JANUARY 2015 SECTION NEWS

ARRL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION  

Section Manager (SM) – Tom Walsh, K1TW 
Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Phil Temples, K9HI
Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) – Arthur "Bo" Budinger, WA1QYM 
Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) - Ed Parish, K1EP 
Public Information Coordinator (PIC) - Bob Salow, WA1IDA 
Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) – Mike Neilsen, W1MPN 
Section Traffic Manager (STM) – Marcia Forde, KW1U 
Section Youth Coordinator (SYC) – Jeremy Breef-Pilz, KB1REQ 
State Government Liaison (SGL) – Hank Mc Carl, W4RIG 
Technical Coordinator (TC) – Dan Brown, W1DAN


JANUARY 2015 SECTION NEWS

A personal note from Section Manager K1TW: 

I would like to thank K9HI for his outstanding service as Eastern
Massachusetts SM for the past four years and for preparing this final
edition of EMA Section News under his leadership.  As Phil takes a
well-deserved break, he leaves an ARRL section that is strong and well
managed.  I am happy to announce that Phil has agreed to become an
Assistant SM. I am looking forward to maintaining the high standards
that Phil and our EMA section staff have achieved."

From Assistant SEC and ARES SKYWARN Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY: 

"On behalf of the entire Amateur Radio Group at WX1BOX, the Amateur
Radio station for NWS Taunton Massachusetts, and the forecaster staff
at NWS Taunton, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone
a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holiday season."  2014 was
certainly another interesting year for weather across the region, and
Rob has compiled a memorable summary that you can view, at
<http://www.wx1box.org/node/3564>.

Minuteman Repeater Association's K1IW notes that the Belmont 145.43 MHz
repeater is back on the air. The machine is continuously linked to a
nationwide network comprised of repeaters in New York, New Jersey,
Washington, DC, Orlando, FL, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, CA. 

The Billerica ARS will hold its holiday dinner at the Great Wall
Restaurant in Bedford on January 7. The buffet dinner will feature a
Yankee Swap along with brief remarks by outgoing Section Manager, K9HI.
This will be the first of the three meetings to be held in Bedford.  On
February 4, and again on March 4, the Billerica ARS will be meeting at
St. Michael's church in Bedford to evaluate it as a meeting location.

Congratulations to Lee Gartenberg, K1GL, of Framingham. Lee was
appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to serve on the seven-member
Massachusetts Parole Board. A swearing-in ceremony was held on December
22 in the Governor's office at the Statehouse in Boston. 

Cape and Islands DEC WQ1O reports the he and other amateurs gathered at
the Cape Cod/Southeastern MA American Red Cross Chapter building to
perform NBEMS testing over the holiday weekend. "We conducted high
speed testing with the new 8PSK1200 robust FEC-enabled mode and the
8PSK1000/8PSK1333 modes [and saw] outstanding performance on both FLAMP
and FLMSG on VHF/UHF." Frank adds that he's looking forward to the
upcoming Cape Cod ARES winter exercise.

Harvard Wireless Club Station Manager W1PL writes, "W1AF cruised to
another ARRL Sweepstakes Phone Contest Championship in the New England
Division (School Club category)." Their efforts also netted W1AF a
third place finish nationally. Congratulations to student ops KK4UHK,
KB1UGS and KC2DBH.

Cape Ann ARA members attended a scholarship breakfast on December 14 at
the CAARA clubhouse in Gloucester. The breakfasts are held monthly; $5
donations are requested. CAARA's treasurer, Stan Stone, W4HIX says, "If
you're short on cash, we'll feed you anyway, so don't use that as an
excuse." Breakfast consists of a choice of eggs, bacon, sausage,
made-from-scratch pancakes, orange juice and coffee or tea. "Or," adds
Stan, "you can order the ‘DXer's delight' which is the whole boat."
Proceeds benefit the club's scholarship fund.

Three Genesis ARS members were awarded Excellence Certificates for
their recent public service work: David Ring, N1EA; Kevin O'Donnell,
K1KOD; and Chris Johnson, N1IR.

The following WA1WCC ARA members have indicated their willingness to
staff the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center and operate the Center's ham
station during visitor hours: K1WT, K1WF, WA1RF, W1NP, WA1EXA, and
K1RWR. In addition, CMMC Amateur Radio Committee members have been
discussing the repair of the Center's existing antennas.

Welcome to our newest Public Information Officer, Rob Leiden, K1UI of
South Chatham. 

W1DYJ in Woburn, and W1HIS in Woburn were both QRV for the recent ARRL
160 Meter Contest.

Northern MA amateurs are getting a real workout in the foxhunting
department: multiple hidden transmitters on 2 meters and 432 MHz have
been deployed in the towns of Chelmsford, Acton, Westford and Concord
on a regular basis. The "hounds" are sharing results of their
adventures with others on-air and via area club mailing lists.

Quannapowitt RA members held their holiday party on December 18.

K1SMH, the Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC club station, will serve as net
control station for the monthly Eastern MA Hospital Net on January 3.
The net will begin at 10 AM, and use the following repeaters in the
order listed: Fall River 146.805, PL 67.0; Weymouth 147.345, PL 110.9;
Attleboro 147.195, PL 126.3; simplex 147.42; finally, returning to Fall
River.

W1KQ of Dracut got in on the fun during the recent ARRL 10 Meter
Contest. Jim netted approximately 190k points in the Single Op, Mixed,
Unlimited, High Power class.

N1TF has agreed to serve as the new trustee of W1AEC, the Southeastern
MA ARA club station.

The Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC will conduct a Technician licensing
class lasting eight consecutive weeks, beginning on January 22 at 7:00
PM, at the Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. For more information
and to register, visit <http://ema.arrl.org/node/2088>.

Word has it that FP/KV1J will be QRV from St. Pierre and Miquelon
Island in the February-March timeframe. The islands are situated
sixteen miles off the coast of Newfoundland and are considered French
territory. Eric has activated the DXCC entity eight times previously.

Pi, K1RV, reminds everyone: "Every day is a good day to send CW, but
December 31-January 1 is reserved for Straight Key Night." Enjoy CW as
it has been sent and enjoyed since the earliest days of Amateur Radio.
For more details visit <http://www.arrl.org/straight-key-night>. 

Genesis ARS member N1EA writes that Walt Disney Studios was in
Marshfield filming for "The Finest Hours." The film, scheduled for
release in 2016, portrays the US Coast Guard's "daring rescue attempt
off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers is destroyed
during a blizzard in 1952" (IMDB). According to David, another GARS
member, George Manning, was at the Coast Guard station and heard the
actual SOS sent by the SS Pendleton. See <http://tinyurl.com/ppkbkp8>.

A personal message from K9HI:

I'm very pleased to welcome our new Section Manager, Tom Walsh, K1TW.
Tom is a veteran ham with years of experience, both in on-air
activities as well as with clubs and ARRL section matters. He's a
caring listener, and a problem-solver. Tom's leadership will be a
leaven in the life of our section.

As for me, it has been an honor serving as your Section Manager during
these past two terms in office. I sincerely hope that I've been helpful
providing assistance when needed. In turn, I've learned from all of you
these past four years. And I've had a lot of fun. I will take with me
many fond memories meeting ARRL members at radio club meetings and at
Field Day sites.

I've been impressed with the numbers of dedicated and energetic people
I've encountered along the way.  This section is blessed with people
who work hard to share their wisdom and expertise with others.  They do
a great service in in promoting and improving our hobby. 

I want to leave you with this final thought: whether your interests run
to rag chewing, kit building, QRP, club activities, DX, contesting,
volunteer examining, microwaves, VHF-FM repeaters, mentoring or--any of
the dozens of activities included in our great hobby service--you'll
find that the ARRL will be there--ready, able, and willing to assist
into the next century of its existence. 

So, thanks for your support of our ARRL, the National Association for
Amateur Radio (TM). 

73,

K9HI

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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Phillip Temples, K9HI
k9hi@arrl.org
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