ARRL Web, 06/09/2020:   The ARRL Contest Program has released some Frequently Asked Questions related to the Field Day temporary rule waivers. On May 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) adopted these provisions only for the June 27 – 28, 2020, event: (1) Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points, and (2) an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries that indicate a specific club. Contact the ARRL Contest Program with any questions related to Field Day 2020. Q: Several of our club members …

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Field Day

Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From ARRL Web: With one month to go before 2020 ARRL Field Day, June 27 – 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the event: 1)      For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points. Field Day rule 4.6 defines Class D stations as “Home stations,” including stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations ordinarily may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C, E, and F Field Day stations, but the temporary …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day

W1MJ: Field Day Presentation at Waltham ARA Meeting Online, May 27, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

This presentation by Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, will include contesting basics, the age-old question about whether ARRL Field Day is a contest, some training for popular logging program N1MM Logger Plus, and some thoughts on goals for FD 2020. Monthly meeting are now being held online. In order to receive emails with the meeting links, do one of the following: If you are not already signed up on the WARA Yahoo Group, you may do so by sending an email request to wara64-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you only want the meeting link emails and not any other email that might be distributed to the Yahoo Group, send …

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Field Day

Field Day: “A Difference Experience in the COVID-19 Environment”

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Rick Palm, K1CE, writes in the ARRL ARES Letter, May 20, 2020: ARRL Field Day is my favorite operating event of the year. For most radio clubs and large groups, it’s going to be a different experience this year in light of the COVID-19 environment. With CDC protocols in place, many will not gather in their usual Field Day locations. ARRL offered some tips and suggestions to help you plan this year’s operation — ARRL Suggests Taking a Creative Approach to Field Day 2020. A few of them applied to my own recent operating experiences and thought I would share …

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Emergency Communications / Field Day / Operating

ARRL Suggests Taking a Creative Approach to Field Day 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From ARRL Web: 04/22/2020 – This year, ARRL Field Day promises to be a unique iteration of this annual event, with many individuals and groups coming up with new and interesting ways to adjust their approach. As an event, Field Day is structured to be versatile and can be adapted for any situation. Many groups have asked how they can adjust their Field Day planning to address social-distancing guidelines that may be in effect in many areas of the country, as gathering at their traditional Field Day site may not be feasible or safe. Instead of participating in a group event this …

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Field Day / Organization

Field Day 2020 — A Time to Adapt

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From ARRL Web: Many individuals and groups organizing events for Field Day 2020 have been contacting ARRL for guidance on how to adapt their planned activities in this unprecedented time of social distancing and uncertainty. “Due to the unique situation presented this year, this can be an opportunity for you, your club, and/or group to try something new,” ARRL Contest Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE, said. “Field Day isn’t about doing things the same way year after year. Use this year to develop and employ a new approach that is in line with the current circumstances.” [Full story]

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day / NTS

Marcia Forde, KW1U, Commended For Field Day Message Origination Assistance

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Section Manager Tom Walsh, K1TW, received a commendation letter from ARRL Special Service Club PART of Westford acknowledging the efforts of Eastern MA Section Traffic Manager Marcia Forde, KW1U, “for her professionalism and patience … in preparing members of PART for Field Day 2019 National Traffic System messaging.” PART President Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes, “[Marcia] worked with two of our members over the course of several weeks to advise on software and protocols.” KW1U’s knowledge and expertise allowed PART to earn an additional 200 points for message handling.  Stewart added, “her dedication to the Amateur Radio art reflects great credit …

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Affiliated Clubs / Field Day / Public Information

PART of Westford Field Day 2019: A Successful Public Relations-Public Information Effort

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

PART of Westford‘s Field Day Chairman George Allison, K1IG,  reports a successful public relations/public information effort on the part of PIO Lela Smith, KC1ACV and others.   “The club entertained a total of 75 participants and visitors this year, including the mayor of Leominster, a representative of the Billerica EMC, a Carlisle selectman, and a contingent of soldiers from the 211th Military Police Battalion who were sent by their commanding officer to get some experience in field communications. One of the officers from this group is now interested in joining PART,” reports George.   PART also netted a lengthy article …

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