Month: October 2020

Central Vermont ARC Fox Hunt, October 24, 2020

by

Central VT ARC logoFrom Central Vermont ARC  web site:

The next CVARC fox hunt will be held on Saturday, October 24th at 10 am.

Rules

  • Fox will be hidden somewhere within Washington County, in a publicly-accessible location. You will not be required to pay to access an area to find the fox, or to walk onto someone’s property (but don’t discount the end of dead-end roads)
  • The transmitter will be on the air by 10am on the morning of the hunt, and off at 6pm that evening. There will be an announcement on the Williamstown repeater before the box is shut off, so be sure to respond if you’d like more time.
  • Fox will use the nationally-accepted 2 meter fox hunt frequency of 146.565 MHz
  • Fox will transmit a short beep every two seconds, then transmit a CW ID on the FM carrier every 20 ‘beeps’.
  • Fox will be receivable with at least an S1 signal from the Waterbury exit (10) of Interstate 89.

COVID-19 restrictions

  • Teams of up to 3 are allowed but not currently recommended due to pandemic restrictions (unless team members are a family or happen to live together)
  • Masks required in public when you cannot maintain a 6-ft distance from those not in your party

Scoring and reporting 

  • The transmitter will have a laminated sheet with a marker attached for scoring. When you find the fox, fill out the sheet with your name or call sign, and local time at which you found the fox.
  • Once you’ve filled out the sheet, leave the area – if others participating in the hunt see you hanging around, it may tip them off to the location of the fox!
  • When/if you find the fox, please don’t announce it (on local repeaters, the fox output frequency, w1bd.net website, Facebook, etc.) – we want everyone to have fun with this, even those that can’t participate right at the start of the hunt.

Recommended gear

Minimum:

  • 2 meter radio with a removable rubber duckie antenna
  • Paper clip

Extra gear (not required, but helpful):

  • Portable directional antenna (Yagi, Moxon, cubical quad)
  • Adjustable RF attenuator, passive or active
  • Receiver with SSB/CW mode capability
  • Compass or GPS unit
  • Map, atlas, or gazetteer

Connecticut Section Simulated Emergency Test Recap

by

Chuck Motes, K1DFS, writes:

A big Thank You to all those in Connecticut who participated in the annual Section Emergency Test (S.E.T.) this year.  It took place during the first weekend of the month.

Members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) CT and NTS CT were active on their respective nets, and a large number of messages were sent and received.  Of particular note was the use of the ICS-213 Form, which is the heart of municipal, state and federal communications messages.  A lot of us picked up very successfully on that form.  Also in use (for the MARS COMEX) was a report called the SWEAT.  It’s the report the feds (military) use to assess conditions and emergencies nationwide.  It’s short, it’s quick and it’s fast.  Hams in Connecticut made extensive use of the report.

These reports were sent via voice, via digital on HF and VHF and via Winlink radio and internet.  One set of these reports numbering 52 in total was relayed to MARS via 60 meters in one burst using MT-63 digital.  This was a month-long opportunity for hams to contact MARS stations directly, and is authorized through the end of October.

The MARS COMEX (Army and Air Force) was terminated normally on 23 October.

Thanks to all — hams, ARES, NTS, especially the Section Emergency Coordinator, the District Emergency Coordinators and the NTS officials–everyone who participated in the S.E.T. and in the COMEX.  Call it a resounding success.

73 to all, and have a great Halloween!

——————————————————————–
ARRL Connecticut Section
Section Manager: Charles I Motes Jr, K1DFS
k1dfs@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

New England Digital Swap Net on October 24, 2020

by
Gene Balinski, K1NR, writes in the Algonquin (MA) ARC mailing list:
 
Please join us for the  NEW  New England Digital Swap Net 
 
This Saturday Evening 8:00 PM on the DMR-MARC New England network 
 
Choose the New England-wide talk group, and check-in when net control calls your area.   Feel free to list gear for sale, trade, or wanted.  
 
Hope to see you then,
 
73
Gene K1NR 

W8ZY, K4WK: Red Cross Presentation, October 22, 2020

by
Please plan to attend this October 22 Zoom session.
9:00 PM AST / 9:00 PM EDT / 8:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM MDT / 6:00 PM PDT / 5:00 PM AKDT / 3:00 PM HST
 
Topic: American Red Cross presentation
Speakers:  Mike Walter, W8ZY and Wayne Robertson, K4WK
 
Tonight’s  meeting will be OPEN for all to attend. Please feel free to invite others.

  • This meeting will be recorded. By participating you consent to being recorded.
  • Please change your display name to Your First Name, Call Sign and Location, e.g. Dan K7REX Idaho.
  • Please stay muted until ready to speak. Your space bar works like a PTT for unmuting
  • To be fair to everyone, there will be a three minute limit for each person during Q & A
  • You may ask questions in chat; please stay on topic while using chat.
Join Zoom Meeting
[Email arrl.idaho@gmail.com for meeting URL and password]

CQWW SSB Contest, October 24-25, 2020

by

CQ logoThe CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35,000 participants take to the airwaves on the last weekend of October (SSB) and November (CW) with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible.  [Details]

Woodmont (CT) ARA Special Events Station K1D, October 24, 2020

by

image of Capt. KiddFrom the Woodmont ARA website:

Join us for this exclusive special events station where you’ll have the chance to hone your radio skills and track the lost treasure of Captain William Kidd! Legend has it that the treasure is buried right off of the coast of Milford, Connecticut, near Charles Island. Event will be hosted by the Woodmont Amateur Radio Association. Come be a part of history.

Dates: Saturday, Oct 24, 2020

Time: 1100Z-1700Z

Location: Charles Island, Milford, CT.

Frequencies: 50.885 28.885 14.285 7.285. QSL

Event Call Sign: K1D

For more information, please contact Ed Rhodes (warapres@gmail.com).

 

 

Nationwide Red Cross Emergency Communications Drill, Joint Exercise with ARES, November 14, 2020

by

ARES logoRed Cross logoFrom the ARRL Letter, October 21, 2020:

The Nationwide Red Cross Emergency Communications Fall Drill is a joint exercise with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) set for November 14, an evolution of the highly successful Spring Drill that had hundreds of participants from some 40 states and Puerto Rico.

The Fall Drill will be a Winlink-specific event with the following goals: (1) pass traditional Red Cross (ARC) forms from as many states and as many radio amateurs as possible to one of six Divisional Clearinghouses, and (2) bring as many radio operators as possible up to a “basic” level of Winlink proficiency. [To prepare, there is a twelve-week series of Winlink Workshops held each Thursday at 0100Z on Zoom. Join the SEC-ARES group for announcements and discussions. Include your name and call sign when registering on SEC-ARES.]

Winlink Proficiency Goals have been written, a Winlink Technical Support Team has been formed, and Metrics for Drill Success have been developed. The proficiency goals are established as a training guideline and references online training resources. Many hams new to Winlink should find these resources helpful.

Over 300 radio amateurs have signed up for the event and more than a hundred were on a Briefing Call on October 5. There will be one other Briefing Call, in early November. This event is open to all radio amateurs; if interested in more information, contact Mike Walters, W8ZY, for ARES-related questions or Wayne Robertson, K4WK, for Red Cross-related topics.

KC1NEF to Activate Boston (Bunker Hill) National Historic Park, October 21, 2020

by

Parks On The Air logoFrom the Boston ARC website:

In a very exciting development, [Boston Amateur Radio Club] member Brendan Baldonado, the newly licensed KC1NEF, lets us know about an upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) activation he’s about to attempt. He says:

“As you may know I am getting ready to take my General and Extra exam, but thought it could be a fun challenge to “Activate” a park using only Tech bands and Abilities. My Plan is to activate using 5 bands, if I can, with no data and no CW and mostly VHF!

The activation is not a contest so spotting is allowed, I only need to make 10 contacts to activate. For more information on POTA, go to http://parksontheair.com/

I am asking for help in activating the park by trying to contact me on the frequencies and modes listed below. I will submit a log through Parks On The Air where your callsign will receive hunter credit for you as well as activation credit for me! In addition to uploading the logs to eQSL and LoTW, I plan to buy either post cards as QSLs, or take a few pictures and turn them into Special Edition QSL cards for all the people who help me activate.

I plan to activate on Wednesday October 21, 2020. I’ll be at the Bunker Hill Monument and Park, a registered National Park, with my battery powered FT897 and Matchbox Random Length End Fed Dipole in a Tree. I’ll be starting around 2:00 PM (1800z) and going until about 6:00pm (2200z).

If you can reach out via these frequencies and let any other hams know to try and reach me I would be greatly appreciative.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

10 Meters: 28.450 – USB
6 Meters: 50.294 – USB
2 Meters: 146.450 – FM
1.25 Meters: 223.450 – FM
70 CM: 446.00 – FM

For the most up to date spots please look at parksontheair.com and look for my callsign: KC1NEF.

Tech-In-A-Day Course & VE Session, Gardner MA, January-February, 2021

by

Western MA iconWestern Massachusetts Section Manager Ray LaJoie, KB1LRL, writes:

Calling all VEs and Teachers:

The Western Mass. section needs your help! As you know Covid has squashed most of the classes and testing sessions this year. I have been informed by Ken Burstall, WB8PKK, that the Masonic Hall in Gardner has a new air filtration system and is allowing us the use of their dining hall to host a Tech-in-a-day course and an open and walk-in VE session. We need volunteer teachers and VEs to assist in conducting the testing and teachings. There are also 25 Boafeng radios preprogrammed for those that have passed.

This will be in compliance with the guidelines of the Board of Health and testing materials will be sterilized using UV-C process and heat-sealed bags. Ken has provided the materials for sterilization and has provided the means to get this off the ground.

Session dates are open and can be either a Saturday or Sunday in January or February. We need to know who can participate to do what and when in order to secure the date to advertise. Please contact Ken at backhoeken@yahoo.com. This invitation will also be open to our EMA neighbors as well.

Thank you, Ken, for your generous effort and donation. Please pass this along to anyone interested. And please let’s not let this opportunity pass by.

FCC Proposes to Reinstate Fees for Amateur Radio Licensees—Talking Points

by

FCC sealAmateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed [this past August]. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.

The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.”  

—

“The fees Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the October 15, 2020 Federal Register (https://tinyurl.com/yyk8f2yp). The deadline for comments is November 16, 2020, and the Reply comment deadline is November 30, 2020.  As you discuss this [with your fellow amateurs,] or write articles for your newsletters, you might find the following suggestions helpful.” -David R. Siddall, K3ZJ   [Full story]