Operating

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

Affiliated Clubs / Operating

PART Winter Field Day Wrap-up

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Brian McCaffrey, W1BP, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: Thank you to everyone that helped make our Winter Field Day a success. Alan’s sign-in log indicates 12 attendees. On Friday, George and Alan helped get Bob’s 80m OCF antenna and tent up. On Saturday, Niece, Alan and George helped get the station running. Bob, W1FDR spent at least 4 hours at the mic getting phone QSOs over the two days. Andy and John worked CW in the evening. Alan and John did an awesome job serving as WSC attendants to fulfill our obligation to have a WSC member …

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Cape Cod ARES Ice Show Exercise on 1/25/20 Successful – Several Off Cape Stations Also Participated

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Frank-O’laughlin-WQ1O, Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator writes: Cape Cod and Islands ARES conducted its annual winter field exercise on Saturday Jan 25th. We had 3 field teams, several EOCs, Falmouth Hospital, and many other stations We used 2m VHF, 6m, UHF, and 40/75m HF. It was a good outing with several new members participating. Rob Macedo-KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, writes: This was a great exercise executed by Cape Cod ARES yesterday, Saturday 1/25/20. A number of off Cape stations also participated. Some reports on the exercise have also been received and a sampling is listed below: …

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Operating

KM1CC to Commemorate Marconi’s First Transatlantic Wireless Transmission

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The Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club will conduct a special events operation on January 18-19, 2020, to commemorate Guglielmo Marconi’s First Wireless Transmission from the United States to the United Kingdom.    KM1CC will operate voice on the 80, 40, and 20-meter amateur bands from a KM1CC member’s QTH near the original Marconi transmitting site in Wellfleet, grid square FN51av. Additionally, they will operate a second station at the National Park Service grounds in Wellfleet. A VHF/UHF mobile trailer station will operate 6 meters, 2 meters, 70 cm and possibly, 220 MHz with CW, FT8 and some SSB modes. All …

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating

PART of Westford Winter Field Day, January 25-26, 2020

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Brian McCaffrey, W1BP, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: Winter Field Day is here! WFD will be held at the Westford Sportsmen’s Club on starting at 2 PM on 25 January and running until 2 PM on Sunday, 26 January. We will begin setup on Friday, 24 January. We will be operating one station outdoors in a heated tent. We can operate any mode except FT8. It will be operator’s preference the mode and band for the time you operate. We need volunteers to help with the following: – Setup on Friday and Saturday – Operating starting at 2 PM …

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Operating

Winter Field Day Event at Cape Ann ARA

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Tony Sarracino, AB1XK, writes on the CAARA list: [The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association] will host Winter Field day on January 25 and 26, 2020. The event will start at 2 PM ET on Saturday, January 25 and end at 2 PM ET on Sunday, January 26. We encourage all members and their guests to participate. Current plan is to have three transmitters: SSB, PSK31, and CW. More to follow so save the date. [See also: Area Radio Clubs QRV for Winter Field Day, January 25-26, 2020]

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Operating

Area Radio Clubs QRV for Winter Field Day, January 25-26, 2020

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Several area radio clubs have explored plans, or indicated they will participate in the upcoming annual Winter Field Day exercise, January 25-26, 2020.  The New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society  Amateur Radio Society (STARS) will operate in the event on Saturday, January 25, 2020 from 2 PM to 10 PM. “Open to all licensed amateur radio operators worldwide, Winter Field Day is both a contest and a practice exercise of radio skills. There are hardy individuals who brave the snow and cold and get more points. We will stay warm and take a points loss but still have fun! Non-licensed adults …

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Operating

Eastern MA Amateur Completes 630-meter Transatlantic QSO!

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Les Peters, N1SV, writes on the YCCC list: “After failed attempts both Wednesday [1/1/2020] and Thursday night [1/2/2020], I was finally able to work G0MRF in IO91 (5,269 km) last night [1/3/2020] on 474.2 kHz using JT9-2.  JT9 a popular digital mode on 630m t  sub-modes for different time durations (JT9-2 is 2 minute transmissions with a S/N threshold of -30 dB).  “My TX antenna is a 160 meter inverted-L with a 200-350 uh bucket variometer and multi-tap impedance transformer.  The RX antenna is a K9AY loop.  My K3S makes about 0 dBm on 630m but with a K5DNL SS …

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Operating

Straight Key Night: A New Year’s Eve Tradition!

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Andy Wallace, KA1GTT, writes on the Billerica ARS mailing list: Hi everybody! I hope to spend several hours enjoying Straight Key Night starting tonight at 0000Z. It’s a perfect time to get on CW when the speeds are generally slower. If you’re rusty at the key, give it a try anyway! If you’ve never done CW then perhaps download a decoder app for your computer or smartphone and listen in. I believe FLDigi is a good CW decoder and on my iPhone I find Morse-It works well. Android users, suggestions welcome. Please join in the tradition!

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Eastern MA Hospital Net, January 4, 2020

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John Barbuto, KS1Q, writes: Net Control for the January 4, 2020 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH, the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Group. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters / frequencies in the order listed: 1. Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8 2. W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244  3. Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0 4. Simplex 147.42 Mhz The Net will then return to the Plymouth Repeater for final comments and Net closing.  NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check-in …

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Operating

Cape Cod CW Operators Club Operating Event

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    From Falmouth ARA web site: The Cape Cod Chapter of the international CW Operators Club (CW Ops) will be conducting a CW special event during the month of January, 2020.  The chapter will be operating under the call sign KK1CWO.  All CW operators are invited to make contacts with KK1CWO during the month. The operating results will be displayed in real-time on the KK1CWO QRZ web page.    

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Operating / Youth

December “Youth On The Air” Month

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Youth On The Air Month takes place from 0000 UTC on December 1 until 2359 UTC on December 31. Participants earn certificates by working the various YOTA-suffix stations on the air throughout December. Not a contest, the event is aimed at getting as many youngsters on air from as many countries as possible. Stations operated by young radio amateurs around the world will get on the air to celebrate youth in amateur radio. YOTA Month began a few years ago in International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1, and the concept has now taken root in the Americas as YOTA Month in the …

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Operating

Yankee Clipper Contest Club DMR Net, December 18, 2019 and Each Wednesday, 8 PM-9 PM

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NE1B writes on the YCCC Reflector: Reminder: YCCC DMR Net When: Wednesday, 18 December 2019, 8:00pm to 9:00pm, (GMT-05:00) America/New York Where: DMR TG NETAC1 View Event Organizer: ne1b.c6awb@gmail.com Description: YCCCers! Join us every Wednesday evening at 8pm ET for contesting talk on the DMR repeater network. There are several methods to access the Net: By RF Access via 2 meter or 70 cm DMR repeater.  See the list of 91 repeaters near you at http://nedecn.org  The frequencies are in the left menu “DMR Repeaters>New England”.  Use the NETAC1 talk group. By Dongle or Hot Spot You can use openSpot, JumboSpot, ZumSpot, MMDVM By EchoLink …

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Operating / Technical

NOAA/NASA Panel Concurs that Solar Cycle 25 will Peak in July 2025

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From ARRL Web: The NOAA/NASA-co-chaired international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel has released its latest forecast for to forecast Solar Cycle 25. The panel’s consensus calls for a peak in July 2025 (±8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number of 115. The panel agreed that Cycle 25 will be of average intensity and similar to Cycle 24. The panel additionally concurred that the solar minimum between Cycles 24 and 25 will occur in April 2020 (±6 months). If the solar minimum prediction is correct, this would make Solar Cycle 24 the seventh longest on record at 11.4 years. In its preliminary forecast …

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Operating

ARRL Rookie Roundup, December 22, 2019

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ARRL Rookie Roundup <http://www.arrl.org/rookie-roundup>  events are for everyone, and they especially encourage those that are newly licensed or newly active to get on the air in a contest format. It’s aimed at Amateurs licensed for three years or less. This six-hour event is held three times per year (April, August and December). Rookies can contact anybody, while “Old Timers” make contact with only Rookies. Mentoring is a big part of this event! The CW event is December 22. This is a change from its normal weekend, moved so there’s not a conflict with the ARRL 10 Meter contest <http://www.arrl.org/10-meter> .

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Operating / Youth

Next Kids Day is Saturday, January 4, 2020

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From ARRL Web: The first Saturday in January is Kids Day — the time to get youngsters on the air to share in the joy and fun that Amateur Radio can provide. Kids Day gets under way on Saturday, January 4, at 1800 UTC and concludes at 2359 UTC. Sponsored by the Boring (Oregon) Amateur Radio Club, this event has a simple exchange, suitable for younger operators: First name, age, location, and favorite color. After that, the contact can be as long or as short as each participant prefers. Kids Day is the perfect opportunity to open your shack door …

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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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