Serving ARRL members who reside in the New England sections
HamXposition Vice Chair Bob DeMattia, K1IW, writes:
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.
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.
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.
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/.
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.
HamXposition Programs Committee Chair Phil Temples, K9HI, writes:
Don’t just attend the 2023 Northeast HamXposition @ Marlborough—BE A PART OF IT!
The HamXposition Committee seeks fresh and exciting presentations for this year’s ARRL New England Division Convention, August 25-27, 2023. We’re looking for talks of both technical and non-technical natures. As a HamXposition speaker, you will have the opportunity to share your subject and knowledge with amateur radio operators from around New England, the surrounding states, and Canada.
In addition to workshops on Friday, we will feature forums throughout the day Saturday, Saturday evening entertainment, and a half-day Sunday program.
If you represent a regional club or organization (e.g. YCCC, NEQRP, WRONE, MARS, etc.) we can help facilitate open forums or closed meetings by providing you a meeting space.
Non-profit groups who wish to set up information tables should get your requests in early. While the tables are offered without charge, we ask for some volunteer time in return to assist us with ticket sales and other logistics during the convention.
To register as a speaker or presenter (or if you’d like to suggest someone), please go to https://hamxposition.org/
We look forward to seeing you at the Convention.
The first quarter of 2023 has kept me busy on a variety of fronts. The following are a few things that I hope you’ll be interested in hearing and learning more about.
The January ARRL Board Meeting was one of the most productive in recent memory. In addition to approving the 2023 ARRL budget, the board passed over 15 motions many of which initiated programs and activities to benefit ARRL members. The following two slides summarize the actions taken by the board in January –
You can view the notes from the meeting here. I am particularly happy and excited to see the new ham development initiative moving forward.
The ARRL is fortunate to be supported by over 7,000 volunteers! The ARRL has designated 2023 as The Year of the Volunteers. In addition to QST articles and other publications that highlight the many contributions that volunteers make to the ARRL, the league is sponsoring a year-long operating event to recognize ARRL volunteers (and to have some fun). Here’s some information about the event –
You can find more about the event and see the leaderboard here.
I am continuing to attend Hamfests and Club Meetings around our Division. This is one of the areas of my work as an ARRL Director that I enjoy the most! Here are our plans for attending additional conventions and hamfests in 2023 –
We are headed off to Dayton and I am looking forward to seeing and talking with folks from New England there. We are working on our plans for visiting folks during Field Day 2023. If you like us to try to include you in our 2023 Field Day visits, please email Anita at ab1qb@arrl.net and we’ll try to get you onto our schedule.
I have continued to remain active in the ARISS program which helps schools to make contact with astronauts on the International Space Station via Amateur Radio.
My work with ARISS includes acting as a Ground Station to provide radio links for school contacts as well as working with schools to help them to prepare for their contacts. Most recently, I had the pleasure to work with Council Rock South H.S. in Pennsylvania to help them with their contact. It was amazing! You can watch a video of the contact here.
Anita and I continue to support license training and the Ham Bootcamp program which helps Hams to learn to utilize their licenses and get active in Amateur Radio. We’ve taught Technician, General, and Extra licenses classes this spring where we helped over 20 people to get licensed or upgrade to General and Extra class licenses. We are hoping to transfer these programs and more to the ARRL so that they can benefit more Hams.
I have been able to find a little time to upgrade our station in here New Hampshire. I’ve been working on our 6m weak signal antenna systems. We’ve installed 14 new 6m antennas including three stacks and two 7-element LFA antennas. You can read more about our 6m antenna project here. We are really looking forward to the 6m Es season this year. I only need 3 more countries for DXCC on the 6m band and I am hoping to work these during the Es season. I hope to work many folks in our division on the HF bands and 6m this summer!
I hope that folks have a chance to enjoy Amateur Radio this spring and summer. Stay safe and have fun!
Best and 73,
Fred, AB1OC
The 2023 hamfest season is ramping up.
Keep up on the latest ARRL-sanctioned hamfests, fleamarkets and conventions at <https://www.arrl.org/hamfests/search/Location.division_id:NE>.
From Maine ARRL Facebook page:
The Eastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Association will be holding its annual hamfest at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s Raceway Restaurant from 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday, April 23 with a flea market and VE session. A $5.00 donation is requested for admission. More information can be found at <http://www.ecara.net/?page_id=266>.
The Port City Amateur Radio Club hosts an annual hamfest and flea market in April at the Saint James Masonic Lodge on 77 Tide Mill Road, Hampton, NH. Admission is $5 per person and children under 12 are admitted free. There are hourly door prize drawings as well as a grand prize drawing. All ticket holders are eligible to win, additional prize drawing tickets may be purchased for $5 each.
We have indoor and outdoor table space available and pre-registration is recommended. You can purchase table space using the seller’s application found at the bottom of this page.
The next hamfest/flea market will be held on April 8, 2023 from 8 am to 12 pm.
A VE Session will follow right after the flea market beginning at 1 pm.
For additional information, see https://w1wqm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-FLEA-MARKET-FLYER.pdf.
The Southington (CT) Amateur Radio Association will conduct its annual flea market on Sunday, March 26, 2023 from 8:30 AM to 12 PM at the Southington High School, 720 Pleasant Street, in Southington, CT. The flea will feature ham radio equipment, electronics, computers, and more.
Six feet linear table space costs $20 in advance; checks must be received before the day of the flea market. Day of the flea market, spaces are $25. Additional persons helping pay $7.00 as general admission. (Be fair!) Children under the age of 12 free are admitted free. Doors open for all vendors unloading at 6:15am.
The flea also features an ARES Spring Meeting.
For further info contact Bob, K1HSN, at 860-628-4808
Web site info www.chetbacon.com/sara/
Email: W1ECV@ARRL.NET
Download the flyer at <http://www.chetbacon.com/SARAflea2023.pdf>.
Skip Youngberg, K1NKR, writes on the Algonquin (MA) ARA mailing list:
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum in East Greenwich, Rhode Island is having a Yankee Tune-Up on July 22, 2023. Come trade and sell your antique radios, vintage electronics and ham gear.
The entire museum will be open as well for your viewing pleasure.