Carl Achin, WA1ZCQ, writes on the New England QRP mailing list:
* “Chowdercon” is a full day of eating (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and operating on Four Tree Island, New Hampshire. Get to Four Tree Island before 8AM to get a good parking spot in the Four Tree Island parking lot. As usual, lunch is at Geno’s and our farewell dinner/banquet will be at a New restaurant this year, due to the closure of our usual eatery closing/closed.
Four Tree Island can get cold, even on a warm day so bring a windbreaker and hoodie/sweatshirt. And don’t forget your favorite low-power Field-Op rig, wire antenna, etcetera.
* More information to follow in another upcoming email next week.
We’re touching on 3 decades now (2000’s, 2010’s, and now the 2020’s) of this Annual Celebration of the end-of-Summer / beginning-of-Fall convention/conference of low-power radio enthusiasts operating on, Four Tree Island, New Hampshire.
Come join-in on the, Fun, Excitement, and, Camaraderie, of “Chowdercon 2024”!
* * * DATE: Saturday, September 21st, 2024, … the Equinox Weekend. – (Rain date is the following Saturday, the 28th.
7 3 . .
P.S. – Read about, and, check-out past pictures of Chowdercon here:
(L-R): ARRL VE team liaison Joe Devonshire, AB1YO and Maine Assistant Section Manager Cory Golob, KU1U, showing off their VE “Go Kit” at the recent Windsor, Maine Hamfest.
Maine is adopting change and getting prepared for when the ARRL VEC moves to exam tools by 2026. A group of Volunteer Examiners moved toward this goal at the Windsor Maine hamfest on September 7th.
We held a test session for walk-ins where four applicants took their test using tablets and the examtools interface. Ahead of the session, the examiners signed up for an examtools account and learned the process the day of the hamfest.
All applicants who arrived for their exam had already signed up for an FRN, which helped expedite the process since it is required for testing. Next, the applicants registered to take an exam, which was created in the system for the Windsor Hamfest. Once they filled out the form online, they were placed in the session queue. The applicant was then given a Kindle Fire tablet with examtools on it to use for the exam.After verifying their ID, they were asked to verify their information listed from when they registered (most importantly their email address). The next step was to enter the session identifier and pin number.After clicking on join test session, examiners were briefed on “action items” and how to complete them.Examiners must complete an action item to admit an applicant into the exam, provide them with an exam, and grade an exam. Each action requires the examiner to enter their password, validating it is them performing the action.
The applicant navigates a continuous webpage on the tablet with 35 (or 50) questions. They select their multiple choice answer and continue on to the next question. If they skip a question, an orange dot with the question number populates in the upper left hand corner of the screen. The applicant can click on the dot to be brought to the missed question instead of scrolling back to it. Once they are ready for grading, they click on the “grade exam” button. The VE will perform the action item and it scores immediately.The applicant then has a chance to take the next element if they would like or they can finish by signing their documentation on the tablet.
Once all of the examiners are in agreement, they electronically sign the CSCE which is then emailed to the applicant. They are marked complete by the coordinator and when all people have finished testing, the session is finalized, the two files for the VEC are downloaded and submitted. It is quite the streamlined process.
Additionally, examiners can watch the progress of the applicant as they are taking their test; A blue line progresses as an applicant answers questions. This new process was well received by the examiners and they went from being timid at first to being very excited to operate this way during the next exam session.
A big thank you to all of examiners and observers who showed up at the Windsor Hamfest: Joe Devonshire, AB1YO; Peter Bither, AI1O; Karl Richards, K1KSR; Gabriel Zacchai, KC1OJR; Dustin Hinds, N1HN; Michael Courtenay, W1MLC; John Oakes, WC1G; Paul Leonard, KE6PIJ; and Martin Brown, KC1PKQ. A special thank you to Stephen Hutchings, WM7X, for mentoring and helping us all, especially with the behind-the-scenes work and Robert Latlippe, NC1RL, for the use of the testing kit which contained the tablets, laptop, and calculators. We appreciate Maine Section Manager Phil Duggan, N1EP, as well as New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Assistant New England Director Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, stopping by to witness this event.
Exploring your desire to leave behind a legacy by which fellow hams can remember you
Using part or all of your station assets to support amateur radio causes
Planning in advance will help your family or friends. Creating YOUR plan can be a simple, fulfilling way to share your commitment to amateur radio with future generations.
Interested in NTS and Traffic Handling? Join us Monday, October 14 at 7:00 PM via Zoom. This training will incorporate videos and open discussion to get you started in an exciting aspect of the hobby that’s been around for over 100 years!
Your hosts: Western MA Section Manager Ray LaJoie, AA1SE; MARI Section Traffic Manager Marcia Forde, KW1U; Bob Sparkes, KC1KVY; and Shawn Dodds, N1CVO, will discuss NTS traffic handling basics and traffic net procedures.
All amateurs are invited to join, regardless of experience level. This will be first come, first served event and limited to 100 participants. We hope to see you on Zoom. Any questions? Email Ray, AA1SE at aa1se@arrl.net.
Approximately sixty-five ARRL members from across the division attended the New England Division Town Hall Zoom meeting on September 5 to hear and ask questions about the recent legislative actions that could adversely impact our amateur 902 MHz band, and ARRL’s response. Other topics discussed included:
the recent cyberattack on ARRL Headquarters
assistance for amateurs in restricted areas
our path forward
help with RFI
public service and EmComm
hamfests and events
You can view the Zoom video as well as the PowerPoint presentation below:
The New Hampshire QSO Party is sponsored by the Port City Amateur Radio Club to promote amateur radio activity within the State of New Hampshire. This annual event held on the third weekend in September is designed to encourage New Hampshire stations to expand their knowledge of DX propagation, improve their operating skills, and improve station capability by creating a friendly competition and incentive for stations worldwide to work each of the counties in New Hampshire. The rules for this event are attached.
We are asking you to invite and encourage your members to participate in this annual event, and to assist the PCARC by operating as many stations within each of the New Hampshire counties as possible.
In fact, all three CNHARC Gunstock repeater systems are being completely replaced in a phased in approach, 6m, 2m & UHF.
Part of that system replacement includes a simplex, frequency-agile 2m “remote base”. These are very popular in California but are somewhat new to the New England mindset. I am aware that ARES has been looking for a central high site for simplex use to connect to other state regions during past drills.
That remote-base capability will exist within the next month or so with more technical details to follow. But in a nutshell, once activated on demand, the state net control station only accesses the 2m remote base via UHF as required by FCC rules. This will be a hub and spoke system with all area representatives of the state communicating to net control on 2m simplex using your pre-arranged ARES simplex freq as you always have in the past. The end user experience is not changed. The only operational difference is that the “high site” is now VERY high. So this in no way changes your statewide simplex model.
You can use the Gunstock 2m repeater (recently replaced) to roughly gauge the coverage of the 2m remote base.
146.985 -600 PL-123.0
Please send me your ARES 2m simplex frequencies of choice so that we may program the 2m remote base accordingly.
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CNHARC has 100% new leadership with a very different, open culture. In fact we call it “CNHARC 2.0” and the remote base is part of that new culture.
I would like to invite you to a TownHall Meeting for ARRL New England Division Members on Thursday, September 5th at 7 pm where we will discuss the actions taken by the board, what we might expect next, hear your thoughts, and answer your questions.
We plan to spend a good deal of our time together answering your questions. If you’d like to send us a question in advance, you can do so via an email to ab1oc@arrl.org, or you can just plan to ask your questions during the TownHall Meeting.
We will hold our TownHall Meeting via a Zoom Webinar. You can get a personal link to join the TownHall Meeting via the following link (please paste the link into your browser and register in advance) –
Interested in NTS and Traffic Handling? Join us Monday, October 14 at 7:00 PM via Zoom. This training will incorporate videos and open discussion to get you started in an exciting aspect of the hobby that’s been around for over 100 years!
The September 2024 Western MA Section Newsletter is now available at 
CNHARC President Rick Zach, KK1RZ, writes:
I would like to invite you to a