a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
Operating, on-the-air events and activities, contests, DXing
This weekend, Newton, Massachusetts native Marty Sullaway, NN1C, will be among the young voices heard from the K3LR Superstation, an 11-acre antenna farm of 13 towers in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, owned by Tim Duffy, K3LR. Duffy reports that “Team Exuberance” members will operate from the station in the two-transmitter, multioperator (M2) category for the CQ World Wide WPX Contest (phone), March 30-31, 2019. [Details]
Scott Ehrlich, WY1Z, writes on the Waltham ARA mailing list:
Roger Coulson, WA1NVC, writes on the NEWSVHF list:
Please spread the word as we try to promote SSB activity on the VHF bands. Maybe some of the NEWS group members would like to join us for an old fashioned activity night.
Kim, WA1PBU, in Bolton MA and myself, WA1NVC, in Framingham MA are promoting the old activity nights: Monday – 2m, Tuesday – 1-1/4m, Wednesday – 70cm, Thursday – 33 cm, etc. I have been promoting repeater activity on “220 Tuesday” and “900 Thursday”. Now we are promoting SSB activity on Monday – 2m, and on Wednesday – 70 cm. Our schedule is as follows:
Monday 8 PM local time 144.195 USB
Wednesday 8 PM local time 432.100 USB
WA1PBU is at a much higher location and has much better coverage than I do. I am on the northeast side of a hill with poor coverage towards CT. I have good coverage east of I-495 and to the North, Northeast, and Southeast. Kim can reach easily into CT where I cannot.
We have had as many as 7 people on a Monday activity night. We have not been so luck on Wednesday activity night.
There are lots of people with multimode rigs so lets get them on the air. We have worked people on 2m SSB using a rig connected to a 6m vertical, an attic loop, a UHF mobile antenna, etc. Blow off the dust and give it a try.
Roger
WA1NVC
P.S. The equipment here is a Yaesu FT-736R, a Mirage B3016 amp, and a Cushcraft 215WB antenna at about 35′.
The WCC Amateur Radio Association (WA1WCC) will be QRV for Maritime Radio Day, from 1200 UTC April 14 to 2200 UTC April 15. According to the club’s web site, “multiple ex-WCC and USCG radio operators will be on the air at WCC.”
Bill Kretschmer, N2KNL, writes on Facebook:
Hello fellow KM1CC friends:
We are seven weeks away from the next Marconi radio event celebrating Guglielmo Marconi’s birthday, April 25, 1874. The event will be held at the Cape Cod National Seashore, Coast Guard Station, Eastham, on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Visiting hours are 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Operating hours are Sat. 0000 UTC thru 2359 UTC. (8:00 PM Friday until 8:00 PM Saturday).
Proposed Operating Frequencies are.
80M …3.660-3.860 SSB / 3.535 CW
40M …7.130-7.260 SSB / 7.035 CW
30M …10.110 CW
20M …14.260 SSB / 14.035 CW
17M …18.160 SSB / 18.080 CW
15M …21.360 SSB / 21.035 CW
DMR …2 Meter Digital FM 4FSK , ID: 3125281
… and maybe FT8.
There will be an Extra class-licensed operator present for the entire on-air event. Most or all SSB contacts will be in the General class portions of the HF bands.
All are welcome to attend.
73, Bill Kretschmer, N2KNL
KM1CC Trustee
Brian Gudzevich, WO1VES, writes on the Cape Ann ARA mailing list:
Uncommon Service to Nautical Radio will host a special event operation W1BSA aboard the USS Massachusetts in Fall River, on Apr 27, 2019 from 1000-1600 ET. Look for W1BSA on 14.259 and 7.259.
“The Scouts stay overnight on the ship Friday and on Saturday nights,” writes Rick Emord, KB1TEE. “We have been doing this event since 2015 and have tried to showcase Amateur Radio.” Rick adds, “we have put some of the Scouts on the air and we look forward to seeing them and other visitors to Battleship Cove.”
Stations may QSL via USTNR c/o Rick Emord, 135 Wareham St., Middleboro, MA 02346.
Newton teen Marty Sullaway, NN1C, was featured in the March 1, 2019 Amateur Radio Newsline broadcast in a segment entitled, “YOUNG CONTESTERS OF TEAM EXUBERANCE LIVE UP TO THEIR NAME.” He’s interviewed by the anchor about a group of youths working together as a multi-operator contest team for CQ WPX later this month.
Marty was also mentioned for the lead-in to the next story announcing nominations for the 2019 
Young Ham Of The Year Award:
NEIL/ANCHOR: A team of young hams is being assembled for the CQ Worldwide WPX contest March 30th and 31st. Co-leader Marty Sullaway, NN1C tells how it all started.
MARTY: The idea for this project came from Violetta, KM4ATT. Violetta was the one who approached Tim Duffy, K3LR, the owner of the K3LR superstation, to make this a go. She was inspired by her operations from PJ2T as part of the Dave Kalter Youth DX project, and wanted to continue her operating career.
NEIL: Planning is a major undertaking, but the team is fulfilling that role as well.
MARTY: Part of multi operator contesting is working together as a team to build the contest plan, as well as figuring out all the logistics for the actual contest operation. So as a youth team, we are internally handling all the logistics regarding flights, hotels, meals, contest scheduling, operator scheduing, station information and handbooks; and really making this a comprehensive effort. We are taking this extremely seriously, and we hope our diligent planning will pay off, all of this being handled by fantastic youth. So we’re really looking forward to that.
NEIL: Marty also talked to me about the goals of this event.
MARTY: We really view this as an excellent opportunity to get youth involved in amateur radio contesting, youth that already know how to contest get more experience, work together as a team, have fun (because we do this to have fun, right?), and gain skill. So this is an activity in skill building, team building, networking, having a lot of fun on the radio contesting… Hopefully this is the start of some bigger work to engage youth in contests in North America.
NEIL: To provide funding for some of the young hams to get to the K3LR superstation, a GoFundMe page has been set up. You can find it at TeamExuberance.org.
** IN SEARCH OF NOMINATIONS FOR THIS YEAR’S YHOTY AWARD
NEIL: Youthful exuberance is, in fact, one of the core criteria we look for in candidates for Young Ham of the Year. We just heard from Marty Sullaway NN1C who was Amateur Radio Newsline’s Young Ham of the Year for 2017. Last year’s winner was Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO, of Montgomery, Alabama. We have opened up the nomination period once again and are in search of candidates who, like Marty and Bryant, have offered the amateur community the best of their talents. All information is available on our website, arnewsline.org, under the YHOTY tab. You’ll be able to download a nomination form which is due back to us before midnight on May 31st.
The official 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship documentary is now available for viewing online at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwf-2f0cbjk&t=807s>. It is narrated in German and contains English captions. You’ll want to download this and show at a future club meeting.
“Many thanks to DM6WAN and his team for producing this beautiful piece of documentation of an unforgettable event,” writes WRTC 2018 President Chrisian Janen, DL1MGB.
Hello Everyone,
Net Control for the March 2,2019 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH, The South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club . The net will commence at the usual time of 10:AM using the following repeaters in the order listed.
1. Attleboro 147.195 Mhz tone 127.3
2. Boston 145.230 Mhz tone encode 88.5 decode 100.0
3. Plymouth 146.685 Mhz tone 131.8
4. Simplex 147.42 Mhz
The Net will then return to the Attleboro 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 procedure which is: Here is.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.
We extend an invitation to any health care facility or EOC of any city or town that is served by one of the participating hospitals to join the Net. We also extend an invitation to any RACES or ARES member to check in during the NET.
Any hospital wishing to join the net that needs assistance with equipment or personnel should contact us at ssharc@gmail.com. We can assist you with getting your location on the air.
We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested please let us know. Our goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many groups as possible.
We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct the monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. The following list of repeaters are available for our use. Only a few systems are used each month with the selection of those used made by Net Control for that month. More systems are being added to the list on a regular basis.
REMINDER: The BARC Repeater is now using split tone. Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Repeaters
Attleboro 147.195 tone 127.3 (Sturdy Memorial Hospital)
Belmont 145.430 tone 146.2
Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Danvers 145.47 tone 136.5
Dartmouth 147.000 tone 67.0
Fall River 146.805. tone 67.0
Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9
Mansfield EMA 446.925 tone 100.0
Mansfield 147.015 tone 67.0
Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0
Norwood 147.210 tone 100.00
Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8
Salem 146.88 tone 118.8
Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
Weymouth 147.345 tone 110.9 (South Shore Hospital)
W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244
Wrentham 147.09 tone 146.2
We look forward to hearing you all on the Net.
Respectfully,
John O’
K1JRO
—
South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190
Several Yankee Clipper Contest Club members plan to operate from DX locations in the upcoming ARRL DX CW Contest February 16-17.
YCCC president Dennis Egan, W1UE, of Marlborough, writes he will be on Roatan Island (off the coast of Honduras). “If you need HR on any bands, let me know. I’ll also be doing some 60-meter operation, SSB only on the same frequency slots as the USA. For the contest, I’ll either be W1UE/HR9 or HQ9X. Haven’t got the authorization for the special call yet.” Dennis adds he’ll also be on Roatan for the CQWW 160M SSB contest the following weekend.
Brian Machesney, K1LI, Vermont, is traveling to J75Y in Dominica. He hopes to be on from the DARCI club station for both CW and phone, low power.
Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, Coventry, Connecticut, will be QRV from 4U1ITU in Geneva (a separate DXCC entity). “It’s not exactly a DXpedition, but because I will be in Geneva for an ITU meeting February 18-28. I am going a couple of days early to put 4U1ITU on for CW.” Dave adds he will have to QRT early Sunday “but there will probably be a couple of other operators as well.”
Kurt Pauer, W6PH, of Amherst, New Hampshire, will be VP9/W6PH (Bermuda) for the contest. Kurt says it will be his 20th consecutive year there.
Paul Young, K1XM, Hudson, MA, will operate remote as VY1AAA giving out the rare Yukon Territory multiplier. “It is not a DXpedition because I’m not going anywhere,” Paul adds.
Bill Barber, NE1B, Hudson, New Hampshire, writes, “C6ANM (Bahamas) may be on for ARRL CW and CQ 160 SSB, depending on antenna build challenges.” He adds the station will be on “definitely for ARRL DX SSB with NE1B, N1GN, K1EP and K1VK.”
UPDATES:
February 5, 2019: Gerry Hull, W1VE, Hancock, NH, will be part of a multi-multi operation from P40E (Aruba) along with K2LE, K9RS, N3RD, and AA5B. “Please work us on six bands. We will be watching 10 carefully, with a dedicated SDR watching the band.”
February 14, 2019: Dennis, W1UE, confirms he will operating as HQ9X for the ARRL DX CW contest.
Joe Vanat, Jr., K1VMT, writes on the YCCC reflector:
The 61st Vermont QSO Party will take place during the first full weekend of February 2019. It will begin at 0000 UTC Saturday February 2 and will end at 2400 UTC Sunday February 3. Details and rules are at http://www.ranv.org/vtqso.html .
To my knowledge, all counties will be active. I’m told there will be rovers in northern counties on Saturday. Also, an Essex County operator might be on 6- and 2 meters if rotors turn. It’s only -11F this morning, hi.
FT8 operators will be on. (Check for the special rules that apply.)
I will operate mostly CW and RTTY, even PSK31 (when on lunch break) and some SSB from Lamoille County.
Hope to work you all.
The WCC Amateur Radio Association (WA1WCC) in Chatham will celebrate the centennial of the Radio Corporation of America throughout 2019. According to the organization’s web site, RCA was incorporated on October 17, 1919.
“In November 1919, RCA acquired the assets of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, which then ceased doing business in the US. At the outset, RCA consisted of only five radio stations, in various stages of completion, and Chatham was one of them. Chatham would later become RCA’s flagship coastal station WCC, known as “Marine Radio Central”.
WA1WCC is commemorating the founding of RCA in a year-long celebration. Watch for WA1WCC/100RCA on the bands during 2019. Participants can request the RCA Special Event Certificate.
For additional information, visit https://www.qrz.com/db/wa1wcc.
Quannapowitt Radio Association members Bob Reiser, AA1M, and Mike Rioux, W1USN, will be making their annual mini-dxpedition this year to Costa Rica. Their trip begins on February 2; they return home on the 13th. Bob and Mike expect to use all HF bands on SSB, CW and digital with “some trials on the AMSAT satellites.” Last year, the two discovered they could operate simultaneously using FT8 because the timing for transmit and receive are the same.
AA1M and W1USN will be on the lookout for calls from QRA members. They indicate skeds can be arranged via email while they are in TI-land.
—Thanks, QRA Newsletter, January 2019
Well known contester Tim Duffy, K3LR, will present Contest University via Skype at the Minuteman Repeater Association meeting on January 16 at 7 PM. The meeting will be held at New England Sci-Tech, 16 Tech Circle, Natick.
Duffy is a well know contester and the owner of the multi-multi contest superstation K3LR. He will discuss the following topics, followed by a Q&A session:
The workshop is intended for hams who are new at contesting or want to improve their skills.
Bill Kretschmer, N2KNL, writes:
On January 18, 1903, young inventor Guglielmo Marconi made communication history by sending the first public transatlantic wireless message from his station on the South Wellfleet bluffs to Poldhu, Great Britain. The KM1CC Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club operators will talk to hams around the world on January 18-19, 2019 beginning at 1000 Eastern Time (1500 GMT). Instead of operating at the Coast Guard Station in Eastham this month, we will operate from Russ Apgar’s home, K1RTA, in Wellfleet, MA, at 285 Old Wharf Road off U.S. Route 6 across the street from the original Marconi Site. Grid Square FN51av. Operators are welcome to attend. Here are the operating frequencies and modes:
80M 3.660-3.860 SSB / 3.535 CW
40M 7.130-7.260 SSB / 7.035 CW
30M 10.110 CW
20M 14.260 SSB / 14.035 CW
17M 18.160 SSB / 18.080 CW
15M 21.360 SSB / 21.035 CW
UPDATE:
“Due to our usual operating site in Cape Cod National Seashore being closed as a result of the current federal government shutdown, KM1CC will operate from multiple home operator locations. SSB operations will still be from an amateur station located in grid square FN51 (a Wellfleet location close to original Marconi station site). CW operations will be from amateur radio stations in FN42.
When: Jan 18 1500-UTC through Jan 19, 2100 UTC
<…>
QSL card requests- best to use LoTW Log Book of the World. Please do not direct mail QSL card requests to KM1CC until after the US Federal Government – DEPT OF THE INTERIOR shutdown ends as Cape Cod National Seashore is closed until the shutdown ends.
See also: “Marconi: Beyond the Horizon“
See also: “Winter Field Day Association“
Good Morning Everyone,
Net Control for the January 5, 2019 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters in the order listed.
1. Plymouth 146.685 Tone 131.8
2. Boston 145.230 Tone Encode 88.5 Tone Decode 100.0
3. Norwood 147.210 Tone 100.0
4. Simplex 147.42
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 procedure which is: Here is.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.
We extend an invitation to any health care facility or EOC of any city or town that is served by one of the participating hospitals to join the Net. We also extend an invitation to any RACES or ARES member to check in during the NET.
Any hospital wishing to join the net that needs assistance with equipment or personnel should contact us at ssharc@gmail.com. We can assist you with getting your location on the air.
We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested please let us know. Our goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many groups as possible.
We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct the monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. The following list of repeaters are available for our use. Only a few systems are used each month with the selection of those used made by Net Control for that month. More systems are being added to the list on a regular basis.
REMINDER: The BARC Repeater is now using split tone. Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Repeaters
Attleboro 147.195 tone 127.3 (Sturdy Memorial Hospital)
Belmont 145.430 tone 146.2
Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0
Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Danvers 145.47 tone 136.5
Dartmouth 147.000 tone 67.0
Fall River 146.805. tone 67.0
Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9
Mansfield EMA 446.925 tone 100.0
Mansfield 147.015 tone 67.0
Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0
Norwood 147.210 tone 100.00
Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8
Salem 146.88 tone 118.8
Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
Weymouth 147.345 tone 110.9 (South Shore Hospital)
W. Bridgewater 146.775 DCS 244
Wrentham 147.09 tone 146.2
We look forward to hearing you all on the Net.
Respectfully,
John Barbuto
KS1Q
—
—
South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190
According to YCCC member Jack Schuster, W1WEF, the Yankee Clipper Contest Club achieved first place among US Club scoring in the CQ WPX CW. “We had 92 entries and 166 million points versus the number 2 Potomac Valley Radio Club with 143 entries and 144 million points.” Kudos to YCCC members for their achievement.
From the ARRL Letter, December 20, 2018:
As he’s done in years past, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, of Forest, Virginia, will commemorate what may have been the first radio broadcast [from Brant Rock, Massachusetts] to include speech and music by experimenter Reginald Fessenden on Christmas Eve 1906. Justin will fire up his vintage-style transmitter operating on 486 kHz under Experimental license WI2XLQ to mark the 112th anniversary of Fessenden’s accomplishment. Justin will begin his transmission on December 24 at 1700 UTC and continue until December 26 at 1659 UTC. [Full story]
See also: Fessenden’s Christmas Eve Broadcast