[W1SMH] Fwd: APRIL 2015 EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION NEWS

[Ray Cord via W1SMH]

 FYI

 


Ray 


 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Members Only Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
To: raycord <raycord at aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Apr 10, 2015 11:58 am
Subject: APRIL 2015 EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION NEWS


ARRL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS (EMA) SECTION

Section Manager (SM) – Tom Walsh,
K1TW 
Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Phil Temples, K9HI 
Affiliated Club
Coordinator (ACC) – Arthur "Bo" Budinger, WA1QYM 
Official Observer Coordinator
(OOC) - Ed Parish, K1EP 
Public Information Coordinator (PIC) - Bob Salow,
WA1IDA 
Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) – Mike Neilsen, W1MPN 
Section
Traffic Manager (STM) – Marcia Forde, KW1U 
Section Youth Coordinator (SYC) –
Jeremy Breef-Pilz, KB1REQ 
State Government Liaison (SGL) – Hank Mc Carl, W4RIG

Technical Coordinator (TC) – Dan Brown, W1DAN 


APRIL 2015 SECTION NEWS


Welcome to the April EMA section news. I start as usual with updates
from
your ARRL section staff.

Paul Laconto, W1NP, honored as the first EMA
recipient of the new ARRL
Amateur Radio Service to Scouting Award. 

“After
retiring to the Cape, Paul joined the Cape Cod & Islands
Council in 2006 when
he became a committee member of Troop 76 in
Harwich and later the District
Committee.  With him he brought exposure
to Amateur Ham Radio.  For the last 7
years with the help of the
Barnstable Amateur Radio Club, Paul has been
instrumental in organizing
JOTA “Jamboree on the Air” and starting an Amateur
Radio Club 73 at
the Lighthouse Charter School for middle school. Many of our
boy scouts
have received their Radio and the 2010 historical Signaling MB
because
of his efforts.”  (Thanks to Elaine Mason, KB1VAJ, for
this
information).

The ARRL recognizes actively involved Scouting leaders
who make a
significant contribution to providing Scouts with a memorable
and
valuable Amateur Radio experience.  Nominations should be sent to
your
Section Manager.  Full details including how to nominate someone
are
found on the ARRL web site
at
<http://www.arrl.org/news/boy-scouts-recognize-arrl-amateur-radio-service-to-scouting-award>.

This
month, I continued with my section travels by speaking to the
members of the
Framingham Amateur Radio Association at their monthly
meeting on April 2 at the
Framingham Police Department. The visit was
arranged before I assumed the
section duties, and afforded a wonderful
opportunity to meet with another
excellent Eastern Massachusetts radio
club.  

Bo Budinger, WA1QYM,
Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) has a note for
all EMA ARRL Affiliated Clubs.
It is important to have the information
about your club on the ARRL web site
updated every year.  Once a club is
affiliated with the ARRL it is always
affiliated.  A club does run the
risk of becoming non-active and have its
listing removed from the ARRL
web page listing of Affiliated Clubs if it is not
updated every year. 
Bo reminds us this is a simple procedure and only takes a
few minutes.
Log on to the ARRL web site and go to Updating Your Club Record
at:
<http://www.arrl.org/club-update>. Follow the instructions under:
“update
your club information”.  It is as simple as that.

Marcia Forde, KW1U, Section
Traffic Manager (STM) sadly reports that
Dave Spaulding, N1LUM, became a silent
key on March 3, 2015.  Dave was
Net Manager for the Heavy Hitters Traffic Net
(HHTN).

Brass Pounders League (BPL). 
Marcia Forde, KW1U, reports the
following EMA amateurs qualified for
the ARRL BPL and will be recognized in
QST:  KW1U

ARRL Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR).
Marcia Forde, KW1U,
reports the following EMA amateurs qualified for
the ARRL PSHR and will be
recognized in QST:  N1UMJ, KW1U, N1IQI, N1TF,
and KB1CIC
 
EMA Section Field
Day Locator Map <http://fd.ema.arrl.org/>.
This invaluable tool, skillfully
managed by Bill Ricker, N1VUX, is for
anyone searching for information about
Field Day in Eastern
Massachusetts. Bill has managed to capture an amazing
wealth of
information on the history of past field days, current plans,
travel
plans, etc.  Please see his note to club officers and FD chairs.

Looking for a Field Day near your home, visit the Directory.  All clubs
and
other Field Day sites should send in their plans and locations to
Bill just as
soon as possible at <n1vux at arrl.net>.  

Section Manager Field Day Travel
planning.  
Would your club appreciate a visit from the Section Manager during
the
field day weekend?  If so, please contact me at <k1tw at arrl.org> and
I’ll
see if I can make arrangements. I will be concentrating on the
northern area of
the section this year and hope to respond in kind next
year for our southern
locations.


ARRL NEW ENGLAND DIVISION HAMFEST - BOXBORO! 2015

Boxboro!
2015 will be held from August 21-23 at the Holiday Inn,
Boxborough, MA.  Gordon
West will be the keynote speaker at the
Saturday evening banquet. Jeff Jolie,
NM1Y, a member of the K1N 2015
Navassa DXpedition will be the keynote speaker
at the Friday DX Dinner.
 Tickets for both banquets are now available at the
BOXBORO! 2015
website, <http://www.boxboro.org>.  


FLEA MARKETS

APRIL
12, FRAMINGHAM, MA:  
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association is holding its
ham radio flea
market on Sunday, April 12, 2015 at Keefe Technical School
in
Framingham.  Ham exams will be held. Talk-in will be provided on
147.15. 
Full information may be found at
<http://www.w1fy.org/Flea.aspx>. 

MAY 1-2,
NEARFEST in DEERFIELD, NH
The twice annual New England Amateur Radio Festival
in Deerfield NH is
coming soon.  Both Friday and Saturday are packed with
interesting
forums on varied topics such as “Buddipole in the
Field”,
“Introduction to Radio Contesting”, “Introduction to Software
Defined
Radio using inexpensive USB TV Tuner Sticks”, “More R390A
Fun”, and a “DMR
Update”.  It’s a very full program.  Full
details can be found at <
http://www.near-fest.com:8084/nearfest/>. 


OTHER EVENTS

SATURDAY, APRIL
11: Tech in a Day
The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) is sponsoring
a "Tech in
a day" session at the Lanesville Community Center on 8 Vulcan Street
in
Gloucester.  The all-day study course starts at 8:30 AM and ends later
in
the afternoon with the FCC Technician Class Amateur Radio license
test. The
course costs $20.00 which includes course study material,
snacks and the test
fee. For those interested in taking the course and
to reserve a spot please
contact course leader Stan Stone W4HIX at
<techinaday at caara.net>.

SUNDAY,
APRIL 12, 1-4:30 PM:  YCCC OPEN HOUSE
Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC) will
be holding an Open House in
Sturbridge MA, which will include two presentations
that are oriented
towards newly licensed or upgraded hams:
    "What’s the
Best HF Transceiver for Me? -A Radio Selection
Strategy" – by Brian Machesney,
K1LI and others.
    “Antenna Selection and Design- What's Important” – by
Joe
Reisert, W1JR.
YCCC is a club of over 350 members who are interested in
Contesting.
All hams are welcome and invited to attend this meeting. Full
details
at <http://www.yccc.org/>.

SUNDAY, APRIL 12:  MS WALK BOSTON
The MS
Walk Boston is this coming Sunday, April 12, around Boston
University’s
Nickerson Fields. It supports the National MS Society,
and assignments run from
8am to the early afternoon. To volunteer or
get more information, contact Rick
Savage, KB1LYJ via
<rpsavage at comcast.net>.  (info via Wellesley ARS
newsletter).

APRIL 14-15: MARITIME RADIO DAY 
The Southeastern Massachusetts
Amateur Radio Association (SEMARA) web
page
<http://semara.org/maritime-radio-day-april-14th-15th/> contains
news about
Maritime Radio Day. Whitey, K1VV, is expected to sign using
K1VV/NJPJ since he
served aboard that ship. 

APRIL 17-18-19, FRIDAY-SUNDAY
41st ANNUAL EASTERN
VHF/UHF/MICROWAVE CONFERENCE
BAYMONT INN & SUITES, 20 Taylor St., Manchester,
CT 06042
(Just a few miles northeast of Hartford, CT off I-84, at Exit
63)
Registration web page at <http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html>

SUNDAY,
APRIL 26: RUN OF THE CHARLES
The Run of the Charles is a suite of canoe and
kayak races for all
different group sizes and course lengths. The event draws
all kinds of
participants, and they all rely on hams to help keep the event
running
safely and smoothly.  Volunteers for this event must have a
dual-band
(2m and 70cm) handheld radio and an antenna with improved gain over
the
stock rubber duck.  For more information, visit the race web site
at
<http://www.crwa.org/run-of-the-charles>.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26:  GROTON ROAD
RACE
This is a major event for Amateur Radio in North Central
Massachusetts
traditionally supported by several amateur radio clubs.  The
Groton
Road Race is a low-stress event and a great way to gain more
experience
with the public service aspect of amateur radio.  Please
consider
joining us on the 26th. If you are interested in helping at
these
events but unsure of what is expected of you or what equipment you
may
need, please contact Ralph Swick, <ralph at kd1sm.net> 

SUNDAY, MAY 3: 
PROJECT BREAD SERVICE EVENT
Project Bread Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 3rd,
2015 is looking for
people to provide communications support for the Project
Bread staff
and volunteers along the 20 mile walk. This will be the 47th
running of
the event.  Signup at <http://www.mmra.org/wfh/>.  If you have
questions
please send an email to: <wfh15 at mmra.org>. (Info via Wellesley
ARS
newsletter). 

MAY 15-17: LICENSE IN A WEEKEND CLASS
This class is
offered by the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association.  More
information and
registration details can be found at
<http://www.falara.org>.


MORE
NEWS

Preparations are continuing for Marathon Monday, April 20.  Many
EMA
volunteers will be actively engaged. 

Charlie Learoyd, K1PUB,
Massachusetts 13 Colonies Coordinator is
seeking clubs and amateurs to support
operating K2H during the 13
colonies special event between June 30 and July
5.

The ARRL has announced the window to apply for Centennial
Points
Challenge and W1AW WAS awards is now open. Full details
at
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-centennial-points-challenge-w1aw-was-awards-application-window-open>.

The
Falmouth Amateur Radio Association is running several Friday
sessions,
beginning on April 10, to teach Morse code to 6th, 7th, and
8th graders.


The Pilgrim Amateur Wireless Association (PAWA), located in
Taunton
completed its fourth and final Amateur Extra Mentoring class
followed
by a VE session conducted by N1UEC and his crew from the
Canton/Norwood
area.  PAWA is very pleased to report that all four students
who
completed the class also passed the Extra Class exams.  The PAWA is
now
considering a General mentoring class for next winter. Dates and
times
will be announced this fall.  Congratulations to John, N1OTY, and
the
gang at PAWA for a fine accomplishment.

Niece Haynes, KA1ULN, presented
a talk about The Young Ladies Radio
League (YLRL) on April 1 at the Billerica
ARS (BARS) meeting in
Bedford.  Niece is the YLRL District 1
chairwoman.

Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) reports having a new
440
repeater on the air.

The Framingham Amateur Radio Association reports
they will have a booth
at Earth Day on April 22, including both HF and VHF
stations.  The
location is the Framingham Town Green.  They are looking for
operators.
 Contact Sumner, W1VIV, <w1viv at rcn.net> for more information.

The
Quannapowitt Radio Association (QRA) had an excellent talk from
Steve Telsey,
N1BDA, on amateur radio traffic handling.  QRA is
encouraging all of their
members to become ELMERS in what they call a
“new approach to helping our new
hams.”  This is a wonderful idea. 
The QRA website is found at
<http://www.w1ekt.org>. 

PART of Westford,<http://www.wb1gof.org/index.html>
has once again been
asked to provide communications for the Westford Kiwanis
Apple Blossom
Parade this year which is on Saturday, May 16th, 2015.  Contact
Terry
Stader <ka8scp at wb1gof.org> if you are interested and can assist or
need
more information.

PART of Westford Field Day planning seems to be off
to another great
start with lots of volunteers already for many positions. 
Contact
George, K1IG, <K1IG at arrl.net> for further information.

PART of
Westford is planning a Kit Building session on Saturday April
25.  The selected
kit is a TECSUN 2P3 super-heterodyne AM radio kit.  

The Wellesley Amateur
Radio Society (WARS) meeting on March 21 had Carl
Achin, WA1ZCQ, talk about QRP
low power operating.  The next meeting on
May 16 will have as their guest
speaker, Mr. Frank Ventura from the
Mass Commission for the Blind with a talk
on keeping IT systems up and
running.


And finally… 

During the past
several months, many dedicated amateurs in our region
devoted many hours to
supporting Skywarn, ARES, and section emergency
communications during this
record setting winter.  Clubs faced many
challenges too in just being able to
hold meetings. We all owe these
fine amateur radio operators a sincere
thank-you for a job well done.

April is finally here.  I don’t know about
you, but after this
winter, that alone is enough for me at least!  

See you
next month.

73, 

Tom,
K1TW

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL
Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Thomas D Walsh,
K1TW
k1tw at arrl.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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