HAM-CON ARRL Vermont State Convention, February 22, 2025

HAM-CON, the ARRL Vermont State Convention will take place Saturday, February 22nd, 8AM-1:30 PM at the Hampton Inn Convention Center, off of I-89 Exit 16 in Colchester.

HAM-CON is the only ham radio convention of its kind: a fully hybrid show held live in beautiful Vermont and also on-line at ham-con.org. Be sure to attend! But if you cannot travel to the show, buy a ticket and on watch the events on line either live or after the show.

HAM-CON brings together hundreds of ham radio operators, computer wizards and electronic enthusiasts all in one location. A variety of activities will be running all morning, including an electronics flea market, live on-air ham radio station, forums on a multitude of communication topics and demonstrations of radio and electronic equipment.

Why should you attend? We will have a tremendous line-up of stuff which any ham will find exciting. If you are a contester or DXer, we will have presentations on the K1TTT super station and the top flight W1NVT Field Day operation and even provide valuable hints on how to make all those QSO’s on QRP. Are you more into digital? We will have forums on the HF digital modes and the microwave-based Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN).  We’ll have a sneak peak at some new equipment and even hit you with a wild game show based on ham radio.

But there is more! Our Convention station W1V will be on the air with a snazzy display. Get on and operate as we’ll award a prize for the furthest DX. Aircraft safety has been in the news lately. Along those lines, we will have a display of ADS-B which will allow you to track aircraft in your area. And don’t forget about the flea market where you can peruse all the goodies while chatting with your buddies.

Admission is only $7, if purchased on-line by February 14th, or $12 after that. Be sure to bring the kids for a chance to win a new HT – admission is free for those 18 and younger.

So don’t just sit around thinking about ham radio. Get out to HAM-CON to meet and greet hams from the North Country or if that is not possible, join us on-line at the show.

Full details and advance tickets can be found at: https://www.ham-con.org.

International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY, March 8, 2025

Int'l Women's Day YL POTA Party
 
International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY: Celebrate Women in Ham Radio!
 
Join us on March 8th for a special International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY! This event is open to all female amateur radio operators and enthusiasts, regardless of POTA experience.
 
What to expect:
Activate a park during the 24-hour event window. Submit your POTA activations and share your experiences with other participants.
Connect with other YLs from around the world. Share stories, tips, and support.
Learn more about POTA and how to get involved.
 
Why participate?
Celebrate the achievements of women in ham radio.
Connect with other YLs and build a supportive community.
Have fun and enjoy the POTA hobby.
 
How to participate:
Activate a park during the 24-hour event window
Submit your POTA activations to the POTA database.
Share your experiences and photos on social media using the hashtag #YL_POTA_Party.
We encourage you to wear pink and/or decorate your station to show your support for International Women’s Day!
Spread the word and invite your friends to join the party!
Together, we can make this a memorable event for all YLs in ham radio!
 
Here are some additional details about the event:
Date: March 8th, 2024
Location: Any POTA park (or hunt POTA from home!)
Frequency: Any amateur radio frequency within your license class
Hashtag: #YL_POTA_Party
We look forward to hearing you on the air!
 
Note: This event is not sponsored by the Parks On The Air Foundation.
 
Here are some resources that you may find helpful:
 
We hope you have a wonderful International Women’s Day!

QRP Net Restart

NEQRP logoEd Ridolfi, K1RID, writes on the QRP mailing list:

Greetings fellow QRPers.

I have volunteered to restart the NEQRP Net with a few minor changes: 

  • the net will convene monthly on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 8 PM ET on 3.560 +/-   
  • My home QTH is Kittery ME, FN43 and I will be running 5 watts to a doublet of two 133′ legs up 60′ in the trees
  •  I plan on having a roundtable topic each month

The first net gathering will be this Wednesday the 29th at 8PM. This will be a directed but informal net. I plan to take check-ins after sending QNI. Please send your call as I build the list. Once we start the roundtable our initial topic this month will be:

  • your member number
  • rig
  • power
  • antenna and key type

For example: nr877 FT818 5w to doublet up 60 feet es bencher paddles

I am open to any suggestions and look forward to hearing everyone!

dit dit,

Ed, K1RID

Co-founder of Newburyport Electronics & Radio Society, K1YRD

Member: YorkCountyARC, PortCityARC, NEQRP, NAQCC, SKCC & CWOPS

Nashua Area Radio Society Winter/Spring License Classes are Open for Registration

NARS Ham BootcampAnita Kemmerer, AB1QB, writes:

The Nashua Area Radio Society will be giving license classes for all levels this spring and winter.  The classes will be online via Zoom web conferencing and will include an online exam session at the end of the class.  Here is the schedule:

  • Technician Class:  Saturday and Sunday, February 15th and 16th
  • General Class: Saturday and Sunday, March 8th and 9th
  • Extra Class: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 11th, 12th, and 13th

Our classes are based on the Gordon West License Manuals and include many demos to reinforce the materials.

You can find more information, including a link to the registration form at https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

2025 Boston Marathon Amateur Radio Volunteers Needed

BAA MarathonRob Macedo, KD1CY, writes:

We need Amateur Radio Volunteers for the 2025 Boston Marathon. We still could utilize approximately 80 additional Amateur Radio Operators for race day. In addition, there will be no volunteer deadline extensions unlike past years so if you are even considering to register, please register before the listed deadline below of Friday 2/7/25.

In addition, there is a continued need for medical volunteers for the 2025 Boston Marathon and those interested in volunteering as a medical or general volunteer can use the register.hamradioboston.org link and they will be brought to the general volunteer page which can be utilized for those that are not Amateur Radio Operators to volunteer. It is possible if we resolve the email server/SKYWARN list issue that has not allowed our messages to reach all SKYWARN list participants that we will post this message again before the volunteer deadline to insure we reached everyone on the email list. Further details for Amateur Radio volunteers follow below:

Volunteer registration for the 2025 Boston Marathon is open and ongoing.  If you’ve already registered to volunteer at the 2025 Boston Marathon, we’d like to thank you for your interest in joining our team!

For anyone who hasn’t yet, please don’t delay! Volunteer registration closes on Friday, February 7.

Registration Link (for new and returning volunteers):
https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/volunteer/volunteer-registration

Step by Step Sign Up Guide:
https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/44002570599-2025-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide

A few notes for volunteers:

Almost all amateur radio positions are single person assignments.  We are not able to group people on a single assignment, but we will try to accommodate which segment you are assigned to in order to allow for similar start/end times.

We’d like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the winner of the Boston Marathon ARO bib lottery, Hector Cruz, KB3ZOO. We’re looking forward to cheering you on!

Final documentation is generally released during the first week of April. Before this can happen, we need the final logistical details from the various area coordinators for Start, Course, Finish, and Transportation. Where possible, we will release documents as they become available. In this case, look out for emails from the committee and your Team Captain.

As always, we appreciate your help in getting the word out to prospective volunteers. Please send this to hams or clubs that you think may be interested in joining us on the amateur radio team for the 2025 Boston Marathon!

If you have any questions about the content of this message or about volunteering at the marathon in general, please don’t hesitate to send them to contact@HamRadioBoston.org.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Thank you, and 73,

Boston Marathon Communications Committee
contact@HamRadioBoston.org

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
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Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box
Subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@wx1box-nwsboston-amateur-radio

Vermont QSO Party, February 1-2, 2025

VT iconMitch Stern, W1SJ, writes:

The Vermont QSO Party starts Friday, February 1 at 7 PM. We hope to hear many of you on the air. The more Vermont hams get on, the happier all the participants are. Everyone is especially looking for some of those rare Vermont counties. If you are in places like Essex, Orleans, Caledonia, Franklin, Grand Isle, Orange, those are often the most requested ones. If you can go mobile and put some of the rare counties on the air, that is good too. Propagation will be good on ALL the bands 160-10 meters, so do get on and call CQ. Use the spotting network to let everyone know where you are whenever you change bands.

Read the rules!  Go to: https://www.ranv.org/vtqso.html

If you operate on FT8 or FT4 some things to know:

  1. You must upload digital contacts from the WSJTx ADIF file SEPARATELY from the CABRILLO file containing the Phone/CW contacts. In other words do not try to log Digital and Phone/CW QSOs in your logging program. The upload will not work. Read the details on the web site. Don’t worry about your score – we will compute that for you. But you must upload a clean log. If not sure what to do, ASK NOW.
  2. If you are on FT8 or FT4, you cannot give out your county as a multiplier – only grid squares, which will be FN34, FN33, FN32, FN35, FN44).

LET ME KNOW your approximate schedule of when you will be on and where. I will post this to the web site (but don’t do this after Friday afternoon – I will be busy with the contest then).

CARE TO OPERATE a big station? I am looking for operators at W1NVT in Essex. Free training provided. You will have a ball working people. Contact me this week.

Let’s get on the air and have a ball!

Mitch

New England Division Update, February 1, 2025

ARRL logoThe ARRL Board of Directors met on January 17 and 18. The minutes for the meeting are not available yet, but I promised to have a Zoom conference call after the meeting to give you an update. It’s been a busy few weeks since I took office!

Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI, and I plan to hold an information session to give you the update on Saturday, February 1st at 1:00 pm via Zoom for New England Division ARRL members.

I hope you’ll join us as we work on some important initiatives for ARRL. We’re looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

Zoom connection info is below.

Very 73,

Tom Frenaye, K1KI

 

Tom Frenaye is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: New England Division update
Time: Feb 1, 2025 1:00pm Eastern Time

Join Zoom Meeting
us02web.zoom.us/j/86198518946?pwd=gsajtjrdCP9E2M88pmRLwk9KEEPH3R.1
Meeting ID: 861 9851 8946
Passcode: 592706

Dial by phone

+1 646 931 3860 US
Meeting ID: 861 9851 8946
Passcode: 592706


Tom Frenaye, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093. c: 860-597-4539 h: 860-668-5444
Tom Frenaye, K1KI
New England Division Director
k1ki@arrl.org

KB1EHE, KB1IFZ QRV from Antarctica

Eric Knight, KB1EHE, and Elsie Mathews, KB1IFZ, will be on the air from King George Island, Antarctica, beginning January 28, 2025.

The Unionville, Connecticut, husband-and-wife team have been planning their “trip of a lifetime” to Antarctica for several years. According to Eric, “Yesterday we went to JFK airport. […] Elsie and I had an uneventful (although long; 10.5 hours) flight to Santiago, Chile. After a three-hour connecting flight, we have landed in Puerto Natales. All of our ham gear successfully arrived with us. We will stay overnight here in Puerto Natales. Tomorrow morning we fly to King George Island, Antarctica—and the real adventure begins.”

Eric reports that they will be “attempting 20m SSB and FT8 on 20 watts with our Xiegu G90 and a homebrew vertical.” In addition to operating, hiking and exploring the Antarctica peninsula is on their itinerary.

For more information, follow their running updates at:  https://www.dx-world.net/kc4-kb1ehe-kc4-kb1ifz-antarctica/

 

KB1EHE-KB1IFZ/ KC4 QSL card