I write to introduce a new organization intended to support ARES®-related activities.
ARES® is a program of the ARRL®. It is not an entity that can own property or collect and spend money.
For these reasons many ARES® groups around the country started clubs that can own property and transact business to support ARES® activities. Hillsborough County and Greater Manchester NH ARES® leaders have formed such a club.
Merrimack Valley Amateur Radio Association, callsign N1MVA, is a New Hampshire nonprofit charitable corporation. We are also applying to the IRS for 501(c)3 status.
Our main goals are
enhancing emergency communication infrastructure through fundraising
developing operator communication skills by supporting community events.
For example, a current MVARA project is a collaboration with the New England Digital Emergency Communications Network to connect two DMR repeaters with microwave links, as backup for internet connections, making DMR more resilient for emergency communications. This is a pilot project to demonstrate proof-of-concept before applying for funding for a larger deployment.
We also hope to expand the small microwave network among served agencies in Manchester, NH to Nashua and Concord. External funding for this project would also be the subject of an grant proposal.
We seek members interested in these kinds of activities. Applicants need not be ARES® members nor reside in New Hampshire’s Merrimack Valley Region. ARRL® membership is encouraged so we can become an ARRL® affiliate club.
Those who join MVARA by December 31, 2022 will be designated Charter Members.
The membership application can be found on our website – MerrimackValleyARA.org.
Questions or comments may be directed to me at k1ehz@arrl.net
08/31/2022 – The new ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program, funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), has awarded $270,000 to radio clubs that participated in the first round of applications.
The Club Grant Program, introduced earlier this year, includes $500,000 to be awarded to radio clubs with projects that will have the most impact on amateur radio, the community, and the future of radio technology. The grants will fund transformative projects that encourage the growth of active amateur radio operators and training opportunities, education programs for student groups and schools, and club revitalization. A second round of applications to award the program’s remaining funding will open on September 7, 2022.
Twenty-four clubs were notified on Monday, August 29, that they are receiving grants. The ARRL Foundation received 128 applications in the first round, with requests totaling $1.74 million. The selection committee noted that it was difficult work deciding from many high-quality grant proposals considering the finite available funds. Radio clubs that did not receive grants in the first round may revise and resubmit applications in the second round.
An informational webinar will serve as an orientation to the program, providing information on how to apply. The webinar will take place on September 7 at 7 PM Eastern Time. Please register in advance to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar:
The ARRL Foundation, established in 1973 by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®, administers the Club Grant Program. ARRL has long recognized that it is in the best interests of amateur radio to encourage and support amateur radio clubs. Clubs historically have recruited, licensed, and trained new radio amateurs and have provided the community setting for them to continue their education and training.
The new Club Grant Program will help clubs more easily provide and expand their important services. More information about the program can be found on the ARRL Foundation website at www.arrl.org/club-grant-program.
The experimental microwave group of the Newport County (RI) Radio Club (NCRC) gathered to test their AREDN mesh network radios before a site test on Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay. Two local island women (and club members) recently studied and passed their Technician license specifically to pioneer resilient radio communication on their small island. The NCRC has been experimenting with AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) since 2015, over distances of up to three miles. Today’s gathering was testing the equipment at a local park on 2397 MHz, a super high frequency ham channel below the 2.4GHz WiFi band.
Participants included Paul Fredette, K1YBE; Rob White, KB1ZZU; Mike Cullen, K1NPT; Keith Henry, KC1LPV; and Nancy Austin, KC1NEK.
Now that you know what it isn’t, come to the next Billerica (MA) ARS meeting and hear what it is from HamXposition Program Chair Phil Temples, K9HI.
Phil will highlight some of the exciting talks and presentations lined up on the three-day program, as well as discussing some of the less-known activities that will occur at the Convention on August 26-28, 2022 at the Best Western Royal Plaza & Trade Center in Marlborough.
(By the way, it’s okay to forget and call it “Boxboro.” Phil does it occasionally, too!)
Phil Temples is ARRL Vice Director for the New England Division and a former Eastern MA Section Manager. A ham for over fifty years, he’s a Life Member of the ARRL and QCWA.
[For Zoom conference details, email Bruce Anderson, W1LUS, at w1lus -at- hotmail -dot- com.]
Vic Farmer, NE1Y, writes on the Providence Radio Association Facebook page on July 25 2022:
Between trees growing into the tower guy wires and vines tangling the guys … there was a lot of cleaning up to do at W1OP.
The main attraction this morning at W1OP was to clear out the tree that broke one tip of the longest element on the Log Periodic Dipole Array. All the surrounding land was pretty well cleared when the clubhouse was built in the 1950s, but now it is a forest and jungle with vines. The workers were very careful to make sure the tree did not fall on the clubhouse. Fortunately, [David “Tess” Tessitore,] K1DT, found the broken tip and it will be reattached.
I’ve been quite busy the last few months with a combination of ARRL Board work, New England Division projects, Mentoring, and some time on the air. I am pleased to report good progress on many fronts. Here’s more about what I’ve been up to.
Club Grants
Mike Walters, W8ZY, and I, as part of an ARRL Foundation Committee, put together the application and decision process for the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program and rolled it out. Thanks to a generous donation by ARDC, the ARRL Foundation is making $500,000 available to Amateur Radio Clubs.
ARRL Club Grant Program at a glance:
Clubs do not need to be ARRL-affiliated clubs to submit proposals
Looking to fund projects that create significant impact beyond the applying club: transformative impact on Amateur Radio; create public awareness and support for Amateur Radio; educational and training impact.
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to: get-on-the-air projects; ham training and skills development through mentoring; STEM and STEAM learning through Amateur Radio; station resources for use by the ham community; emergency communications and public service projects that emphasize training; club revitalization projects.
The response to the first round of this program has been tremendous. We received 127 applications for Club Grants! The first round of grants will be awarded by the end of the summer, and the second tranche of applications and awards will commence in the late summer/early fall.
Board Projects and Meetings
I am working along with other ARRL Board Members and leaders as part of several ARRL Board Committees. First, I am a member of the Administration and Finance Committee, where I am chairing a subcommittee that is looking at ways to grow ARRL membership and increase active participation in Amateur Radio.
I’m also leading a subcommittee within the Emergency Communications and Field Service Committee that is working on a plan to create the next generation of the National Traffic System (NTS). I am working closely with Marcia Forde, KW1U, and other traffic handlers to create a plan for NTS 2.0. We are planning a series of briefings for Traffic Handlers here in New England as well as across other ARRL divisions on the NTS 2.0 project.
Finally, I have been appointed to be one of the ARRL Board members on the newly formed Investment Management Committee. The Investment Management Committee provides oversight of ARRL’s external investment manager and advises ARRL’s Administration and Finance Committee and the Board of Directors on investment policies and portfolio management.
Field Day
Our 2022 Field Day Visit Tour
Anita, AB1QB, and I had a great time during Field Day, visiting clubs all over New England. We covered about 1,000 miles during a three-day tour on Field Day weekend. I especially enjoyed meeting folks in person during Field Day and seeing what everyone was doing. It was great to see all of the different ways that clubs across New England approached Field Day. Anita took many great photos during our tour, and you can view those and read more about our Field Day travels here. We operated as AB1OC/M from the mobile HF station in our truck during the trip and had a ton of fun on the air as well.
Assistant Director Teams
Phil Temples, K9HI, and I continued working with our division Assistant Directors as they continued to set up their teams and began sharing information and projects across our division.
Cory Golob, KU1U – Assistant Director, Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities
Rob Leiden, K1UI – Assistant Director, Spectrum Protection and Use
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB – Assistant Director, Mentoring and Ham Development
Dan Norman, N0HF – Assistant Director, Youth Outreach and STEM Learning
A great deal of good work is getting accomplished by our Assistant Directors, and each team has projects underway that will benefit hams across New England. Our second quarter 2022 newsletter features articles about what our ADs are doing.
BIG E Space Chat
New England school students will be making live radio contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station from The BIG E during the week of September 26th – September 29th. The “BIG E Space Chat” is part of a program to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational activities and Amateur Radio learning activities for young people.
We continued with our work to improve communications this quarter. There are three parts to our activities in this area:
Quarterly Division Cabinet Meetings with Club Presidents, Section Managers and Field Staff Members, and other leaders
Triannual (every 4 months) Division Town Hall Meetings with all ARRL Members in New England
Frequent attendance at Club Meetings (at least 6 times a quarter for each DVA team member)
We held our second Cabinet Meeting on April 16th (see what was discussed here). Our next Cabinet Meeting is scheduled for August 13th. We are inviting members of the HQ Staff to these meetings so that they can share information on what they are doing and receive feedback directly from division leaders.
We held our second Town Hall Meeting on June 15th. Attendance was excellent again, with over 140 in attendance. We provided an update on ARRL and New England Division activities and answered questions from the folks who attended. You can see what was discussed, including a recording of the event, here. We are planning to hold our next Town Hall Meeting in November.
We held an ARRL Forum at Spring NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH, where we provided an update on ARRL and New England Division projects and answered questions. We joined Peter Stohrer K1PJS at NEAR-Fest to talk with folks and answer questions.
Western MA Section Manager Ray, AA1SE and Assistant Director Anita, AB1QB discuss Licensing and Mentoring with Gordon West, WB6NOA at Hamvention
We also attended the Dayton Hamvention, where we helped to staff the ARRL Clubs booth and answer questions about the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program.
I am also planning to host an ARRL Forum at HamXposition in Marlborough, MA. HamXposition will take place on August 26th – 28th. You can see the schedule for the ARRL forum and session hosted by our division ADs here.
Licensing, Mentoring, and Youth
Stu, W1SHS, hosts an “Introduction to EmComm” at Ham Bootcamp
I have continued work on Licensing and Mentoring programs. We taught weekend Technician, General, and Extra License classes this spring and helped 19 hams earn their license or an upgrade.
We also held a spring Ham Bootcamp program, which helps hams across the country to learn how to use their Amateur Radio License to operate, put stations together, and get on the air. We added additional Ham Bootcamp training on getting started in Emergency Communications activities thanks to help from Stu Solomon, W1SHS, and Cory Golob, KU1U’s Emergency Communications and Public Service Activities Team.
Newport County Radio Club (RI) Parks on the Air (POTA) Activity
When: Saturday July 30, 2022 at 0930 EDST
Where:Ft. Adams State Park: POTA K-2874
Who: All club members and license classes welcome
All members are welcome however those with a General license are especially encouraged to attend.
Optional: bring your own HF radio, microphone and the radio’s manual. We’ll try to use it to get on the air. POTA experienced members will provide help you might need to further your understanding of your own radio. In addition, batteries, antennas, turners, other HF radios, etc. will be provided.
Club members can participate in this POTA activity in two ways:
1. Operate on the air as an “activator” at the park using call sign W1SYE.
2. Operate from home and contact W1SYE as a “hunter” on the day of the event. Activators are listed on the following POTA web site:https://pota.app/#/
Call the W1SYE activators!
Club members are encouraged to come out to our activation to share knowledge or learn about portable setups and operations, different modes of operation (CW, phone, digital), how to manage/work pileups, and even operate HF bands with a control operator in a relaxed environment.
Ft. Adams is in Newport. We will setup on the bluff behind the Eisenhower House. Turn left as soon as you enter the park.
ARRL ClubNews is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs.
A Rhode Island STEAM club is making its own kind of DX. The All Saints STEAM Academy (N1ASA) in Middletown, Rhode Island, is tracking its GPS/tracker balloon using APRS. As of mid-day June 8, it was located over Canada.
“N1ASA’s GPS/tracker balloon survived the night and is reporting regularly Wednesday from 24,000 feet above Nova Scotia, heading at 24 MPH to the northeast,” according to a post today on the Newport County Radio Club’s Facebook page.
“Tuesday’s thick cloud cover which disrupted the production of solar power has thinned out. There’s no battery on board, just a ‘super capacitor’ to store enough power to run the 0.02-watt transmitter for 110 seconds every 10 minutes.” The package uses a 35-foot dipole antenna.
The group hopes the balloon will continue to remain airborne long enough to reach Europe.
The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program has launched and is now accepting applications. The deadline to apply is June 30 at 7 PM EST. An informational webinar will be held on Thursday June 9 at 7 PM EST to answer questions about the program. A video of the webinar will also be available on YouTube. You can register now by visiting this link.
From ARRL News:
From 
The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program has launched and is now accepting applications. The deadline to apply is June 30 at 7 PM EST. An informational webinar will be held on Thursday June 9 at 7 PM EST to answer questions about the program. A video of the webinar will also be available on YouTube. You can register now by visiting