Operating

Greater Bridgeport (CT) ARC Space Day Event, October 25, 2020

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From GBARC wiki:

The Greater Bridgeport Amateur Radio Club will hold its first ever Space Day on Sunday, October 25 2020 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  This is an opportunity to learn about Amateur Satellites.  Lunch in the form of hot dogs and snacks will be provided. 

Additional Information about the satellite passes is posted at Space Day Satellite Predictions.

For information about what kind of satellite radios are needed see Satellite Radio Equipment.

Space Day will be held at the QTH of N1DID – 14 Three Trees Ln, Trumbull.  Call in will be on the GBARC Repeaters!

POTA Activation, Hopkinton State Park (MA), October 25, 2020

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Parks On The Air logoFrom ema.arrl.org:

Steve Ciavarini, NQ1F, writes on the Wellesley ARS mailing list:

Rob Jaczko, WA1UMU, and I and possibly Leandra Mac Lennan,  AF1R, are doing a POTA activation at Hopkinton (MA) State Park tomorrow at 1 PM and would love to have anyone join us. We will have plenty of antennas so you will only need to bring your radio if you would like to operate in tandem. It’s like a mini field day and a chance to escape the Covid blues. We practice safe Covid operation, keeping several wavelengths apart, hi hi.
 
 
If you can’t make it but would like to participate, work us from home and you can spot our frequencies on the website.
 
73,
Steve, NQ1F

Central Vermont ARC Fox Hunt, October 24, 2020

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Central VT ARC logoFrom Central Vermont ARC  web site:

The next CVARC fox hunt will be held on Saturday, October 24th at 10 am.

Rules

  • Fox will be hidden somewhere within Washington County, in a publicly-accessible location. You will not be required to pay to access an area to find the fox, or to walk onto someone’s property (but don’t discount the end of dead-end roads)
  • The transmitter will be on the air by 10am on the morning of the hunt, and off at 6pm that evening. There will be an announcement on the Williamstown repeater before the box is shut off, so be sure to respond if you’d like more time.
  • Fox will use the nationally-accepted 2 meter fox hunt frequency of 146.565 MHz
  • Fox will transmit a short beep every two seconds, then transmit a CW ID on the FM carrier every 20 ‘beeps’.
  • Fox will be receivable with at least an S1 signal from the Waterbury exit (10) of Interstate 89.

COVID-19 restrictions

  • Teams of up to 3 are allowed but not currently recommended due to pandemic restrictions (unless team members are a family or happen to live together)
  • Masks required in public when you cannot maintain a 6-ft distance from those not in your party

Scoring and reporting 

  • The transmitter will have a laminated sheet with a marker attached for scoring. When you find the fox, fill out the sheet with your name or call sign, and local time at which you found the fox.
  • Once you’ve filled out the sheet, leave the area – if others participating in the hunt see you hanging around, it may tip them off to the location of the fox!
  • When/if you find the fox, please don’t announce it (on local repeaters, the fox output frequency, w1bd.net website, Facebook, etc.) – we want everyone to have fun with this, even those that can’t participate right at the start of the hunt.

Recommended gear

Minimum:

  • 2 meter radio with a removable rubber duckie antenna
  • Paper clip

Extra gear (not required, but helpful):

  • Portable directional antenna (Yagi, Moxon, cubical quad)
  • Adjustable RF attenuator, passive or active
  • Receiver with SSB/CW mode capability
  • Compass or GPS unit
  • Map, atlas, or gazetteer

New England Digital Swap Net on October 24, 2020

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Gene Balinski, K1NR, writes in the Algonquin (MA) ARC mailing list:
 
Please join us for the  NEW  New England Digital Swap Net 
 
This Saturday Evening 8:00 PM on the DMR-MARC New England network 
 
Choose the New England-wide talk group, and check-in when net control calls your area.   Feel free to list gear for sale, trade, or wanted.  
 
Hope to see you then,
 
73
Gene K1NR 

CQWW SSB Contest, October 24-25, 2020

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CQ logoThe CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35,000 participants take to the airwaves on the last weekend of October (SSB) and November (CW) with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible.  [Details]

Woodmont (CT) ARA Special Events Station K1D, October 24, 2020

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image of Capt. KiddFrom the Woodmont ARA website:

Join us for this exclusive special events station where you’ll have the chance to hone your radio skills and track the lost treasure of Captain William Kidd! Legend has it that the treasure is buried right off of the coast of Milford, Connecticut, near Charles Island. Event will be hosted by the Woodmont Amateur Radio Association. Come be a part of history.

Dates: Saturday, Oct 24, 2020

Time: 1100Z-1700Z

Location: Charles Island, Milford, CT.

Frequencies: 50.885 28.885 14.285 7.285. QSL

Event Call Sign: K1D

For more information, please contact Ed Rhodes (warapres@gmail.com).

 

 

KC1NEF to Activate Boston (Bunker Hill) National Historic Park, October 21, 2020

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Parks On The Air logoFrom the Boston ARC website:

In a very exciting development, [Boston Amateur Radio Club] member Brendan Baldonado, the newly licensed KC1NEF, lets us know about an upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) activation he’s about to attempt. He says:

“As you may know I am getting ready to take my General and Extra exam, but thought it could be a fun challenge to “Activate” a park using only Tech bands and Abilities. My Plan is to activate using 5 bands, if I can, with no data and no CW and mostly VHF!

The activation is not a contest so spotting is allowed, I only need to make 10 contacts to activate. For more information on POTA, go to http://parksontheair.com/

I am asking for help in activating the park by trying to contact me on the frequencies and modes listed below. I will submit a log through Parks On The Air where your callsign will receive hunter credit for you as well as activation credit for me! In addition to uploading the logs to eQSL and LoTW, I plan to buy either post cards as QSLs, or take a few pictures and turn them into Special Edition QSL cards for all the people who help me activate.

I plan to activate on Wednesday October 21, 2020. I’ll be at the Bunker Hill Monument and Park, a registered National Park, with my battery powered FT897 and Matchbox Random Length End Fed Dipole in a Tree. I’ll be starting around 2:00 PM (1800z) and going until about 6:00pm (2200z).

If you can reach out via these frequencies and let any other hams know to try and reach me I would be greatly appreciative.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

10 Meters: 28.450 – USB
6 Meters: 50.294 – USB
2 Meters: 146.450 – FM
1.25 Meters: 223.450 – FM
70 CM: 446.00 – FM

For the most up to date spots please look at parksontheair.com and look for my callsign: KC1NEF.

Greater Bridgeport (CT) ARC Parks On The Air, Light House On The Air Activations

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Junie H Cassone, N1DUC, writes:

The Greater Bridgeport Amateur Radio Club (GBARC) hosted its first Parks On The Air (POTA) activation on August 23rd, 2020.  We operated from Putnam Memorial State Park (K-1707) in Redding, CT with the special event call sign of W1B.  This event was organized by our member, Shawn Takatsu, AC1KC, and sparked an interest in many of our members to go out and activate not only parks, but to participate in Light Houses On The Air (LHOTA) and Summits On The Air (SOTA).   We used Xiegu G-90’s with lead acid batteries, and made contacts on 20m and 40m.

I began to activate various parks around Connecticut shortly after my first POTA activation with GBARC.  I hunted stations from home to form a better understanding of POTA before I went out on my first activation.   I tested my portable equipment, and when ready began activating parks.  My portable station consists of a Xiegu G-90, Buddipole™ antenna, and talent cell battery.  I test my SWR with an MFJ-259D Antenna Analyzer.  My first park activation was from Sleeping Giant State Park(K-1717) on September 9, 2020.  I was also able to participate in a SOTA Activation from Mt. Carmel  that day as well.  It was a very exciting and very busy day.

After GBARC’s POTA event, I decided to organize a LHOTA event for the club.  We operated from Fayerweather Island Light House (USA-059) in Bridgeport, CT on September 26, 2020 with the special event call sign of W1B. This was another test of our club members equipment and team work skills.  We activated the lighthouse on 2m, 20m, and 40m making contacts as far as Spain and Italy.  We had the use of two G-90 and two IC-7300 radios for HF.  Overall it was a wonderful experience for our club member and potential hams.

I have a passion for animals and an affinity for ducks.  Thus my call sign N1DUC “Number 1 Duck.”  Mochi, my support animal, and sometimes his sister Marvel will travel with me to park activations. Mochi likes a good “QuackSO” every now and then.  My ducks, mainly Mochi, will sit next to me while I’m operating. I am in the process of building a portable duck coop so my entire flock may be able to travel with me to the various parks (with park permission).  I intend to create an amateur radio operating platform from the trailer coop and name it the “The Quack Shack.” As for operational goals I would like to activate all Connecticut parks at least once and in the distant future I would like to activate at least one park in every state.

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YCCC Hosts “SSB Contesting for CQWW,” October 15, 2020

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YCCC logoThe Yankee Clipper Contest Club will hold an online Zoom membership meeting on Thursday, October 15, 2020. The topic is, “SSB Contesting for CQWW.”  The November meeting will address CW Contesting for CQWW.  The meeting will last less than two hours. Zoom login information will be circulated before the meeting, and again on the day of the meeting on the club mailing list.

The YCCC was founded in April 1977 and now boasts over 300 members located from New York City to Maine, Cape Cod to Upstate NY. YCCC members have excelled in all areas of amateur radio contesting, DXing, technical design, and public service. Local meetings and “Contest Universities” are also held around the club territory as organized by the club’s Area Managers. You must attend a meeting to join the club.

Scouting’s Jamboree on the Air Set for October 16-18, 2020

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Jamboree On The Air 2020 logoJamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) will be held this year on October 16, 17, and 18. Register online as an individual or as a group.

Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world. In a typical year, more than 1 million Scouts participate in JOTA, with over 11,000 stations operated by 20,000+ young radio amateurs from 150+ countries around the world.

JOTA details are available on the K2BSA website. The website menu will direct users to additional supporting information. K2BSA’s Jim Wilson, K5ND, says many locations are already offering virtual radio merit badge classes “and no doubt will be using similar approaches for Jamboree on the Air.”