Month: October 2022

Registration is now open for Nashua Area Radio Society’s Fall 2022 Ham Bootcamp

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October 2020 QST Cover Ham Radio BootcampFrom ARRL web site:

10/28/2022 – The online event is scheduled for Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM EDT. There is no charge to attend the Ham Bootcamp which entails a variety of informative presentations and activities related to amateur radio, and is geared toward new operators of any license class that wish to learn more about getting on the air. Additionally, Ham Bootcamp allows those thinking of becoming hams to see what the hobby is all about. The sessions usually have 100 – 400 attendees and over the past several years, more than 800 have attended. More information is available at the Nashua Area Radio Society’s website. The Nashua Area Radio Society of New Hampshire is an ARRL Special Service Club.

ARRL Headquarters Connecticut Open House and Picnic a Great Success

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ARRL picnic, October 29, 2022
Photo courtesy Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R

The weather cooperated beautifully for the ARRL Headquarters’ Connecticut Open House and Picnic on Saturday, October 29. ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, reported that the event was well-attended. He estimated that around 130 Connecticut amateurs came to the picnic.

In addition to supplying tasty hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, the staff hosted an outdoor display of Ham Aid Kits used for disaster response. Books and items were on sale in the lobby area. The Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, was on full display for people to visit and operate. Every W1AW visitor was issued an attractive certificate. 

The MVARA-NEDECN Connection – A Model Partnership

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Jay Taft, K1EHZ and the Merrimack Valley ARA and Bill Barber, NE1B, representing NEDECN have partnered up to connect several DMR repeaters in southern NH with 5.8 GHz mesh networks.  This approach makes the internet connections between the repeaters more robust and provides the potential for remote monitoring of the sites, both using cameras and spectrum sampling.  The high elevation sites also provide better unobstructed distances between mesh nodes making it possible to deploy more efficient networks using fewer nodes to achieve long distances.  One useful feature of the network is the mapping of the various network nodes in layers that improves visualization and planning activities.  Use of various symbol types for different services and color coding of node speeds and link types provides a compact but also complete view of the network. Watch for future posts that discuss various other mesh network capabilities as the New England Division witnesses expansion of connected emergency networks using recently approved and future grants.  Progress is discussed at the nemesh@groups.io bi-monthly Zoom meetings, next held on Thursday, November 3 at 7 PM.  Membership in the group is open to all interested hams.

Third 2022 New England Town Hall Recap, October 19, 2022

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The third of three 2022 New England Division Town Hall meeting presentations held on October 19 was, once again, well attended. 

Director Kemmerer, Vice Director Temples and the division’s four assistant directors described their recent activities and accomplishments, including the ARRL Club Grant Program and The BIG E Space Chat. In addition, the six panelists fielded questions on a variety of topics, including: the status of Technician license band enhancement with the FCC; digital symbol rate rules; efforts to revamp NTS (“NTS 2.0”); ARRL membership renewals, and new ham recruitment.

The agenda (in PDF format) can be viewed, below; as well as the entire video presentation.

 

ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2022-10-19 slide presentation
ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2022-10-19 slide presentation

  

ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2022-10-19 video recording

National Weather Service, Gray Maine, Winter Weather Spotting Training Courses

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Bill Arcand, W1WRA, writes on the Granite State ARA mailing list:

 

NWS NOAA banner image

2022 NWS Gray Winter Spotter Training (Virtual)

Help your National Weather Service by becoming a Winter Weather Storm Spotter! Storm spotters report snowfall, ice accumulation, ice jam flooding and coastal flood erosion during Northern New England’s long harsh winters. Spotter training will teach you how to accurately measure and report significant winter weather phenomena!

For other training in upcoming months, check out the National Weather Service online at https://www.weather.gov/gyx/skywarn. You can contact Donald Dumont Donald.Dumont@noaa.gov for additional information on this training.

Winter weather images

Adventure at the Fort—New England Regional Scouting Jamboree a Huge Success: Cub Scouts Love Radio

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The Newport County (RI) Radio Club was a strong presence at Saturday’s wildly successful Scouting Jamboree Adventure public day at historic Fort Adams (1799) in Newport, Rhode Island. Over 3000 Scouts attended this post-covid New England regional Jamboree weekend.

One of the day’s highlights was a dramatic Coast Guard helicopter to water rescue drill watched with rapt attention by the cross-generation crowds on a perfect day.

The large and active Newport (RI) County Radio Club set up multiple hands-on stations across the west side of Fort Adams facing Narragansett Bay, and NCRC volunteers spoke all day with hundreds of Scouts and adults eager to learn more about making satellite contacts, GMRS, CW, HF, and well-received demos on the principles of radio communication.

A special shout out in this post to the 5th grade Cub Scouts who rallied around NCRC Scouting Jamboree lead, John Vecoli, KC1KOO, shown below with Cub Scouts from packs across RI, including East Greenwich and Richmond. Nearby, 5th grade Cub Scouts Valerie and Ingrid from Newport’s small but vibrant coed pack were excited to hear about becoming a licensed radio operator from NCRC new hams Nolan Byrne, K1PRU, and Pat Strong, K2PRU, from Prudence Island who loved mentoring the girls on their own new radios. The future looked bright today!

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Contributed by Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, NCRC (RI) club president

Merrimack Valley ARA (MVARA) Achieves 501.c.3 Status and ARRL Affiliation

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Merrimack Valley ARA logoThe Merrimack Valley Amateur Radio Association (MVARA) had its first meeting this evening having achieved several milestones in its effort to build on recent successes in providing mesh network back-up for NEDECN DMR repeaters.  The club plans to expand its network of interconnected hospitals and repeater sites and it is now positioned to apply for grant funding.  In addition, the club’s ARRL affiliation makes it possible to obtain ARRL support, available to all affiliated clubs.

With the focus on mesh expansion in New Hampshire and grant funding recently secured in Maine and Rhode Island, the expansion of interconnected amateur communications networks throughout New England is making visible progress.

The MVARA Officers and Directors are:

President – Jay Taft K1EHZ

Vice President – John Yurcak K9AEN

Secretary – Steve Nelson WA1EYF

Membership Secretary – Paul Blais KC1KMM

Treasurer – Ken Geddes N1KWG

Directors

Bill Barber NE1B

Steve Davidson NA1T

Jack Duffy NF1L

Ed Leduc KA1IJN

If you or your club wants to start a mesh network in New England, contact Rob, K1UI at k1ui@nediv.arrl.org, and he’ll put you in touch with those folks who can help.

Ham Radio Auction Supports ARRL Programs

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ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® invites its members and all amateur radio operators to get ready for the 17th Annual ARRL Online Auction. Bidding gets under way on Friday, October 21, 2022, at 10:00 AM EDT. The auction continues through Thursday, October 27. RT Systems, Inc. is sponsoring this year’s ARRL Online Auction, which benefits ARRL education and technology initiatives and programs. A preview of the items that will be up for bid begins on Wednesday, October 19. This year’s auction features ARRL Product Review equipment, vintage books, and the ever-popular ARRL Lab Mystery Junque Boxes. [Full story]

Ham Radio Minecraft Mod Project Gaining Momentum

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Minecraft imageA New England amateur is developing a project to promote youth outreach for Amateur Radio. It’s known as “Ham Radio Minecraft Mod.” 
 
“Raising awareness of ham radio is the primary objective of the mod,” writes Lucas Elliott, W1BTR, of Leominster, MA. “I have met very few people, especially my age, who know [ham radio] even exists.”
 
Minecraft is a world-building video game and the most popular game of its type in the world, with “total sales [of] over 238 million,” almost double the number of the closest runner up. It contains over 100,000 specialized mods from the user community witten in Java.  The mod would incorporate ham radio into this virtual world along with its many other activities and endeavors.
 
Lucas is considering applying for ARDC funding for the innovative project.
 
ARRL New England Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI, shared information about the project to other ARRL Board members.  Pacific Division Director Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, remarked, “This is great!  I’ve been advocating gamification for several years now.  I’m convinced this will be part of ham radio’s future.  We ignore it at our peril […].”
 

To read how Amateur Radio could benefit by being a part of the Minecraft universe, read Lucas’ extensive documentation  at <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F7aA9u93w0lwe9m_QlNSaJeMM02nnYE_6Y5u4fZ9vU4/>.

 
 
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