a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
All things Field Day
Looking to make all the bonus points you can for Field Day? Not sure how to send a radiogram? Be sure to check http://fd.ema.arrl.org/files/Field_Day_NTS_Messages.txt on the Eastern MA ARRL Field Day page for some helpful hints. Thanks, KW1U
The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will conduct an Amateur Radio license examination session at its Field Day operation from 10 AM to 12 noon on Sunday, June 24 at the Fuller School Field, located next to Market Basket off the Route 128 Blackburn Circle Rotary exit.
The exam fee is $15.00. Two forms of identification are required and must include a picture ID and Social Security Number. You may make a reservation via email to Bob Quinn, WV1A at bquinn32 -at- comcast -dot- net Walk-ins are also welcome.
The Whitman Amateur Radio Club received a nice write-up of its Field Day operation in the Enterprise News that included a group photo.
According to the article, WARC operated at the Old Colony YMCA Satucket property in East Bridgewater. Thirty-five amateurs participated, making 586 QSOs in 33 states and three Canadian provinces.
PART of Westford obtained some value media coverage in the local Carlisle Mosquito newspaper, just in time for Field Day. The hams gave Mosquito reporter Cynthia Sorn “a turn operating a ham radio.” [Full story]
See also: “Wicked Local/Westford”: Amateur radio enthusiasts take to the air waves
A joint Field Day operation in Swansea garnered some great publicity for Amateur Radio this weekend, including television coverage.
Carl Sawejko, WA1PQT was interviewed by two Providence, RI television crews who were on hand at the site to film the Field Day operations for the evening news. This year’s Swansea Field Day operation at the Town Hall Annex was a joint collaboration between the Pilgram Amateur Wireless Assocation (Taunton), and the Raymond J. Levesque Memorial ARC and the Southeastern MA Amateur Radio Group.
A video clip of the Channel 12 story can be viewed online at the WPRI web site. The WJAR Channel 10 web site is carrying this video interview.
In conjuntion with ARRL Field Day, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a Resolultion late last week “honoring Amateur Radio operators as they celebrate Amateur Radio Week and participate in Field Day.”
Like the Governor’s Proclamation, the Senate Resolution was brought about through the efforts of State Government Liaison, K3HI, Local Government Liaison Hank McCarl, W4RIG, by several club presidents; and, by one licensed Amateur in particular who happens to be a Massachusetts State Senator: Bruce Tarr, N1UIU.
Although a copy was not available to tour during Field Day, hard copies of the Resolution have been transmitted to ARRL Headquarters, and to Eastern and Western MA Section Managers Phil Temples, K9HI and Ed Emco, W1KT, respectively.
Sen. Tarr writes about the Resolution in his blog at http://www.tarrtalk.com/2011/06/arrl-field-day-event.html.
[See also: Governor Proclaims “Amateur Radio Week” in Massachusetts!]
Looking for a convenient way to pass your club’s Field Day radiogram messages through the National Traffic System this weekend? Check out KW1U’s description on the NTS Digital System for Field Day (And Beyond).
NTSD – The National Traffic System Digital network runs alongside the traditional NTS nets and covers the entire United States with liaison into Canada. Message traffic placed into the NTSD is relayed via scanning HF Pactor 2 and Pactor 3 MBO’s throughout the country which operate 24/7 and are accessed regularly by assigned digital relay stations who remove traffic from the MBO’s for local relay or delivery. The system is managed by area digital coordinators. Station KW1U in Concord MA operates a 24/7 MBO on HF with a VHF link on 145.09 Mhz via W1JOE-7 into the N1XTB-4 BBS.
For Field Day messages in Eastern Mass, it is best to put messages on the N1XTB BBS which will then forward to KW1U for relay on HF as needed. See instructions on the ‘nts.ema.arrl.org ‘website under ‘packet procedures’ for help. If you are unable to access this BBS, station KW1U can be accessed via HF Pactor 1, 2 or 3 on one of the scanning frequencies below, all given in center frequencies: 3591.9, 3593.9, 7100.4, 7102.4 10140.9, 10142.9, 14095.9, 14097.9, 14112.4. For help contact Marcia at kw1u@arrl.net or kw1u@winlink.org.
Good luck with Field Day, and keep those messages coming!
73, Marcia KW1U
Just in time for Field Day–Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick has declared June 25-26, 2011 to be “Amateur Radio Week” in Massachusetts.
The Proclamation was signed at the Executive Chamber in Boston on June 15. The official document was awarded on June 21 to ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI who met wtih Bianca Hoffman in the Governor’s Office on Beacon Hill. Last year’s proclamation was secured through the diligent efforts of the Hampden County Radio Association in Western Massachusetts. (See <http://ema.arrl.org/node/1712
Several individuals worked to secure this year’s proclamation, according to Temples. “I want to acknowledge the work of our State Government Liaison, K3HI, along with effort by several club presidents–and in particular, one of our Local Government Liaisons, Hank McCarl, W4RIG of Gloucester,” remarked Temples. “Hank set up conversations with the office of the Senate Minority Leader–who is, coincidentally, a licensed amateur, and a member of the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association.” Temples added, “We hope also to secure a Senate Resolution honoring Amateur Radio before the start of Field Day.”
K9HI plans to tour with the official Proclamation throughout Eastern Massachusetts during the Field Day weekend.
Dean Burgess, KB1PGH writes on CAARAmail list:
The Caara VE team will hold an FCC Amateur Radio license exam session at this year’s field day event site at the Fuller School in Gloucester. The VE session will be on Sunday June 26th, from 10 AM until noon.
If you are planning to take a test please bring two forms of ID. One must be a picture ID and the other your Social Secuity number. Please bring $15.00 as well for the FCC testing fee. You may reserve a spot by e-mailing CAARA VE team leader Bob Quinn, WV1A at bquinn32 at comcast dot net.
We will also welcome walk-ins as well if you want to become a ham or upgrade your license at the last minute.
The 11th Annual Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Directory contains some of the most comprehensive Field Day resource pages of its kind.
“We have rich data, such as local landmark directions, coordinates, site and club field day history, and links to multiple map sources and webpages for club and site,” says Bill Ricker, N1VUX, maintainer of the site.
Ricker would appreciate an email from new clubs in Class A or F, clubs with new sites, clubs whose details on their EMA directory need updating, or who are definitely not using the site they had last year. Email N1VUX at his arrl alias address.
Members of the Hampden County Radio Association (HCRA) successfully campaigned a state legislator to obtain from Governor Deval Patrick’s office a proclamation of “Amateur Radio Week” coinciding with the 2010 annual ARRL Field Day event. The complete article including an electronic copy of the proclamation can be seen at the following links:
Special thanks to HCRA for their efforts and obtaining this proclamation.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
Members of the Hampden County Radio Association successfully campaigned a state legislator to obtain from Governor Deval Patrick’s office a proclamation of “Amateur Radio Week” coinciding with the 2010 annual ARRL Field Day event.
According to HCRA’s Marty Bowen, W1MJB, the govenor’s proclamation was obtained through State Representative Angelo Puppolo. Bowen sent Puppolo an invitation to join the HCRA Field Day “in order to acquaint him with the HCRA and give him the opportunity to see amateur radio enthusiasts utilize ARRL field day to hone their emergency communication skills.” Several weeks later, Bowen received a phone call from Puppolo’s aide informing Bowen that the representative was unable to attend Field Day this year, but was interested in learning more about the HCRA and ARRL Field Day. During a series of e-mails and phone conversation with his Western Mass office, Bowen asked for Puppolo’s help in obtaining a proclamation from the Govenor Patrick “honoring the community and emergency communication service performed by Massachusetts amateur radio operators.”
The HCRA through Bowen was also successful in obtaining a citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives acknowledging the Hampden County Radio Association for their “voluntary contributions through emergency communications to the towns and cities in Hampden County.”
“It is a welcome reinforcement of the govenor’s proclamation and a timely acknowledgement that the Massachusetts legislature is aware of the important emergency communication services provided to the Commonwealth and the many non government emergency relief providers by the amateur radio operators of Massachusetts,” remarked Bowen.
Kudos to the HCRA and W1MJB for this achievement on behalf of all licensed amateurs in Massachusetts.
Now is the time to plan for Field Day !!!!
What did you say???? Field Day is not till June and that is five months away. Yup, now is the time to start your planning. Sure…you don’t have to fill in the sign up sheets for the 20 meter CW station at this time but there are many things that should be started now, in the dead of winter, rather than wait till June. The best Field Days are the ones that are planned far in advance so that when the time comes there will be no surprises.
This will not be the first year that most clubs will have Field Day. It is often assumed that since Field Day worked well last year that it will work well again this year. This may not be the case! Good advanced planning can assure a smooth running Field Day.
What should your club be doing in January or February to prepare for Field Day in June? Well the first thing is to secure a Field Day Chairman. This person has overall charge of Field Day……….but should not have all the responsibilities! He/she should be a volunteer from the club or someone who is appointed by the President. He/she should have the full support of the President and the executive board for this is a high responsibility position. The Field Day chairman should be able to appoint a staff of club members who each have an individual portion of the Field day responsibility. It has been my experience that there should be one person “The Station Chief” who is responsible for each station that is on the air. He/she should be responsible to see that all the components for a station….antennas, shelter, rigs etc. will be available when Field Day rolls around. The Station Chief should only be responsible for one station but he/she has the complete responsibility for that station. Station Chiefs should report directly to the Field Day Chairman. Additional “Chiefs” can be appointed for specific duties at Field Day……such as “Food Chief ” or a “Generator Chief” with similar responsibilities. This way the Field Day Chairman can retain overall responsibility of Field Day without being distracted by all the details.
The other important component of Field Day……that should be dealt with at this time of the year…….is the Field Day site. Often a Field Day site is on public property which is used by other organizations throughout the year. Securing a Field Day site now may well eliminate a lot of grief right before Field Day takes place.
A healthy club will appoint a Field Day Chairman long before Field Day. The executive committee of the club should have the Field Day Chairman sit in on each of their monthly meetings. This way the Chairman can present his/her progress on a monthly basis. It can also be a time where the Chairman can discuss difficulties in assembling all the components of Field Day and enlist the members of the executive committee in securing these components.
Bo Budinger
WA1QYM
EMA Affiliated Club Coordinator
Eastern MA Section Manager Mike Neilsen, W1MPN has released a special statement to all stations participating in the annual ARRL Field Day event June 27-28, 2009.
From: SkyWarn Announcement List <SkyWarn-list@oak.powersrvcs.net>
To: Skywarn-list@oak.powersrvcs.net <Skywarn-list@oak.powersrvcs.net>
Sent: Thu Jun 25 09:02:13 2009
Subject: Severe Weather/Amateur Radio Field Day Coordination Message #1
Hello to all..
..The following is the first in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend. Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend is an annual event where Ham Operators across the United States setup at Emergency Operations Centers, field locations, home locations etc. to operate and test their equipment and skills and make as many radio contacts as possible during the weekend. Many locations can be visited by the public and Amateur Radio Field Day can be a form of outreach to Ham and non-Ham Operators. It is both a fun/preparatory event for Ham Radio Operators for Emergency Communications scenarios..
..As have been done over the past 10 years, this will be the first in a series of Severe Weather/Amateur Radio Field Day Coordination Messages to pass instructions to Amateur Radio Field Day sites on what to do if threatening weather approaches and to have Field Day sites guard their SKYWARN repeaters as required if threatening weather approaches..
..Field Day Weekend is expected to have better weather than what we have seen in the past several days, however, there will be the threat of Severe Thunderstorms with Damaging winds and large hail the primary threats across much of Southern New England Friday as SPC and NWS Taunton are in agreement on a Slight Risk for Severe Thunderstorms on Friday. There are additional risks for thunderstorms over the weekend. The threat of those thunderstorms over the weekend is uncertain and it is noted that overall the weather will be drier this weekend than the past 4 days, however, thunderstorms even if non-severe can contain dangerous lightning and that is a threat to any outdoor Amateur Radio Field Day sites in the region..
..This Week is also Lightning Awareness Week and safety information on lightning gets propagated during this period and has coincidentally coincided with Amateur Radio Field Day weekend and that information is included in this coordination message..
..SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton is likely on Friday. SKYWARN monitoring for even non-severe thunderstorms will be done over the weekend to protect Amateur Radio Field Day sites as best as possible..
There are a large number of Amateur Radio Field Day sites across the NWS Taunton County Warning Area and adjacent NWS County Warning Areas. Here are some links to information on these Amateur Radio Field Day Sites from across the region:
Amateur Radio Field Day National Announcement: http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/
Amateur Radio Field Day National Locator: http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Home Page: http://fd.ema.arrl.org/
Connecticut Section Field Day Information: http://ct.arrl.org/
New Hampshire Field Day Home Page: http://www.arrl-nh.org/fd2009.html
Western Massachusetts Field Day Information: http://wma.arrl.org/announce.php?id=163
Rhode Island Field Day Information: http://www.arrl.org/sections/RI.html
If there is additional Amateur Radio Field Day information that you would like to appear in these coordination messages, please contact me and I will add it to this section of the Amateur Radio Field Day Coordination Message.
On Friday, the dreary cool weather will abate completely and lead to warmer conditions. A Cold Front/trough will approach Southern New England and this will be the triggering mechanism for showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms will have the potential to become severe with damaging winds and large hail the primary threats and all thunderstorms have the threat of lightning. The threat timeframe will be in the mid-late afternoon and early evening hours. Key items that will affect the severe potential is the timing of the trough/cold front into the region and the amount of sunshine that will lead to heating and destablization along and ahead of the front. At the time of this coordination message, SPC has placed the region in a Slight Risk for Severe Thunderstorms and NWS Taunton is in agreement with this assessment. Further details on the Friday potential for severe weather will be posted in the Thursday Evening coordination message. Amateur Radio Field Day sites setting up on Friday should use caution and keep an eye to the sky and monitor their local SKYWARN Repeater, NOAA Weather Radio or weather information via Internet and media resources to guard against safety issues if thunderstorms, even if they are non-severe, occur in the region due to the potential lightning risk on radio equipment and antennas. Below is the NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook and SPC Day-2 Convective Outlook:
NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html
SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day2otlk.html
SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton is likely on Friday. SKYWARN monitoring for non-severe thunderstorms and their lightning risk will be done throughout the weekend to protect Amateur Radio Field Day sites.
For the weekend, there will be the potential for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms on Saturday with lesser chances for this activity on Sunday. Details on how the weekend will evolve are still not certain. As stated previously, the weekend is not expected to be a washout and conditions away from the immediate coastal areas should be better than the past 4 days or so with warmer and more summer like conditions but there will be the potential for an isolated to scattered shower or thunderstorm activity. Future coordination messages will better define the activity for this weekend.
Remember that non-severe thunderstorms can pose a threat to Amateur Radio Field Day sites due to the threat of lightning. Please keep this in mind if you have an outdoor Field Day site. This week is Lightning Awareness Week and the National Weather Service in Taunton has posted information on Lightning Safety Awareness Week. See links below for this information:
NWS Taunton Latest Lightning Safety Awareness Week Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nous41.KBOX.html
NWS Taunton Wednesday 6/24/09 Lightning Safety Awareness Week Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KBOX/0906241320.nous41.html
NWS Taunton Tuesday 6/23/09 Lightning Safety Awareness Week Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KBOX/0906231724.nous41.html
NWS Taunton Monday 6/22/09 Lightning Safety Awareness Week Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KBOX/0906221445.nous41.html
NWS Lightning Safety Awareness Home Page: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/
Field Day sites are encouraged to bring a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio and a dedicated Ham Radio that can monitor their local SKYWARN Frequency for their area or if they have mobile Internet capability, that is also a way to monitor for weather information if thunderstorms, even that are non-severe, approach your area. Please see the link below for the latest SKYWARN Frequency information for the region:
http://www.wx1box.org/node/37
The next coordination message will be posted by 1130 PM this evening.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
Roland Daignault, N1JOY writes on BCRA-Club list:
…I have confirmation that we will be having Boy Scout Troop 100 from Westport joining [the Bristol County Repeater Association/Fall River ARC] for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. They have a hike planned that morning and should be finishing up right around the same time the Field Day event begins, which is 2:00 PM. I hope we can have a couple of people available to be good ambassadors for Ham Radio. We have the GOTA station planned, so hopefully we can get a few kids on the air.
The 10th Annual Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Directory contains some of the most comprehensive Field Day resource pages of its kind.
According to Bill Ricker, N1VUX, the section Field Day pages offer detailed information on individual field day club operations as well as new features, like:
“OpenLayers /OpenStreetMaps zoom/pan widgets with a choice of base map. These are open source data (CC-BY-SA) maps. Thanks to OSM volunteers we even have a Mass Topo server linked, a welcome gift since the commercial topo sites are no longer linkable.
See http://fd.ema.arrl.org/field_day/fd_dir.php and http://fd.ema.arrl.org/field_day/SiteDetail.php?site=MiltGr
“For a ‘before’ view compare the static map http://fd.ema.arrl.org/ and TIGER map http://fd.ema.arrl.org/field_day/ClubDetail.php?club=MVARG (Or turn off JavaScript temporarily — the new pages will revert when script is blocked, unlike Google on the ARRL HQ 2nd First Annual Locator.)
“We still have richer data, such as local landmark directions and site and club FD history, and links to multiple map sources and webpages for club and site,” adds Ricker.
“Clubs which are reactivating a previous Class A or F site can confirm to the EMA Directory by simply putting their pin in at the ARRL Locator – conveniently linked from our directory. I’ll pick that up and mark them confirmed. I would appreciate an email from new clubs in Class A or F, clubs with new sites, clubs whose details on their EMA directory need updating, or who are definitely not using the site they had last year. Email N1VUX.
The League having published scores to the Members’ web, the EMA Field Day 2008 Results are now also posted to Club and Site listings and the History section of the 9th Annual ARRL EMA Section Field Day Directory. http://ema.arrl.org/fd/History.php
There were 29 clubs reporting A, F, and club E/D stations for EMA, the most since 2001 (31) and 1999 (30). While this double counts a few joint stations where multiple clubs were doubling up, MITRE and BARS ran two joint sites, and MIT had both an off campus Class A and their UHF Contest Station (a separate club technically) in Class E.
At the bottom of the Solar Cycle, both North Shore and Falmouth broke Falmouth’s 2005 EMA QSOs tally, amazing.
http://ema.arrl.org/fd/Scores.php?order=QSOs and, as a result, NSRA broke Falmouth’s 2005 score (best EMA all classes since at least 1999, when on-line records begin).
So congratulations to NSRA. http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/index.html?con_id=155&call=NS1RA&bbycall=1
Cape Ann and Genesis also set decade club bests with their return to their old sites in 2008.
Sadly, not a lot of EMA clubs posted pictures or commentary on League Soapbox; but in addition to NSRA’s above, I saw a nice soapbox from an EMA Mobile http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/index.html?con_id=155&call=K1UR&bbycall=1.
The Graphical analysis charts now include *all* Divisions, in addition to all reports, Eastern Mass Section, *and* now a zoom on just class F stations, 2005-2008. http://ema.arrl.org/fd/history/analysis.html (The box areas are in proportion to the total points of the whole chart for that year, and are NOT comparable from year to year or even page to page within year.)
* NNJ may be the only section with more total points in Class F than Class A.
* There are no DX stations in the published scores for 2008.
* 2A remains the Category responsible for the most total points overall and per division, with few exceptions (3A – Dakota 2008, Atlantic,Great Lakes, Hudson 2007+2008).
Eastern Mass doesn’t show too well in Class F, possibly because less than half (2 of 5 known) of our Emergency Management teams participating in Class F submitted reports to League Contest Office, compared with (5) the prior two years. Several other Emergency Management-equipped clubs appear in the Class A listings, which is a goodness.
73
Bill n1vux
Editor, ARRL EMA Section FD Directory
http://ema.arrl.org/fd/
n1vux@arrl.net
Video shot by members of the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association at their recent Field Day operation will air this evening on local Cape Ann Channel 12 at 7:00 p.m. on August 5, 2008.
—Thanks, AB2NJ