Contents
Notices And Upcoming Club Activities
Club Treasurer Needed!
Our current club treasurer, Bruce MacKinnon KC1FSZ, has decided not to run for reelection. If you would like to run for the position, please contact Charlie at c.bures (at) comcast.net.
Field Day 2025
Check out the W1TKZ ARRL Field Day 2025 Report by Dan Brown W1DAN
The SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver Challenge
Are you looking for a fun radio project to take on this summer? Are you interested in learning
more about RF electronics? Have you ever wanted to try your hand at homebrew radio? Are you
tired of that boring, mass-produced, over-priced, commercial HF radio in your shack?
We have an opportunity for you!
This summer, daring members of the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society will be constructing their own
40m direct conversion receivers as part of the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver Challenge. For
those not familiar, SolderSmoke is a monthly podcast that focuses on the design and construction of
homebrew HF radios. The podcast host, Bill Meara N2CQR, recently challenged his listeners to build a
copy of a simple receiver that he and co-host Dean Souleles KK4DAS designed for a group of local
high-school students. This simple rig is well documented and has been constructed by many hams
around the world. Schematics, video tutorials, and a robust Discord forum are available to help guide
you through the process. At the end of the summer you’ll be proud to show off a working receiver that
will look something like this:
About Us
Founded in 1950, the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Amateur Radio through instruction, fellowship, public service and encouragement of participation. The Club year runs from September through August.
Meetings | Directions
We generally meet on the third Tuesday of the month (except for our summer hiatus in July and August) at 7:30 PM in the Kingsbury Room of the Wellesley Police Station, 485 Washington St. (Rte 16), in Wellesley. Please park on the street. We also stream our meetings on Zoom. Guests are always welcome!
Repeaters | Club Station
The Society maintains the club call sign W1TKZ along with a linked repeater system:
- 147.030 MHz +600 kHz (PL tone 123 Hz, also Yaesu Fusion C4FM)
- 444.600 MHz +5 MHz (PL tone 88.5 Hz)
WARS Net
All hams are welcome to check into the Wellesley Amateur Radio Society Net on Wednesday evenings at 8 PM on the W1TKZ repeater, 147.030 MHz +600 kHz (PL tone 123 Hz) linked to the W1TKZ repeater on 444.600 MHz +5 MHz (PL tone 88.5 Hz).
Activities
The Wellesley Amateur Radio Society participates each year in the ARRL Field Day at the Needham War Memorial Park Gazebo.
The Spark Gap Newsletter
The Spark Gap Newsletter is edited by Leandra MacLennan, AF1R.
The Spark Gap newsletter archives are viewable by the public. Recent issues of The Spark Gap and other club documents can be found on our Members Only page.
Membership | Join Us
Annual memberships in the Society are:
- Individual – $40.00
- Family – $45.00
- Legally blind – $5.00
Download our membership form.
Contact Us
For more information about the Society, please write to:
The Wellesley Amateur Radio Society
P.O. Box 812223
Wellesley, MA 02482-0015
Or, email WARS president Charlie Bures, WA3ITR, at c.bures (at) comcast.net.