The Nashua Area Radio Society will be holding an online Ham Bootcamp on Saturday, May 11th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern Time.
Ham Bootcamp is a program to help new, inactive, and prospective hams gain the skills and information that they need to Get On The Air. It is open to any interested Ham or Prospective Ham in the US and Canada and there is no charge to attendees.
The morning session is geared toward operating on the VHF/UHF bands:
Putting together a Station for Repeaters – How to pick an HT or Mobile Radio and an Antenna
Radio Programming Tutorial
Making Contacts and Joining a Repeater Net
Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites
Getting Started with Fox Hunting
The afternoon session is geared toward operating on the HF Bands:
Putting together an HF Station for SSB, CW, and Digital
Picking and putting up an HF Antenna, Feedlines, and Grounds
Operating on the HF bands using SSB Voice
Getting started with WSJT-X and FT8 Digital
We will also have a breakout session where attendees can choose one of the following sessions:
Learning CW
Intro to EmComm
Finding DX, Logging and QSLing
Portable Operating
… and more!
Registration is now open for the May 11th session.
You can get more information about Ham Bootcamp, including a link to register at n1fd.org/bootcamp
You must register to receive the link to join the web conference.
The Nashua Area Radio Society will be giving license classes for all levels this winter and spring. 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 17th and 18th
General Class: Saturday and Sunday, March 16th and 17th
Extra Class: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 19th, 20th, and 21st.
Our local club, the Nashua Area Radio Society, provides training and mentoring programs for new hams. In the past 3 months, we have held classes and VE sessions for Technician, General, and Extra licenses. Our classes take place in 2-3 full days over a weekend and conclude with an online exam session. It is always a thrill to see new people getting licensed or earning an upgrade at the end of the class. In addition, these newly licensed hams can make a great addition to your club.
But just licensing new hams is not enough. For every ten new Technicians that are licensed, only two of them ever get on the air. The best way we can help our licensees to become active ham radio operators is to continue the mentoring after the class or VE session is over.
The Nashua Area Radio Society holds a program called Ham Bootcamp each spring and fall after our license classes. Ham Bootcamp is a day-long series of training sessions to help new Hams build skills and learn what they need to know to get on the air. The morning sessions are all about putting together a VHF station, programming your radio, and all the activities you can participate in with a Tech license – fox hunting, satellites, and more. The afternoon sessions are all about putting together an HF Station, selecting and putting up antennas, operating voice, CW, digital modes, and more. Our boot camps are held online and we get hams from all over the country attending, and even some DX!
Mentoring a New Ham
Any club can start a mentoring program. We started by inviting the newly licensed/upgraded hams from our classes to our QTH for a few Saturday afternoons. We gave them a tour of our station, helped them make their first contacts at our station, used HTs and held a mock repeater net, built an antenna, had a fox hunt, and operated satellites.
It is easy to do something similar for your club. Just invite one or more new hams over to your shack and help them to get on the air. Show them your station. Answer their questions about operating or station building or anything else about Ham Radio.
You can make Winter or Summer Field Day a mentoring experience by inviting the new hams to help build stations and put up antennas. Once the event starts, help them to operate. Start at the mic and let the new ham log – then switch places and give them the mic while you log.
You can also invite your newly licensed members to your QTH to operate in a contest. The ARRL has the Rookie Roundup contests 3 times a year – it is a great opportunity for someone to try out contesting.
You will be helping to grow your club as well as the hobby as well as making new friends!
I’d love to hear about how your club is mentoring new hams. Join the Mentoring and Ham Development group (Groups.io: ne-ham-dev) and let’s share our ideas. Your ideas will help all of us to become better mentors.
The Nashua Area Radio Society will be holding a Technician License Class on September 30th and October 1st.
The class will be held online via Zoom web conferencing.
Our classes start at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday, and end by 6:00 pm each day. We will hold an online exam at the end of the class so successful students will earn their Technician License by the end of the weekend class.
There is pre-study required for the class so make sure you register soon.
We will also be giving a General License Class on November 4th and 5th, and an Extra License Class on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. See our class information page for more information.
New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and Assistant Director Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB traveled over 900 miles over the Field Day weekend to visit many clubs in New England. We operated Field Day from the mobile station in our F-150. This article is a summary of our travels.
Friday June 23 – Field Day Setup
On Friday, June 23rd, we visited clubs in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Cape Cod in Massachusetts, who were setting up their Field Day stations in preparation for operating on Saturday and Sunday.
Southeastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Society – SECARS
The first club we visited was SECARS, the Southeastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Society at Zagray Farm Museum in Colchester, CT. We enjoyed talking with the members about their Field Day plans.
SECARS Field Day
Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club – Rhode Island
The next field date site we visited on Friday afternoon was the Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club site on historic Chopmist Hill. We had a nice chat with their club president Ken, N1RGK and the other club members about Field Day and the ARRL.
Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club
Falmouth Amateur Radio Association- Falmouth, Massachusetts
Our next site on Friday was the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association at Morse Pond School in Falmouth. All of their towers were setup by the time we arrived. We had a nice visit with the club members and toured their communication trailer.
Falmouth Amateur Radio Association
Saturday, June 24th – Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Whitman Amateur Radio Club
Our first visit on Saturday morning was the Whitman Amateur Radio Club, at the Old Colony YMCA in East Bridgewater, MA. They were setting up their stations and antennas in a nice wooded area behind the YMCA. We enjoyed visiting with the members and touring their site.
Whitman Amateur Radio Club
Boston Amateur Radio Club
The next site we visited was the Boston Amateur Radio Club at Hale Education in Westwood, MA. We had a nice chat with the members about their plans for field day and about Satellite operating. They had a great satellite setup for Field Day.
Boston Amateur Radio Club
Satellite Antenna at Boston ARC Field Day
PART of Westford
Our next visit was with PART of Westford at the Concord Rod and Gun Club. We had operated Field Day with them in the past – it is a great site. We got a tour of the site from Dale, KB1ZKD, and visited with Bob, W1IS at the CW Station, Andy, KB1OIQ at the GOTAs station, Alison, KB1GMX at the VHF station, and George, K1IG, at the SSB station. It was also nice to chat with Alan, W1AHM, Geoff, W1GCF, and the rest of the PART team!
PART of Westford
Operating Field Day Mobile HF
Once it was 2:00 PM EDT on Saturday, we started operating from the F150 as we drove between sites. We operated in the Class C Mobile category. We were able to make a total of 115 contacts on the road over the weekend.
AB1OC/AB1QB Mobile HF Station
Nashua Area Radio Society
Next stop on Saturday was our home club, the Nashua Area Radio Society. Earlier in the day, we encountered some light rain, but by the time we arrived at the NARS Site, at Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH, the rain was pouring down. Despite the rain, we had a nice visit with Rick, KB1RGB, Jamey, AC1DC, Matt, WE1H, Peter, KC1FNF, Assistant Director Jack Ciaccia, WM0G, Andrew, AJ1AJ, Dave, KB1JCU, Ben, W1BPM, and Alan, KC1PWB.
Nashua Area Radio Society – Hudson Memorial School
Contoocook Valley Radio Club
Our last stop on Saturday was at the Contoocook Valley Radio Club at Dale (AF1T) and Mickie (W1MKY) Clement’s QTH in Henniker, NH. We enjoyed hearing about Dale’s latest VHF activities and chatting with the rest of the club.
Contoocook Valley Radio Club
Sunday June 25th – Maine
On Sunday, the rain had moved out of New England and we had a beautiful drive up the Maine coast to visit Field Day sites in Main.
New England Radio Discussion Society
The first site we visited Sunday morning was the New England Radio Discussion Society at the Sea Road Church in Kennebunk, ME. They also had a beautiful site and we enjoyed visiting with Susan, WB2UQP, and the other members of the club.
New England Radio Discussion Society
Wireless Society of Southern Maine
Our next stop was the Wassamki Springs Campground in Scarborough, Maine, the Field Day Site of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine (WSSM). Their site was spread out around the campground and we had a nice visit with operators at the SSB and the CW sites.
Wireless Society of Southern MaineWSSM CW Antenna and Trailer
Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club
Our last stop was at Beaver Park, Lisbon, ME, the Field Day site for the Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club. We enjoyed visiting with Cory Golob, KU1U, his newly licensed son Simon, N1URA, Mike, KO4PPM, and the rest of the club members. The club had a great field day with successful outreach to the public, and an article in the Lewiston Sun Journal!
As it was after 1pm, we headed home after the visit with the Androscoggin club and managed to make almost 100 QSOs on the ride down I-95 before the end of Field Day. We had a great time visiting with New England clubs over the Field Day weekend and we’re looking forward to next year.
This has been a busy few months for Ham Fests and Conventions in New England – Fred, AB1OC, and I have attended Hamfests in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The first one we visited was HAM-CON in Vermont on February 25th. Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI, and Assistant Director Cory Golob, KU1U, also attended HAM-CON. It was great to meet so many Vermont Ham Radio operators at the event! Fred gave a presentation on Building and Operating a Mobile HF Station and an ARRL Forum and both were well received.
AB1OC Speaks at HamCONVermont and New Englanders attending AB1OC’s Presentation
We traveled to Lewiston, ME, to attend the ARRL Maine State Convention on March 24th and 25th. It was great to spend time with Cory Golob, KU1U, and Section Manager Phil Duggan, N1EP, along with the many folks we spoke to at the convention. Fred and Phil Duggan presented an ARRL Forum and we gave a new 100th Anniversary ARRL Handbook away to an ARRL Member. Fred also presented awards to Jerry Burns, K1GUP, for over 50 years of service as the Net Manager for the Maine Seagull Net, and to Cory Golob, KU1U, for his service as New England Assistant Director for Emergency Communications and Public Service.
KU1U Awarded for Service as New England Division Assistant Director of Emergency Communication and Public Service
We attended NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH on April 28 and 29. Fred, AB1OC, did another ARRL Forum here and we helped out at the NH ARRL Section table. The highlight of the weekend was the educational RFI training session that was given by Assistant Director Rob Leiden, K1UI, to RFI team members from several New England sections. We also gave away a 100th Anniversary ARRL Handbook to a lucky ARRL member.
John Gotthardt, K1UAF, NH STM, and Fred, AB1OC at the ARRL Booth at NEAR-Fest
ARRL Membership Drive
We have been giving away ARRL Handbooks to ARRL members at hamfests in order to promote ARRL membership in New England. Through the ARRL Club Commission program, your club can receive $15 for each new member application you submit and $5 for each renewal. ARRL Affiliate clubs are encouraged to hold quarterly membership drives at their meetings. All you need to do is bring the membership forms to your meetings, give a brief presentation to explain the benefits of ARRL membership and collect the forms and payments once they are completed. Send it all into the ARRL and you will receive a rebate check. All of the details and resources (forms and slide decks) to make this process simple for you and your club can be found at https://nediv.arrl.org/clubcomm/.
ARRL Club Commission Program
Field Day Plans
Fred, AB1OC, and I are putting together our plan to visit as many clubs as we can for Field Day 2023 on Friday, June 23rd – Sunday, June 25th. Please contact me at AB1QB@arrl.net if you would like us to visit your Field Day site.
I have been busy with Mentoring and Ham Development Activities with my local club, the Nashua Area Radio Society. On November 5th, we held another successful Ham Bootcamp, which was attended by new hams, inactive hams, and prospective hams from all over the US – we even had some DX attendees from Canada and India. Ham Bootcamp is a one-day online program to help hams gain the skills to build a station and get on the air. We have some great instructors from the ARRL New England Division: Jamey Finchum, AC1DC; Abby Finchum, AB1BY; Stu Solomon, W1SHS; Burns Fisher, WB1FJ; Aron Insinga, W1AKI, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, for their dedication to mentoring new hams.
Ham Bootcamp started out small and has grown to allow us to help many hams all over the world and even a few DX. We started out by hosting the graduates of our license classes in our home and helped them to get on the air, did a demo of satellite contacts, held a small repeater net, put up an antenna, and demonstrated portable operating and built a small station on our dining room table. We also met students at our local Ham Radio Outlet, and walked them through the choices of equipment they might want to purchase for their first station.
After a few small bootcamps, we were invited to do a Ham Bootcamp for New England Hams at the 2019 Northeast HamXposition, where we hosted close to 70 students.
Bootcamp Session: Jamey, AC1DC, Shows Boot-campers How To Build an HF Station at the 2019 HamXposition
Then the pandemic hit and we moved our license classes online. We decided to move Ham Bootcamp online as well and were able to serve a much larger audience. We had around 450 students sign up for our first online bootcamp from all over the US and Canada. We have continued to provide the online version of Ham Bootcamp twice per year and to date have served close to 1,000 hams.
Below is the agenda for our most recent bootcamp. The morning sessions focus on activities for Technicians and the afternoon sessions focus on activities for Generals and above. All of the topics provide the basics to help new hams to get started in the many activities in Amateur Radio. We have improved the agenda with each successive bootcamp and now use breakout rooms to allow students to choose between multiple sessions. We have replaced the in-person shopping trip with a Virtual Shopping trip, which is a follow-on activity for the boot-campers, where we visit multiple retailers’ and manufacturers’ websites online.
Ham Bootcamp Agenda
We held the most recent bootcamp on November 5th and had over 100 people register. Through programs like this we can help the many inactive amateur radio licensees become active in the hobby. This is a great way that clubs can help new or inactive hams to get on the air.
Mentoring and Ham Development Working Group Meetings
The most recent meeting of the Mentoring and Ham Development and the Youth Outreach and STEM Learning groups was held on October 12th. We had two guest speakers. Mike Walters, W8ZY, spoke to the group about ARRL programs for club leaders, the Club Grant Program, the Club Development Webinar Series, and the Club Commission Program. Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, spoke to the group about how your club can work with a school on an ARISS contact with an astronaut on the space station including a recap of the recent BIG E Space Chat. You can watch the recording of the session on the Mentoring and Ham Development page: https://nediv.arrl.org/mentoring-and-new-ham-development/.
Our next meeting will be held on December 15th starting at 7:00 pm Eastern Time. We would like to hear about your mentoring projects. To get the Zoom link, join the ne-ham-dev Groups.io group or contact me at ab1qb@nediv.arrl.org.
The Nashua Area Radio Society will be giving license classes for all levels this fall. 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, September 17th and 18th
General Class: Saturday and Sunday, October 22nd and 23rd
Extra Class: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday November 11th, 12th, and 13th
