Operating

Operating, on-the-air events and activities, contests, DXing

Operating

Bristol Co. RA Foxhunt Update

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The Bristol County Repeater Association  (a.k.a. Fall River Amateur Radio Club) held a fox hunt on Saturday, November 21, 2020. Here’s the recap – First, we couldn’t have asked for better weather! No one found the fox, but WA1LBK’s team was really close and KC1NDQ was closing in also. The fox was in the parking lot, with permission, of Lexi-Lu’s Place (great blueberry pancakes!) at the intersection of American Legion Highway (Rte. 177) and Forge Road in Westport, about .5 miles south of route 6. the coordinates are 41.6347 and -71.6547 or approximately 7.493 miles SW of the center of …

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Operating

2020 K1USN Veterans Day Special Event Wrap-Up

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From K1USN Happenings, November 19, 2020: I want to extend my thanks to everyone who helped us make this a success. Obviously we would not be able to conduct our usual in-person activation at K1USN on November 11th due to the pandemic. We had some discussions back and forth and decided that a 31 hour operating event might just work providing we could get commitments from enough operators to get on the HF bands and give us coverage on SSB, CW and FT8/4. As things evolved we even had our first contacts on the 630 meter band using WSPR thanks …

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Operating

Hopkinton State Park POTA Activation, November 14, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Mindy Hull, KM1NDY writes: Here are the Group POTA / Radio Hoopla details:  DATE/TIME:    Saturday Nov 14 2020 @ noon to whenever.    LOCATION:  Meet at Hopkinton State Park. Use the Main Entrance at 164 Cedar St., Hopkinton, MA 01748. Follow Maps (attached).  PARKING:  Park in large lot at boat launch. We will meet in a grove of trees with picnic tables near the beach at the end of the parking lot that is the farthest from where you entered it. See maps.    GPS COORDINATES OF EXACT MEETING SPOT:  42°15’30.7″N 71°31’01.8″W     ( 42.258539, -71.517168 )   WEATHER:  50 degrees, …

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Operating

K1VV, N1DT Awarded Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society awarded Robert (“Whitey”) Doherty, K1VV, and Don Tanguay, N1DT (SK) collectively known as “The Cape Crusaders” with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their significant achievements over the years and for giving Light beacon enthusiasts many activations in the Northeast / New England region. Whitey accepted the award on behalf of the team.  [Full story]

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Operating

K1UVH Continues the “Great Hill” Tradition

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Mike Antoine, K1UVH, and several friends have established a wonderful tradition of operating regularly atop “Great Hill’ in North Weymouth, Massachusetts. It started some time ago after he began hosting a Field Day operation at the summit of the hill. Since then, his group has been gathering once a month to operate the high frequency bands, two meters, 220, and 440.  Mike calls it a “Day of Radio.” “We bring tables, chairs, batteries, radios and antennas. We practice social distancing and masking, and I have sign-in sheet for tracking purposes,” says Mike. The core group of operators consist of K1UVH, …

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Operating

K1USN Radio Club Veterans Day On Air Event, November 11, 2020

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Wednesday, November 11, 2020, is Veterans Day and once again K1USN plans to be on the air to honor those who have served our country.   As you might expect during these difficult times, we are looking for an alternative way to get K1USN on the air.   We have decided to announce a 31-hour operating event beginning at 0000 UTC Nov 11th and running through 0500 UTC Nov 12th. The format will consist of two hour shifts and you can use the K1USN call from your home QTH. We will have two hour operating slots available on CW, SSB …

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Operating

Algonquin ARC Battery Challenge Begins December 1, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

There is QRP, even “QRPP.” Aficionados get on the air, battery and spare battery in hand and see how many contacts—or how much DX—they can log. But have you ever considered how many QSOs are actually held in a single battery pack? A few years back, a member (W1XP) of another club, the Nashoba Valley ARC up in the Pepperell­/Groton area decided that finding out would make a good club activity. Thus, the Lantern Battery Challenge (LBC). Participants were issued a 12V stack of off­-the-­shelf 6V lantern batteries. (You know the ones—they’re about two inches square and four or so …

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Operating

Bristol County RA Fox Hunt, November 21, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The [Bristol County Repeater Association] will be holding its “First (in a while)” BCRA Fox Hunt on Saturday, November 21, 2020. Check-ins starting at 9:45 am on the BCRA repeater, 145.150 MHz PL 123. Chat and help on the repeater also. The Fox will activate at 10:00 am on 146.565 MHz FM with a 5-watt signal and will transmit one minute of tone followed by Morse Code ID and four minutes of silence. The hunt will last until 2:00 pm or until all checked in participants have found the transmitter, whichever comes first. The Fox will be located within a …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday November 2nd, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all… The November Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday November 2nd, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1: http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_index_by_linkstate.html We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on participation in the Eastern Mass ARES SET for Saturday 11/14/20 timed …

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Operating

ARRL Sweepstakes, November 7-9, 21-23, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Contest Objective: To support amateur self-training in radiocommunications, including improving amateur operating skills, conducting technical investigations, and intercommunicating with other amateurs. Stations in the United States and Canada (including territories and possessions) exchange information with as many other US and Canadian stations as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. Dates: CW: First full weekend in November (November 7-9, 2020). Phone: Third full weekend in November (November 21-23, 2020). Contest Period: Begins 2100 UTC Saturday and runs through 0259 UTC Monday. Click here for updates on the Affiliated Club Competion program 2020 Update: There are now a total of …

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Operating

North American SSB Sprint Contest, October 31, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Thank you for your past support of domestic SSB contests, such as the ARRL Sweepstakes. How about trying a fun 4 hour SSB contest? It’s the North American SSB Sprint Contest, Saturday evening October 31st here in North America — that’s November 1, 2020 0000 – 0359 UTC. It has some very interesting rules that make it a bit unique and exciting. Certificates to the top scores in each state/province and/or anyone scoring over 1,200 points. There are door prizes (some call them “Score Prizes”) available for recipients who score at least 1,500 points (just takes 50 QSOs and 30 multipliers) as well as a …

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating

BCRA Fox in Test Mode

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Skip Denault, KB1CNB, writes on the BCRA club list on October 26, 2020 at 3:20 PM: The [Bristol County Repeater Association] has acquired a fox hunt transmitter and we are planning to have a fox (hidden transmitter) hunt in the near future. The fox is currently on the air and we would like to see if you can hear it. It is on 146.565 MHz and is transmitting a 15 second beacon tone and CW ID every ten minutes “on the 4’s” (2:04; 2:14; 2:24 etc) it is located at latitude 41.7152679 and longitude -71.1486613. If you hear it, send …

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Operating

POTA Activation, Hopkinton State Park, October 25, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Steve Ciavarini, NQ1F, writes on the Wellesley ARS mailing list:   Rob Jaczko, WA1UMU, and I and possibly Leandra Mac Lennan,  AF1R, are doing a POTA activation at Hopkinton State Park tomorrow at 1 PM and would love to have anyone join us. We will have plenty of antennas so you will only need to bring your radio if you would like to operate in tandem. It’s like a mini field day and a chance to escape the Covid blues. We practice safe Covid operation, keeping several wavelengths apart, hi hi.   POTA website: https://pota.us/#/parks/K-2440   If you can’t make it …

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Operating

KD1D Fox is Out Again at a New Location, October 23, 2020

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Alan Hicks, KD1D, writes on the NE Mass Fox Hunters list at 4:23 PM on October 23, 2020:   As of noon Friday [October 23, 2020], the KD1D Fox is on the air at a Westford Conservation Trust Site.  It will remain there through Monday. The Site is the Veterans Memorial Complex in the Graniteville section of town. There is an excellent write up of the area at: https://westfordconservationtrust.org/tws_holding/veterans-memorial-complex/  Some Hints: – The site can be approached from at least two directions.   Although one might be tempted to follow a Beacon, greater success may come from finding the Field of Diamonds.  …

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Operating

New England Digital Swap Net, October 24, 2020

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Gene Balinski, K1NR, writes in the Algonquin ARC mailing list:   Please join us for the  NEW  New England Digital Swap Net    This Saturday Evening 8:00 PM on the DMR-MARC New England network    Choose the New England-wide talk group, and check-in when net control calls your area.   Feel free to list gear for sale, trade, or wanted.     Hope to see you then,   73 Gene K1NR 

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Operating

KC1NEF to Activate Boston (Bunker Hill) National Historic Park, October 21, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From the Boston ARC website: In a very exciting development, [Boston Amateur Radio Club] member Brendan Baldonado, the newly licensed KC1NEF, lets us know about an upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) activation he’s about to attempt. He says: “As you may know I am getting ready to take my General and Extra exam, but thought it could be a fun challenge to “Activate” a park using only Tech bands and Abilities. My Plan is to activate using 5 bands, if I can, with no data and no CW and mostly VHF! The activation is not a contest so spotting is …

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating

Sci-Tech ARS, Wellesley ARS Members Participate in Summits On The Air Event from Mt. Wachusett, October 10, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Members of the Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society and the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society activated Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts for Summits On The Air on Saturday, October 10, 2020. Fourteen STARS and WARS members and friends hiked or drove up the mountain. They logged more than 48 QSOs on 20 meters and several more on 2 meters making contacts from California to France to the base of Wachusett Mountain. The group plans to get the two clubs outdoors and operating once a month.

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Operating / Youth

Scouting’s Jamboree on the Air Set for October 16-18, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From nediv.arrl.org: Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) will be held this year on October 16, 17, and 18. Register online as an individual or as a group. Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world. In a typical year, more than 1 million Scouts participate in JOTA, with over 11,000 stations operated by 20,000+ young radio amateurs from 150+ countries around the world. JOTA details are available on the K2BSA website. The website menu will direct users to additional supporting information. K2BSA’s Jim Wilson, K5ND, says many locations are already offering virtual …

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Operating

KD1D Fox is Back On the Air, October 9, 2020

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Alan Hicks, KD1D, writes on the NEMass Fox Hunters List on October 9, 2020: The KD1D Fox transmitter went on the air again  in Westford MA at 1530 EDT on Friday 9 October 2020.   It will transmit a voice message on 146.565 MHz for approximately 30 seconds which will repeat at 60 second intervals.  I expect the Fox to be operating through the weekend until at least Tuesday afternoon.  For additional information on our club’s Fox Hunting activities, please visit: http://www.wb1gof.org/activities/Foxing/   Some clues: – It is located on conservation land in the northeast section of town and can be …

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