Our Technician In A Day Session is a study course. The course allows you to become licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.
You should obtain a copy of the ARRL Technician Class License Manual. You may purchase this book at Ham Radio Outlet or any other amateur radio related store.
You should read the book. The information contained therein will allow you to answer questions on a 35 question test for obtaining your Technician License.
There are videos on Youtube at W4EEY that explain the theory and cover the questions to enhance your knowledge. You may also take practice exams at hamstudy.org for comprehension.
You will be charged a slight fee for this course. Normally, $15.00 for the Examination and $10.00 for materials, snacks and drinks which will be provided for the session.
The Tech In A Day Session will be almost a full day session (8 am to 5pm)
The first Study Session begins at 9:00am for 45 minutes and you will be given a 15 minute break before the next session begins at 10 am.
Three study sessions will be held before a lunch break (approximately 11:45am-1:00pm)
There will be three more study sessions in the afternoon to run to 4:45 pm.
Testing will begin approximately at 5:00 pm.
You will be administered an examination of 35 questions of which you must score at least 26 out of 35 or better to PASS.
Upon completion and passing of your examination you will be handed a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination) (CSCE Form).
Your call sign should be process in 10-12 business days.
If you would like more information, you may email us at caarave@caara.net or Telephone (978) 504-9112 for more information.
Ham Radio University will also have a Contesting forum, –hosted by Yours Truly, KS2G– along with 15 other presentations on subjects ranging from Station Grounding, to Cables & Connectors, to Raspberry Pi Apps for Ham Radio.
The on-line webinars are tomorrow, January 7th from 8:00 am-4:00 pm EST (13:00-20:00 UTC)
They’re all free-of-charge … but advance registration is required.
The next Consortium will take place on Monday, Dec 5th at the Manville Sportsman’s Club, 250 High St. in Manville, RI. Our regular presenter, Jim, K1GND, is taking some leave time away from the Consortium to provide care for his wife, Ann who is undergoing some serious medical issues. We were planning on Mike, K1ETA, to present material regarding his extensive portable operating by the sea shore, on hill tops and in the field using QRP and higher power with a variety of home made antennas. However, Mike came down with some serious congestion and other cold related problems.
So, you will be treated with some operating conversation related to DXing from W1YRC over my time as a DXer starting in about 1962. Operating tips, QSL tips and various operating awards available will be covered. This will be a conversational style presentation, so bring your favorite questions and stories. Keep in mind that the purpose we serve in the Consortium is to cover basics with the goal of helping new hams and others to improve their knowledge of ham radio topics.
Thank you and see you at the Consortium. We plan to start about 7:00 PM.
I have a last minute program change that will make the presentation more interesting than it would be as I planned it.
Ken Trudel, N1RGK, offered to present a follow-up to his original 2019 program concerning preparation of coaxial connectors for outdoor service. In his latest program, Ken shows how weather has affected his coaxial connectors over the three years since being installed. He has actual hardware to show and documentation.
I will go first at 7:00 and Ken will follow at about 7:30–7:45.
10/28/2022 – The online event is scheduled for Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM EDT. There is no charge to attend the Ham Bootcamp which entails a variety of informative presentations and activities related to amateur radio, and is geared toward new operators of any license class that wish to learn more about getting on the air. Additionally, Ham Bootcamp allows those thinking of becoming hams to see what the hobby is all about. The sessions usually have 100 – 400 attendees and over the past several years, more than 800 have attended. More information is available at the Nashua Area Radio Society’s website. The Nashua Area Radio Society of New Hampshire is an ARRL Special Service Club.
The Western Massachusetts Train and Test group will be conducting a Technician license course starting October 18. This course will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7PM to 9 PM for 6 weeks via Zoom. The course is free and you will need to purchase the ARRL technician’s manual which is available at the ARRL.org website or on Amazon.
Oct 3, 2022 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member onboard the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits would determine the exact radio contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit a proposal is November 13, 2022.
Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.
An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about things such as satellite radio communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.
Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Canada, Japan, Europe and Russia present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations’ volunteer efforts provide much of the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.
Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education@gmail.com.
About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and NASA’s Space communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.
The Quaboag Valley Amateur Radio Club grant by the ARRL Foundation, which was awarded to the club in August, was designed to attract two very different groups to the amateur radio hobby and to club membership in local amateur radio clubs.
The first group addressed in the proposal was the adult population that may have had an interest in radio in the past but never had the opportunity to get licensed. This group now can afford to get entry level equipment but needs help getting started. They are the people with the intellectual curiosity and drive to enroll in adult education programs. The program was designed to utilize existing evening school education programs to offer licensing courses at their facilities. The grant received is helping to support the evening division Technician licensing course at Baypath Vocational Technical School in Charlton, Massachusetts. The grant is paying for training materials and a free handheld transceiver upon successful completion of the Technician license exam. The course is currently running with 18 students.
The second group will be for students at another vocational technical school; however it will be focused on tech school students whose training in various technical fields stimulated them to take advantage of a free program offered at their school that would lead to an Amateur Radio Technicians License. This course is being planned for April, 2023. The course, training materials and a pre-programmed handheld transceiver, to be awarded upon passing the Technician license exam at no cost to the student, will help to make the program affordable for interested students.
The program is being managed by Mert Kenniston, KC1KVA, and supported by Dennis Clowes, KC1LNL and Peter Baldracchi, KB1QGY, who are assisting in presentation of several of the instruction modules along with other club volunteers as “expert witnesses” for discussions. Further development of this model to attract new hams to our clubs and our hobby is expected to be an ongoing topic at future QVARC meetings.
On Monday, September 12th, we shall kick off the 16th season of the Consortium. After taking the summer off, we’re ready to start another terrific season of discussions concerning basic radio. We have discovered that many hams are weak in knowledge of fundamentals, not just newly minted ones but many old timers as well.
We shall meet at the Manville Sportsmen’s Club located at 250 High St., Lincoln, RI starting at 6:30. Jim K1GND and I will start by reporting what Jim K1GND and I have been up to since the last Consortium which consists mostly of the Gaspee project, another outreach effort intended to promote the image of BVARC.
I will spend a little time telling the group how we got to this point in the program and what we plan to do in future sessions of the Consortium.
Please do all that you can to spread the word regarding September 12th’s meeting of the Consortium. My mailing list is FAR from complete. Everyone is welcome. We charge no admission or require membership in anything. Attendees don’t even need to hold an Amateur license. But all must be serious about learning radio basics.
They must, however, have a keen interest in sharpening their baseline knowledge in radio principles. If you want to come only for socializing, please do not come. The Consortium is friendly and informal but we seriously focus on learning basic radio material. Our program covers antennas, power supplies, propagation, operating technique and other things that all Amateurs must embrace to fully enjoy our wonderful hobby.
We are even considering running another Morse code class, separate from the general Consortium session, aimed at the recent “no-code” licensees who realize that they’re lacking a very useful operating skill. We have conducted three classes previously and they were mostly successful. Of course, we encourage attendees to bring their questions to the Consortium, especially those that you have researched and failed to obtain satisfactory answers. We rather strongly avoid advanced topics in the Consortium. Our focus is building and strengthening foundation knowledge. Advanced topics need to build upon good basic knowledge for one to understand and properly use that knowledge, similar to a house. It must have a solid foundation to build upon.
I’ve been asked what our policy is regarding COVID and what they should do regarding any mask requirement for the Consortium. First of all, thank you for asking. Please accept my apology for failing to address this important issue. We’re not out of the woods yet, but it appears that we’re heading that way. Each of us have different medical issues that we must deal with. Jim and I have been fully vaccinated but Jim will be wearing a mask because his wife, Anne, has been undergoing chemotherapy and other serious medical treatment and in an abundance of caution and concern for everyone coming to the Consortium, he shall wear a mask.
I live alone and have not been in contact with anyone having COVID, so I shall not be wearing a mask. That may change but for now, that’s the way we’re dealing with it.
You should wear a mask if you feel comfortable doing so and if anyone would feel more comfortable if I wore a mask, kindly say so and I’ll better We surely don’t want this to keep you from attending. If you would feel more comfortable if I wore a mask, please send me a reply to this e mail. Only I shall see your request if you do not reply to all. No list will be published or revealed of who requested it.
Thanks and 73. Best wishes for a nice Labor Day weekend, Don’t let the rain forecasted spoil your family time or DXing. Hope to see you on the 12th.
On Thursday, July 28 at 8:00 PM EDT, Radio Relay International will be conducting class TR-008 entitled “Basic Radiotelephone Net Procedures.”
This class covers basic voice procedures that are applicable to both traffic nets and tactical nets. The class runs about 2 hours and is interactive in nature. One will also learn about training tools that can be implemented on local ARES/EmComm nets to improve their training value and better prepare rank-and-file volunteers for an important supportive role in emergency response.
Meeting ID: 809 767 0691
Passcode: Vibroplex
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Meeting ID: 809 767 0691
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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.
Mel Granick, KS2G, writes:
Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, writes:
From ARRL web site:
Oct 3, 2022 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member onboard the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits would determine the exact radio contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The Quaboag Valley Amateur Radio Club grant by the ARRL Foundation, which was awarded to the club in August, was designed to attract two very different groups to the amateur radio hobby and to club membership in local amateur radio clubs.
Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, writes:
