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Rusty Moore, K1FVK, writes on the Sci-Tech ARS mailing listL We just passed the one year anniversary of the great 2023 balloon turkey-shoot, during which the USAF downed a Chinese spy balloon plus three small unidentified balloons, one of which was almost certainly K9YO-15, a radio-equipped pico balloon flown by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. Today the press reported that NORAD is currently tracking another small unidentified balloon, but has determined that it poses no threat to national security. As soon as I heard about this I did a quick check of SondeHub and whatddaya know, there’s K9YO-7 on …

The [Barnstable ARC] W1MA wide-area repeater lost commercial power last week following the loss of a 4000 volt private line feeder.  After several days of BARC repeater committee members backing up the W1MA BARC repeater’s batteries with a generator,  Eversource has repaired, at its own expense, a failed insulator on a pole feeding 4000 volts to the repeater site in Dennis on Cape Cod.  The insulator failed after a snow  storm but had likely been in service for 70 years. The repeater is a primary Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) facility on the Cape and is used for a variety …

TECHNICIAN IN A DAY STUDY COURSE CAPE ANN AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION GLOUCESTER, MA Thank you for your interest in becoming an amateur radio operator. Our Technician In A Day Session is a study course.  The course allows you to become licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as an Amateur Radio Operator. You should obtain a copy of the ARRL Technician Class License Manual.  You may purchase this book at Ham Radio Outlet or any other amateur radio related store. You should read the book.  The information contained therein will allow you to answer questions on a 35 question test for …

Lem Skidmore, W1LEM, writes on the Barnstable ARC mailing list: This is an annual event to commemorate the April 15, 1912 sinking of the Titanic, run by The Titanic Marconi Memorial Radio Association Of Cape Cod (a.k.a Barry KB1TLR and friends).  This year we wil also be activating the Cape Cod National Seashore for Parks on the Air (POTA). We’ll be operating from the Salt Pond Visitor’s Center April 12-14 (the ship struck the iceberg on the 12th). See https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/hours.htm. We’ll need operators to make contacts around the world, assist with logging QSOs, meet and greet the public, and enjoy themselves.  …

Wellesley ARS President Dan Brown, W1DAN, writes on the Wellesley ARS mailing list:   Hope everyone is enjoying a nice President’s day.  <…>   Tomorrow night (February 20, 2024 at 7:30 PM) we will be at the Kingsbury Room at the Wellesley Police Station, as well as on Zoom. Orv Beach, W6BI, will introduce us to the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network.   [To obtain Zoom link, contact Dan Brown, W1DAN, at danbrownw1dan  _at_  gmail  _dot_  com.]

Chris LaRosee, KC1TSA, writes on the Boston ARC mailing list:   I’m planning to introduce a 4-weekend RF Foxhunting course and plan to pitch the idea tomorrow at our meeting. The course aims to dive into RF foxhunting, mixing theory with hands-on practice. It’s a chance to sharpen our skills and potentially draw in new faces to the hobby. Here’s the breakdown:   – **Week 1**: I’ll cover the basics—what foxhunting is, the gear we need, and understanding RF propagation with a field demo of polar patterns.  – **Week 2**: Shirley KE1L will guide us in building our own directional …

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on February 9, 2024 at 1:35 PM:   The W1MJ fox is now on the air in Burlington.   Location:  Mary Cummings Park Park web site:  https://thetrustees.org/place/mary-cummings-park/ Park map:  https://thetrustees.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mary-cummings-park-trail-map.pdf Good GPS address for parking:  30 Blanchard Rd, Burlington, MA 01803 Frequency:  147.54 MHz Operating Schedule:  Transmits once per minute from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM at least until this Sunday 2/11/2024 at 4:45 PM. Transmitter Power:  4 watts – Be prepared with attenuator, 3rd harmonic in memory, or other techniques for when you get close   This fox has no log.  Please email …

BAA Amateur Radio Communications Committee Writes: The 2024 Boston Marathon is still in need of Amateur Radio Volunteers. Therefore, Amateur Radio volunteer registration for the 2024 Boston Marathon has been extended until end-of-day Sunday 2/11/2024. Register now at register.hamradioboston.org! If you are unsure if you can volunteer but are interested in volunteering, please register now and just let us know within a reasonable amount of time if you ultimately can’t volunteer! Thanks to all for their support! Sincerely, BAA Amateur Radio Communications Committee

Please join us at the Billerica Amateur Radio Society meeting on February 7, 2024 at 7:00 PM. This month we are holding our meeting both in-person at the [the Chelmsford Bible Church, 128 Gorham St. (Route 3A), East Chelmsford, MA 01824] and on Zoom. We will have a large screen at the church to view the Zoom portion of the meeting. The speaker will be attending via Zoom.   Don Greenbaum, N1DG, of Duxbury, MA grew up in New York City and the NJ Shore. His father, WA2UDV, was his radio mentor and two other siblings also had their licenses by …

Phil Temples, K9HI, will give a presentation on “Project ASCEND” at the Barnstable Amateur Radio Club at 7 PM on February 5, 2024. Project ASCEND is a comprehensive program designed to advance the Amateur Radio experience for the Technician class amateur and provide the needed mentoring and connection with the active ham community. It is a multi- faceted, high-touch program that leverages the time- honored tradition of mentoring – but with the goal to support and nurture hundreds to thousands of new and inactive hams. BARC meetings are held monthly on the first Monday of each month, at 7 PM …

Hello to all… The February Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday February 5th, 2024 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: https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked) We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have a number of announcements including …

Don Rolph, AB1PH, Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes: The MEMA RACES nets are held on the first Monday of the month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, when it is delayed one week, For Feb 2024, the RACES nets will be held on Mon Feb 5 at: ******************************************************************************** The HF net will start at 6:45 PM ET: using the following frequency plan: We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency, Marc Stern WA1R will be net control. ********************************************************************************* Region 2D VHF net: 7:30 PM ET VHF net on 146.865 …

The KC1TSA fox is now deployed. Frequency: 446.025 MHz Location: Lower Allston/Brighton Neighborhood of Boston Transmission Schedule: Every 30 seconds Sunday (2/4) starting 5AM and lasting until10PM Disclaimer: The fox is NOT on private/residential, church, or school property. Looking in these places is not endorsed and discouraged.  Further, I am not providing a starting location where the signal can be heard, but I will say that the fox is operating on pretty high power (UV5R Based), and driving around the area or walking to high places should get you to the signal. Beginners: text me for additional hints, such as …

Richard A. Netinho, AC1JG, writes on the SEMARA mailing list: Just a reminder, we are having a training on the new AED [automated external defibrillator] and hands only CPR. This training will be held on Sunday 2/4/24 after the coffee hour at 11:00AM. There is no cost associated with this training. It should not be longer than 1-2 hours. All are welcome to attend. Try to respond to this email, so we will bring enough handouts and certificates.

Phil Temples, K9HI, will give a presentation on “Project ASCEND” at the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association at 12 noon on February 10, 2024. Project ASCEND is a comprehensive program designed to advance the Amateur Radio experience for the Technician class amateur and provide the needed mentoring and connection with the active ham community. It is a multi- faceted, high-touch program that leverages the time- honored tradition of mentoring – but with the goal to support and nurture hundreds to thousands of new and inactive hams.” The CAARA clubhouse is located at 6 Stanwood Street in Gloucester.    

Jeff N1SOM and the South Shore Hospital Group W1SSH writes: Good Evening, On Saturday February 3, 2024 the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10:00AM. We realize that some locations, individuals, and groups may be subject to COVID restrictions. We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net if possible. Even if you cannot reach all the systems being used, please check-in on those you can. We will use the following repeaters in the order listed. 1. West Bridgewater …

Hello to all… Please see the final exercise document for the Saturday 2/3/24 1000 AM-1200 PM Eastern Massachusetts ARES Exercise – Operation: Snow Globe. This includes all frequency information and activities for the drill. The key updates to the exercise document are as follows: -60m frequency changes (Channel 5 – 5403.5 KHz primary, Fall-back to Channel 4 – 5371.5 KHz) -Added the 6m 53.31 MHz (PL: 71.9 Hz) Net Operation at 1130 AM -Added wording to include “This is a drill” disclaimer on NTS health and welfare messages Link to the exercise document is listed below: https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/EasternMA-ARES-Winter-Exercise-01-31-24-V1.6-1.pdf While this is …

Jon McCombie, N1ILZ, writes on the Eastern MA ARRL Members list: I hope everyone in the section had fun in 2023 working the ARRL Volunteers On The Air program. The results are in and we have winners in the EMA Section VOTA competition. The individual prize goes to Bruce, WA3SWJ, with a total of 60,273 VOTA points. The club prize goes to the Barnstable Amateur Radio Club (BARC), with a club total of 2,172,544 VOTA points. Thanks to everyone in the Section that participated! Take care, stay warm, and 73 de ——————————————————————– ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section Section Manager: Jon W …

John Iwuc, KB1VXY, writes on the Framingham ARA list:   Please register for our upcoming FARA meeting on Thursday Feb 1, 2024 at 7 pm at the McAuliffe branch of the Framingham Library on Water Street, and on Zoom.  Please register even if you are going to the library.   [Area hams and those not yet licensed but interested in amateur radio are welcome to attend. Non-members may request an invitation by sending an email to John president@w1fy.org.]  

Mike Crestohl, W1RC, writes on January 27, 2024: Dear Friends of NEAR-Fest: Please note this is an updated announcement. Please disregard any other notices you may have read. Our Spring 2024 hamfest, NEAR-Fest XXXV, will be held on Thursday April 25th and Friday April 26th 2024. There will be no hamfest activity on Saturday due to an unfortunate scheduling conflict with the Deerfield Fairgrounds. We had originally announced that the event would take place only on Friday but due to popular demand and the cooperation of the Deerfield Fair Association we are pleased to announce this new full two-day schedule. …