CT Support Your Parks Weekend, October 21-22, 2023

Peter Cimino, K1PCN, writes on the Greater Bridgeport (CT) ARC mailing list:

This is the POTA Fall Support Your Parks weekend and CT activators will be out in numbers and activation. There will a POTA meetup at Wharton Brook State Park in North Haven (see flyer) and more info on the CT POTA (groups.io) page.

If you are activating, then register. There will be a point-to-point CT net at 11 am.

Hope to hear you on the air.

CT Support Your Parks Weekend flyer Oct. 21-22, 2023

New York QSO Party, October 21-22, 2023

Map of NY state countiesKen Boasi, N2ZN, writes:

New York QSO Party 2023 – Our 15th Year!
 
On Saturday, October 21st (at 1400z), the 15th annual NY QSO Party will take place.  Come celebrate our 15th anniversary on the air with us.
 
Since the NYQP restart in 2009, we have experienced tremendous growth, not only in the number of entries, but also the total activity (QSO’s made) on a year-over-year basis.  The 2023 event will be no different, with a great set of awards for all entry categories, plus special rookie and youth awards as well.
 
Our mobiles and portable stations will take to the roads and fields to activate all of the 62 NY counties once again, with pileups sure to follow.  Will 2023 be the year that someone finally works a County Sweep?  Some have been close, but no operator has yet to achieve a sweep.  With high activity and great propagation due to enhanced sunspots, this may be the year!
 
Plan to join us, starting at 1400z Saturday until 0200z Sunday, on all bands, including VHF.  The full rules (updated for 2023), results from previous years, county data, planned activations and more can be found at www.nyqp.org
 
See you all in a week and a half!
 
73, Ken N2ZN (NYQP Co-Coordinator)

Solar Eclipse QSO Party, Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge to Coincide with Solar Eclipse, October 12, 2023

HamSCI Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science logo

 

Gary Mikitin, AF8A <gmikitinaf8a@gmail.com> writes on the HamSCI mailing list on October 7, 2023

Greetings, solar eclipse enthusiasts – Perhaps no reminders are needed, but just to be safe, here goes:  

 
The Solar Eclipse QSO Party and the Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge will be held in ~1 week.  Both commence at 1200UTC on 14 October and continue for 12 hours, until 2200UTC.
 
Both rule pages (SEQP and GSSC) have been updated with log submission and entry details.  
  • An email address for bonus point file submissions has been added to both
  • The GSSC entry form, at the end of the rules page, is ready for post-contest use. 
  • The SEQP log submission robot will accept both Cabrillo and ADIF file types – which should be popular with FT4/8 operators
  • A Checklog entry category has been added to the SEQP.  Details below.
Annular Eclipse Saturday coincides with 4 popular state QSO parties (AZ, NV, SD and PA).  Some hams will choose to exclusively operate the state contests, and that’s fine.  If they are on the air, especially on CW or digital modes, their activity will add to the data collected by the automated receiving networks, a plus for HamSCI.  They may upload their AZ or NV or SD or PA logs as check logs using the SEQP robot and receive an SEQP participation certificate from HamSCI.
 
The SEQP log upload robot coding is almost complete – a link will be added to the SEQP rules just before the contest begins.
 
Questions?  Feel free to email them to the hamsci <at> hamsci <dot> org address.
 
73 de Gary, AF8A
HamSCI Amateur Radio Community Coordinator

Russian ARISS Team to Transmit SSTV, October 3-5, 2023

From ARISS:
 
From October 3-5, 2023, the Russian team will do a test of   some replacement components for the transmission of SSTV from the ISS–note, this is not a fully operational system yet. Some  SSTV images will be downlinked from the ISS on 145.800 MHz.
 
A full set of images is not expected as with previous sessions. This is  not an ARISS SSTV event, but posting your images to https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/  and giving SWL  reports will help to evaluate the test and are very welcome!
 
No ARISS SSTV awards will be given. A window may open at 1400 UTC  but start time for images is unclear.

“CQAF” AND New England Chowdercon, September 16, 2023

Carl Achin, WA1ZCQ, writes on the New England QRP mailing list:

“CQAF” (QRP-Afield) is always on the third Saturday in September [September 16]. The NEQRP Sprint/Contest Committee is now headed-up by Shirley Márquez Dúlcey, KE1L <mark@buttery.org>.

I’m sure there will be an update before this coming Saturday, September 16th, 2023.

Also “Chowdercon” will be held on the same date (this coming SATURDAY) on Four Tree Island New Hampshire, so listen for ” W 1 C ” (Whiskey One “C”howdercon) on all the QRP frequencies during the standard time of CQAF.
https://www.newenglandqrp.org/qrp-afield-2018/

Thanks for your interest in QRP-Afield. See you down-the-log.

7 3 es 7 2 ,

Carl
http://qrz.com/db/WA1ZCQ
“Carl Achin – WA1ZCQ” <wa1zcq@amsat.org>
http://NEQRP.org

K1W White Island (NH) State Park POTA and Lighthouse On the Air Event, September 16-25, 2023

K1W White Island, Rye NHFrom K1W QRZ.com website:

Special Expedition by the Port City Amateur Radio Club (W1WQM) for 2023

White Island, Isle of Shoals, Rye, NH

Operational (weather permitting) September 16 to September 25, 2023

NH QSO Party (Sept. 16 or 17)  Rockingham County (ROC) 1600Z to 2200Z  40 & 20 M SSB/CW

IOTA NA-217

POTA K-8006 (White Island NH State Park & Historical Site)

Lighthouse ARLS USA 406

FN42qx

QSL via K1RX

Rhode Island QSO hunters – This is Your Week

RI POTA operationFrom ri-arrl.org:

Starting today through Sunday (Sept 6-10, 2023) a collaborating team of about twenty POTA – Parks on the Air enthusiastic activators from across the country, region, and state are setting up their portable rigs across the 52 officially-recognized POTA parks.

Already this morning from just before 8 am until around Noon, I was able to hunt 12 unique parks across the SSB bands of 40m, 20m, 17m and 15m from my home QTH. I was logged by 11 unique operators, including Kerri Wright, KB3WAV (with over 170,000 POTA QSOs to her credit), as well as the NCRC organizer of this event, Jim Garman, KC1QDZ – taking a break from his farm between tomatoes and turnips.

POTA hunters, near and far, are encouraged to keep an eye on POTA Spotting and join the fun. It’s a great way to understand your band propagation and make progress on your POTA – Worked All RI award.

[Full story]

Granite State ARA POTA Activation, Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown NH, September 9, 2023

GSARA POTA Activation flyerTimothy Cates, KC1QDK, writes:

The Granite State Amateur Radio Club is happy to announce our late summer Parks on The Air meet-up. The GSARA will be hosting a group activation in which all members of the public are welcome to come and join us at Bear Brook State Park K-2643.

Come join us for a fun afternoon of radio and nature bring your gear and activate the park, or come to see how amateur radio operators set up and run their stations in remote locations off the grid. We are looking forward to seeing you all there on September 9th 2023 from 1-4 in the afternoon. The park is very friendly to those who may have mobility issues and there is a tarred path leading to a Gazebo that will offer shelter if it rains.

This event is rain or shine and hope to see lots of folks getting out for the afternoon and enjoying the park some camaraderie and operating our radios.

Contact Timothy at ctimothy9@aol.com.

 

Newport County (RI) RC Parks On The Air Demo Helps new Generals Get On the Air

From ri-arrl.org:

Newport Co RC POTA Operation, 9/2/23

“I learned more from your POTA demo today than I learned as a new ham over the last year! Thank you!” –Mike, KC1NFG (visiting Newport and welcomed to join in and GOTA.)

Today’s Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) POTA demo at Brenton Point Park was well attended by club members as well as a ham just passing by.  All were curious to jump in and learn how to quickly deploy a portable antenna and POTA setup to get on the HF bands quickly and make contacts. Jim Garman, KC1QDZ, and Randy Jones, K8ZFJ, were ideal mentors, helping some make their first POTA QSOs. 

From September 6-10, 2023, the NCRC is hosting a collaborative effort to activate all 52 Rhode Island POTA parks. For more information on POTA—Activate All RI and resources for getting started with Parks on the Air, please bookmark: https://ri-arrl.org/pota/.

Meriden ARC Balloon Launch, September 2, 2023

Ed Snyder, W1YSM, writes at 12:13 PM on September 2, 2023:

Balloon is at ~36,000 feet. Telemetry available on U4B.live. W1NRG balloon  app. 

We have some video of the launch and lots of stills and telemetry. Signal heard all over the globe (almost all over). 
 
-Ed W1YSM 

 

Ray Cirmo, KC1QLS, writes on the Meriden ARC mailing list:

MARC members,

We are planning a third balloon launch this Saturday September 2, 2023 between 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM weather permitting.  Weather permitting this time of year will mean no precipitation, low wind speeds on the ground, and no storms over the Atlantic moving up from the South.  If all of those factors are in our favor we will plan to launch from Veterans Memorial Park in Wallingford, CT, with the W1NRG callsign.

Depending on the wind direction, we may set up in one of several places within the park.  If you are free and can come out and join us we would love to have you onboard for this event.  Just remember if conditions are not just right we reserve the right to scrub the mission.

Tracking for this balloon launch can be done at any of the following sites:

WSPRnet.org

WSPR.rock

U4B.live (This is the site that Brian N1BRI has developed for the club balloon launches.  Go to the site and on the right side of your screen you will see a button labeled W1NRG.  Simply click that button and you should be good to track our progress). This is our recommended site.

We have a great deal of time and testing under our belts and we are expecting a successful launch.

Ray,

KC1QLS