Bristol County RA Fox Hunt, June 11, 2022

From bcra-club groups.io list:
 
* Time: 10:00 am to 2:30 pm  — check-in starts at 9:45 am on the BCRA repeater, 145.150 MHz PL 123
* Location: The Foxes will be located within a 10-mile radius of the center of the Veteran’s Memorial bridge connecting 
Fall River and Somerset MA on US Route 6 (41.7266508, -71.1516237).
* Fox1 will activate at 10:00 am on 146.565 MHz FM 
  Fox2 will activate at 10:02:30 on 146.430 MHz FM 
 
Communications with “Fox Control” can all be done over the BCRA repeater, including checking in when you have found the fox. You may also speak with us in the control vehicle using physical distancing if you wish.
 
There will be TWO foxes – one manned by KB1CNB, Skip, and one by N1KJS, Kevin. When you find one of the foxes, you will get a hint to help you find the second (if you want!).
 
Check-ins will begin at 9:45 am on the BCRA repeater, 145.150 MHz PL 123. Chat and help on the repeater also.
 
The Fox1 will activate at 10:00 am on 146.565 MHz FM and Fox2 at 10:02:30 on 146.430 MHz FM with a 5-watt signal and both will transmit 1 minute of tone followed by Morse Code ID and 4 minutes of silence. As the hunt progresses we may increase the transmission times – that will be announced on the BCRA repeater. The hunt will last until 2:30 pm or until all checked-in participants have found the transmitters, whichever comes first.
 
The Foxes will be located within a 10-mile radius of the center of the Veteran’s Memorial bridge connecting Fall River and Somerset on US Route 6 (41.7266508, -71.1516237).
 
The Fox1 (in Skip’s vehicle, a blue/grey Jeep Commander marked BCRA) will be in a public place and will be manned at all times. When you have found the fox your time and order of arrival will be recorded and a personalized certificate will be emailed to each participant.
 
The Fox2 (in Kevin’s vehicle, a blue Toyota Tacoma marked BCRA) may not be obvious from a town/city road.  But is on public property with road access.  This fox will be in a public place and will be manned at all times. When you have found the fox your time and order of arrival will be recorded.
 
Participants are encouraged to work in teams and are asked to drive carefully and observe all applicable guidelines, both from the FCC and the state & local governments. Since participants are receiving only (except for radio check-ins) an amateur radio license is not required.
 
Email questions to Skip at kb1cnb@bcra.club or text to 774-644-3469. After the hunt, your comments, impressions, and suggestions will be welcome!
 
Join us and have some good amateur radio fun!

“Ham Radio Flea Market Coming To Marlborough”

From the Marlborough Patch, June 7, 2022:

MARLBOROUGH, MA — A large ham radio exposition will return to Marlborough in 2022 for the second time. The HamXposition event will take place in August at the Best Western.

On Monday, the Marlborough City Council on Monday approved a special license for a charitable flea market to be held alongside the exposition featuring radio parts.  [Full story]

Reminder: June 6th, 2022 MEMA RACES/ACS Communications Test Net

Mike Leger, N1YLQ, MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer writes:

Hello to all,

      This email is a reminder that this evening, June 6th, 2022 is the first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, is our RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. We will be holding our sector nets on the normally assigned frequencies.

      As always, I am looking for Net Control stations to staff our sector nets for the evening. This month I will be able to run the Sector 2A net, but if anyone is interested in trying it out, please let me know.  I am looking for NCS operators to lead the Sector 2B (Plymouth County) nets. Sector 2D has already arranged for an NCS operator for this month’s net and Sector 2C is now a Winlink only net on a monthly basis.

For any operators interested in performing the duties of Net Control Station (NCS), there are materials available to make the task fairly simple and straight forward. The net pre-amble and role call lists are available at http://wc1mab.org/RACES_R2_Interim_Preamble.pdf and http://wc1mab.org/Month.php with the role call lists on the left column near the bottom. If anyone is worried that they mess up running a net, please remember that, in many cases, a less than perfect net is WAY better than no net at all! At the conclusion of any net, any operator that acted as Net Control Operator should send a note to WC1MAB@gmail.com letting me know who ran the net and who checked in so that the proper numbers can be reported to our served agencies. We can not always count on our normal net control operators to be available in the event of a large scale emergency, so every RACES operator should be prepared to act as NCO if needed when disaster and emergency strikes!

Winlink Net Instructions From Don Rolph: 

*Winlink Net*

To participate:

– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form

– send via winlink after 6 AM EST Mon. June 6  and before midnight EST June 7 (any mode, but include  mode in check-in form) to AB1PH

   I continue to ask that any operators who have the time, please try to check into sector nets from near-by sections. This will allow our Net Control Operators to practice fielding nets with a strong check-in count and will also serve to help practice with relays or modified sector assignments in the event that a single repeater is out of service. 

   For those operators who serve as Net Control Operators, please try to remember to send me a list of the stations and communities that check into your nets. The numbers are reported to MEMA to show them our level of participation. I am continuing to work on a graphical map based report to show which parts of our section have strong coverage and which areas may need a more targeted recruitment campaign to improve our ability to provide back-up communications in an emergency.

The Region #2 and State Net Schedule for this evening is as follows:

Net Frequency/Offset Time
Sector 2A 147.00 /+0.60  PL 19:30 Local
Sector 2B 145.39/-0.60  PL 67.0 20:00 Local
Sector 2C Winlink Net Check-In 6AM-Midnight Local Time
Sector 2D 146.865/-0.60  PL 103.5 19:30 Local
6-Meter State Net 53.31 / -1.0  PL 71.9  

 

Note: 53.31 has been reported to be having difficulties lately.

The appropriate people are aware and working to remedy any issues.

19:00 Local
MA RACES HF Net 3930 KHz LSB moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency 18:45 Local
MA MEMA NBEMS Net Frequency:  3584.5 MHx, Center Frequency: 1500 Hz, Initial mode: THOR22 19:00 Local

    I appreciate you all answering the call to help our communities remain prepared. Thank you all for helping us keep things on track and prove that we remain a consistent source of communication capability to the Commonwealth. This net provides a monthly reminder to our communities and served agencies that we stand ready with a quiet professionalism prepared to serve as a voice to whomever needs one to get help and resources to where they need to be.

 If you know someone who would benefit from being on this list, please have them contact me at   WC1MAB@gmail.com and I will add them to this distribution. Thank you all!

      If anyone has any questions or comments I can be reached by e-mail or cell phone. Thanks for being a part of our team and I look forward to hearing back on who can participate this month.

Sincerely,

Michael Leger (N1YLQ)

MEMA Region #2 RACES Officer

C: 386-566-7666

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday June 6th, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all…

The June Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday June 6th, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements on upcoming events.

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES 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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Massachusetts RACES Nets – Monday 6/6/22 for HF, Region 2D VHF, NBEMS & Winlink – Times and Details Below

AB1PH-Don Rolph, Norfolk County ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

For June, Monday June 6 is the first Monday of the month, and will be the date for the MEMA RACES nets.

The Races nets will be held on Mon June 6 at:
********************************************************************************
The HF net will start at 6:45 PM EDT: using the following frequency plan:
We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency,
Marc Stern WA1R will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Region 2D VHF net: please note sector 2D net will be on Sharon Repeater
7:30 PM EDT VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.
Don Rolph AB1PH will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF NBEMS net:
7:00 PM EDT
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins,followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.
Don Rolph AB1PH will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:
To participate:
– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form
– send via winlink after 6 AM EDT Mon. June 6 and before 0000 EDT June 7 (any mode, but include mode in checkin form) to AB1PH
– Tues I will create the checkin report and send to all of you
*************************************************************************************

We look forward to you checking in to any or all nets!

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Project Big E Weekly Planning Meetings Begin June 7, 2022

Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:

I’m starting a weekly Zoom meeting every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EDT to discuss all things for the Big E Booth. 

We will start with organization and planning the booth layout as well as the continuation of getting the word out to clubs and volunteers and more. 

Please urge your club presidents to join us too and everyone is invited. I hope to see you on. 

[For Zoom conference information, contact Larry at w1ast@arrl.net or join the groups.io list at groups.io/g/projectbige]

IHOP Ham Radio Breakfast, Northborough, June 4, 2022

John Iwuc, KB1VXY, writes on the Framingham ARA mailing list:

Where: IHOP

Location: 4102 Shops Way, Northborough, MA 508-393-1222

When: Sat June 4th 2022. The Breakfast starts at 7:00 AM

Talk-in: Many going to the breakfast as well as those at the the breakfast may be listening on the following repeaters:

W1BIM – Paxton, 2 m repeater (146.970, PL 114.8)
W1MRA – Marlborough, 2 m Repeater (147.2700, PL 146.2)
AE1C – Southborough, 2 m DMR Repeater (145.27, Timeslot 2, TG # 3125 Mass State Wide, Color Code 7 )
AE1C – Southborough, 70 cm DMR Repeater (448.375, Timeslot 2, TG # 3125 Mass State Wide, Color Code 1 )
W1WNS – Westborough, 70 cm Repeater (448.775, DCS D244, P25 NAC 353)
WA1NVC – Framingham, 33 cm Repeater (927.01250, PL 131.8 )
WB1CTO – Framingham, 1.2 cm repeater (224.24, PL 103.5)

The weather looks great for Saturday!

Spread the word to all the ham’s you know.

 

Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net – Saturday 6/4/22 at 1000 AM

Jeff-N1SOM writes:

Good evening,

On Saturday June 4, 2022, the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10AM. We realize that the usual locations for some individuals and groups are still unavailable due to ongoing COVID restrictions. We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net.

We will use the following repeaters and NEDECN DMR system in the order listed.

1. W.Bridgewater Repeater 146.775 dcs 244
2. Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5
3. Plymouth Repeater 146.685 tone 131.8
3. DMR – EMHN Talkgroup 8851 Time Slot 1 on select NEDECN repeaters:
Boston 449.175 CC1, Hingham 146.430 -1.5M CC1, Bourne 145.200 CC10, Dennis 146.470 -1.5M CC11, and Martha’s Vineyard145.180 CC10 repeaters
4. Boston 145.230 tone enc. 88.5 dec (in) / dec (out) 100.0
5. Return to W.Bridgewater Repeater for 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, EOC of any city or town as well as RACES or ARES members to check in during the NET. We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested in trying your hand at Net Control please let us know. We can be reached by sending an email to ssharg@outlook.com or replying to this message. The goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many individuals and groups as possible. We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct these monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. We hope to hear you Saturday.

Jeff N1SOM, Secretary, and the SSH group
N1SOM – W1SSH

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group
55 Fogg Rd. Mail-Stop 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

“Last Call” for K2H Operators

K2H QSL card, 2021

Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:

 
This is the last call for any hams in Massachusetts who may want to be a 13 Colonies Team K2H Massachusetts operator.
 
The Special Event runs from July 1 through July 7.
 
We currently have 28 K2H ops and if you would like to join the team, please contact me before June 1 at W1AST@arrl.net.
 
Operators will spot themselves and wait for the pileups to start. It’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Contact Larry, W1AST  at W1AST@arrl.net if interested BEFORE JUNE 1.

 

Larry, W1AST

  • ARRL WMA ACC
  • HCRA President
  • Visit my Ham Radio club website at: www.HCRA.org
  • Team K2H – 13 Colonies Massachusetts State Manager
  • Project Big E 2022 Organizer

K1KP: “Troubleshooting Gear” at Billerica ARS Online Meeting, June 1, 2022

Billerica ARS logoNext BARS Zoom meeting:  June 1 at 7:00 PM on Zoom

“Troubleshooting Gear,” Tony Brock-Fisher, K1KP

Tony will speak on the often arcane art of finding and repairing problems with equipment. Often, a methodical approach, a bit of knowledge, and a few useful pieces of test equipment are all you need to put things right again.

[For Zoom conference details, email Bruce Anderson, W1LUS, at w1lus -at- hotmail -dot- com.]
 

LoRa Birdhouse Project at Wellesley ARS

Pix of LoRa BirdhouseThe Wellesley Amateur Radio Society is embarking upon an interesting technical project to develop LoRa nodes at club members’ homes, according to WARS President Dan Brown, W1DAN.
 
LoRa (Long Range) and LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) are next generation technologies that will support wireless connectivity in IoT (the Internet of Things). Uniquely enabling long range, low power communication, they are already being used in numerous consumer and industrial applications to solve real world problems.
 
“Under the direction of Bruce [MacKinnon], KC1FSZ, we are launching our club LoRa Birdhouse project,” according to WARS President Dan Brown, W1DAN. Dan says that the project is open to all WARS members but “other folks can build nodes on their own as the project plans are open-source.”
 
WARS members will learn how to build a LoRa node and antenna, and use them to communicate with fellow WARS members. “No technical experience necessary, as we are making the project available to all skill levels.”
 
KC1FSZ’s GitHub documentation can be viewed at:  https://github.com/brucemack/WARS-Birdhouse
 
 

MMRA Fox is Hiding, Stow, May 20, 2022

Bob Evans, N1BE, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 20, 2022 at 3:56 PM:

The MMRA Fox Box is at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Stow.

The Fox transmits on 145.63 MHz with a 146.2 Hz PL.

Transmissions repeat approx. every 165 seconds. 

I plan to retrieve the Fox on Tuesday, May 24th.

Email me directly if you want a hint to help locate the fox.

Happy hunting,

Bob Evans, N1BE

Massachusetts Traffic Report for April 2022

The Massachusetts STM Report for April 2022 can be found here: https://ema.arrl.org/massachusetts-traffic-report-for-april-2022/

Note information on upcoming events, including the annual traffic handlers picnic in Concord MA on Sunday August  7 from noon on.  More details to follow, but for now mark your calendars.  All traffic handlers and any interested in traffic handling from anywhere in New England are welcome.  

Also more information on use of the ICS 213 type messages.  This information is still emerging, so stay tuned.

NV1W: “The Computer in the Shack” at Boston Network Users Group, June 7, 2022

Boston Amateur Radio Club Secretary Joe Chapman, NV1W, will present about Amateur Radio and “The Computer in the Shack” to the Boston Network Users group on June 7, 2022. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM.

The  Boston Network Users Group (BNUG)  provides education and technical forum for anyone interested in computer networking and related technologies. BNUG was founded in 1986.

Our Speaker: Joseph Chapman

Description of the talk: In 1976 I submitted decks of punched cards as homework for my first Fortran class, and earned my entry-level amateur radio license. Over the course of my adult life, as both computer and radio technologies have evolved, the computer has become an essential part of the amateur radio “shack.” I’ll talk about how it’s gone from being used for station control and logging, to supporting digital modes; finally, with Software Defined Radio (SDR), it’s become the radio itself! I’ll also describe some Internet sites used for reporting space weather and making propagation predictions, and online logging, including the public-key signature system used by 112,000 users for the American Radio Relay League’s Logbook of the World.

 Presenter Bio:

Joe Chapman, NV1W, has been fiddling with radios and computers since he was a teenager in the 1970s. After graduating from MIT, he has been involved in more hardware and software startups than Zsa Zsa Gabor has had husbands. His most recent startup having been acquired by Red Hat, he now works on storage optimization in the Linux kernel. In amateur radio he generally works with low power, using Morse code or weak-signal digital modes. He has done two solo cross-country bicycle tours, plays the pipe organ, does calligraphy, and cooks.

W1PJE: “Propagation and Space Weather” at Pilgrim Amateur Wireless Association Meeting Online, May 20, 2022

club meeting flyerThe Pilgrim Amateur Wireless Association will meet via Zoom on May 20, 2022 for a business meeting at 6:30 PM, followed at 7:00 PM by a special presentation on Propagation and Space Weather by Phil Erickson, W1PJE.

Dr. Erickson is head of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences group, a Principal Research Scientist, and an associate director at Haystack Observatory, a multidisciplinary radio observatory operated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A licensed radio amateur, he is a member of ARRL, RSGB, and TAPR, vice president of the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club. He is on the scientific steering board of the Ham Science Citizen Initiative (HamSCI). Dr. Erickson is also a member of the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Radio Frequencies, which advocates on scientific radio frequency requirements and interference protection for scientific and engineering research.

For Zoom link information, contact Mike Nye, N1NTM, at n1ntm@hotmail.com.

 

QST Cover Plaque Award at PART of Westford Meeting, May 17, 2022

PART of Westford logoGeorge Allison, K1IG, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:

The May PART meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, beginning at 7:30 PM at the Cameron Senior Center, 20 Pleasant Street, Westford, MA, and via Webex video conference. For those attending via video conference, a meeting link is below; just click on the green button to join in. You can join the conference any time after 7:00 PM to check out your gear or just rag chew until the meeting starts. Bear in mind that internet connectivity from the senior center may be unreliable.

We’ve got several items on the agenda:

1. New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, will present the QST Cover Plaque Award for March 2022 to PART members Bob Glorioso, W1IS, and Bob Rose, KC1DSQ. After the presentation, Fred will talk about ARRL happenings.
2. Terry, KA8SCP, talk about emergency response by various agencies to an “event” at the Seabrook power station, and involvement by the Amateur Radio community.
3. Field Day plans!
4. ARRL grant money for clubs.

Attendees are reminded to bring donations for the Westford Food Panty. Items such as canned soups and Dinty Moore beef stew are always appreciated.

See you Tuesday!

George, K1IG

[To request conference login information, contact George Allison, K1IG, at k1ig -at- arrl -dot- net]
 
Agenda update: Terry, KA8SCP, is unable to attend the meeting; his talk on Seabrook events has been postponed.