a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
The Algonquin Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual flea market in Marlborough on February 17, 2007 at the Marlborough Middle School from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. General admission is $5.00; VEC exams begin at 9:00 am. For more information, please contact David “Shack” Haralambou at 508-357-2272 ext 1# before 9 p.m.
The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford is planning a field trip to ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. According to PART president Art “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM, the trip will be organized by Alan Hicks, KD1D. It’s still in the planning stages but Budinger expects the trip will take place sometime later this winter or early spring. “Stay tuned for more information.”
The December, 2006 EMA traffic net and Public Service Honor Roll totals have been posted to http://nts.ema.arrl.org under “Main Menu | STM Monthly Report“.
Robert Reif, W1XP displays his homebrew matching circuit in a bucket for matching a 50-foot PVC vertical antenna (also homebrew) for 40, 80, and 160 meters. Members of the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club displayed various homebrew projects, including 2m and 440 MHz satellite antennas, a six-port antenna switch, a modified battery charger, and an active antenna for 600 (yes, 600!) meters.
–Thanks, Nashoba Valley ARC Signal, January 2007
Public Service Volunteer Opportunities in the New England Division
January 10, 2007
PSLIST
Listing public events at which Amateur Radio communications is providing a public service and for which additional volunteers from the Amateur Community are needed and welcome. Please contact the person listed to identify how you may serve and what equipment you may need to bring.
The most up-to-date copy of this list is maintained as http://purl.org/hamradio/publicservice/nediv.
**** Every event listed is looking for communications volunteers ****
Date Location Event Contact Tel/Email
Apr 16 Hopkinton MA Boston Marathon Steve W3EVE 508.922.9688
to Boston MA w3eve@arrl.net
please register via http://www.amateur-radio.net/marc
This list is published periodically as demand warrants by Stan KD1LE and Ralph KD1SM. Our usual distribution is via packet to NEBBS, via Internet mail to the arrl-nediv-list and ema-arrl distribution lists, and on the World Wide Web. If other mailing list owners wish us to distribute via their lists we will be happy to oblige. Permission is herewith granted to republish this list in its entirety provided credit is given to the authors and the Web address below is included. Send comments, corrections, and updates to:
(via packet) KD1SM@K1UGM.#EMA.MA.USA,
The South Shore Fox Hunters have had a lot of fun over the past 10 years chasing the elusive fox. They’re currently discussing a one-day hidden transmitter hunt, or “fox hunt” involving members of the Whitman ARC, Massasoit ARA and the Taunton Area Communications Group to “rekindle the flame” and introduce new hams to the fascinating hobby of directional finding.
According to Bruce Hayden, NI1X, “One member will be assigned to be the fox and he or she will transmit on 146.565 MHz simplex for about 30 seconds every five minutes between approximately 10:00 a.m. and noon on a Saturday morning. The Fox will be hiding in a public place.”
The boundaries used in previous hunts were Route 44 on the south, Route 138 on the West, Route 128 on the North and Route 3 on the East. Hayden says the group would probably pick a smaller area “to save on gas.”
The fox hunters coordinate their activities on the Bridgewater repeater on 147.180 MHz, PL 67. Amateurs are invited to monitor from the home QTH or mobile and to check in at 10:00 a.m. at the start of the hunt to report if you can hear the fox–or just as important–if you can not hear the fox from your location. You never know when the fox will be hiding in your back yard!
[Pictured here: Bruce Hayden, NI1X presenting on fox hunting at a Taunton Area Communications Group meeting, December 2006.]–Thanks, Whitman ARC Spectrum, January 2007
Amateurs in Concord, MA are closely monitoring plans by the Town’s electric utility to implement a Broadband over Power Line (BPL) system supplied by PowerGrid Communications of Meridian, Idaho.
“We’ve had meetings with them, with Ed Hare, W1RFI and we’re also working closely with [Concord Municipal Light Plant],” says Steve Telsey, N1BDA of the Colonial Wireless Association.
Telsey notes that there are currently no BPL operations in Concord at the present time, and that any pilot program would not commence “until at least February or March.”
“[PowerGrid’s] Chief Technology Officer has met with us and he brought samples of the equipment to demonstrate.” N1BDA describes their relationship with the company as “cordial and very cooperative.”
“They know the hams are very concerned about this system. They’re willing to notch out the ham bands. This won’t address problems faced by shortwave listeners and users of time signal stations, however.”
Ed Hare, W1RFI, is Laboratory Manager at ARRL Headquarters. He is also considered by many in the telecommunications industry as an expert on BPL.
According to Hare, “This is a DS2-chipset system made by Corinex. Such a system has been recently installed in Houston, Texas, operated by CenterPoint, the electric utility. Although there was one complaint to a home Amateur station, it was quickly resolved by notching the Amateur bands. At this point, in Houston the Amateur bands are notched in the entire system. I evaluated the Houston system a few months ago and found that with good communication between hams and the BPL operator and careful operation and notching, it is possible to operate DS2-based BPL system without major interference problems. The same cooperation exists in Concord.”
The BPL database indicates that the system will include “the entire community with some overhead and underground installation.” Approximately 130 nodes would be deployed.
N1BDA says that the light company is still exploring a possible business model. “It’s possible the whole thing might get canceled.”
Although Concord Municipal Light “technically doesn’t need permission” from other Town governmental entities, Telsey doubts whether an operational BPL system would go forward without approval from the Town’s Board of Selectman and Town Manager.
For now, Colonial Wireless Association officers are requesting that the matter be kept “low key” so that negotiations can move forward in a spirit of cooperation.
[To learn more about Broadband over Power Line and Amateur Radio, visit http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/index.html.]
A Technician licensing course will be offered in March by the Concord-Carlisle Adult and Community Education program in conjunction with the Colonial Wireless Association. The course will meet each Tuesday and Thursday night from March 20 – March 29 at the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School L-Building in Concord. The fee is $20. At this time, the course still has openings.
For more information and to enroll, please visit http://www.ace.colonial.net/Default.html, then “Browse” for “Communications and Speech” courses, then select “Concord Ham Radio Class”.
The ARRL Foundation announces a number of scholarships available to students in Eastern Massachusetts and elsewhere who hold a valid ham radio license. Many generous private individuals and clubs sponsor these scholarships to allow fellow hams the opportunity to further their educational goals. All ARRL Foundation-administered scholarships are intended exclusively for educational use, to provide assistance with costs of tuition, room, board, books and/or other fees essential to the advanced education of the recipient. Some are available in certain regions; others are available to candidates nationwide.
Please remember to mail both your completed application and transcripts to:
The ARRL Foundation, Inc. Scholarship Program
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
NOTE: CURRENT ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED. Applications without transcripts or otherwise incomplete will not be considered.
The deadline for each year’s ARRL Foundation Scholarships is February 1.
Your transcripts and application must be postmarked no later than February 1. No exceptions.
Thanks, American Radio Relay League
Hello to all….
Happy New Year! Given that last Monday was New Year’s Day, the RACES and ARES Nets were moved from the first Monday of the month to the second Monday of the month so this Monday January 8th, 2007 at 8:30 PM will be the first ARES Net for 2007 on the MMRA Repeater System.
Make this coming Monday, Emergency Communications Night, and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net. Thanks to all for their continued support of ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1 1
For those of you with video editing capability, please
consider submitting a ham-related video to the
following contest.
——
“If you had 15 seconds to tell the world whatever you
want to, what would you say? Well, now’s your chance
to be seen and heard on national television, courtesy
of CBS Interactive. Post your 15-second video on
YouTube, and CBS Interactive will select one to be
broadcast on TV.” The first selection might air on CBS
Sunday, February 4, 2007.
The instructions, Official Rules, and the Release
Waiver & Assignment Agreement are available at
http://www.cbs.com/originals/15_seconds/
Shown here is a snapshot of the old Eastern MA ARRL web site circa December, 1998. At the time, our site was hosted by QSL.NET. The site consisted of static HTML pages. Elaine Chase, N1GTB served for many years as the site’s webmaster.
Today’s EMA ARRL web site content is served up via a content management system from a MySQL database.
One may view archives from other dates of this site–or any other internet site–by visiting http://www.archive.org.
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association‘s Technician License in a Weekend Course will be held March 16-18, 2007 in the basement of the Danforth Museum in Framingham, MA. The cost is $40 and includes all materials, snacks and lunches and exam fee.
There are limited FREE open seats to boy and girl scouts. For more information, contact Ed Weiss, W1NXC at W1NXC@arrl.net or call 508-881-2301. The deadline to register is February 15, 2007.
Seven operators from six US States–led by Scott, Andersen, NE1RD of Acton, MA–will travel to the small island of Montserrat in late January, 2007 to activate that island in a most unique way. Instead of big antennas and tons of equipment, this DXpedition will instead focus on lightweight gear and portable operations. According to the group’s web site, “Even at the bottom of the sunspot cycle we anticipate reaching every corner of the globe.”
The DXpedition plans to operate from beaches, hilltops, and the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. In addition to CW and SSB, data modes such as PSK31, RTTY, and even slow scan TV will be active on all bands 160-6m. Each DXpedition member will be using their own Monstserrat-issued call sign.
The November, 2006 EMA traffic net and Public Service Honor Roll totals have been posted to http://nts.ema.arrl.org under “Main Menu | STM Monthly Report“.
Hello to all….
On behalf of the entire Eastern Massachusetts ARES staff, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a Happy and safe holiday season to those celebrating other holidays that are occurring during this time of year. It was another active year for ARES, RACES and SKYWARN and I want to thank everyone for putting in a tremendous effort in 2006 and look forward to working with everyone in 2007.
We conducted another successful Emergency Communications Workshop in Walpole, Massachusetts in early Apil 2006. In addition to that workshop, weeknight workshops held once per week for a period of 6-8 weeks were conducted in both Taunton, Massachusetts and Falmouth Massachusetts targeting specific emergency communication teams in those regions. We thank those that attended and assisted in those workshops.
The most significant ARES/RACES response in recent memory was executed during the May Floods of 2006 in Northeast Massachusetts. Terry Stader-KA8SCP, Region One RACES Radio Officer and a team of roughly a dozen Amateur Radio Operators, manned the Region One MEMA Headquarters in Tewksbury for 5 days assisting with communications not just via Amateur Radio but with other means of communications for MEMA. Eastern Massachusetts ARES supported SKYWARN operations providing several hundred reports of flooding, rainfall and significant impact to life and property. The American Red Cross of Mass. Bay and Northeast Massachusetts utilized close to 2 dozen Amateurs over a period of three days for damage assessment and relief operations in Northeast Massachusetts. This was a tremendous job by those involved in these efforts.
Through the efforts of Phil McNamara-N1XTB and contributions from all of you, we now have an Eastern Massachusetts ARES online registration form and database that brings us forward in terms of knowing who is available for emergency communications needs when required. Phil’s superb technical expertise and many months of efforts has provided a superb system that will be able to be used for many years to come.
This year brought a tremendous amount of severe thunderstorm activity to the region with the highest number of severe reports received in over 10 years. Several reports from SKYWARN spotters resulted in timely warnings being issued for an area along with a much better understanding of what was happening at the ground resulting in the protection of life and property. Several exercises and other smaller events were completed in 2006 including the annual WX4NHC Communications Test, the Simulated Emergency Test and the MEMA yearly hurricane exercise and the Monthly ARES and RACES nets continued on a regular basis.
Thanks to all of you for your efforts in 2006 and we look forward to working with all of you in 2007. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to all of you!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1
Hello CLIMAX Event Dec 29 – 30
http://www.arrl.org/pio/contact/2006/10/#hello
Reginald A. Fessenden 100th Anniversary Event, Hull, Massachusetts.
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the First Voice Broadcast.
W1AA (Marconi Radio Club) will represent and operate from near the Station Point Allerton Life Saving Station in Hull, Massachusetts on December 30, 2006. The W1AA operation will recognize the contributions to marine safety at sea made by Reginald A. Fessenden’s invention of voice communication.
W1AA is a member of the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, and has activated 54 lighthouses and lightships in Massachusetts and Rhode Island over the last three years. http://arlhs.com/
Operation will be from 7:00 AM EST(2000 UTC) to 4:00 PM (2100 UTC). W1AA will start on 80 SSB, check 3996.0. Look for W1AA between the nets, most likely below 7270, down to 7225. Check “7234”. 20 phone later in the morning above 14310, or 17 meters above 18150. We will return to 40 phone about 1530 to 1600 UTC, about noon local time. CW operation will be conducted roughly on the half hour but could happen any time, 7035, 10116, 14035 and 18080 kHz, plus or minus QRM.
A special photo QSL will be provided. DX QSLs are via the W1 Bureau and stateside are via W1AA please with an SASE.
Watch the DX Summit for W1AA spots on December 30th.
See http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/hfdx25.html
Bob “Whitey” Doherty K1VV / W1AA
Marconi Radio Club
http://www.qsl.net/w1aa/w1aa_1001.htm
*****************************************************************************
Station Point Allerton, Hull, Massachusetts
Point Allerton Lifesaving Station is one of the oldest remaining lifesaving stations in Massachusetts. Also known as Old Point Allerton Coast Guard Station, it was established in Hull in 1889. Designed by architect Albert B. Bibb, it replaced a nearby station established by the Massachusetts Humane Society prior to 1874. The Massachusetts Humane Society was the third oldest lifesaving society in the world and the precursor to the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the one-and-one-half-story, Queen Anne style clapboard building (with a later two-story rear ell attached to its southeast corner) rests on a modern concrete foundation. A small, one-story boathouse stands directly behind the ell. The original portion of the station is rectangular in plan. The rear ell is the most prominent addition, which was built to house the station chief.
The Massachusetts’ coastline at one time featured 32 lifesaving stations of which only 11 remain. Only two of the existing stations are older than Point Allerton, and both have been converted into private residences. Known as the most active lifesaving station on the East Coast, Point Allerton is famous for the central role it played in Massachusetts maritime history, as well as its associations with Captain Joshua James (1826-1902). James was born in Hull and devoted 60 of his 75 years to saving over 1,000 lives from shipwrecks in Boston Harbor. He received several lifesaving medals and other
acknowledgements throughout his illustrious career.
In the late 1960s, the new Point Allerton Coast Guard Station replaced Point Allerton Lifesaving Station. The historic building was converted into the Hull Lifesaving Museum, the museum of Boston Harbor Heritage, whose mission is to preserve the region’s lifesaving tradition and maritime culture through collections, exhibits, experiential and interpretive education, and research. The museum traces the history of organized lifesaving from its 18th-century roots to the modern Coast Guard, celebrates the life of Joshua James, displays a variety of lifesaving equipment and houses a collection of books and manuscripts by noted author Edward Rowe Snow. Point Allerton Lifesaving Station is located at 1117 Nantasket Ave. in Hull.
It is owned by Boston Harbor Heritage and is open to the public year round, Wednesday-Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm. For further information, please call 781-925-5433 or visit the Hull Lifesaving Museum’s website.
*****************************************************************************
Life-Saving Service &
Coast Guard Lifeboat/Lifesaving Stations
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/USLSS%20Station%20List.html
Hull Lifesaving Museum
http://www.lifesavingmuseum.org/
Hello CLIMAX Event Dec 29 – 30
http://www.arrl.org/pio/contact/2006/10/#hello
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association has a prominent link on the Knox Trail Council Boy Scouts of America web site promoting the upcoming Kid’s Day event on Sunday, January 7, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. at W1FY at the Danforth Museum in Framingham.
The colorful PDF poster, entitled Framingham Amateur Radio Assoc. offering opportunity for Scouts to acquire ham radio license! also promotes the club’s upcoming VE Session as well as its License-In-A-Weekend class on March 16-18, 2007. All costs for the class will be waived for scouts.
James Cahill, KB1LOY spearheaded the effort to promote Kid’s Day open house and other club activities to the Scout Council.
“I drafted the announcement, stuffed the envelopes this morning, got permission to place the package in Troop mail slots from the Council, and met Scott Harvey who graciously posted it onto their website,” Cahill writes.
For additional information, contact the Framingham ARA at 508-879-8097 or visit http://www.fara.org.
The Whitman 2006 Winterfest, held on Sunday December 3, 2006, was visited by an estimated 10,000 people throughout the day. Gallons of free hot chocolate and mounds of cookies were enjoyed by visitors while watching the ice sculpting or riding through the park in a horse drawn wagon or having a picture taken with Santa. December fire works topped off the event at 6:00 pm.
Behind the scenes were dozens of volunteers helping to make this a safe and successful event. Whitman Amateur Radio Club members helping out with various duties, including additional security and communications included: Bob Schmitt, KB1MTY; Erika LaFlamme, KB1MTV; Jeff Tracy, N1SOM; Mike Supple, KB1OEP; Bill Hayden N1FRE; Frank Hayes N1OGP; and Gloria Chiaramonte, KB1OAV.
A new set of commercial hand-held radios and a base station were put in use for the first time at the Whitman 2006 Winterfest activities. This allowed town officials to monitor the volunteers reporting in to the Net Control Station.
[Shown, above: Gloria Chiaramonte KB1OAV and Frank Hayes N1OGP]
–Thanks, Whitman ARC Spectrum, December 2006
The night before the 2006 Cape Cod Marathon, rains flooded roads, heavy winds had blown sand over many other roads, and downed power lines posed dangerous hazards to runners and wheelchair participants who would start the following morning. In fact, the Marathon itself was nearly “blown away.” But members of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association rose to the occasion, providing very timely assistance to the race course officials.
Hams were positioned at net control, in a lead police cruiser, “tired runner” vehicles, at a location of a downed line, and many other locations along the course, handling close to 250 pieces of traffic on 2 meters and 440 MHz. The wind and blowing sand made communications challenging. More than one operator dumped a lap-full of sand stepping out of his or her car.
Participants who assisted at the world-class event included: KB1DOS, K1DYO, N1LNB, N1TB, N1WAT, N1DGO, N1GJ, KA1IOR, K1GM, W1DO, K1PE, KB1NNO, W1RBF, AB1BX, W1HIV, N1BLR, KB1LQQ, K1QLG, KB1CZB, KB1MLP, K2LYE, K1WCC, K1BI, N1EZL, N1LNE, and WX1K.
–Thanks, Falmouth ARA Newsletter, November, 2006 and N1LYN