Operating

POTA Support Your Parks Weekend, April 18-20, 2025

by

Parks On The Air logoShawn Warren, KC1NQE writes on the CT-POTA list:

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Spring is finally here, and that means it’s time for this year’s Spring Support Your Parks Weekend, happening April 18-20. This particular weekend is extra special—not only is it World Amateur Radio Day on April 18th, but Easter falls on April 20th, giving us plenty of opportunities to make contacts and light up Connecticut’s parks in the logbooks as K2D!

Join Us for the P2P Net & Potluck Picnic!

To welcome in the Spring, we’ll be hosting our Park-to-Park (P2P) net on 40 meters at 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 20th. Pick your favorite park to activate and jump on the net, or come meet up with us at:

  • Wharton Brook State Park (US-1728)
    675 US-5, North Haven, CT 06473
    10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

We’ll be gathering for a potluck picnic, so bring a dish to share—your favorite homemade meal, snacks, beverages, or desserts are all welcome! There will also be a tailgate-style POTA show and tell, so bring your radio gear to show off and operate.

Represent Connecticut as K2D!

If you’d like to activate using the K2D special event call sign, please use this [Sign-Up Link] to claim a rover number for spotting purposes. When logging your contacts:

* Log your station as K2D
* Log yourself as the operator using your personal call sign
* Submit logs to Conrad N2YCH – N2YCH(at)icloud.com

Your personal POTA account will receive credit when the logs are uploaded to K2D.

Let’s make this an amazing weekend on the air and celebrate Spring together! Hope to see you out there.

 

Experimental New England APRS Net

by

From: Don AB1PH

2025-03-08

0709L

Announcing the experimental New England APRS net

 

WHAT: NE APRS Test Net

WHEN: second Monday of the month (for March, this is Monday Mar 10): 0600 ET – 2359 ET

WHERE: APRS network

HOW: Destination Station = ANSRVR

HOW: Message body = CQ [space] NEAPRS [space] “your text: check-in message of choice.”

 

If you would like to participate, you can sign up at: https://groups.io/g/neaprs

 

Questions:  contact John KC1VMZ kc1vmz@gmail.com

 

We look forward to your participation!

 

International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY, March 8, 2025

by
Int'l Women's Day YL POTA Party
 
International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY: Celebrate Women in Ham Radio!
 
Join us on March 8th for a special International Women’s Day YL POTA PARTY! This event is open to all female amateur radio operators and enthusiasts, regardless of POTA experience.
 
What to expect:
Activate a park during the 24-hour event window. Submit your POTA activations and share your experiences with other participants.
Connect with other YLs from around the world. Share stories, tips, and support.
Learn more about POTA and how to get involved.
 
Why participate?
Celebrate the achievements of women in ham radio.
Connect with other YLs and build a supportive community.
Have fun and enjoy the POTA hobby.
 
How to participate:
Activate a park during the 24-hour event window
Submit your POTA activations to the POTA database.
Share your experiences and photos on social media using the hashtag #YL_POTA_Party.
We encourage you to wear pink and/or decorate your station to show your support for International Women’s Day!
Spread the word and invite your friends to join the party!
Together, we can make this a memorable event for all YLs in ham radio!
 
Here are some additional details about the event:
Date: March 8th, 2024
Location: Any POTA park (or hunt POTA from home!)
Frequency: Any amateur radio frequency within your license class
Hashtag: #YL_POTA_Party
We look forward to hearing you on the air!
 
Note: This event is not sponsored by the Parks On The Air Foundation.
 
Here are some resources that you may find helpful:
POTA website: https://parksontheair.com/
 
We hope you have a wonderful International Women’s Day!

QRP Net Restart

by

NEQRP logoEd Ridolfi, K1RID, writes on the QRP mailing list:

Greetings fellow QRPers.

I have volunteered to restart the NEQRP Net with a few minor changes: 

  • the net will convene monthly on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 8 PM ET on 3.560 +/-   
  • My home QTH is Kittery ME, FN43 and I will be running 5 watts to a doublet of two 133′ legs up 60′ in the trees
  •  I plan on having a roundtable topic each month

The first net gathering will be this Wednesday the 29th at 8PM. This will be a directed but informal net. I plan to take check-ins after sending QNI. Please send your call as I build the list. Once we start the roundtable our initial topic this month will be:

  • your member number
  • rig
  • power
  • antenna and key type

For example: nr877 FT818 5w to doublet up 60 feet es bencher paddles

I am open to any suggestions and look forward to hearing everyone!

dit dit,

Ed, K1RID

Co-founder of Newburyport Electronics & Radio Society, K1YRD

Member: YorkCountyARC, PortCityARC, NEQRP, NAQCC, SKCC & CWOPS

Vermont QSO Party, February 1-2, 2025

by

VT iconMitch Stern, W1SJ, writes:

The Vermont QSO Party starts Friday, February 1 at 7 PM. We hope to hear many of you on the air. The more Vermont hams get on, the happier all the participants are. Everyone is especially looking for some of those rare Vermont counties. If you are in places like Essex, Orleans, Caledonia, Franklin, Grand Isle, Orange, those are often the most requested ones. If you can go mobile and put some of the rare counties on the air, that is good too. Propagation will be good on ALL the bands 160-10 meters, so do get on and call CQ. Use the spotting network to let everyone know where you are whenever you change bands.

Read the rules!  Go to: https://www.ranv.org/vtqso.html

If you operate on FT8 or FT4 some things to know:

  1. You must upload digital contacts from the WSJTx ADIF file SEPARATELY from the CABRILLO file containing the Phone/CW contacts. In other words do not try to log Digital and Phone/CW QSOs in your logging program. The upload will not work. Read the details on the web site. Don’t worry about your score – we will compute that for you. But you must upload a clean log. If not sure what to do, ASK NOW.
  2. If you are on FT8 or FT4, you cannot give out your county as a multiplier – only grid squares, which will be FN34, FN33, FN32, FN35, FN44).

LET ME KNOW your approximate schedule of when you will be on and where. I will post this to the web site (but don’t do this after Friday afternoon – I will be busy with the contest then).

CARE TO OPERATE a big station? I am looking for operators at W1NVT in Essex. Free training provided. You will have a ball working people. Contact me this week.

Let’s get on the air and have a ball!

Mitch

KB1EHE, KB1IFZ QRV from Antarctica

by

Eric Knight, KB1EHE, and Elsie Mathews, KB1IFZ, will be on the air from King George Island, Antarctica, beginning January 28, 2025.

The Unionville, Connecticut, husband-and-wife team have been planning their “trip of a lifetime” to Antarctica for several years. According to Eric, “Yesterday we went to JFK airport. […] Elsie and I had an uneventful (although long; 10.5 hours) flight to Santiago, Chile. After a three-hour connecting flight, we have landed in Puerto Natales. All of our ham gear successfully arrived with us. We will stay overnight here in Puerto Natales. Tomorrow morning we fly to King George Island, Antarctica—and the real adventure begins.”

Eric reports that they will be “attempting 20m SSB and FT8 on 20 watts with our Xiegu G90 and a homebrew vertical.” In addition to operating, hiking and exploring the Antarctica peninsula is on their itinerary.

For more information, follow their running updates at:  https://www.dx-world.net/kc4-kb1ehe-kc4-kb1ifz-antarctica/

 

KB1EHE-KB1IFZ/ KC4 QSL card

New England Clubs QRV for Winter Field Day!

by

Winter Field Day Association logoA number of clubs and individuals throughout New England will be participating in this weekend’s Winter Field Day festivities.

The Tri-State Radio Club will operate from their QTH on Blackwater Road in Canaan, NH.  Contact Dave, WA1ZCN, at dbcolter@myfairpoint.net for details.

The Boston ARC will operate from a Ponkapoag AMC cabin in the Great Blue Hill Reservation in Randdolph, MA. Contact Scott at k1su.scott@gmail.com for more information.

The Wellesley (MA) ARS will be QRV for Winter Field Day. No details are known.

The Hampden County Radio Club (Agawam, MA) is encouraging its members to operate individually.  

The Port City ARC will be active from its club room in Seabrook, NH. Contact Mark, K1RX, at mpridesti@yahoo.com for details.

The Barnstable ARC gang will be QRV from the Dennis, MA, firehouse. Contact KT1OK@ARRL.net for more info.

The Meriden ARC is operating WFD at the Wallingford Emergency Management building in the Hope Hill Firehouse, 143 Hope Hill Road, Wallingford, CT. (They have pizza!)
 
The PVRA Repeater Club will hold its Winter Field Day at 33 Mitchell Drive, Manchester, CT. Contact Mark N1SAT mark@n1sat.com if interested.
 
The Southeastern MA ARA will hold its WFD indoors at the W1AEC clubhouse in South Dartmouth, MA. Contact ben@n1wbv.net for more information.
 
Just like the summer version, Field Day, Winter Field Day is about going to a different location than your home, operating on a power source other than electrical from your wall, being in a temporary shelter or location and talking to other Winter Field Day participants. If you operate SOTA or POTA, think of it as a full 24 hour activation.
 
But Winter Field Day can also be operated from your home using different power sources or electrical, your home station or portable or any way you wish to enter. There are different points awarded for different power sources and different power levels and locations.
 
To learn more about Winter Field Day, visit https://winterfieldday.org. The site features a map of registered WFD operations.
 
 
WFD locator map Northeast
 

 

Fesseden Special Events Station N3V, December 21, 2024

by

[On December 24, 1906, the first radio broadcast for entertainment and music was transmitted from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to the general public.]

Lem Skidmore, W1LEM, writes on the Barnstable ARC mailing list:

The Charles County Amateur Radio Club (CCARC) will be operating a Special Event Station on Saturday, 21 December 2024, to commemorate the 124th anniversary of Radio’s First Voice. On 23 December 1900, Reginald Fessenden made the first wireless transmission of human speech between two sets of 50-foot masts erected along the shore of Cobb Island, in Charles County, Maryland.

Who: CCARC

What: Special Event Station, call sign N3V (for New Voice).

Where: Old Fisherman’s Field, Cobb Island, MD (a grassy field bordered by Cobb Island Rd, Route 254, and Neale Sound Drive, just over the bridge to Cobb Island) 

When: Saturday, 21 December 2024, On-the-air operations are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET.

How:  Contact N3V on various bands/modes of operation, QSL information at N3V on qrz.com. https://www.qrz.com/db/N3V

*Potential operations include various bands 40M, 20M, 15M, 10M on modes SSB and FT8.  

*Echolink: Connect to EchoLink node KB3KOW-R and call for N3V.

*Check your favorite DX Cluster, such as http://www.dxsummit.fi, for current N3V spots.

(We intend to self-spot periodically, but if you hear us, please spot N3V to help draw traffic)

*US Islands Awards concurrent activation for Cobb Island, Island # MD020R. https://usislands.org/maryland/

*Visitors welcome to join us at the Cobb Island operations site.

*Hope to see you or hear you on Saturday!

73

Jeff – KB3SPH

 

ARRL Kids Day is Only a Couple of Weeks Away on January 4, 2025

by

From ARRL News:

Kids Day runs from 1800 UTC – 2359 UTC. Operate as much or as little as you like.

The event is designed to give on-the-air experience to young people, to foster interest in getting a license of their own, and give older hams a chance to share their stations and love for amateur radio with their children. You can share the excitement with your own kids, grandkids, a Scout troop, a church, or the general public!

All participants are encouraged to post their story and thumbnail photos to the Kids Day Soapbox page. Tell the world about your operations, the fun you had, and the contacts you made! Remember, ARRL must have a completed release form in order to include youth photos (younger than 18 years of age) in ARRL publications.

There will be a second ARRL Kids Day on June 21, 2025.

More information, including frequencies, suggested exchanges, and how to download a certificate, can be found at Kids Day.

Androscoggin (ME) ARC Special Event Station W1S, December 15, 2024

by
Androscoggin ARC logoCory Golob, KU1U, writes on the Androscoggin ARC mailing list:
 
We will be doing a special event station at the American Legion Post 135 in Sabattus, Maine, this weekend, Sunday, December 15th, from 9 am to 7 pm. It is the 100th anniversary of the American Legion Post in Sabattus. We will use special event callsign W1S (for Sabattus).