UPDATED: Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill Monday June 5th, 2006 7-9 PM

Hello to all….

The Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill will take place Monday June 5th, 2006 from 7-9 PM. The statewide drill coincides with the yearly MEMA Region II Hurricane Drill and will be run in a similar format to last year’s hurricane drill except that for areas outside of Region II RACES, we will guide the scenario with NTS Traffic Messages versus envelopes. In Region II, the exercise will utilize the envelope format as in past years.

The 2006 Hurricane Season is expected to be a very active one. As many people are aware of, some weather entities are stating that New England is due for a major hurricane. While much of that is conjecture on the part of these weather entities, preparedness is the key in any disaster. The Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill will help in getting the Amateur community prepared for a hurricane.

The leadership team has put together a “Controller’s Document” for leaders in Massachusetts RACES, ARES, SKYWARN and MARS to control and guide the drill. That document includes 6 NTS messages that will guide the drill and are leaveraged off of the Region II Hurricane Drill documentation. This is being distributed only to the leadership, net controls and liaison for the exercise. If you are in this group and have not receive the document, please email me and I will get you the document.

We have posted the Exercise participants document via the Yahoogroups email lists. I have also put the information out there via this announcement as well. Below is that text: Date and Timeframe of Exercise

Monday June 5th, 2006
Start Time 7 PM
End Time: 9 PM
Duration: 2 Hours
-Please allow time for setup/take down of any equipment during this exercise.

Purpose and Scenario

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will participate in the Hurricane Hope RACES Exercise for Monday June 5th from 7-9 PM. The purpose of this drill will be the following:

• Local ARES team coordination and deployment as well as local NTS and tactical message handling.
• Intra district and interdistrict tactical and formal message handling.
• Utilization of HF, VHF, UHF, Packet, WinLink IRLP and Echolink modes of communication.
• Utilization of EOC or Simulated EOC’s at various points across the section and interfacing with other EOC’s, Simulated EOC’s and SKYWARN liaisons in other sections where appropriate.
• Local SKYWARN Net activations for passing of data to NWS Taunton.
• Utilization of the integrated conference server, which is the Echolink *NEW-ENG* conference node and IRLP Reflector 9123 as a command net for communications with WX1BOX-NWS Taunton and WX4NHC-National Hurricane Center.

For this exercise, it is expected that all EC’s, SKYWARN Liaisons or their designee to support this drill and what is to be exercised. As always, at the local level, message handling and formation is critical and keeping Hams at the local level busy must occur. Be creative and at the same time be realistic. The drill scenario will follow the envelopes that RACES will be following in Region II. For those that are not directly involved with a city/town in Region II RACES, the drill scenario will follow NTS guided messages that have been used in past drills and have been made to follow the Region II RACES envelopes. Net Controls involved in the Region II RACES Nets are asked to read off enough of the envelopes to inform ARES/SKYWARN Amateurs and general Amateurs of the scenario. Net Controls involved in any net that is not the Region II RACES Nets are asked to read the NTS messages that are to guide the scenario over their net frequency.

Amateurs are asked to then build tactical messages, particularly SKYWARN messages as well as NTS traffic messages for the exercise. For this drill, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC will be located at the National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts (WX1BOX) and he will be on the air running the command net to be held on VoIP and as needed he will assist with drill direction for teams within the section and for inter-section communications as needed and “oversee” the exercise as much as possible.

Exercise Objectives

The objectives of this exercise are as follows:

• Have all teams have one liaison that monitors their local RACES Repeater in addition to their local operations.
• ARES teams willing to deploy away teams are asked to do so where possible provided benign weather conditions on the drill date.
• Establish district wide communication utilizing the following
modes:
o IRLP and/or Echolink nodes.
o Utilizing the integrated Echolink *NEW-ENG* Conference Node (Node #9123) and IRLP reflector 9123 as a command net for contact with NWS Taunton (WX1BOX) and the National Hurricane Center (WX4NHC).
o HF
o Utilizing Various 2 Meter Repeaters that the ARES teams will be utilizing in the area when necessary.
o Utilizing SKYWARN frequencies to give mock tactical reports that meet SKYWARN criteria.
o Monitoring RACES Nets active during the exercise and communicate with RACES stations when/if needed. In Region II, discretion is requested given the different format that will be utilized in that area versus the rest of the state.
o Establish a digital means of contact via Packet or WinLink between areas for those that have WinLink and/or Packet capability.
• Establish contact with other ARES districts and EOC’s via HF
(3943 and/or 7245 KHz).
• Test and evaluate the range of Home stations for relay operations.
• Having mobile “roving” Amateurs wherever possible.
• Practice sending many test NTS messages for requests for assistance and status reports to ARES leadership and for RACES stations to send requests for assistance and status reports to their Region I, II or III Managers.
• Practice sending many test tactical messages to ARES/RACES leadership.
• Practice sending many test tactical SKYWARN messages to NWS Taunton.
• Practice sending out of bulletins and statements from NWS Taunton to the various ARES teams.
• Practice sending traffic between ARES members within an ARES team.
• Practice sending traffic between EOC’s within an ARRL Setion.
• Practice sending traffic to the Western Massachusetts section ARES/RACES/SKYWARN personnel where appropriate.
• Assure MARS Liaisons have a way to gather SKYWARN and ARES reports to formulate into EEI’s (Essential Elements of Information).

Operational Ground Rules

The following are some operational ground rules for this
exercise:

• All communications options should be utilized. DEC’s and EC’s may throw in “failures” to test out “failover” of communications wherever possible as long as they are properly communicated up and down the ARES leadership.
• Many messages of both a tactical and NTS formal nature should be sent within the teams participating, between teams and between districts wherever possible.
• Frequent usage of the phrase “This is a Drill” should be incorporated with any messages, traffic or announcements relating to the drill.

Operational Players

The following is a list of agencies and a general list of EOC’s that will be playing in the exercise.

National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts (WX1BOX)

The National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts will be active on the Echolink *NEW-ENG* (Node #: 9123) and IRLP Reflector 9123 systems as well as roving local repeaters to pick up crticial mock reports of weather and damage reports. We will also attempt to monitor HF and 6 Meters given the current limitations with the radio system setup at NWS Taunton.

National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida (WX4NHC)

The National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida will be monitoring the Echolink *NEW-ENG* conference server from their Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center.
The purpose will be to test our reporting information with their needs and to test out having the National Hurricane Center plugged into the regional command net using the new integrated conference system.

Numerous EOC’s in MEMA Region II and Other MEMA Regions Across Massachusetts

There will be numerous EOC’s concentrated in Region II but also scattered about in other MEMA regions that will be active during the exercise. They will be active on their RACES frequencies and will be encouraged to be active on their SKYWARN Repeaters, HF and VoIP using the EchoLink *NEW-ENG* conference node #9123 and IRLP Reflector 9123 utilizing links on Echolink and IRLP and using individual PC’s that can utilize the Echolink program.

SEMARA: Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (W1AEC)

We will attempt to get the Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association Club House active for this drill. Once the details have been worked out, further information will be posted in this exercise documentation.

Home Stations

We encourage home stations across the Eastern Massachusetts section to monitor and check into nets across Eastern Massachusetts district for ARES and SKYWARN assistance. Some home stations can act as “simulated EOC’s” or net controls where appropriate. We encourage stations to generate tactical message traffic for SKYWARN and formal message traffic for ARES where possible.

Mobile Stations

Mobile stations are encouraged to participate utilizing all modes at their disposal and can be utilized as roving stations and can report conditions that they might see if a real hurricane is occurring from their mobile station. We encourage stations to generate tactical message traffic for SKYWARN and formal message traffic for ARES where possible.

Amateur Radio Frequency Plan

The frequency plan will utilize existing SKYWARN and RACES repeaters that are well documented via the web. The following links detail these frequencies:

SKYWARN Frequencies:
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo/freq.htm

RACES/Simplex Frequencies:
http://ares.ema.arrl.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=1804&page_id=9

Please note that SKYWARN Frequencies are more up to date on the first link.

It is noted that IRLP and Echolink nodes maybe connected either to the *NEW-ENG* Conference node or IRLP Reflector 9123. This will again serve as a command net for the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC, and the National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts, WX1BOX, to facilitate contact with ARES-SKYWARN liaisons, MARS Liaisons, and city/town EOC’s who have the capability to liaison via this system. Individual Hams and Spotters are welcome to listen and if they have no other means to pass their information, they can pass it over this system but are otherwise asked to use their local SKYWARN, RACES and ARES repeaters to pass their traffic and allow the liaisons to pass the information to the National Hurricane Center and NWS Taunton, Massachusetts. In addition, NWS Taunton will be roving the various local repeaters to pick up information per the normal SKYWARN Activation process along with monitoring the command net. We will also attempt to have a station monitor both 6 Meters and HF simultaneously.

It is also noted that some SKYWARN, RACES and ARES frequencies overlap with one another. Past exercises have proven that there have been no issues with such overlap. This exercise will test that theory once again and will require net controls and ARES/RACES/SKYWARN management to manage their repeater and frequency resources:

The following additional frequencies will be utilized during the drill in the Southeast Massachusetts district:

SEMARA ARES Response Team Frequency:
147.000-Dartmouth Repeater

Fall River (BCRA) ARES/RACES Team Frequency:
145.15-Fall River Repeater PL: 123.0 Hz.

The MMRA Repeater System will be linked up for the two-hour period of the drill and we will attempt to have a Net Control monitoring the system full-time and facilitate traffic at a section level for Eastern Massachusetts. Below is the link for the frequencies that can be linked up utilizing the MMRA System:

http://www.mmra.org

The following are important regional frequencies via HF for this
drill:

Regional ARES/RACES Net Primary for this drill:
3943 KHz LSB

Regional ARES/RACES Net Secondary for this drill:
7245 KHz LSB

The following are important Packet Frequencies on VHF/UHF and HF for this drill:

WinLink Frequencies:
145.75: Main WinLink Frequency for Mass. State EOC and MEMA Region I
3.626 USB: Main HF WinLink Frequency for Mass. State EOC and MEMA Region I. Region I setup currently down due to interference issues.

Packet Frequencies:
145.01: Packet Frequency supporting MEMA Regions and State EOC
145.09: BBS infrastructure supporting MEMA and NWS main Packet Freq.

There are additional local frequencies that maybe utilized in this drill at your local town/city level or at a regional level. Please contact your ARES DEC or EC for further information on additional frequencies that maybe utilized in your specific area during the drill.

Appendix A: Table of Hurricane Hope Coordinates as Specified in Region II Exercise Packet

The following is a table of Hurricane Hope Coordinates as specifed in the MEMA Region II exercise packet. Emergency Managers, ARES/RACES/SKYWARN/MARS leadership and/or participants may want to map the hurricane track and discuss their course of action based on its position. Discussions can include planning, checklist and resources and when appropriate damage reports can be received. A couple of points in the table are mentioned in the exercise scenario and will be distributed.
Those points mentioned will be the ones closest to the Southern New England coast.

LATITUDE LONGITUDE TIME/DATE
REMARKS
32.4 70.2 0300/4 June HURRICANE WATCH
33.5 71.0 0800/4 June
34.8 71.7 1300/4 June
36.0 72.4 1900/4 June
37.4 72.2 2400/4 June HURRICANE WATCH IN
EFFECT
38.4 72.1 0400/5 June
39.3 72.0 1000/5 June HURRICANE WARNING –
ISSUED
40.4 71.5 1400/5 June
41.0 70.5 1900/5 June

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

Reminder: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for May

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for May is rapidly approaching.

The monthly ARES Net for May is May 1st, 2006, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency
Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net this evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Thanks for your 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

ARES Online Database and Registration Form Link

Hello to all….

For Amateurs who want to sign up for ARES and access the ARES Online Database and Registration Form to join ARES, click the Join Us link on the main menu of the ARES web page. For those that are already ARES members, in the next 1-3 days, we will be sending you’re login information including user ID and password if you have not already received it.

Please let me know if you have any questions concerning the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Online Database and Registration Form.

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton 1

New ARES Online Registration Form and Database

Hello to all….

The following is an announcement on the new ARES Online Registration Form and Database. This writeup was put together by Mike Neilsen-W1MPN, Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Manager, Phil McNamara-N1XTB, ARES EC MARS Liaison, Carl Aveni-N1FY, ARRL Assistant Section Manager-Chief of Staff and South Shore ARES DEC and Rob Macedo-KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator. This announcement was posted as a special message to the ARRL email list.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES is pleased to announce a new method for radio amateurs to register with the section’s ARES program. Through the tremendous efforts of a team headed by Phil McNamara-N1XTB, we now have a new ARES online registration form and database for the Eastern Massachusetts section. Over the years, it has been very difficult to maintain continuity as people signed with the ARES program. With the ubiquity of the Internet, we now have a means that will allow people to register, and then receive rapid acknowledgement that their application has been received. Other powerful features of this database include allowing the user to self- update their information including response status changes, address and contact changes, new equipment or resources, and training from ARES, ARECC classes, SKYWARN Classes, and Incident Command System training etc.

The database will also notify the responsible area DEC and the SEC that a new application has been filed, or the pertinent contact information has changed. Phil, N1XTB, has enabled people in the ARES leadership to be notified of your application (or changes to it), in order to more effectively manage their cadre. The new online ARES database will also send the individual an email acknowledging their session shortly after submitting their registration. The new registrant should then contact his DEC or the SEC for other email lists and information that may be available to him. Also, our local Emergency Coordinator’s will be given access to review ARES applications for their specified coverage area. As the ARES leadership changes, the database can be easily modified to maintain continuity.

The Eastern Massachusetts ARES leadership successfully migrated the previous aging Microsoft Access database and integrated outstanding paper ARES Applications. This effort was spearheaded largely by the tremendous effort of Gil Follett- W1GMF, who updated over 300 people in the database, including call sign, name, address, phone numbers and email address. The Eastern Massachusetts ARES staff is very appreciative of his work. We are now asking that registrants fill in the remainder of the registration information and make any corrections.

We feel that much of this information has changed since originally provided by you. Those Amateurs who do not have Internet access can still obtain the paper ARES registration form from your ARES EC, DEC, or SEC. The Eastern Massachusetts ARES staff encourages Amateurs to learn computer and Internet capabilities as working in today’s emergency communications situations usually require these skills.

In the database inquiry form, you will notice we now ask for your date of birth information and a recent photograph. Since the attacks of September 11th, security has become a paramount issue to the agencies we serve. More questions are being asked prior to participation in federal exercises as well as some activation’s where the federal government is involved, resulting in their requiring our members date of birth data. As this information may be requested with little or no advanced warning, we encourage all participating Amateurs to put this information into the database. You can be sure that the information will only be utilized when it is required by a served agency for ID card preparation. Please be advised that without this information, we may not be able to make you available for operations such as Operation Atlas or TOPOFF-III where the DHS requires this information in order to participate. This information improves our readiness for a major disaster response.

During the testing and data entry phase, some of you may have received a message stating a registration has been submitted for ARES. This was due to having the email mechanism turned on during testing phase. We understand some of you may have deleted this message as spam. After this press release circulates via email lists over the next few days, you will receive an email concerning your registration with login information. At that time, we ask that you login and update your record accordingly. Please take the time to update any training at the link at the top of your record page.

There may be some concern about privacy, hackers and spammers. Phil, N1XTB, keeps the site updated with the latest security patches. The information that you provide is protected by the same robust technology used in credit card transactions and online banking.

We are most fortunate to have received the benefit of Phil’s expertise with online database development work. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for giving the gift of his time and abilities to the section on this project. Phil has been a huge asset to the section having assisted with the many ARES and SKYWARN activations over the past several years.
Following the blitz of these press releases to as many of the emergency communications lists that we have at our disposal for Eastern Massachusetts, you will receive an email with login information and the initial password we’ve assigned. Please login, change your password, and review/update the information that we have put together for your ARES registration. The EMA privacy policy can be found on our website at http://ema.arrl.org.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please email Rob-KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC at kd1cy@ema.arrl.org and he will get back to you ASAP. Thank you all for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES! We hope you will see this new online registration form and database as a huge asset to our section!

de W1MPN
1

Fessenden Special Event Operation Contacts Scotland

On Christmas Eve, 1906, instead of a Morse code message, Fessenden made the first voice radio broadcast heard by Navy ships and ships of the United Fruit Company that carried his radio equipment. Dave Riley, AA1A of Marshfield believes that Reginald Fessenden could truly lay claim to be the inventor of radio but never received his due recognition. Until last December, when an article appeared in the Patriot Ledger, I suspect very few Whitman ARC members, aside from John Coombs, WQ1L of Marshfield, had ever heard about Reginald Fessenden.

Friday, April 14, 2006 just happened to be the day a group of Air Cadets would be camping at the remains of the Fessenden tower/radio station site in Machrihanish, Scotland and the US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was asked to set up a special event Station at the Brant Rock antenna site and make contact with the Air Cadets in Scotland. Pi Pugh, K1RV and the K1USN amateur radio crew were contacted and invited to participate by Dave Newman WB1EVP, the CAP Project Officer for this activity and a local ham who is part of the local K1USN/Marconi crew. Pi, K1RV and the K1USN crew supplied the amateur radio HF and VHF transceivers and antennas. Both a Cushcraft R-5 vertical and a long wire antenna were installed for HF. The CAP crew had no problem making their scheduled contact.

Fessenden Special Operation, April 14, 2006 Shown here (l. to r.): Bill O’Hara N1EY; Pi Pugh, K1RV; Walt Fitzgerald, W1WCF; Bruce Hayden, NI1X and George Glisham, W1YR. Also participating but not present when the picture was taken were: Dave Riley, AA1A; Ralph Butler, W1BT; Tom Wilson, KB1TOM and Dave Hill, N1GXV. It was interesting to note that several CAP member present had their amateur radio licenses.

—Thanks, Whitmn ARC The Spectrum, April 2006

Nashoba Valley ARC Assists Scouts With Radio Merit Badge

Nashoba Valley ARC members recently assisted a local scout troop in obtaining the Radio Merit Badge. Dan Rasmussen, the Troop 3 Scout Master from Groton contacted Stan, KD1LE asking for help with the Radio Merit Badge. On March 24, 2006 NVARC members helped Groton Troop 3 Scouts fulfill requirements for the Radio Merit Badge in Amateur Radio at KD1LE’s QTH.

Joel, W1JMM and Stan, KD1LE first put the Scouts on the air to satisfy one of the requirements. In various combinations the Scouts talked to Larry, KB1ESR and Dave, N1MNX/m on the six meter repeater. Some spoke with Ralph, KD1SM in Cambridge on the Boston two-meter repeater. Several spoke with Bob W1XP/4 at his North Carolina QTH.

After the on-the-air part, Joel and Stan covered the other requirements with a presentation explaining repeater operation, the various aspects of Amateur Radio, how to get licensed, QSL cards, the many operating aspects of Amateur Radio, emergency communications, public service and quite a few other requirements. After a question and answer session we went back to the “shack” to point out various pieces of equipment and its function. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

NVARC Signal, April 2006

Ham Radio Clubs: Join Clay Center For National Astronomy Day

Clay Center, Brookline, MATo Leaders of Scout Groups, Science Clubs, Astronomy Clubs, and Amateur Radio Clubs:

You and your club members are invited to join us on May 6, 2006 as an exhibitor, participant, or both. Display your colors, attract new members, and participate in the excitement!

For the past two years National Astronomy Day at the Clay Center Observatory has been a fantastic educational event that has brought in many hundreds of families from around the greater Boston area and from as far away as Rhode Island and New Hampshire. We co-host the event with the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston (ATMoB) who bring many types of solar and night telescopes to the event. In addition we will have three planetarium shows, a LASER light show, Galileo himself, NASA ambassadors, guest speakers and lecturers, and rooms filled with activity tables and displays on all kinds of sciences. For details, see http://www.claycenter.org/astro. I would like to offer your non-profit organization a table at this event at no cost where you can proudly display your banner and photos, recruit members, and even sell club related items. All I ask is that you offer some kind of hands-on educational science activity (should be somewhat connected to astronomy or earth science). The activity should be geared for children or scaleable to all ages.

If you can join us, please go to the Astronomy Day web site at http://www.claycenter.org/astro and register in the vendor/volunteer section. You and your helpers will receive name badges and boxed dinners. Even if you don’t want to run a booth or table, feel free to bring your club or scout group for a fun afternoon or evening.

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2006

Daytime events 2:00-5:00pm Evening events 6:00-10:00pm

Free admission! Come anytime to each or both.
Free Astronomy Red Light on a keychain for first 300 children!

The Clay Center will hold astronomy day events in collaboration with the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston (ATMoB). Many activities have been planned for families and children of all ages.

* Many different telescopes will be set up for you to see and use. Safely view the sun in the daytime, and see the moon and stars in the evening, weather permitting.

* Demonstrations, lectu res, planetarium shows, LASER Light show, rocketry, stunt kites, celebrity appearances, educational activities for all ages.

* Astronomy Show by astronomer Ron Dantowitz about telescopic coverage of historic SpaceShip One launches and the famous Laser-to-Space-Station project last spring.

Run Of The Charles Ham Support Requested, April 30, 2006

Run Of The Charles photo, courtesy CRWA.orgBob Salow, WA1IDA writes:

The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) has again requested ham support for the Run of the Charles (ROTC) canoe races. Some administrative delays have caused time to be short and your prompt response will really help. Fortunately, the river and race conditions have not changed much in recent years. This event, like so many others in the Greater Boston area, has been coordinated by or through the Boston Amateur Radio Club. I manage the public service activities for the club.

We should all be aware of the critical nature of this event and the restrictions it imposes on the ham support. I intend to continue that concept. As I increase the number of hams needed to do this job, I plan to be selective of ham quality. To manage this I ask that you respond to the questions below as quickly and as accurately as you can. Email will be the primary means of communication between us. This year the ROTC will be on Sunday, 30 April 2006. Some assignments will begin as early as 0700, others somewhat later. As in the past, our duties are primarily safety and administrative at the dam portages, as well as shadows for key CRWA staff and at Net Control. A 2-meter, 5 watt hand-held is satisfactory. A dual-band radio is desirable, but not required. An antenna better than the “rubber duck” that came with the radio is essential because the riverside locations may make communications difficult. Be sure to have sufficient batteries to last the day. I will furnish you with assignments, more details and instructions as soon as the information is available.

As a ham event, this is an interesting and fun experience. The communication load is light, but that doesn’t begin to compare with the problems of handling canoes in a rushing river. The CRWA emphasizes safety and care for the participants, so wetness is frequent and accidents are few.

If you can help for this event, please respond with all of the following information as soon as possible. Reply by email is the best method.

Full name

On-air name

Call sign

Postal mailing address (including 9-digit ZIPcode)

Evening phone

Day phone

Cell phone

Email address

Does your 2-meter radio have CTCSS (PL)?

Do you have a dual-band radio?

Do you have a magnetic mount antenna?

T-shirt size

Also, with regard to this event, let me know your station preference(s), if any, and time of assignment desired. Note that we cannot assure you that all preferences can be granted. Depending on the responses received, there is a slight chance we cannot use all volunteers. Try to get back to me as quickly as you can.

If you know other hams who would meet the ROTC quality standards and are interested in this event, ask them to send the above information to me.

73,

Bob Salow

wa1ida@arrl.net

508.650.9440

Boston ARC To Participate In Blue Hill Observatory “Spring Open House”

Boston ARC logoThe Boston Amateur Radio Club has been invited to participate at the Blue Hill Observatory Spring Open House on Saturday, April 29. Open to the public, this is a great opportunity to introduce ham radio to kids and adults alike. Attendance is expected to be more than 1500. The event runs from 1000 to 1600, with our set-up beginning at 0800.

We will be operating on 145.230, 146.520 and on HF. Our past experience operating from that location during SKYWARN Recognition Day indicates that 2M VHF contacts are possible all over New England.

Transportation to the top of the hill will be by shuttle service from the parking lot located at the base of Great Blue Hill on Rt. 138 in Milton – unless you would like to hike the 653′ elevation. I also suggest bringing a lunch and something to drink.

Those interested in assisting please contact me by e-mail at emgmgt@comcast.net or at 781.749.7664.

BARC enjoys a good working relationship with the Blue Hill Science Center. It’s important we support their events as they have supported ours. There will be several other organizations participating including the Mt. Washington Observatory and the EPA. More information is available at http://www.bluehill.org. Click on activates, and then the event calendar

(Please note that BARC’s participation is weather dependent and the final decision as to participation may not be made until the morning of the event, at which time it will be announced on the 145.230 repeater and on barc-list.)

—Thanks, Boston ARC The SPARC, April 2006

Walk For Hunger Volunteers Sought–May 7, 2006

Walk For Hunger 2006Bruce Pigott, KC1US writes:

Project Bread will again be looking forward to hams supporting the Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 7. Forty thousand walkers will be raising funds for emergency feeding programs located across the Commonwealth. This will be the twenty fifth time Amateur Radio will be part of the Walk organization.

The assignments are about six hours long at various places along the twenty mile Walk route from Boston out to Newton. Some positions start at 6AM with others starting throughout the morning. We need coordinator shadows at checkpoints, bus stops, with walker marshals, and in transport vans. All skill levels of hams are desired. A two meter or dual band radio with extra battery and an extended (15 inch) antenna are needed. An informational meeting and two on air sessions will be held to answer questions and fill in last minute details. You can sign up at the Crocker Public Service Group web page http://cpsg.amateur-radio.net/ or send a message to wfh06@amateur-radio.net.

High praise was received last year from the coordinators and the Project Bead staff for the quantity and quality of support by hams. Three million dollars were raised even with the rain showers. More information about the Walk and the services Project Bread provides can found at http://www.projectbread.org/. The event is an enjoyable day with both the walkers and volunteers having a good time at this worthwhile cause.

Thank you and 73 – Bruce KC1US

New England Public Service List April 11, 2006

       PSLIST                                              April 11, 2006

Public Service Volunteer Opportunities in the New England Division

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 30 Groton MA Groton Road Race Ralph KD1SM 978-582-7351
kd1sm@arrl.net
May 7 Boston MA Walk for Hunger Bruce KC1US 781-275-3740
wfh06@amateur-radio.net
May 13 Grafton MA Grafton Road Race Bob KA1OTQ 508-865-6957
Robert.Beausoleil@verizon.net
May 13 Westford MA Apple Blossom Parade Terry KA8SCP 978-692-2069
ka8scp@arrl.net
May 21 Devens MA Parker Classic Road Race Stan KD1LE 978-433-5090
May 21 Wellesley MA Veterans Parade Tom N1CPE 508-478-4230
http://www.wellesleyparade.com/index.htm n1cpe@amsat.org
Jun 4 Boston MA AIDS Walk Boston Bruce KC1US 781-275-3740
wfh06@amateur-radio.net
Jul 1 Princeton MA Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Ralph KD1SM 978-582-7351
kd1sm@arrl.net
Jul 2 Fitchburg MA Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Ralph KD1SM 978-582-7351
kd1sm@arrl.net
Jul 4 Chelmsford MA 4th of July Parade Darrel K1EJ 978-251-4805
k1ej@arrl.net

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 (see address above). 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,
(via Internet) KD1SM@ARRL.NET.

We make an attempt to confirm entries with the coordinator unless the
information is from another published source. We very much appreciate
the assistance we have been receiving from our 'scouts'; everyone is
welcome to send us postings.

Refer to http://purl.org/hamradio/publicservice/nediv for the most
recent version of the PSLIST.

Collins R-390 Assistance

Collins R390AArthur Minasian, N1KZC writes:

Does anyone know of any reputable techs that have experience in repairing and or restoring back to specs boat anchors? In particular, I am trying to find someone for a blind friend of mine that needs his R390 “tweeked”.

If you can help via your own experience with a reliable tech, please email me at: akm_325@yahoo.com. Thanks.

73 de:
Dah dit/di dah dah dah dah/Dah di dah/Dah dah di dit/Dah di dah dit.

Framingham ARA To Participate In Emergency Preparedness Expo

Framingham ARA logoThe Framingham Amateur Radio Association plans to be on-hand at the upcoming Emergency Preparedness Exposition on September 16, 2006 on Pond Road in Framingham. The event is being sponsored by the Knox Trail Council of the Framingham Boy Scouts.

“They are expecting between 700 to 1,000 attendees for the event,” writes Framingham ARA president Gordy Bello, K1GB. “FARA will be there with a booth depicting ham radio’s role in emergency communications.” He adds, “We will be handing out brochures, flyers, etc. and [operating our handi-talkies] for demonstration purposes.

The Expo will feature organizations such as: NSTAR, the FBI, Framingham Fire Department, and Framingham Police Department. Lunch will be provided for those participating.

Says, K1GB, “This is FARA’s golden opportunity to show our value to the the public.”

Eastern VHF/UHF Conference April 21-23, 2006

microwave dishMark your calendars for the 32nd Eastern VHF/UHF Conference, April 21-23, 2006 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Enfield, Connecticut.

The conference is an opportunity to share with fellow VHFers and above technical achievments in the field of communication and experimentation. It will feature technical talks, photo displays, band sessions, noise figure measurements, and much more.

For additional information, visit http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html.

Oldest College Club Station?

HWC shieldAn interesting thread on the Harvard Wireless Club (HWC) email reflector discusses who has legitimate claim to being the oldest college radio club in existence.

HWC member George Clark, W1XW states, “Two potential challengers are the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Wirless Association, now W1YK, which also claims to have been founded in October, 1909, and The MIT Radio Society, which also claims founding in 1909.” Clark goes on to ask, “Does anybody have a citation for (or even better, a copy of) a document that mentions the date of [the Harvard Wireless Club’s] founding?”

In responding, W1AF trustee Mike Manafo, K3UOC writes:

“According to page 6 in The WPI Wireless Association: Its Origin and Growth, 1909-1932, David M. Mangini, (unpublished dissertation, WPI, 1978), the author writes:

‘… radio clubs were still a new thing when WPI established their wireless group. Public clubs were still few in number and centered mainly around the larger cities. The first of the college wireless club is reputed to be the Harvard Wireless Club in Cambridge, Mass. The next club thought to be founded at a college is the MIT Wireless Society from which WPI got its encouragement.'”

Manafo goes on to state, “A copy of the Mangini thesis sits on the bookshelf in the [W1AF] shack. In addition, there is a QST article from the 1920’s in which MIT RC credits the HWC as instrumental in its founding. There should be a copy of the article in our files.”

The Harvard Wireless Club was originally founded as “The Radio Society of The Institute for Geographic Exploration.”

Reminder: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for April

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for April is rapidly approaching.

The monthly ARES Net for April is April 3rd, 2006, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency
Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net this evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Thanks for your 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

New England Area Flea Markets, March 30, 2006

New England Area   Ham - Electronic  Flea Market  ***  DATES  *** 2006 P 1 of 2
All events are Ham Radio/ Electronic related except ~_____~
*******************************************************************************
2006 Contact Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 Apr Laval PQ CRALL @HS George-Vanier $5@9 $19/T@7 514 708 8033 W+

8 Apr Londonderry NH IRS @Lions Club $10@7 $3@9 Gayle KB1LHA 781 598 1442 F+

15 Ap S Portland ME PAWA @AmLegion Roger N1XP 207 671 0671 A

16 Apr Cambridge MA FLEA at MIT Nick 617 253 3776
Third Sunday April thru October

22 Apr Nashua NH NE Antique RC $15/T@7 $5@8 $2@9 @StStan Marty 603 755 2839

22 April Montreal PQ MARC @LaSalleRCL $4@9 $8/T@8 James 514 697 7205 R

23 Ap Southington CT SARA @HS $5@9 $10@8:30 $20/T@6:30 Chet 860 628 9346 F

23 Ap LaGrangeville NY MtBeaconARC @TymorPk Rich N2ZKX 845 344 2720 A+

23 Ap Enfield CT NEWS EVHF/UHF Conf Mark K1MAP 413 566 2404 W+

29-30 Ap Watertown MA Photographica @ACEC ~photo~ John 781 592 2553 W+

5,6 May Hopkinton NH HossTraders @FG x7 I89 Joe K1RQG 207 469 3492 T

6 May Goshen CT SBARC @FG Rt 63 $3@8 $5/TG@6 Lee K1LEE 860 435 0051 F+

8 May Whately MA FCARA @ElSch $3@5PM Bill N1EWK 413 774 4669 W+

13 May Halifax NS HARC @ForumAnnex B@9 S@6:30 Murray VE1MMD R

13 May Rensselaer NY EGARA @FireHse $5@8 $10/T@6 Thomas KC2FCP 518 272 1494 F+

21 May Cambridge MA FLEA at MIT Nick 617 253 3776

27 May Vernon CT NARC @Tolland AG Ctr $4@9 $15/T Wayne N1GUS 860 487 1921 A+

28 May SorelTracy PQ STARC $5@9 $15/T@6 Luc VE2DWE 450 743 8676 R+

2 June Feeding Hills MA HCRA TG Party @CongCh @6PM Dave KB1MU 413 596 6605

2-4 June Rochester NY RARA @FG Harold K2HC 585 424 7184 A

3 June Hermon ME PSARC @HS Roger KA1TKS 207 848 3846 A+

4 June Queens NY HoSARC 47-01 111st $5@9 $10/sp@7:30 Steve 718 898 5599 F+

11 June Newington CT NARL @ShrinerHall George AB1GL 860 463 0948 A+

11 June Bethpage NY LIMARC @Briarcliff Rick K2RB 516 526 6975 A+
*******************************************************************************
LAST UPDATE 3-30-06 de W1GSL P 1
List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version
*******************************************************************************
Additions/ Corrections via e-Mail w1gsl@mit.edu ***
Page 3 Electronic distribution only. This page has the overflow if any P3
from the paper version.
*******************************************************************************
2006 Contact Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*******************************************************************************
LAST UPDATE 3-30-06 de W1GSL P 3
List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version
Additions/ Corrections via Internet w1gsl@mit.edu
US Mail W1GSL POB 397082 MIT Br Cambridge MA 02139
(c)2006 W1GSL http://www.swapfwst.us SASE for updated copy as issued.
unlimited reproduction permitted in entirety
*******************************************************************************

List is normally updated twice a month - look for the latest version

Be sure to check for the latest version as updating is under the control
of the page owner.

* You can have the list e-mailed directly to you as it is updated. *
* Just send a request to be added to the distribution to w1gsl@mit.edu *

73 Steve F
W1GSL

***********************************************************************
New England Area Ham - Electronic Flea Market *** DATES *** P4
Links to New England Hamfest Web Sites (c) 2006 W1GSL
***********************************************************************
This section is only included in the electronic distribution.

Cambridge MA Flea at MIT http://www.swapfest.us

Hopkinton NH Hosstraders http://www.qsl.net/k1rqg/

Amherst MA Mt. Tom ARC http://www.mtara.org/hamfest/flea.html

Adams MA N BerkshireARC http://www.nobarc.org/hamfest

Boxborough MA NE ARRL Conv http://www.boxboro.org/

Framingham MA FARA http://www.fara.org/

Newton MA Waltham ARA Auction http://www.wara64.org/auction/

S Dartmouth MA SEMARA http://www.semara.org/flea/fleamkt.htm

Watertown MA Photographica http://www.phsne.org/ +

Whately MA FranklinCARC http://www.fcarc.org/news.htm +

Enfield CT VHF/UHF Conf http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html +

Newington CT NARL http://www.narl.net/1.htm

Southington CT SARA http://www.chetbacon.com/sara.htm

Wallingford CT Nutmeg CT Conv http://www.nutmeghamfest.com

Windsor CT Vintage R Mus http://www.NationalCommunicationsMuseum.org/

Lewiston ME AARC http://www.mainearrl.org/convent.htm

Portland ME PAWA http://www.qsl.net/pawa/fleamarket.html

Henniker NH CVRC http://www.qsl.net/k1bke/

Rochester NH GBRA http://www.kb1kbe.com/hamfest06.html

Bergen NJ BARA http://www.bara.org/

Lake Placid NY NNY ARA http://www.northnet.org/nnyham/hamfest_flyer2004.htm

Lindenhurst NY ToB ARES http://www.tobares.org/hamfest.html

Long Island NY LIMARC http://www.limarc.org/fest.htm

Massapequa NY GSB ARA http://www.gsbarc.org/

Queens NY Hall of Science http://hosarc.org/hamfest.html

Rensselaer NY E Greenbush ARA http://www.com-tech.org/EGARA.html

Rochester NY AWA http://www.antiquewireless.org/

Rochester NY RARA http://www.rochesterhamfest.org/

Greenwich RI Fidelity ARC http://users.ids.net/~newsm/dates.html

Essex Junction VT Burlington ARC http://www.vtstetson.net/fest02.pdf

Milton VT RANV VT Conv http://www.ranv.org/milton.html

St Albans VT STARC http://www.starc.org/

Drummondville PQ leCRdeD http://www.9bit.qc.ca/ve2crd/hamfest/index.html

Greenwood PQ GARC http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/esmith/GARC/activities.htm +

Montreal PQ MARC http://www.marc.qc.ca/fest/fest.html

Montreal PQ WIARC http://www.pubnix.net/wiarc/hamfest.htm

Montreal PQ MS-SARC http://www.ve2clm.ca/hamfesta.htm

Laval PQ CRALL http://www.ve2crl.qc.ca/ +

Sorel-Tracy PQ CRAS-T http://www.hamfest.qc.ca/

Summerside PEI SPARC http://www.summersidearc.com/fleamarket.htm

St Therese PQ CRALL http://www.ve2crl.qc.ca/hamfest2002.htm

Halafax NS HARC http://www.halifax-arc.org/

Timonium MD GBHC http://www.gbhc.org/ +

Canada RAC List http://rac.eton.ca/data/racfleas.taf?function=form

Phila. Area VARA List http://www.qsl.net/w2vtm/hamfest.html

USA ARRL List http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html