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ARRL New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, writes on nediv.arrl.org: I have been thinking a lot lately about what is most important to care for the future of Amateur Radio. There are many different views on the answer to this question. Some would say it’s about increasing participation in emergency communications and public service activities such as ARES, RACES, or the National Traffic System. Others would say it’s about protecting our bands. Those who live in HOA or covenant-restricted situations would emphasize the need to enable Hams to install antennas at their homes. Contesters would say that making contesting …

Frank Beaulieu,  WA1ESU, writes on the Cape Ann ARA mailing list: We are still looking for operators to staff the YuKanRun Happy Holidays 5K & Half MerryThon. Please let us know if you can staff a communications checkpoint for the event so we can plan staffing positions for the event. While CAARA’s repeater performance has greatly improved some regions of this course may still experience some difficulty with communications especially with low-powered HTs, so we’ll be looking for higher powered equipment to staff those areas Please let us know what type of equipment you plan to use (ie: mobile; H-T; …

Rich Comer, K1RBC, writes on the Waltham ARA mailing list: I hope you all have fully recovered from Turkey Day! The next meeting of the Waltham Amateur Radio Association will be this Wed at 7:00pm via ZOOM. (Zoom opens at 6:30 PM.) We will have a short business meeting and then a presentation from Fred Cirera, W6BSD, entitled “Radio Shack Myths and Fairytales.” It should be interesting.

Will Costello, WC6DX, writes: I read in the news that next month is the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Intrigued, I looked on the Special Events page in my issue of QST for a special call sign and was shocked to see nothing ! There’s still time for a local club to organize some event at Boston Harbor and get a 1×1 call sign and advertise it on the Special Events page on the ARRL web site. Boston can’t let us down, this is for all America ! 73 de Will WC6DX Monterey, CA

The Massachusetts and Rhode Island STM Report for October 2023 can now be found at https://ema.arrl.org/massachusetts-and-rhode-island-stm-report-for-october-2023/ .  Note NTS participation in November SET, NTS 2.0 Update, (re)-learn CW, and spotlight on Section Manager Jon McCombie N1ILZ

George Allison, K1IG, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list: The November PART of Westford meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, beginning at 7:30 PM at the Cameron Senior Center, 20 Pleasant Street, Westford, MA, and via Webex video conference. For those attending via video conference, a meeting link is below; just click on the green button to join in. You can join the conference any time after 7:00 PM to check out your gear or just rag chew until the meeting starts. Bear in mind that internet connectivity from the senior center may be unreliable. …

Congratulations to David Ring, N1EA, of Green Harbor, MA, for his book review of Spurgeon “Spud” G. Roscoe’s book “Radio History: Ship Shore.” Ring’s review appears in the October, 2023 issue of CQ Magazine.  The book is available on Amazon.com. “From flags and pennants to Morse code and complex telecommunications, ‘Radio History: Ship Shore’ is a treatise on the navigational aids vessels have used over the centuries. Author Spurgeon “Spud” G. Roscoe takes the reader on a journey through the evolution of communication systems globally, from the days of Columbus to modern times.” Ring is certainly familiar with his subject …

The NSRA meets on November 20, 2023 at 7:30 pm. Doors open at 7 pm at Peabody Municipal Light Plant.   NOTE: To get to the meeting location of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant, Warren St Ext. for the next few months, you MUST turn right on to Endicott St from Rte 114; Endicott Street at Lowell Street has been closed.   Eastern MA ARRL Section Manager Jon McCombie, N1ILZ, is the guest speaker.    Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF North Shore Radio Association

Bruce Blain, K1BG, writes: The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s November meeting is Thursday, November 16th at 7:30 PM, at the Pepperell Community Center (in Pepperell MA). We start gathering at 7 PM to socialize before the meeting starts. This month program will feature our annual “QSL sort” for the W1 QSL bureau. It’s personally my favorite meeting of the year. Catch some incoming cards with your callsign on them, converse with other local hams, have some refreshments, and of course, sort a few cards! If you haven’t done this before and it sounds like a lot of work, you’ll …

We need your help with public service.  We can’t support the communities without your help.   The parade is on Sunday Afternoon November 26, 2023 between 2:30 pm and  around 6 pm. I believe the parade kicks off at 3 pm.   If you can help, please let me know.   Email me:   ka1ncf@nsradio.org    Thanks,   Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF North Shore Radio Association

The Minuteman Repeater Association (MMRA) will hold its membership meeting on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 from 7:30—9:30 pm. Dom Mallozzi, N1DM, will present “A Smorgasbord of Radio – the People Places and Incidents.” This is a Hybrid meeting: Marlborough Central Fire Station + ZOOM. (Members: log into your account on MMRA.ORG to obtain the ZOOM info. Non-members: send an email to contact@mmra to request the ZOOM info. Do you know what the most powerful radio station in New England is? Let’s find out. Dom will discuss some of the less known contributors to the development of radio, the operational sites …

Ken Horton, KA1GFN, writes on the Algonquin ARC mailing list: Reminder of tonight’s club meeting at the 1LT Charles W. Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union St, Marlboro. Enter from Agoritsas Drive next to police station and use Door #1 at rear of building. Doors open at 7 pm and meeting starts at 7:30 pm. Note that in the past there has been a couple of instance where members arrived later than 7:30 and the doors were locked. We have asked them if they can leave them unlocked until 8pm. If you think that you might be arriving late then I …

Hello to all… Please see the final SET Document for the 11/11/23 1000 AM-1200 PM Eastern Massachusetts ARES SET (Simulated Emergency Test). This includes all frequency information and activities for the drill with 6m Net time information, additional simplex component and slight change to the NTS NBEMS frequency to the exercise. Link to the exercise document is listed below: EasternMA ARES SET Regional Prep 11-11-23 V2.0 While this is an ARES exercise based in Eastern Massachusetts, the exercise is open to all who would like to participate and you need not be a member of ARES or living in Eastern …

Marty Sullaway, NN1C, writes on the NUWC mailing list: This Thursday we will have a fun presentation on everything you’d ever want to know about batteries. Our in-house battery whiz Zach Perry will be giving us a look under the hood, and providing useful into and battery tips. Don’t miss it! We won’t let anything go up in smoke. As a reminder, If you would like to sit for an amateur radio exam session, we just announced two more dates; November 13th and 20th, both at 7:00 PM at 503 Hayden Hall. Please sign up here.That’s all I have for this week!Marty …

New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, writes: Phil Temples K9HI, our Assistant Directors, and I will hold our next New England Division Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, November 8th at 7 pm ET.The purpose of the meeting will be to provide you with an ARRL update, get your thoughts on what we should be focusing on, and answer any questions that you might have about the ARRL and what we are doing on behalf of ARRL members here in New England.We plan to spend a good deal of our time together answering your questions. If you’d like to send us a …

The New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society will meet on-line and in-person on November14, 2023 at 7 PM and feature: “Open Headset Interconnect Standard” by Mark Smith, N6MTS. Ham Radio has standards for connections between the radio and power source (13.8vDC), and between the radio and the antenna (50 ohm coax). There is, however, no such standard for the connection between the radio and the user. This makes it challenging in a multi-user environment like a club shack, contest station, or EOC, for a user to connect their own headset (with their own ear goobers (technical term)) to any radio, without …

Hello to all… Please see the SET Document for the 11/11/23 1000 AM-1200 PM Eastern Massachusetts ARES SET (Simulated Emergency Test). This includes all frequency information and activities for the drill. Please note that this document will be updated once more with 6m Net time information and an additional simplex component to the exercise. Link to the exercise document is listed below: https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/EasternMA-ARES-SET-Regional-Prep-11-11-23-Draft-V1.8.pdf While this is an ARES exercise based in Eastern Massachusetts, the exercise is open to all who would like to participate and you need not be a member of ARES or living in Eastern Massachusetts to participate. …

From nediv.arrl.org: ARRL Chief Financial Officer Diane Middleton, W2DLM writes: Dear ARRL Affiliated Club, ARRL is aware that some amateur radio clubs who had been insured by Marsh/AIG, a previous provider of the ARRL Club Liability Insurance Program, are receiving notices that their club liability insurance is not being renewed. ARRL discontinued its relationship with Marsh/AIG in 2011, but some clubs who had previously enrolled in the policies were still renewing with the old provider — and not in the current ARRL program. The current program administrator (since 2015) for the ARRL-sponsored Club Liability Insurance Program is Risk Strategies. ARRL has …

Hello to all… The November Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday November 6th, 2023 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 and …

Hello to all,       We are finally exiting hurricane season and now we move toward the winter weather season! This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that Monday evening, November 6th, 2023 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. This month also will play host to a winter Simulated Emergency Test by Eastern MA ARES. This test is currently scheduled to occur on November 11th, 2023 and has been designed by Frank, WQ1O. More information should be forthcoming on the Eastern MA Section ARRL …