Operating

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

Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net – Saturday 12/7/19 at 1000 AM ET

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Good Morning Everyone, We hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving, are ready for the winter weather and holiday shopping. Net Control for the December 7th Net will be the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group. The Net will commence at 10am utilizing the following repeaters in the order listed followed by the simplex frequency test on 147.42. After the simplex test we will return to the Plymouth Repeater for comments, announcements, and Net closing. Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8 Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0 Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0 W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244 Simplex 147.42 no tone …

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating

Boston Amateur Radio Club to Participate in SKYWARN Recognition Day, December 7, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From Boston ARC’s The SPARC, November, 2019: On December 7, 2019, and for the 17th consecutive year, [the Boston Amateur Radio Club] will once again participate in SKYWARN Recognition Day.  SRD is a joint event supported by the ARRL and the National Weather Service where weather stations and weather buffs from across the country contact each other for fun and to promote the SKYWARN Program. Our station, WX1BHO, will be located at the summit of Great Blue Hill in Milton, MA. For several decades, hams have assisted the National Weather Service by providing real-time reports of severe weather and storm …

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Cape Cod ARES Exercise 65 – “Black Autumn” A Success With Various ARES Groups in Eastern Mass Participating

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

On Saturday November 9th, the Cape and Islands ARES district held its Exercise #65 Operation “Black Autumn”. This was an emergency communications exercise based on a scenario of a cascading power blackout encompassing all of the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. The exercise would be for EOCs and home stations using VHF/UHF, HF, and digital modes. The exercise ran from 10am-noon. In the Cape and Islands district, the following EOCs were active. The County Multi Agency Coordination Center (MACC), Falmouth EOC, Harwich EOC, Dukes County EOC (Martha’s Vineyard), Joint Base Cape Cod EOC, Falmouth Hospital EOC. This included several home stations …

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Operating

New Trusted QSL Application Version Released

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Michael Keane, K1MK, writes on ARRL-LoTW@groups.io: A new version of the Trusted QSL (TQSL) application — version 2.5.1 — has been released. Signed installers are available for download at <http://www.arrl.org/tqsl-download> This version of Trusted QSL (TQSL) is a maintenance release which corrects defect found since TQSL v2.4.7 was released.  [2.5.1] Corrects a defect discovered in v2.5 in which the entity name would not display correctly when only one certificate was present [2.5] Corrects defects from v2.4.7: TQSL no longer displays a spurious error message about expired root certificates when installing a .tq6 file. (This was a rare situation that would happen when a root was …

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Operating

K1USN QRV for Veterans Day, November 11, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The K1USN Radio Club will once again be on the air November 11, 2019, to celebrate Veterans Day to show their appreciation for those who have served. They anticipate opening up around 8:30 AM on the HF bands using SSB and CW until late afternoon.  Local hams are invited to visit them at the Watson Museum & Research Library, 85 Quincy Avenue in Braintree.    K1USN QSL cards will be available for all contacts with K1USN. Send # 10 SASE to K1RV or DX stations QSL via bureau. QSL via K1RV URL: http://www.k1usn.com Contact: Pi, K1RV Email: k1rv@arrl.net “Please drop …

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Operating

15-meter QRP FT8 Activity Night, Westford Vicinity

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Greg Troxel, N1DAM, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: Without any claim to authority, I’m declaring QRP 15m FT8 activity night tonight (October 21, 2019), from 2000 to 2100 local. I have worked a bunch of stations, including DX, but am puzzled at the relationship of sent to received signal strengths — I receive usually 20 dB worse reports than I send.  So I am guessing that if a few of us are on, with a closed band, and all with the same TX power, perhaps I can understand better.  And perhaps others can shake out their equipment. …

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Operating / Youth

Harvard Wireless Club to Participate in the ARRL School Roundup, October 21-25, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Allen Liu writes on the Harvard Wireless Club mailing list: As we mentioned in our previous meeting, we’re going to be participating in the ARRL school club roundup next week. For all you new technicians, you can operate on the global frequencies with one of us General or Extra licensees present, so you can get on the air at our next meeting Tuesday October 22 at 7:30 PM. Contesting is very cool and in this one everyone around the country will want to talk to us as a school club.  We should also have the promised radios ready for you …

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Operating / Youth

Several Eastern MA Stations QRV for JOTA, October 18-20, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Several Eastern MA individuals/groups have registered to operate in the Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) festivities October 18-20, 2019: Mark Hofstra, KA1YQC, will conduct operations on behalf of the Mayflower Scout Council from Franklin for the full weekend. The Spirit of Adventure Council will be represented using Ryan Bardsley’s call sign, KC1EIL, from Manchester-by-the-Sea from October 18-20. Don Burke, KB1LXH, will activate KC1TAC on behalf of the Narragansett Council from Camp Norse in Kingston on Saturday, October 19, only. We wish the best of luck to these groups (and others who might not have registered)!

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating / Youth

Northeastern Wireless Club to Participate in ARRL School Roundup, October 21-25, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

    “The Northeastern University Wireless Club will be participating in the ARRL School Club Roundup next week. Come by the club space anytime next week to see us make contacts with other amateur radio school organizations around the world! Even if you don’t have a license, you can still participate under the supervision of one of our licensed members.” -via NEU mailing list

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Operating

Littleton Fox QRV, October 1, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

John Salmi, KB1MGI, writes on the foxhunting list at 1:30 PM on October 1, 2019:   I just placed a Fox out on 2 Meter on 146.565. Press DTMF tone two to activate.   I’ll leave it out for a week.   See attached link for a map    Easy find. Not far from Parking area.   John KB1MGI   https://littletonconservationtrust.org/tws_holding/nagog-hill-orchard/

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Operating

Two Foxes in Westford, September 22, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

John Salmi, KB1MGI, writes on the foxhunting list at 10:10 AM on September 22, 2019: I placed out two fox boxes this morning. One is the 2 meter 146.565 DTMF tone 2 to activate. The second one is a 70 cm 432.300 DTMF tone 2 to activate.   Both foxes are hidden in Westford at the Mass Audubon [Nashoba Brook Wildlife Sanctuary] off Rt 225 near Powers Road.    I don’t know how long the batteries will last; maybe a few days.  

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Operating

W1HFN Fox is Active in Littleton, September 21, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Barry Fox, W1HFN, writes on the foxhunting list on September 21, 2019 at 12:47 PM: Located in the conservation land off Hartwell Avenue in Littleton, MA.  Frequency of 146.565 with a 30-second voice every minute, runs continuously, no need for a tone. You will not hear it in the parking area as I have modified the antenna (actually a 52 ohm resistor) and the signal is really weak until you get quite close, more of a challenge this way? I forgot the log, so if you find it either take a picture or describe the location. Happy hunting! 73, Barry …

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Operating

FP/KV1J QRV from Miquelon, IOTA NA-032, September 24-October 8, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From the Algonquin ARC list and ARRL DX  Bulletin 037:   ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON, FP–Eric Wiliams, KV1J, will be QRV as FP/KV1J from Miquelon, IOTA NA-032, from Tuesday September 24 to Tuesday October 8.  Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8 with some CW.  This includes some activity on the analog satellites, as well as being an entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide RTTY DX contest.  QSL to home call.  

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Operating

Newton-Wellesley Area D-STAR Net Begins

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Frank Ventura, N1FMV, writes on Wellesley ARS, Middlesex ARC lists: […] We have received permission to hold a once weekly net on a DSTAR reflector. We would like to invite anyone who has access to  DSTAR equipment to join us every Monday night at 8 PM Eastern on the REF038C reflector. This will be a very informal net and no specific time limit or topic shall be enforced. Thanks, for reading and hope to hear from all who are interested.

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Operating

K1SIG, Unlimited Rover, in ARRL VHF Contest, September 14-16, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Sean Waite, WA1TE writes on the YCCC mailing list: Alright…no minute like last minute. Chris KG6CIH and I have finally decided what our route for the contest is going to be. Saturday: FN34wa – Bradford Information Center FN33xi – Sunapee High Point FN43fb – Quincy Mountain Sunday: FN42fg – Westborough Water Tower (we may pick another FN42 site, depends on where we end up Saturday night) FN41cu – Apple orchard/cell site FN31tx – Soapstone Mountain FN32ou – Hogback Mountain Times for this will be fuzzy. Maybe 2 hours at each site, maybe longer on Sunday sites as we have more …

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Volunteers Needed: Buzzards Bay Du/Triathlon – Sunday, September 15th

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Matt Brennan-NM1B writes: Hi Folks, I’m looking for about fifteen hams to provide communications assistance for the Buzzard’s Bay Triathlon in Westport on Sunday, September 15th. It occurs from 9AM (hams will meet at 8AM) until about 1PM (some assignments should secure by noon). It will be held in Horseneck Beach State Park and includes a swim, bike and run that travels through the town of Westport. There is also a duathlon option. More info online: www.maxperformanceonline.com. It is a very scenic area. Please send a note to events@wect.org if you’re able to help. This is well outside WECT’s normal …

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Licensing Education & Training / Operating

Boxboro Fox

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

John Salmi, KB1MGI, writes on the foxhunting list on September 6, 2019 at 2:01 PM: To all fox hunters and others: I hope to see you all at the Northeast HamXposition @ Boxboro Saturday morning at 9am for my Fox Hunting Talk. And my RF Fingerprinting talk at 10 am. Great fox hunting tips and stories about fox hunting adventures. I thinking of holding off on placing out the Fox Box due to weather. John KB1MGI

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Operating

Westford Foxes on the Loose, September 1, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the foxhunting list on September 1, 2019 at 11:24 AM: The KB1OIQ 2m and 80m foxes have been deployed.  I will leave them out until Tuesday evening around 6 PM.  I’m 99% certain the 2m battery will last.  The lifetime of the 80m battery has been improved but only experimentation will  show me how long it will last. The 2m fox frequency is 146.565 MHz. The 80m fox frequency is the TV color burst frequency:  3.5795 MHz. Subtract 1 character from this encoded message to get the clue as to where the foxes are hidden. …

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