Nashua, NH High School Scheduled for ARISS Contact, February 19, 2021

ARISS logoThe Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua has been scheduled for an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) contact on Friday, February 19, 2021 at 17:56:36 UTC. The school’s population includes students from both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  ARISS Technical Mentor Fred, AB1OC, from the Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS) is coordinating the event.

NARS has been mentoring the students for the past two years, and now three students are licensed, according to ARISS-US Delegate Rosalie White, K1STO.  “The STEM Club advisor and a number of students were inspired by ham radio and space after attending an ARISS contact at a school mentored by NARS three years ago,” she adds.

Bishop Guertin High School hopes the ARISS contact activities will support students’ growth in STEM related curriculum topics. A number of student activities are planned, including:

  • An introduction to amateur radio
  • The ability to understand how important radio communication is in the world and how it is used to communicate in space 
  • The opportunity and motivation to become licensed ham radio operators
  • A partnership with the Nashua Radio Society whose members will mentor the students about radio communication and teach them the skills necessary to assist in building radio equipment 
  • Leadership roles in promoting, organizing and running the ISS contact

The ARISS contact will be live streamed on YouTube, and can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/0-Dsel4_7gM.

K4ZDH: “ARRL Volunteer Monitor Program” at RATPAC, February 10, 2021

RATPAC logoPlease plan to attend Wednesday’s February 10 Zoom presentation. 

10:00 PM AST / 9:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM CST / 7:00 PM MST / 6:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM AKST / 4:00 PM HST

 Topic: ARRL Volunteer Monitors (VM) program 

 Speaker/Presenter:  Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH 
 Riley K4ZDH oversees the ARRL Volunteer Monitors Development and Implementation

This meeting will be OPEN for all to attend. Please feel free to invite others.

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Meeting ID: 212 888 4758
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SKYWARN Certification Class at Newport County (RI) Radio Club, February 8, 2021

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.”
 

KD1CY: “Interesting Stories about Ham Radio & Weather Spotting” on ARRL Learning Network, February 11, 2021

Rob Macedo, KD1CY photoEastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator and ARES SKYWARN Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, will present on “Interesting Stories about Ham Radio & Weather Spotting” on the ARRL Learning Network on Tuesday, February 11, 2021 at 8 PM EST (0100 UTC on Friday, February 12). To register, visit <https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1360666941733861134>.

“One of the most critical ways amateur radio supports agencies such as the National Weather Service (NWS), National Hurricane Center (NHC), and emergency management is through weather spotting via the NWS SKYWARN program. This presentation reviews some interesting stories about how amateurs involved in SKYWARN have saved lives and property and why this is an important amateur radio activity.”

“Winklink Radio Interfaces” at RATPAC Presentation, January 21, 2021

RATPAC logoPlease plan to attend Thursday’s January 21 Zoom presentation. 

10:00 PM AST / 9:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM CST / 7:00 PM MST / 6:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM AKST / 4:00 PM HST

 Topic: Winlink Radio interfaces

 Speaker/Presenter:  Scott Currie NS7C 

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Passcode: Winlink

ARISS Contact at Maine Regional School Unit 21 in Kennebunk, ME, January 21, 2021

ARISS logo[Updated January 18, 2021]

Students from four elementary schools in Kennebunk, Maine, including the Sea Road School, will have the opportunity to speak with astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at  18:27 UTC, according to Rosalie White, K1STO, one of the two ARISS-US Delegates, and the delegate who represents ARRL.

Thomas Moyer, KB1VPD of New England Radio Discussion Society (NERDS) is named as the ham radio point of contact along with David Taylor, N1FCC.

According to their submitted proposal:

“NERDS offered to do a free course in electronics and radio fundamentals which includes DC and AC theory, semiconductor basics, applications, and digital electronics.  NERDS, Great Bay Radio Association, and Port City Amateur Radio Club will provide technical expertise and help plan and present radio information and demonstrations and basic radio projects.

“The elementary STEM team for Maine Regional School Unit 21 see every class, K through 5th grade for 45 minutes every week.  One of our main goals is to instill an engineering ‘thought process’ even in the youngest students.  The ARISS contact will intertwine lessons we’ve been fine-tuning for years including coding, 3D printing, and robotics. Some specific lessons include: a NASA lesson on space communications titled ‘Signals and Noise Oh Boy’ and Google Glasses Expeditions on Northern Lights, space, and more. We want our students to be able to see themselves in future STEM careers. A cross-curriculum will have students researching and writing letters to the astronauts and about the ISS, calculating distances and measuring time for math, understanding the impact of gravity and how it varies on other planets for science. The Brick Store Museum has a STEM thrust and has hosted a six-month radio exhibit created by two hams of the NERDS.  Kennebunk students and students bussed-in from other elementary schools visited the exhibit.”

Students will take turns asking their questions of Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG. Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD, in Italy will serve as the ARISS relay amateur radio ground station. Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, has served as the ARISS Technical Mentor for the contact. The ISS callsign is scheduled to be OR4ISS. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for January 21, 2021 at 1:27 pm Eastern Time, (18:27 UTC). The contact will be live streamed and can be viewed at  https://youtu.be/LN70OpJFMgs . The livestream is expected to begin at approximately 30 minutes before the contact time.

[See also:

Kennebunk Maine School Students Prepare to Contact International Space Station

Liftoff: Sea Road School Students to Chat With Space Station Astronaut“] 

Vermont Team Offers Online Ham Exams

A VE team in Vermont is offering online exam appointments each week:

“Remote exams are NOT for everyone! Make absolutely sure you meet all requirements regarding computers, equipment and Internet connection. Please go to hamclass.net/examreq.html for full details.

Only sign up with ONE Exam Team! We offer specific appointments. Other teams may offer a large session where you wait in line for a long time to be tested. Choose the team you want, but please only choose one. Making and then cancelling appointments results in more work for us (we are all volunteers) and it denies others hard-to-get exam slots. Please be considerate of others.

Make sure you are ready to NAIL THE EXAM. You need to score over 90% on at least 8 different exams to be sure. Testing often results in anxiety where students do not do as well as in practice, so you need to aim higher. We can only test ONE applicant at a time. Failing an exam results in wasted time of the examiners, and a wasted exam slot when someone else could be earning a license.

Sign up for an exam session when you are ready to take the exam. We do not maintain a waiting list for future dates.

To reserve an exam slot, go to hamclass.net/remote.html and fill out the application.”

K8ZT: “Technician HF Privileges” RATPAC Presentation, January 6, 2021

RATPAC logoPlease plan to attend Wednesday’s January 6 Zoom presentation. 

10:00 PM AST / 9:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM CST / 7:00 PM MST / 6:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM AKST / 4:00 PM HST

 Topic: Technician HF Privileges

 Speaker/Presenter: Anthony Luscre, K8ZT  Click on Anthony’s name/call sign to see his QRZ.com page.  
 

This meeting will be OPEN for all to attend. Please feel free to invite others.

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Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 212 888 4758
Passcode: HFTECH
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St. John Valley ARA (ME) DMR Class Online, January 16, 2021

St. John Valley ARA logo“This class is geared towards explaining why DMR is set up the way it is and why it seems so complicated. By the end of the class it is my hope that you will understand how the DMR repeater system works and also understand the terms to be able program your radio to access the system. This class is focused on the DMR system specific to Maine, which is a C-Bridge / DMR-MARC system, but the content can be applied to almost any MotoTRBO system. This class was developed by kb1zpp and sponsored by the SJVARA.

Note: This is not intended to be a class on how to set up your codeplug but rather how to understand the terms to be able to write a codeplug yourself from scratch. That being said I will have codeplug examples from a few models and may have time at the end of the class to address any brand specific questions. There will be a follow up class “Advanced DMR Programming” to follow this class in the near future which will dive deeper into the programming software side of DMR.

Intro to the Maine DMR System
January 16, 2021
Lobby opens at 16:30 est
Class starts at 17:00 est
Held via www.freeconferencecall.com, you will need an account which is free
You will need a computer, PC or Mac. You won’t see anything on a smartphone.
You will need to download the app from www.freeconferencecall.com
For a walkthrough to set up an account check out the April or November issues of the SJVARA newsletter at www.sjvara.com/feedpoint

Register at <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeK37_oBBQskFtztsLhYRjOelBuxCUjgFITreusaAVXITW6Gg/viewform>.

Hampden County (MA) Radio Association to Offer Technician Licensing Class

Hampden Co RA logoThe Hampden County Radio Association will hold a five-week Technician licensing class where “you can learn everything you need to earn your (entry-level) FCC Amateur Radio license.” 

The class will run from February 3 to March 3, 2021 from 7-9 PM via Zoom.

Pre-registration is required at <http://www.hcra.org/licensing-classes>.

For more information, contact Mike DeChristopher, N1TA, at <mfdechristopher@gmail.com>.