SEMARA Contest College, September 9, 2018

a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
Operating, on-the-air events and activities, contests, DXing
An article by Sumner Weisman, W1VIV, of Framingham, appears in the June, 2018 CQ Magazine entitled, “Wireless Ham Radio for the Hearing Impaired.”
“I am pretty hard of hearing, where one ear is completely gone and the other is about half gone,” writes Sumner. “I use a hearing aid in my ‘good’ ear. I like to do a few contests each year, and the earphones blasting into my hearing aid really abused my hearing.”
Sumner’s article tells how to use Bluetooth to stream the audio from your ham transceiver directly into your hearing aid, for very clear and pleasurable radio reception.
Dennis Egan, W1UE, Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Rich Assarabowski, K1CC, represented the Yankee Clipper Contest Club at the 2018 LRMD (Lithuania) Hamfest held on July 27-29, 2018.
The event was held in Miego Klinika, a rural resort on a small lake in the middle of a forest in the northern part of Lithuania. Dennis, Fred, and Rich traveled to LY-land following the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship in Germany. (See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2018/07/06/yccc-well-represented-at-wrtc2018-july-12-16-2018/)
“The tradition of summer radio amateur meetings in Lithuania goes back to 1989. This was at the end of the Soviet occupation, when the country was a republic in the Soviet Union. This year, Lithuania is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence right after the First World War. This was a turning point for many European nations. It looks like the Lithuanian Amateur Radio is going through a very active and successful period right now.”
For the complete story, visit https://dxnews.com/lithuanian-hamfest-2018/.
The Titanic Marconi Memorial Radio Association Of Cape Cod (W1MGY) plans to operate from the Stage Harbor Light in Chatham during National Lighthouse Day on August 7, 2018, according to the club’s QRZ page. “[Stage Harbor Light is] privately owned … we have received permission to operate from.”
International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, ILLW began in 1998 as the Scottish Northern Lights Award sponsored by the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. ILLW is a popular Amateur Radio event that takes place on the third full weekend in August each year. It attracts over 500 lighthouse entries in over 40 countries.
The Nashoba Valley ARC participated in a Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSci) experiment with the Canadian CAScade, Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) spacecraft over Field Day weekend.
Courtesy the HamSci web site:
“’We’re really happy with our results this year’ remarked Dr. Gareth Perry, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary, CASSIOPE’s home institution. ‘The Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) recorded plenty of chatter between Field Day participants, especially during our passes over the eastern and central United States on the evening of the 23rd’.
“Members of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) group coordinated with the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club (NVARC, N1NC) and the Hoosier DX And Contest Club (N9NS) and the Indianapolis Radio Club to ‘direct traffic’ – asking their members to stick to pre-selected frequencies during the passes, and to record their transmitting logs.”
The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation project is a platform for the publicity and promotion of projects that:
Eric Williams, KV1J, writes on the Algonquin ARC mailing list:
The Algonquin Club will be holding a QSL card sorting session on Thursday August 9th, 7:30 PM at the Marlborough Fire Station. We will be in the classroom/EOC where we hold Field Day.
The Bureau receives QSL cards from DXers all over the world, sort them and then send them to the New England area hams. We processed about 100,000 QSL cards each year. To do this, we are grateful for the team of over 40 volunteers and several area clubs that help make this happen. Our Algonquin club is one of the clubs that helps with the presorting step in our process.
Our part is easy and fun. You get to see QSL cards from all around the globe. Maybe catch a card that is for you! We will have boxes of cards from the country national organizations that are for W1 call area hams. For our session we will have about 13,000 cards. Our mission is to sort those cards into stacks for each first letter of the call sign suffix. So there will be a stack for all the call signs the a suffix the starts with A and one for those starting with B and so forth. It goes quick especially with lots of people doing it on several separate tables.
When we are done, those stacks will be sent to our individual letter sorters who will then sort them by the individual recipient hams.
Our web site is – www.w1qsl.org If you want to see the details of our processes – http://www.w1qsl.org/qslsort/docs.htm
Thank you and hope to see you next month.
73,
Eric, KV1J
W1 QSL Bureau Co-Manager
The Shea Naval Air Museum Amateur Radio Club (W1NAS) will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the flight of the blimp Snow Goose with a special event operation on Saturday, August 18, 2018, from 0900-1500 EDT. They will operate on 14.250 and 7.250, but may change depending on band conditions. The Snow Goose flew from NAS South Weymouth to Resolute Bay while the submarine USS Nautilus cruised under the polar ice cap.
The Shea Naval Aviation Museum was formed by veterans who were stationed at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station. The Shea Naval Aviation Museum Amateur Radio Club was born of out joint participation between the Museum and the K1USN Radio Club. Its first club license was obtained in March, 2015, and the current call, W1NAS, was assigned on April 10, 2015. The call sign “represents the use of the facility for more than 55 years as a U.S. Naval Air Station, first as a blimp base, and later as the home of numerous fixed-wing and rotary-wing squadrons.”
[See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2017/08/20/snow-goose-special-event-operation-so-weymouth-august-20-2017/]Nick, KC1DKY writes on the fox hunters list:
I’ve put the KC1DKY fox out on conservation land in the town of Wilmington.
Fox frequency is 146.565MHz. Send a DTMF tone of 2 for a second to activate the fox. It will cycle through 30 seconds of tones and 30 seconds of silence for 10 minutes. The fox will need to reactivated after that time. Sign the book if you find it. Email me, or find me on the repeaters if you need help.
****SPOILER ALERT****
Reverse the letters for the street name of the trail head
evird htapwot
It’s hidden about a tenth of a mile from the road and it’s about
25feet from the trail.
Good luck!
Nick
KC1DKY
Barry Fox, W1HFN writes on the foxhunting listserv:
https://littletonconservationtrust.org/tws_holding/conant-park/
If all goes well, it will be in place before noon tomorrow, Thursday and stay until Monday 22 Jul.
Good luck to all!
Barry – W1HFN
John Salmi, KB1MGI writes on the Fox Hunters list on July 8 at 10:20 AM ET:
Andy, KB1OIQ has placed his 80-meter fox out in North Chelmsford at crooked Spring Conservation land.
Andy, KB1OIQ adds:
Frequency: 3579.5 khz (give or take)
It is on a 12 hour cycle. I deployed it around 8:45 AM. It should transmit for 12 hours, then stay silent for 12 hours, and repeat until the battery discharges.
I plan to retrieve it on Monday after work. I hope it is still transmitting at that time.
I’m still fiddling with the circuitry to extend the battery life.
Nickolas Mollo, KC1DKY writes on the Fox Hunters list on July 7, 2018 at 3:54 PM:
Attention Fox Hunters,
The KC1DKY fox is on the loose on Wilmington conservation land. Frequency is 146.565 MHz with a DTMF of 2 for a second or so. Sign the note pad if you find it. If you have trouble send me an e-mail.
73,
Nick, KC1DKY
****SPOILER ALERT****
The fox is located off of (respell backwards)
daor drahcnalb
It is not on the trail leading from the cul-de-sac but further back in the area
as there are too many houses right there.
You’ll have to chose left or right, but the arrow will only point right.
The fox is only about 20ft from the trail.
Dennis Egan, W1UE writes on the Yankee Clipper Contest Club mailing list:
YCCC will be well represented at WRTC2018. Members participating:
Competitors
K1LZ
VY2ZM
K1DG
WA1Z
Referees
W1UE
K1CC
K1RX
N2GA
W1VE
W6PH
Judging Committee
K5ZD
Hospitality
K1VR
Spectators:
K1ZZ
KA1ZD
NJ1F
W1UJ
N1WK
NB1U
K6ND
K6NDV
K3JO
K2LE
W1EBI
KM3T
K1RQ
That makes 25 total. Did I miss any one else?
<…>
Dennis W1UE
YCCC President
The Whitman Amateur Radio Club will sponsor a ham radio exhibit and special events station at the 151st Annual Marshfield Fair August 17-26, 2018 from 1600Z-0059Z. The club will operate under the call sign NN1MF on the following frequencies/bands: 18.160, 14.260, 7.260, and 3.860 MHz. The station will also be active on EchoLink via the WA1NPO-R, and IRLP: 8691. Contacts will be acknowledged with a certificate and QSL at: Whitman ARC, PO Box 48, Whitman, MA 02382.
The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association plans to sponsor a Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) event in the fall. This is the largest scouting event in the world and is held annually on the third full weekend in October. JOTA uses amateur radio to link scouts and hams around the world, around the nation, and in local communities.
The club plans to set up at the Falmouth Recreation Center “probably in the large room with a lot of windows.” Interested club members should contact Glen, KC1GKT at glen.dowden@gmail.com. More information to follow.
Nick Mollo, KC1DKY writes on the Fox Hunters mailing list at 6:54 PM ET on June 27, 2018:
Attention Fox Hunters!
The KC1DKY FOX is out and about in Wilmington on town conservation land. Set your transceiver to 146.565 MHz, press your PTT, give a DTMF of 2, and if you are close enough, you’ll hear it beep back at you. Don’t forget to ID with your call sign when you attempt to activate it.
If you are new to fox hunting, there are several websites with good info, that include:
http://www.homingin.com/
http://www.w0qe.com/
I use my Baofeng with no antenna when I’m close enough and I go off frequency. You gotta know your equipment.
SPOILER ALERT! The location for anyone stuck (backwards)
daor llim – setatse eilyk
73!
Nick
KC1DKY
A Scituate ham is playing a key role in the upcoming KH1/KH7Z Baker Island DXpedition.
“Don Mikes, AA1V, who is the pilot for the upcoming Baker Island DXpedition KH1/KH7Z team wants to let everyone know that he is in daily satellite phone communication with them as they sail/motor to Baker Island from Fiji.
“They cast off 24 hours ago and are experiencing good sailing conditions. Be sure to check their website for the latest updates and to also track their progress via GPS – https://share.garmin.com/K6TD”
–Courtesy “Pi” Pugh, K1RV, from the K1USN Radio Club mailing list
..The following is the second in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 15 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program..
..After quiet weather on Friday, unsettled weather is likely during Amateur Radio Field Day weekend. It will not be a complete washout but there will be the threat of widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms with heavier rainfall and urban and the potential of urban and poor drainage flooding as well as an attendant lightning risk Saturday into Saturday Night. As we move into Sunday…
Hello to all..
..The following is the first in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 15 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program..
..2018 Field Day weekend has quiet weather for Friday but looks unsettled with the potential for rain and possibly heavier rain and can’t rule out an isolated thunderstorm along with cooler temperatures on Saturday and then the potential of isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms with strong to damaging winds, hail, frequent lightning and heavy rainfall on Sunday Afternoon/Evening potentially when Amateur Radio Field Day sites are breaking down stations and wrapping up for this year’s event. Weekend weather will be monitored closely..
..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 also noted that several states have given proclamations to Amateur Radio/Ham Radio Operators for either an ‘Amateur Radio Day or Amateur Radio Week’ during the month of June or an ‘Amateur Radio Month’ for this month. It is both a fun/preparatory event for Ham Radio Operators for Emergency Communications scenarios..
..SKYWARN Activation on Saturday appears unlikely but will need to monitor for any potential for thunderstorms and attendant lightning risk and heavier rainfall. SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Boston/Norton are possible Sunday Afternoon/Evening for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorm potential..
There are a large number of Amateur Radio Field Day sites across the NWS Boston/Norton Coverage Area and adjacent NWS Coverage Areas. Here are some links to information on these Amateur Radio Field Day Sites from across the region:
Amateur Radio Field Day Information: http://www.arrl.org/field-day
Amateur Radio Field Day National Locator: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Home Page: http://fd.ema.arrl.org/
The commonwealth of Massachusetts has declared this week to be Amateur Radio Week and Governor Baker has proclaimed Sunday June 24th, 2018 Amateur Radio Day in honor of the ARRL Field Day event. The details can be seen at the following links:
NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/
NWS Boston/Norton Experimental Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/box/
Amateur Radio Field Day sites are still encouraged to bring a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio, monitor various cell phone weather apps where Amateur Operators may have those available and have a dedicated Ham Radio that can monitor their local SKYWARN Frequency for their area as a best safety and preparedness practice. Also sites that have mobile Internet capability can utilize that capability as a way to monitor for weather information. With Mobile Internet capability, utilizing Echolink to monitor the New England Reflector system on Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG3* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123 would be helpful as well. Please see the link below for the latest SKYWARN Frequency information for the region:
http://www.wx1box.org/node/37
The next Amateur Radio Field Day coordination message will be posted by 1000 PM Friday Evening.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant 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
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