Eastern Massachusetts ARRL

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will conduct a Technician Class License in a Day course on Saturday, March 7, 2009 from 8:30 am until 4 pm. The course, led by Stan Stone, W4HIX, will be held at the Lanesville Community Center on 8 Vulcan Street in Gloucester, MA.

Anyone interested may register by e-mailing Stan at <stan@lanescove.us>. The course is free; however, the exam fee is $15.00.

The MIT Radio Society (W1MX) will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding this April 30th, 2009. In commemoration, the Society will be operating a special event station, W1MX/100, for a two week period beginning on April 30th and issuing a special QSL card.            

Additionally, the Society will be holding two events for Radio Society alumni at MIT during reunion week in June. Details are available on our website – http://web.mit.edu/w1mx/www/. Please spread the word! And if you are an alum, PLEASE get in touch with us at w1mx-100@mit.edu.

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 a former ACC for EMA, served for many years as the site’s webmaster.

Today’s EMA ARRL web site content is served up via a Drupal 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.

Is your club membership dropping off?  Do you have fewer and fewer members attending club meetings?  Do meetings seem dull and contentious?  One of the sure fire signs that your club is not meeting the needs of your members and the local ham radio community is a slowly declining character of your club meeting.   But, alas, there is a sure fired way of  reversing these trends and making your monthly club meetings more exciting!  . 

Make sure you always have a speaker for your meetings!   Is it as simple as that…..well not quite  but close!   You say you do this already?   Well OK, but there are some good guidelines for choosing speakers.  First, you should plan to always have a speaker at your monthly meetings.  Get your members used to the fact that each meeting will have a speaker.  Speakers or presenters often provide one of the real needs of local ham radio operators.  Our hobby is a highly technical one with many different facets. A speaker who talks on a technical subject will have a bigger draw than no speaker at all. 

A club should have a designated person who has the job of securing speakers for future meetings.  They should be asked to speak often months in advance.  I have found that potential speakers are more willing to speak if approached by the president of a club.  Not only should you secure a speaker in advance but also publicize the subject and the speaker in advance of your meeting.

You say you are having trouble locating club meeting speakers?  Well there are many sources.  I have found that you can look within your club.  The key is to be in tune with the interests of the members and convince them they should speak on a topic that has high interest to them.  This almost always works…..but it takes effort !   There is also the ARRL EMA Speakers list posted and updated on this web site.  This is a fine list of potential speakers who have already given a talk at least once.  Use this list!   From a speakers standpoint giving the same talk to another ham radio club is easy.  You will seldom get turned down.  Your members can also be a great source of information and contact points for speakers from other local clubs.  The speakers are out there and willing to talk….its your job to make sure you always have one as the centerpoint of your monthly meeting.

Bo Budinger

WA1QYM

ARRL EMA ACC   

The Multiple Sclerosis Society has again organized two local events this year, but no longer on the same day. The “Boston MS Walk” will be on Sunday, 4 April, organized as it has been for the past several years. The “MS Journey of Hope,” will start and finish in Newton on Saturday, 5 April.

We have been asked to support communications for both. The “Boston MS Walk” will start and finish at the Harvard athletic facility on North Harvard St near Soldiers Field Rd in Brighton. The route of the walk will be on both sides of the river in Cambridge and Boston.

The “MS Journey of Hope” starts and finishes at Newton South High School with a 7.5 mile course. There will be several checkpoints, vehicles and medical coverage for us to support.

Each will be managed by a Net Control station, using both VHF and UHF repeaters. Your help is vital for these worthy causes. If you can lend a hand, contact Rick, KB1LYJ, at rpsavage@comcast.net or 781.289.7364.

–Thanks, Boston ARC’s The SPARC, February, 2009

On January 30, 2009, the ARRL’s Executive Committee released its Mobile Amateur Radio Operation Policy Statement in response to proposed legislation springing up across the country regarding the use of cellular telephones while driving.

The full text of the Policy Statement, along with a response from EMA/WMA State Government Liaison Shawn O’Donnell, K3HI can be found on the EMA/WMA SGL web site.

On January 30, 2009, the ARRL’s Executive Committee released its Mobile Amateur Radio Operation Policy Statement in response to proposed legislation springing up across the country regarding the use of cellular telephones while driving.

Follows is a response from EMA/WMA State Government Liaison Shawn O’Donnell, K3HI:

Boston’s Blue Hills Reservation has been chosen as the site of the 9th USA national championships of Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) June 5-7, 2009. [Full story]

Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL Field Organization Team Supervisor writes to all ARRL Section Managers:

In early December, the ARRL was contacted by Mr. George Dillon of the FCC and asked to aid in the DTV conversion program by providing technical education for communities.  We liked the idea and opportunities it presented.  But it has come to our attention that there is now some misunderstanding on the part of a few FCC field offices, state broadcaster’s associations, and other broadcast industry representatives about the scope of the ARRL/FCC program to assist in the digital television conversion. The issue is whether or not individual radio amateurs should or will do actual DTV converter box installation and programming. The installation and programming of DTV converter boxes in people’s homes is not, repeat not, part of the ARRL program.

As proposed to ARRL by FCC staff in Washington, the nature of the assistance to be provided by Amateur Radio clubs was that of information dissemination to individuals and groups. The FCC and ARRL believe that the well-known technical skill of radio amateurs is a valuable community resource that can help non-technical people get ready for the DTV conversion (the deadline for which is still not firm -it may be either February 17, 2009 or some time in June of 2009). When the FCC contacted ARRL about this program, they proposed that ham clubs might invite the public from their communities to their meetings, or sponsor a public gathering, to provide information about the program, answer questions, and perhaps offer a demonstration. ARRL views this program as beneficial in several respects. It helps the community; it introduces the public to the benefits of Amateur Radio; and it brings new people to Amateur club meetings who may wish to become licensed once they see what a great avocation we have. Finally, it provides a good topic for a program at a club meeting.

But no part of the program we agreed upon involves having hams going into people’s homes to hook up converter boxes, and ARRL is not asking hams or clubs to do so.

Recently, based on an apparent misunderstanding about the scope of the program, some FCC district offices have asked ham clubs to do DTV converter box installations. So have state broadcaster’s association representatives and some network or station affiliates. If an individual radio amateur wishes to volunteer to do a DTV converter box installation or program the device for a neighbor or friend, or for any member of their community, that is a decision that the individual radio amateur must make for himself or herself, but it is not part of the ARRL/FCC program.

Please also note, there are some state laws regulating low voltage electrical and electronic installations that might prohibit unlicensed individuals from doing this, even as a volunteer. There are also liability issues that should be considered. For that reason, the FCC in Washington specifically assured ARRL that no part of the ARRL’s assistance by radio amateurs in the DTV conversion process involves converter box installations or programming. The ARRL/FCC program is strictly in the nature of an educational effort in a public setting.

Meanwhile, many clubs and groups have been getting excellent publicity in their communities and on regional TV by discussing and showing information about the conversion.  >From community meetings to “information nights,” mall displays and daily spots on television (usually with the weather reports), the hams are being seen as technologically savvy and helpful people.

The Pilgrim Amateur Radio Club reported that a recent licensing class enrolled six youths and one adult.  According to  Dana Henrique, WA1KYU, “Three students passed the technician examination, and three students were scheduled to retake the exam at a later date. On the same date, two people plan to take the examination for the Amateur Extra class license.” Henrique exhibited some pictures of the class to club members at the meeting.

The Pilgrim ARC was founded in 1976. An ARRL affiliated club, it is dedicated to the maintenance and upgrading of the Provincetown Emergency Management Office communications system. The club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Council on Aging (COA) building, 26 Alden Street, Provincetown, MA.

The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford will present a panel discussion on Emergency Power at its February Monthly Meeting. This panel discussion is a result of the numerous questions and comments that resulted from the ice storm in December and the extensive power outages (up to 5 days) that resulted. Many hams were well equipped to handle this power outage while some were not.

The panelists are: Ernie (N1AEW), Allison (KB1GMX), John (G3BVU) and Hugh (N1QGE). PART’s Vice President Andy (KB1OIQ) will moderate this panel. The panelists will focus mainly on generator backup power for the home but will also include emergency battery backup power for rigs. They will relate their experiences in dealing with the loss of conventional power. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers.

This meeting will be held at the Westford Police Station on Tuesday, February 17th at 7:30 PM. Directions to this meeting can be found on the PART web page at: http://wb1gof.org.

Bo Budinger, WA1QYM
President: PART of Westford
Eastern MA ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator

The spirit of Kids Day is alive and well in Hanson, MA where John Murphy, KB1PHN operated Kids Day from his ham shack on January 4, 2009 with his 10-year-old nephew, Daniel Murphy.

According to John, Danny “checked for a clear frequency on 20 meters, then called ‘CQ Kids Day.'” He was answerd by EI4GYB from Ireland. “Danny the SWL was hooked after that,” reports KB1PHN. “He made a total of fifteen contacts in one hour before his voice gave out.”

Murphy added, “Danny can’t wait to get back on the air.”

–Thanks, Whitman ARC “Spectrum, January 2009”