Tag: #yccc

Clubs / Operating

Yankee Clipper Contest Club DMR Net, May 20, 2020

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Reminder: YCCC DMR Net

When: Wednesday, 20 May 2020, 8:00pm to 9:00pm, (GMT-04:00) America/New York

Where: DMR TG NETAC1

View Event

Organizer: ne1b.c6awb@gmail.com

Description: YCCCers!

Join us every Wednesday evening at 8pm ET for contesting talk on the DMR repeater network. There are several methods to access the Net:

 
  • By RF
    Access via 2 meter or 70 cm DMR repeater.  See the list of 91 repeaters near you at http://nedecn.org  The frequencies are in the left menu “DMR Repeaters>New England”.  Use the NETAC1 talk group.
  • By Dongle or Hot Spot
    You can use openSpot, JumboSpot, ZumSpot, MMDVM
  • By EchoLink
    Get the software app on your smartphone or laptop at: http://www.echolink.org/  Contact KM3T or NE1B to put your callsign on the Access List.  Echolink node is K1QVC-L  Connect and RX B4 TX.

73 and see you there!

Licensing Education & Training

Final Reminder: Contest University Online, May 14, 2020

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John Dorr, K1AR, writes on the Yankee Clipper Contest Club mailing list:

Good morning everyone!

Just a final reminder that CTU On-Line will be held this Thursday, May 14. Be especially sure to stay connected at the end of the day as there will be a very special presentation of great interest to YCCC members.

Check out https://www.contestuniversity.com/course-outline/ to pre-register
and be ready to go!

[See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2020/04/15/contest-university-usa-2020-on-line-may-14-2020/]
Clubs / Operating

YCCC Special Presentation: “Remote Operating Opportunities,” April 28, 2020

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The Yankee Clipper Contest Club is offering a special video presentation on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 from 7:30-9:00 PM entitled, “Remote Operating Opportunities.” According to the event organizer, Jim Idelson, K1IR, “Gerry Hull, W1VE, will provide how-to info for both hosts and remote ops.” 

The Zoom conference is closed to YCCC members only. K1IR reports several individuals have requested the ability to watch the session at a later time. “We will push the record button and make the session available at some point after the event. [Also,]  we will be streaming the event live on YouTube. The link is:
https://studio.youtube.com/video/Rl8-HR9bQyU/edit?c=UCOZDgRPZQ5lvtry1OjNWBYQ.”

Operating

Yankee Clipper Contest Club DMR Net, December 18, 2019 and Each Wednesday, 8 PM-9 PM

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NE1B writes on the YCCC Reflector:

Reminder: YCCC DMR Net

When: Wednesday, 18 December 2019, 8:00pm to 9:00pm, (GMT-05:00) America/New York

Where: DMR TG NETAC1

View Event

Organizer: ne1b.c6awb@gmail.com

Description: YCCCers!

Join us every Wednesday evening at 8pm ET for contesting talk on the DMR repeater network. There are several methods to access the Net:

  • By RF
    Access via 2 meter or 70 cm DMR repeater.  See the list of 91 repeaters near you at http://nedecn.org  The frequencies are in the left menu “DMR Repeaters>New England”.  Use the NETAC1 talk group.
  • By Dongle or Hot Spot
    You can use openSpot, JumboSpot, ZumSpot, MMDVM
  • By EchoLink
    Get the software app on your smartphone or laptop at: http://www.echolink.org/  Contact KM3T or NE1B to put your callsign on the Access List.  Echolink node is K1QVC-L  Connect and RX B4 TX.

73 and see you there!

Operating

YCCC Members QRV for ARRL DX CW Contest Weekend

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Several Yankee Clipper Contest Club members plan to operate from DX locations in the upcoming ARRL DX CW Contest February 16-17.

YCCC president Dennis Egan, W1UE, of Marlborough, writes he will be on Roatan Island  (off the coast of Honduras).  “If you need HR on any bands, let me know.  I’ll also be doing some 60-meter operation, SSB only on the same frequency slots as the USA. For the contest, I’ll either be W1UE/HR9 or HQ9X.  Haven’t got the authorization for the special call yet.” Dennis adds he’ll also be on Roatan for the  CQWW 160M SSB contest the following weekend.

Brian Machesney, K1LI, Vermont, is traveling to J75Y in Dominica. He hopes to be on from the DARCI club station for both CW and phone, low power.

Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, Coventry, Connecticut, will be QRV from 4U1ITU in Geneva (a separate DXCC entity). “It’s not exactly a DXpedition, but because I will be in Geneva for an ITU meeting February 18-28. I am going a couple of days early to put 4U1ITU on for CW.” Dave adds he will have to QRT early Sunday “but there will probably be a couple of other operators as well.”

Kurt Pauer, W6PH, of Amherst, New Hampshire, will be VP9/W6PH (Bermuda) for the contest. Kurt says it will be his 20th consecutive year there.

Paul Young, K1XM, Hudson, MA, will operate remote as VY1AAA giving out the rare Yukon Territory multiplier. “It is not a DXpedition because I’m not going anywhere,” Paul adds.

Bill Barber, NE1B, Hudson, New Hampshire, writes, “C6ANM (Bahamas) may be on for ARRL CW and CQ 160 SSB, depending on antenna build challenges.” He adds the station will be on “definitely for ARRL DX SSB with NE1B, N1GN, K1EP and K1VK.”

UPDATES:

 

February 5, 2019: Gerry Hull, W1VE, Hancock, NH, will be part of a multi-multi operation from P40E (Aruba) along with K2LE, K9RS, N3RD, and AA5B.  “Please work us on six bands.  We will be watching 10 carefully, with a dedicated SDR watching the band.”

 

February 14, 2019: Dennis, W1UE, confirms he will operating as HQ9X for the ARRL DX CW contest.

Operating

Experimental Station Heard on 30 Meters

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From the ARRL Letter:

IARUMS has received reports of short “beeps” exactly 1 second apart, as  well as frequency hopping between 10,108 and 10,115 kHz and 18,834 and  18,899 kHz. The signals are believed to emanate from a site near Chicago  associated with an FCC-licensed experimental operation involved with  low-latency exchange trading on HF (see “Experiments Look to Leverage  Low-Latency HF to Shave Microseconds off Trade Times  <http://www.arrl.org/news/experiments-look-to-leverage-low-latency-hf-to-shave-microseconds-off-trade-times>”).  Although Amateur Radio is secondary on 30 and 17 meters, Experimental  licenses may not interfere with Amateur Radio operations.”

YCCC member Fred Coelho, WX1S writes on the YCCC reflector:

“More on our 30 meter intruder.  I’m not sure if this is what we were  hearing last month but a signal (beep) at 1 second apart sounds about  right.  I copied this from the latest ARRL letter.”

Licensing Education & Training

“Virtual Elmer” Project Envisioned

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Gerry Hull, W1VE, writes on the YCCC reflector:

There’s a Facebook Group called “Ham Radio – New to the Hobby”.

I’ve seen many posts in this group with people stating “I’ve had my General or Extra for a while.  However, I’ve never had an HF QSO.”

Reasons?

– Don’t know how to use the radio.
– Don’t know the procedure for making a QSO
– Mic fright.
– Don’t want to screw up and get in trouble with the FCC.

Lots of these guys are outside any club territory.

So, I created a poll on that site this morning.   Here’s what I got for responses:

More than 56 people interested in getting into an online QSO  — in less than a day.   However, Jim, K1IR, pointed out it would be a much better process to combine some needy hams with some Elmers.   We can do this virtually.    A really good use of Internet technology.

So, I registered the domain virtualelmer.org   I’m going to use that to gather people and co-ordinate.

To be an Elmer, you’d need to have some form of Video Chat (Facebook Messenger, Skype, etc). and some time.   You could help the new ham understand how to use their rig.   How to connect an antenna.  How to choose what band to get on.

And most importantly, get on the air and help them with a First QSO — with you. If you are interested, send me an email and tell me of your interest. I’ll get you hooked up with some of these folks.  You set the date, time with them.

Clubs / Operating

YCCC Net, Wednesdays at 8 PM

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Bill Barber, NE1B, writes on the YCCC reflector:

For those of you who have a DMR radio, we have setup a net on Wednesday nights, available on the 91 New England Network repeaters.  It is basically an intercom covering ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, and areas of NY (Albany, Mt. Beacon, Long Island).  Access by NETAC1 (New England TAC1 – “Talk Group” 8801).  Just key PTT to activate and call-in.

Additional info available on http://nedecn.org

Operating

YCCC Members Attend Lithuanian Hamfest

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W1UE at 2018 Lithuanian Hamfest
Dennis, W1UE, conveyed greetings to the hamfest participants from the Yankee Clipper Contest Club in New England. Simonas, LY2EN, is on the right.

Dennis Egan, W1UE, Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Rich Assarabowski, K1CC, represented the Yankee Clipper Contest Club at the 2018 LRMD (Lithuania) Hamfest held on July 27-29, 2018.

The event was held in Miego Klinika, a rural resort on a small lake in the middle of a forest in the northern part of Lithuania. Dennis, Fred, and Rich traveled to LY-land following the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship in Germany.  (See also: https://ema.arrl.org/2018/07/06/yccc-well-represented-at-wrtc2018-july-12-16-2018/)

“The tradition of summer radio amateur meetings in Lithuania goes back to 1989. This was at the end of the Soviet occupation, when the country was a republic in the Soviet Union. This year, Lithuania is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence right after the First World War. This was a turning point for many European nations. It looks like the Lithuanian Amateur Radio is going through a very active and successful period right now.”

For the complete story, visit https://dxnews.com/lithuanian-hamfest-2018/.

Operating

“Salutations from Roatan Island – HR9”

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map of Roatan I., HondurasNote: several Eastern Massachusetts amateurs are currently participating in a DXpedition to Roatan I. [NA-057] in Honduras.

Dennis Egan, W1UE/HR9 writes on the Yankee Clipper Contest Club list:

Salutations from Roatan Isalnd, Honduras!

Our HR9 operation is well underway.  Sunday, we built the elements for the DXE Skyhawk.  That endeavor took most of the day.  The temperature here isn’t bad- 84F- but it is the relentless humidity that takes it out of you.  There is also little relief at night, as the temp drops to maybe 78F.  I guess that’s life in the Caribbean!

Monday, the 50ft aluminum tower went up.  We were able to rig the rotor, mast, and feedlines to the tower before it was pushed up.  It took the 4 of us, with 2 Honduran helpers, to lift it into place.  I took a few pix until the tower got to the 30deg up, when all hands were needed to get it up the rest of the way.  Still, once everything was rigged, the actual lift- while pretty exhausting- didn’t take an hour.  We also brought the Skyhawk to the back lawn and began the process of finishing the antenna.

Tuesday, Paul K1XM and Charlotte KQ1F spent his morning finishing the antenna assembly, when Rudy N2WQ took the manual and a tape measure and rechecked every dimension of the antenna to make sure there were no errors.  Once that was completed, Paul climbed the tower and we spent about 2 hours rigging up the ropes to tram the antenna to the top.  We rigged up two pulleys to get a 2:1 mechanical advantage on the tram, and 1.5 hours later the antenna was on the mast at the top of the tower!  Again, we have very few pix of this happening, as all 4 of us were actively involved in the tramming.  Charlotte and I lifted, Paul was on the tower, and Rudy played the tie line.  Seeing as the tramming area was little bigger than the beam, I thought it was a great job by all, especially Paul, who spent 3+ hours at the top of an unguyed 50ft aluminum tower!  While they were checking over the antenna, I put together the antenna switching/BPF/Triplexer board.

It was most gratifying to put the antenna analyzer on the end of the coax, and see the SWR dips in the ham bands pretty much where we wanted them! The linears will be happy with this antenna!

I know some of you worked us Tuesday night.  FYI, we were  barefoot with 100 watts.  We were surprised when 15m was still open to the states- the stations that called us were loud, but there just weren’t many of them. 20m was also fun, as stations in zones 14-15-16-17-18-19-25 were all easily worked.

Today we’ll be working on getting the low band antennas up.  Expect to see us on 40/80/160 tonight, hopefully with a KW.  There is more work to be done in the shack with running coax to the antenna switching board, and running control cables/coax to the operating positions.

If any YCCCer needs us for DXCC band/countries, let us know and we’ll try to accommodate.  We won’t have much of an antenna for 12 or 17M, but any other band we should be good on.

PS:  Remember, its HQ9X,  NOT SQ9X.  Even though we religiously sent the call correctly, and sent Zone 7 with each exchange, there were still over 200 ops that miscopied us in CQWW CW.

All / Operating

YCCC 40th Anniversary Meeting, April 2

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YCCC logoTony Brock-Fisher, K1KP writes on the YCCC reflector:

Plan to attend the upcoming General Meeting:

Sunday, April 2
1-4:30pm
Sturbridge Host
Sturbridge, MA

The Yankee Clipper Contest Club proudly celebrates its 40th Anniversary! We are honored to have the club’s original president, Jeff Briggs, K1ZM as a featured speaker!

Also on the program:

  • Tim Duffy K3LR – ‘The K3LR Story’ (via Skype)
  • Brian Machesney K1LI/J75Y – ‘Haminica’
  • Election of Officers
  • YCCC Youth Scholarship Prize Drawing
    (if we sell enough tickets, $25 per chance for a K3s, cash or checks OK)

We will also have special cake to celebrate the anniversary!

Reminder, – if you need a new name badge, please reply off-list. YCCC Awards will also be available for pickup.

All / Operating

WRTC 2014 Testing – Volunteers Sought

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Mark Pride, K1RX writes:

Hello from the WRTC 2014 organizing committee!

Thanks too all of you who have stepped forward and volunteered to help with the WRTC testing effort we’re planning for this July (trial run). And for those that yet to sign up, please review the following with your fellow club members and contact me if you can volunteer for this July (or beyond).

We’re interested to making sure that the sites we have approval to use will work as well as we hope they will (and are not too good or too bad), and we need to work through the process of setting up and taking down stations using the configuration we are planning to use in 2014.

There are three parts of the process:

Station set-up Operating Station tear-down

Full details on WRTC 2014 can be found at: http://www.wrtc2014.org/

Station Set-Up

The set-up process is currently estimated to take 5-6 hours, and would take place on Thursday or Friday. A team of at least four people will be needed for each location.

Each site runs independently, with a 1kw generator, tent, table, etc. We have successfully tested a tilt-over Rohn 25 tower with tri-bander and 40/80m dipoles. All of this should fit in a pick-up truck and weighs roughly 350 pounds.

The tower/antennas use the falling-derrick method to get them up – no climbing needed (nor wanted).

Once installed, we will need someone to spend the night to monitor the equipment until the contest starts (Saturday morning at 8am).

Operating

The contest runs from 8am Saturday until 8am Sunday. We would like to see the station active for the full time period if possible. For 2012 we are only envisioning one station and one operator but if you want to be ambitious and plan for two, go for it. You will need a triplexer if there are two stations using the tribander.

During the contest we will be monitoring all stations .

Two demonstration events are planned leading up to the July, 2012 trial run.

1. May 4 and 5, 2012 at the NEARfest event in Deerfield, NH

2. At the QTH of Mark, K1RX in Kensington, NH on June 2 (directions and RSVP can be found at the YCCC.org web site)

I am inviting participation from ALL New England based amateur radio clubs to join us at the NEARfest or at my place on June 2 to get first hand training and experience with every aspect of the tower and antenna assembly and operation.

Note also that the towers, generators, antennas will be offered to clubs that help in this significant undertaking at a considerable discount. More details to follow on this opportunity to help the local clubs in New England.

All / Clubs / Operating

Intro To Radiosporting–YCCC-Style!

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YCCC logoBoxboro convention logo

Attention all Northeast Area hams!

Did you know . . .
– You can work 100 countries or all 50 states in a single weekend?
– There’s a way you can compete with other hams locally or on a global scale?
– You can quickly gain new knowledge about radio, antennas and many other exciting technologies?
– You can easily meet and interact with some of the best and brightest technicians and operators in amateur radio?

The Yankee Clipper Contest Club invites you to attend it’s first “Introduction to Radiosporting – Amateur Radio Contesting” seminar at this year’s New England Division Convention in Boxboro, MA.

All are welcome to enjoy a taste of radio contesting. Get the scoop on what contesting is all about. Learn how you can get started and enjoy your first contest. Mingle with others who are just getting started. Hobnob with winners of the biggest international competitions. Learn about the simple and inexpensive equipment, antennas and software that will get you started in contesting.

What: Introduction to Radiosporting – Amateur Radio Contesting
Where: Holiday Inn, Boxboro, MA in the Federal Room
When: Saturday, August 26, 2006 1:00-3:30PM

Additional information about the convention, the seminar and YCCC can be found at www.boxboro.org and www.yccc.org

There’s plenty of room for all who wish to attend. Come alone or bring a friend! Experienced contesters welcome, too. No need to pre-register, but let us know if you think you’ll be there. RSVP to contestingintro@yccc.org You are also invited to join us for a YCCC general meeting at 3:30pm in the Federal Room following the seminar.

73 and we’ll look forward to seeing you at “Introduction to Radiosporting – Amateur Radio Contesting” in Boxboro!

Mark Pride, K1RX
President
Y C C C – The Yankee Clipper Contest Club

PS Questions or comments? Please email contestingintro@yccc.org