NTS

MASSACHUSETTS TRAFFIC REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 2020

- by kw1u - Leave a Comment

Greetings all. We’re well into fall. The weather is changing, the leaves are turning beautiful colors and we have apparently entered into a new sun spot cycle, hopefully signalling improved band conditions. We in NTS are privileged this month to participate in an interoperability exercise with MARS, the Military Amateur Radio Service. ICS-213 messages are being injected into NTS nets and the Digital Traffic System, requesting recipients to call Chief of MARS to confirm delivery. The exercise focuses in part on success of delivery and time of transit. Instructions for this exercise were sent out to MA traffic handlers. We …

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Affiliated Clubs / Operating

Sci-Tech ARS, Wellesley ARS Members Participate in Summits On The Air Event from Mt. Wachusett, October 10, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Members of the Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society and the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society activated Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts for Summits On The Air on Saturday, October 10, 2020. Fourteen STARS and WARS members and friends hiked or drove up the mountain. They logged more than 48 QSOs on 20 meters and several more on 2 meters making contacts from California to France to the base of Wachusett Mountain. The group plans to get the two clubs outdoors and operating once a month.

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Operating / Youth

Scouting’s Jamboree on the Air Set for October 16-18, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From nediv.arrl.org: Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) will be held this year on October 16, 17, and 18. Register online as an individual or as a group. Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world. In a typical year, more than 1 million Scouts participate in JOTA, with over 11,000 stations operated by 20,000+ young radio amateurs from 150+ countries around the world. JOTA details are available on the K2BSA website. The website menu will direct users to additional supporting information. K2BSA’s Jim Wilson, K5ND, says many locations are already offering virtual …

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Affiliated Clubs

W1SEX: “History of the Heath Company” at Quannapowitt RA Online Meeting, October 15, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The October meeting of the Quannapowitt Radio Association will feature Paul Topolski, W1SEX. Paul will speak about the interesting and colorful “History of the Heath Company,” the company founder, and the subsequent owners of Heath and how the Company’s rapid growth was bolstered by numerous economic factors that came to fruition at the close of World War II. The meeting is this Thursday, October 15th at 7 PM. For Zoom information, email Bruce Bain, K1BG, at bruce.blain@charter.net.

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All

Fortieth Anniversary of the MS Prinsedam Rescue at Sea

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA, writes on Facebook on October 4, 2020:   The hand of God watched over them and a miracle happened, 40 years ago tonight.   I was woken up by auto alarm bells from the SOS of the burning luxury liner MS PRINSENDAM / PJTA as my ship was sailing southward from Valdez, Alaska on Prince William Sound. When the burning ship lost main and emergency generators, their radio officer told me to take over and I sent out three additional DDD SOS DDD (MAYDAY RELAY) calls.   The FCC in Washington reported over 350 ship …

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Affiliated Clubs

Zola ARC Meets Online, October 24, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Dear all: Everyone is invited to our October Zola meeting. Location: Online only, no in-person component Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020 Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Meeting format: 11:00 AM Introductions and call to order 11:15 AM Announcements, questions and answers 11:30 AM Previously we asked ourselves as to what type of topics everyone would be interested in hearing about while we are having remote meetings. One of the subjects that was asked for was information about AMSAT. This month we are privileged to have Leandra, AF1R with us. She will have a presentation about AMSAT and will answer our questions …

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Operating

KD1D Fox is Back On the Air, October 9, 2020

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Alan Hicks, KD1D, writes on the NEMass Fox Hunters List on October 9, 2020: The KD1D Fox transmitter went on the air again  in Westford MA at 1530 EDT on Friday 9 October 2020.   It will transmit a voice message on 146.565 MHz for approximately 30 seconds which will repeat at 60 second intervals.  I expect the Fox to be operating through the weekend until at least Tuesday afternoon.  For additional information on our club’s Fox Hunting activities, please visit: http://www.wb1gof.org/activities/Foxing/   Some clues: – It is located on conservation land in the northeast section of town and can be …

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Licensing Education & Training / Youth

New England Sci-Tech Amateur Extra Online Course, October 18-December 6, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

ADVANCED LEVEL: Amateur radio (or “ham radio”) is used by people all over the world to communicate over radio waves. Some people use ham radio for emergency preparedness, to provide communications support for community events, to report on severe weather and natural disasters, as a social activity, and even occasionally to contact crew members on the International Space Station! This ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the Ham Radio AMATEUR EXTRA license exam, the THIRD of three certification levels. Geared toward adults, as well as junior high, high school, and home-school students. Yes, we give online ham radio exams, too! (See below) This is …

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Emergency Communications

Hurricane Delta Prompts Activations of Hurricane Watch Net, WX4NHC, SATERN

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From ARRL Web: 10/07/2020 – The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and The Salvation Army’s SATERN have announced activations for Hurricane Delta, the latest Atlantic storm. The HWN moved to its Alert Level 4 on Wednesday and is now running on 14.325 MHz. WX4NHC monitors the same frequency to gather “ground truth” reports from radio amateurs that may assist NHC forecasters. As of 1200 UTC, the NHC warned that Delta was bringing “a life-threatening storm surge and strong winds” to the northeastern portions of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where it made landfall at 1030 UTC. Maximum sustained winds from …

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Licensing Education & Training / Youth

New England Sci-Tech Technician Class Courses Online, October, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

BEGINNER LEVEL: Amateur radio (or “ham radio”) is used by people all over the world to communicate over radio waves. Some people use ham radio for emergency preparedness, to provide communications support for community events, to report on severe weather and natural disasters, as a social activity, and even occasionally to contact crew members on the International Space Station! This ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the Ham Radio TECHNICIAN license exam, the FIRST of three certification levels. Geared toward adults, as well as junior high, high school, and home-school students. Yes, we give online ham radio exams, too! (See below) This is a …

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Affiliated Clubs / Youth

Sci-Tech ARS Online Meeting, October 6, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

ONLINE Meeting: Tuesday, Oct 6, 7:00 PM.   To join the Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society Meeting at 7:00 pm link your computer to [… contact Bob Phinney, K5TEC, at bobphinney@nescitech.com for Zoom conference details]   6:30 Moore’s Code Corner Learn your call sign or first name in Morse code. Join Rusty Moore for a beginner’s intro to code. Same Zoom link as STARS.   7:00 MEETING – Around the room updates and general chat – Latest about New England Ham Convention – Update on Parks on the Air – Other old business and new business.   8:00 RADIO SHOP TALK …

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Emergency Communications

Department of Defense Exercise With Amateur Radio Participation, October 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Tom Kinahan, N1CPE, writes: For almost the whole month of October, (now through October 26) the Department of Defense is conducting a series of exercises that will train the connection of MARS members to the Amateur Radio Service. There are opportunities for hams to participate in this exercise. 1) Every day at noon local time, there will be a net on 60 meters channel 1 (5.3305 MHz USB) to have checkins from hams. The NCS will ask for your callsign, city and state. As the month moves on, there may be other unplanned requests. 2) Familiarize yourself with the METAR …

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Licensing Education & Training / Youth

Two New England Sci-Tech General Class Online Courses: October 24-25 & 26-29, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

This ON-LINE course will get you ready to take the Ham Radio GENERAL license exam, the SECOND of three certification levels. Geared toward adults, as well as junior high, high school, and home-school students. Yes, we give online ham radio exams, too! (See below) This is a FULL course taught by a 40-yr veteran teacher, not a discussion group or video service. You will learn much more than just watching a video or buying a book. Topics range from the science of radio electronics to the FCC rules governing the radio spectrum. Optional but recommended text: ARRL General Class License Manual, 9th edition, for exams through …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday October 5th, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all… The October Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday October 5th, 2020 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: http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_index_by_linkstate.html We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on participation in a MARS exercise taking place through October 24th, the …

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Operating

Northeast MA Fox Hunting Update

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Alan Hicks, KD1D, writes on NEMass fox hunters list: * All the 2-meter FM foxes belonging to PART of Westford members transmit on 146.565 MHz.   * Currently the KD1D and W1HFN foxes use the Squawkbox module, which typically transmits a short (e.g. 30 second)  voice message and repeats once per minute. The low  power output of about 50 mW allows more than one Squawkbox to be on the air if they are far enough apart.  Often, I have one operating in Westford and W1HFN has one operating in Littleton simultaneously. * Other two-meter fox boxes operated by our club members …

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Affiliated Clubs

Norfolk County Radio Association Meeting Online, October 14, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Dick Bean, K1HC, writes: The NCRA conduct its Wednesday, October 14, 2020 meeting at 8 PM using Zoom in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Jim, WJ1R, will be our Zoom host.  Thank you to Jim for agreeing to take on this role! It will be a good opportunity to see and hear our members!  We have a few business items to cover, but we will let everyone have a chance to speak. Please note that we do need to end the Zoom session shortly after the meeting ends so please be mindful of our host asking us to end our …

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All

Northeast HamXposition Schedule, October 10-November 7, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

From https://hamxposition.org: New England ARES Academy October 10-31, 2020 View the full schedule and sign up at <https://hamxposition.org/2020/ne-ares-academy> The first-ever New England Division ARES Academy, originally scheduled for the Division Convention in November, will instead be held over a period of several weeks in October via Zoom. There are five Basic Track classes for those just getting started, and more advanced classes and workshops for those who already have the basics. One-hour classes will be held on weeknights from 7:30 to 8:30 PM EDT, and two-hour workshop sessions will be held Saturday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00 AM EDT. Just …

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