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.
January 2023 Board Meeting
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.
Year of the Volunteer
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.
Hamfests, Club Meetings, and Field Day
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.
ISS Contacts
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.
License Training and Mentoring
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.
6m Antennas and Operations
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 PRA Foundation, the educational outreach arm of the Providence Radio Association, W1OP, presented a Boy Scouts of America RADIO Merit Badge class for members of Troop 2, Central Falls, RI. Over the course of 5 weeks, Foundation Director Dom Mallozzi, N1DM, and President Dave Tessitore, K1DT, taught in-person classes at the PRA Clubhouse / W1OP station following the K2BSA Amateur Radio curriculum. Instruction was augmented with lab demonstrations, on-the-air experiences using HF and VHF, as well as CW and several OSCAR Satellite and ISS repeater contacts. The Scouts were thrilled and encouraged when, by sheer coincidence, we worked a young Ham on 20M SSB who had just become an Eagle Scout! Upon earning their Merit Badges, the Scouts and Scoutmaster were each presented with FRS handheld radios courtesy of the Foundation, along with an invitation to return for a Technician License Class.
From the ARRL Letter, April 20, 2023:
Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes on the SKYWARN_Announce list:
ARRL’s Learning Network is a webinar series to help introduce members to the variety of activities and opportunities enjoyed by radio amateurs. These live presentations will be given by member-volunteers, for all members. Like hamfest forums and radio club presentations, the webinars are intended to help participants get more active, involved, and engaged in amateur radio. Presentations are 30-minutes each to accommodate attendee’s busy schedules, followed by a 15-minute period for questions-and-answers.
The Western MA Train & Test Group invites you to a FREE on-line course so that you, too, can upgrade to the Amateur Extra class license.
Sign up at: 
From ARRL VEC Newsletter, February 2023: