Fox Hiding in Glastonbury, CT, Vicinity, October 6, 2021

Rod Bungard, N1RUU, writes on the ctfoxhunter list on October 6, 2021 at at 5:20 PM:

Greetings Fox hunters,
 
Fox #5 PL 123.0 Is out Hiding. The fox is running 1.5 watts into a 18 inch antenna. You may want to try from home first. You do this by going on the 2 meter simplex frequency of 146.550 MHz (PL 123.0), key your transmitter, ID and then send a DTMF “1”. If the FoxBox can hear you and you can hear it, you will hear its very distinctive sound. It will transmit for 30 seconds, ID and then go back to sleep. You can make it transmit as often as necessary to find it.

Once someone has been able to bring it up and hear it, please report that information to the other fox hunters. Feel free to reply to the group. Do not reveal its location, just a location (and direction if possible) from which you are able to hear it. This then becomes a starting point for the other fox hunters to use.

You do not actually have to touch the box to claim finding it. If you hunt the Fox please log to this group even if you don’t find it.

Hint:Located in Glastonbury
extra hint: should be within the hunting range of Dale, WA1UUU.

Trans-Atlantic Celebration 1BCG / 2ZE, November 13-14, 2021

Charlie Morrison, N1RR, writes on the YCCC mailing list:

If you haven’t read about the planned events to celebrate the 1921 successful Trans-Atlantic tests here’s some links. In addition to the special event stations, a 160M operating event (RCA Transatlantic QSO Party) has been announced for the weekend between the two Sweepstakes. Get your 160M antenna ready and don’t miss it !!

*Radio Club of America (RCA) Transatlantic QSO Party <https://www.radioclubofamerica.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=500767&module_id=475160>, 1200 UTC on November 13 to 0400 UTC November 14, 2021 (16 hours total).

http://www.radioclubofamerica.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=500767&module_id=475160

http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-rsgb-announce-joint-events-to-celebrate-centenary-of-ham-radio-transatlantic-success

http://arrl.org/transatlantic

-Charlie N1RR

Fox Hunt in Wallingford, CT, October 3, 2021

Dave Tipping, NZ1J, writes on the ctfoxhunter list on October 2, 2021:

We’ll have a live Fox Hunt on Sunday in Wallingford from 9:30 am until 11:00 am.

We’ll be using these three frequencies: 

There will be a 1 watt signal continuously on 146.565 MHz.  It will make a short beep every three seconds and will ID in Morse code every minute.

The 10 mW transmitter is on 147.475 MHz and will beep every three seconds and will ID in Morse Code every minute.

The 1mW transmitter is on 146.290 MHz and beeps every three seconds.

There is no central starting location.  Other Fox Hunters can be contacted on the W1NRG repeater 147.360 with PL 162.2

Good luck.

Dave NZ1J

Connecticut POTA Meet Up, October 23, 2021

Conn. POTA Meet Up Announcement, Oct. 23From Connecticut Hams Facebook Group:

Are you interested in learning about the Parks On The Air program?

Please consider joining me on Saturday, October 23 at Hammonasset State Park in Madison. When you arrive at the park, please call W1FYG on 146.52 simplex. You will be directed to the location within the park. 

This will be an informal, yet fun session for everyone to share ideas.

Learn more about activating and hunting using your HF/VHF gear.

If you are a current activator, please consider bringing your equipment for a Show ‘N Tell session.

Rain date: Sunday, October 24.

Questions? Email W1FYG at dizzo32@gmail.com.

For more information about the Parks On The Air Program, go to https://parksontheair.com. Click on the tab labeled ** Help/Getting Started **

 

 

Two Foxes To Find, Wallingford, CT Vicinity, September 26, 2021

Jim Savage, N1ZN, writes on the ctfoxhunter list on September 25, 2021:

I will be putting out two fox-in-a-boxes tomorrow, Sunday 9/26, starting at 9:30 AM and running till around 11:00 AM.

They will be Rob’s FIAB #1 broadcasting 1w on 145.700.  I will be with the box.

There will also be FIAB #3 nearby broadcasting 12mW on 145.300.

They shouldn’t be too difficult to find.  I’ll be monitoring the repeater if you need help.

Jim N1ZN

First Annual New England Parks On The Air Event, October 16, 2021

Parks On The Air logoThe K1USN Radio Club has announced the 1st Annual Autumn New England Parks On The Air event on Saturday, October 16, 2021 from 0000-2359 UTC. Activation from as many different POTAs as possible.

The goal is to have one group/individual at each site to enable the activation of as many NE POTAs as possible.
 
Officially listed POTAs from throughout New England are required.

Maps and lists can be found at <https://parksontheair.com/>.
 
Since this is not a “contest” official log submissions will not be required but summaries would be encouraged. A post-event link will be available at <www.k1usn.com>. 
 
We hope to give the public a chance to learn a bit more about Amateur Radio by obtaining some free pre-event publicity and with the use of informational handouts. Here are samples you could use:

<http://www.bellevuearc.org/docs/WhatisHamRadioFlyerA.pdf>
 
<http://www.arrl.org/file/file/Brochures%20and%20Exhibit%20Materials/What%20is%20Amateur%20Radio%20flyer%208_5x11.pdf>
 
<https://flysnf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ham-Radio-Flyer.pdf>
 

image.png

The weekend of Oct 16 – 17 is also JOTA weekend and all participants are encouraged to reach out to local Scouting groups: <https://www.jotajoti.info/>.

Remember that this will be a New England-wide event so folks that attend NEAR-Fest on Saturday, October 16th in Deerfield, NH may wish to activate a NH park on the way home.

Okay, who is interested in jumping onboard the NE Autumn POTA event?
 
BTW, Bob, WC1N, has created a spreadsheet so that we can keep track of individuals/clubs as they sign on. You can sign up at: <http://www.ilovepota.com/index.php>.
 
image.png

 
For those of you with additional questions or comments please reply to <k1rv@arrl.net>.
 

Fox On the Loose in Stafford, CT, September 18, 2021

Dan Thayer, W1CDT, writes on the ctfoxhunter list on September 18, 2021 at at 5:13 PM:

Greetings Fox hunters:

FB-3 has been deployed.

146.550 MHz Simplex; CTCSS 114.8 Hz

 UPON REACHING THE “HIDE,” HUNTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARK ON THE PUBLIC ROAD, AND WALK INTO THE PROPERTY.

(THERE IS NO PLACE TO TURN AROUND)

It is located in the Town of Stafford, CT. 

It may be heard in parts of Stafford and Tolland.

As there is no starting point for finding the FB, it is recommended that as you go about your regular travels, you periodically try to activate the FB.

You may also try from home.

To try to activate the FB, set your radio to the 2 meter simplex frequency of 146.550 MHz, with a CTCSS of 114.8 Hz. Next, key your transmitter, ID and then send a DTMF “1”. Having done that, unkey your transmitter and listen.

If the FB can hear you (and you can hear it) you will hear its very distinctive sound.

It will transmit for 30 seconds, ID and then go back to sleep.

Once someone has been able to hear it, please report that general location to the other fox hunters, by replying to this message (This needn’t be a place where you can hear it very well, just a place from where it can be heard.

You can make it transmit as often as you find necessary to locate the FB.  

You do not actually have to touch the box to claim finding it.

FBs are located within 500 feet of a safe place to park. While unimproved (dirt) roads may be involved, they will be ones that are passable using a regular passenger car.

Dan, W1CDT 

 

Maine QSO Party September 25-26, 2021

Maine QSO Party logoFrom the WS1SM Blog:

THE 2021 MAINE QSO PARTY IS SEPTEMBER 25-26!

Contest Period: 1200 UTC Saturday September 2, 2020 to 1200 UTC Sunday September 2, 2021.

Bands and Modes: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10, CW, and phone (SSB, FM, AM).

Exchange: Stations in Maine send signal report and county. Stations outside of Maine, but within either the United States or Canada, send signal report and state/province. DX stations send signal report and “DX.”

For more details and complete rules visit <http://www.ws1sm.com/MEQP.html>.

QRP AField, September 18, 2021

NEQRP logoShirley Márquez Dúlcey, KE1L, writes on the NEQRP mailing list:

QRP Afield 2021 is TOMORROW! As always, it is held on the third Saturday of September, which is September 18 this year; as in the past few years, it runs from 1500-2100Z (11am-5pm EDT). You can read the rules here: https://www.newenglandqrp.org/qrp-afield-2018/ (still mostly correct).

Our weekend always has a number of other operating events going on, perhaps because it’s the final weekend of summer. Five QSO parties overlap some or all of our operating period: Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington (the Salmon Run). There is also a major international contest, the Scandinavian Activity Contest (they were booming into NH last year; I worked a couple of them on 40 CW!), and this year we have Wisconsin Parks on the Air. There will surely also be some activations in programs including POTA, SOTA, and IOTA, and some special event stations. Here in MA there is one to commemorate the 100th anniversary of broadcast station WBZ; it will use the special call signs W1W, W1B, W1Z, and WB1Z. Also keep an ear out for the Chowdercon station, W1C; that will have NEQRP members operating portable from an island in Portsmouth NH.

This year, contacts with stations in other operating events are explicitly allowed. (If you can’t beat them join them!) You are not required to complete the full QRP Afield exchange with those stations; instead, you should use the exchange required by the other event. (Their logging software probably isn’t set up to record your power level or NEQRP number.) We encourage you to submit logs to any contests you make contacts in, even if you only make one or two contacts; the organizers use your data to check other logs.

I’m also introducing a new bonus. Any contact where both operators send a NEQRP number and submit logs that contain a matching contact is worth two points instead of the usual one. The normal power, location, and S/P/C multipliers still apply. That’s meant to encourage people to make some QRP Afield contacts. (Don’t have a member number? Membership in the New England QRP Club is free and open to all hams. Send email to kk1x@kk1x.net with the subject Join.)

You can work each station once per band per mode. For our purposes there are three modes: CW, voice (any voice mode including digital voice), and digital (everything else: RTTY, PSK31, JT65, FT8, SSTV, fax — if it’s not Morse Code and doesn’t involve a microphone it goes here). All bands other than WARC bands and 60 meters are allowed, but you’ll find most of the QRP Afield activity on 40 and 20 meter CW. (The only bands and modes that appeared in 2020 logs were 80, 40, and 20 meter CW.) Perhaps 15 will have an opening this year, and consider trying 80 to work some nearby stations, especially if you are in or near one of the states with a QSO party.

A field station must use non-permanent antennas and be powered by something other than the commercial power grid or a motor-driven generator. Usually that means batteries. No minimum distance from your house is required; operating from your porch or yard is fine. That said, we encourage you to get out and operate from a location away from home!

Chowdercon is also tomorrow! Carl recently sent out a message about that.  The weather forecast looks decent: mostly cloudy through 1 pm, clearing to partly cloudy after that, with high temperatures in the low 70s and a 15% chance of rain throughout the day. Showers are likely in the late evening but people will be off the island well before that.

Hampden County RA/Franklin County ARC Potluck/Foxhunt/SOTA Event, September 19, 2021

The Hampden County Radio Association is holding a Potluck/operating event at South Sugarloaf Mountain on Sunday, September 19, 2021 from 10:30 AM until 2:30 PM. 

“All members and friends of the Franklin County ARC and Hampden County Radio Association are welcome. Bring your spouse.  It’s a fun place for kids too.  Dogs are permitted on leash,” writes Larry Krainson, W1AST, HCRA President.

“Bring your [foxhunting] gear to Sunday’s Picnic & Radios. I plan on hiding a foxbox on the mountain somewhere. Foxbox 2 will be on 147.550 with a PL of 151.3. Pressing #1 on your keypad for a moment will activate the foxbox.  Take a picture of the foxbox or one with you in it and find me (W1AST) and show me.”

Parking on the summit is limited.  If you need a ride up, call on 146.52. RSVP to: <bc@councilman.com>.

“Please consider bringing something for the potluck.  We’ll be cooking burgers and hotdogs; bacon for the cheeseburgers while it lasts.  Also, please bring your favorite beverage (no alcohol).  Plenty of ice available,” Larry adds.

At 652′, South Sugarloaf Mountain is one of the most accessible and popular scenic outlooks in the region. SOTA enthusiasts might want to activate nearby Pocumtuck Rock. <https://sotl.as/summits/W1/MB-015>.

Additional information about Mt Sugarloaf State Reservation can be found at: <https://www.mass.gov/locations/mount-sugarloaf-state-reservation>.