Clubs

K9EID: “Optimizing Your Station” at Meriden (CT) ARC, March 25, 2021

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Meriden ARC logoThe Meriden (CT) Amateur Radio Club welcomes legendary audio expert Bob Heil, K9EID, as our Activities Meeting guest speaker next Thursday, 3/25/21 at 7:30PM Eastern Time.

All Connecticut Hams are cordially invited to attend the Zoom Meeting.  Bob’s name is synonymous with high-quality ham radio audio, and he will speak on “Optimizing Your Station.”

Whether you’re newly (or even not yet) licensed or a long time veteran, you’re sure to learn something.

Here is the Zoom link:

<https://zoom.us/j/91067706626?pwd=K2lwcUJrQVNpMVhJU0hvTDcwbHQvZz09&fbclid=IwAR17bnKB9fZiMDCWfhaMJOknvMPtiiW70Lp4VbXWPEWkDC8CpiQWik8b3Fg>

Please advertise this to interested parties and club members.

Hampden County (MA) RA Begins “New Ham Net”

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Hampden Co RA logoKen Dion, KD1KU, writes on the HCRA mailing list:

The Hampden County Radio Association hosts a New Ham Net every Thursday evening at 7 pm on the W1BR repeater in Holyoke, MA, 146.715 (negative offset) with a PL tone of 100.0.

This Net is geared towards helping new hams get over mic shyness, proper operating procedure or with any questions they may have regarding any aspect of the hobby in a relaxed and friendly environment.

The new ham net is only open to NEW hams who have received their licenses within the last 5 years, hams that have returned to the hobby recently and all HCRA members. Net control is Gary, KC1JZR who is a newer ham himself.

As HCRA members please support this net by stopping by to say hello! Netlogger is used during this net and can be downloaded free at https://www.netlogger.org (not required),

If you are a new ham or know someone licensed during the last 5 years and can access the 146.715 repeater please join us on Thursdays at 7 pm!

73, Ken – KD1KU

New England ACC Group Meets Online, February 14, 2021

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ARRL Affiliated Club logoAffiliated Club Coordinators, Section Managers, and other section staff from New England met on Sunday, February 14, 2021 to discuss the status of ARRL affiliated radio clubs and to share ideas on improving them. Dubbed “New England ACC” or NEACC, the group plans to hold quarterly meetings. They’ve established a groups.io listserv for discussion in between meetings. 

Attending yesterday’s session were:

  • Ed, W1YSM-ACC, Connecticut
  • Phil, K9HI-Vice Director, New England
  • Tom, K1TW-SM, Eastern MA
  • Ray, KB1LRL, SM, Western MA
  • Bruce, K1BG-ACC, Eastern MA
  • Cory, KU1U-ASM, Maine
  • Gil, WK1H-ACC, Western MA
  • Charles, N1CAI-ACC, Vermont

Minutes will soon be distributed on the listserv. To join the group, contact NEACC Chair Ed Snyder, W1YSM, at <w1ysm@arrl.net>.

SKYWARN Certification Class at Newport County (RI) Radio Club, February 8, 2021

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SKYWARN logoThe Newport County (RI) Radio Club, along with RI ARES, are pleased to offer a full SKYWARN Certification class, presented by Rob Macedo, KD1CY, who is the ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Boston/Norton, Massachusetts.  This class will take two hours to complete.  Please note, even if you have been certified in the past, it is recommended that you repeat the class every 2-3 years.

The class will begin at 7:30 PM on February 8th.  There is no charge for the class, but you must register beforehand.  Please register using this link as quickly as possible as space is limited:  https://forms.gle/uUHducXbJDjswCFeA.

“I have sent invitations to all our club members, as well as RI ARES, and 31 people have signed up for the class so far,” writes Newport County RC President Bob Beatty, WB4SON. “We are now happy to open up the class to others, but are limited to only 100 participants for our Zoom meeting.  […] I believe we can allow another 50 people to join the meeting.”
 

K9HI: “ARRL Update” at PART of Westford (MA) Online Meeting, December 15, 2020

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PART of Westford logoFrom PART of Westford website:

The [PART of Westford] December 15, 2020 meeting will be held online via video conference, starting at 7:30 PM. Login details will be sent to members via Groups.io. Our guest speaker will be Phil Temples, K9HI, ARRL New England Vice Director, who will talk about ARRL news and happenings.

[To request conference login information, contact George Allison, K1IG, at k1ig -at- arrl -dot- net]

(UPDATED) First Annual Hams All-Holiday On Air Celebration (W1E Special Event Station), December 12, 2020

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Parks On The Air logoDec. 12: Unfortunately I had to cancel this event – a very unusual occurrence for me. Looks like the weather is a bit uncooperative too.  -KM1NDY

Mindy Hull, KM1NDY, writes in the Wellesley (MA) ARS Spark Gap newsletter:

Hello Friends! You are all cordially invited to:

WHAT: 1st Annual Hams All-Holiday On Air Celebration (W1E Special Event Station)  

WHEN: Saturday December 12, 2020. Two times: W1E on air from 11am to dusk. Everyone get together from noon to 2pm.  

WHERE:  Meet at Hopkinton State Park. Use the Main Entrance at 164 Cedar St., Hopkinton, MA 01748. Follow the map below.  Same place as November’s POTA!

PARKING: Park in large lot at boat launch. We will meet in a grove of trees with picnic tables near the beach at the end of the parking lot that is the farthest from where you entered it. See maps.  Park as close to the meeting spot as possible in case it’s real cold and we need to use our cars to warm up. 

MONITORING: 147.555 FM

GPS COORDINATES OF EXACT MEETING SPOT: 

42°15’30.7″N 71°31’01.8″W     ( 42.258539, -71.517168 )

WHY: To take back some of what this year stole from us.

DETAILS: We will operate the special event station W1E from about 11am to dusk at Hopkinton State Park on December 12, 2020 for the 1st Annual “Hams All-Holiday On Air Celebration”. We will be celebrating every holiday that anyone missed because of this crazy year! Our goal is to have as many QSOs as possible and then send a greeting card to every contact. We will set up one portable radio station in a heated shelter and operate SSB on 20M early and 40M later. The shelter will only hold one to two people at a time given the pandemic, so expect it to be cold. Bring your own equipment for other bands if you want to operate simultaneously; we have 100-Watt RF band-pass filters available so we can operate on multiple HF bands at once (10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 40, 80M).

If some of you would like to help operate the main station, send me an email with the time you are requesting to be on air.  Or just show up and we’ll see if we can get you on. Or bring your own station. 

If you want to just come hang out with radio people, enjoy some non-Zoom companionship, make a few contacts, and celebrate the holidays in person, show up between noon and 2pm. We will be social distancing, wearing masks, and splitting into smaller groups if there are more than 25 of us. Be prepared for cold!

Also, Hopkinton State Park is a Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) site, so you can activate a park as well! Activation code = K-2440. 

Bring as much festivity with you as possible! We all really really need it this year…

(I’ll send one more update next week!)

Yours, 

KM1NDY