Dave Tessitore, K1DT, President of the Providence Radio Association (W1OP) writes in a December 27 email:
“…Under our Christmas tree, from my XYL, was the hot-off-the-press 100th Edition ARRL Handbook. After our family and friends had all gone home, I sat at my desk and cracked it open.
“There on the title page, under the impressive words, One-Hundredth Edition, is the list of Contributors. Among them are two PRA Members: Frank Donovan, W3LPL and Rick Rosen, K1DS. What an honor to have these two giants in their fields as members of our club!
“I next turned to the middle of the Handbook, to the full-color 100 edition retrospective, and there is a 2-page interview with friend and former PRA member Skip Youngberg, K1NKR, who recently spoke at our 100th anniversary dinner!
“What other radio club has three members contributing to the definitive publication on Amateur Radio?
“But wait, make that four members, for let us not forget our Secretary Domenic Mallozzi, N1DM, who contributed to both the 1986 and 1999 Handbooks!
“Congratulations to Frank, Rick, Skip, and Dom! You make us Proud.”
Well, Dom, N1DM (who will be speaking at the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s (NVARC) January meeting) is a member of Marlborough’s Algonquin Amateur Radio Club (AARC). So that makes two AARC members in the 100th Handbook.
And as far as NVARC is concerned, Phil Erickson, W1PJE, is listed on the title page as a contributor and an article by Joe Dzekevich, K1YOW, is in the Handbook’s supplemental files. That’s three for NVARC.
Also on the local front, Doug Grant, K1DG, has a title page listing and copious acknowledgements throughout the book. Club members remember Doug from WRTC2014 and probably a few talks at meetings over the years. Plus, Jim Idelson, K1IR, and Bob Clarke, N1RC, (whose affiliations are unknown to me) have Handbook title page listings.
It seems like one-land is well represented.
Background (courtesy Skip, K1NKR):
Last Spring, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, asked me about the status of my QST and Handbook collection. The League was putting together the 100th edition of the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications and was looking to contact a collector. Fred subsequently put me in contact through League Headquarters with Mark Derks (unlicensed then, now KC1RVQ), a member of the publications staff. Mark and I exchanged phone calls in mid-April, then he and a photographer came over from Newington and visited my shack to conduct an interview. The result in the hardcover version of the Handbook was a sixteen-page color section of radio history which included two pages devoted to the interview.
The whole exercise was quite enjoyable, with the only difficulty being that I was under a nondisclosure agreement until the Handbook came out. I had a hard time keeping the secret between April and October!
The K1NKR collection contains every issue of the League’s monthly “QST” magazine back to 1915 (all library-style hardbound) and all but one year of the Handbook.
Technically, this year’s Handbook edition is the hundredth, not the centennial. The first Handbook edition was published in 1926. The years 1927 and 1928 actually had two numbered editions published per year.
As you know, the Handbook is a massive, almost 1300-page encyclopedia of electronics and communications technology that weighs in at 6.2 pounds—a pretty good pennies-per-page investment even if you only spring for a Handbook “every hundred years or so.” And if you do, go for the hardcopy version.
Betsey M Doane, K1EIC, writes on CT ARRL Members list:
Happy holidays and happy first significant snow of the year. Do be careful and stay safe. Many thanks to EC Sky WarnEd W1YSM for keeping us up-to-date on the latest news from NWS.
I wrote previously to tell you that our immediate past SEC George Lillenstein AB1GL became a silent key. There will be a service via Zoom on Wednesday, December 14, at 4:30 PM EST. George’s family is in northern Kentucky and near Cincinnati, Ohio. If you would like to attend,please join Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85221021153?pwd=N0NZeUp2cjZGM09oTDBTSVdaOFZsQT09 Wednesday, December 14 at 4:30 p.m.Meeting ID: 852 2102 1153 Passcode: lillen
George was an example to us all because he was involved in so many different aspects of Amateur radio. Among them were The Newington Amateur Radio League, The Bears of Manchester, NCS on NTS nets, mentor, Division cabinet meetings, District Emergency Coordinator for many years and then Section Emergency Coordinator, various communications activities including the Manchester Road Race for 20 years and took various club officer posts including club president. His activities remind us all to stretch ourselves and learn something new—there’s so much to do in this wonderful hobby we enjoy.
We have unfortunately lost other wonderful members of our field organization, Jim Ritterbusch KD1YV also a past SEC, and Art Fregeau AF1HS, Assistant SEC and one who ran our web site for so many years. Jim was a past Division volunteer of the year and past president of the Candlewood Amateur Radio Association.Art maintained the ARES database and the CTARES.org web site for over 20 years. You knew when Art was at a hamfest when you saw that van with all the antennas up top—he loved his radios and scanners! May George, Jim and Art rest in peace. Each was a gift to us all.
It was a pleasure for me to attend the Christmas partyat the Candlewood Amateur Radio Association where I was pleased to spend time with longtime friends, new ops and even one who was waiting for his call sign. Remember those days? Wasns’t it exciting when your call arrived?
Congrats to Barb K1EIR who has just been appointed by Governor Lamont to the State Independent Living Council. This involved several interviews.Good luck Barb—k1eir@arrl.net!
The new year is upon us and we’ll need to get serious about recruiting anew full-time Section manager. If you’re wondering about the field organization, what it is, what it does and what a Section Manager does, check out the material on the ARRL Web site. You can also go to the CT Section page where there is a PowerPoint presentation with audio that I did many years ago. It’s somewhat dated but you’ll get the idea.Of course, just write and ask. We’ll talk more about it in the new year.
I wish for each of you a wonderful holiday season. Stay well and safe.
I am sending this note to you all with respect for and heart felt thanks to AB1GL who was very active in so many ways including our immediate past SEC. George was a gift to us all.
We are very fortunate to have a volunteer step up and offer to fill this vacancy.
I am pleased to appoint Phil Crombie, Jr, K1XFC, as our Section Emergency Coordinator. Phil has been a licensed Amateur radio operator since 2014 and has a wealth of leadership experience. He has volunteered for the South Windsor Fire Department for the last 40 years and served as chief for 10 of those years. Notice the call—XF(ire) C(hief)!
He started getting involved right away with the Western CT Traffic Net after listening for a few times—in fact, that net was his very first contact.
Phil holds an Amateur Extra class license and is the trustee of the ham radio station at the South Windsor EOC. He is currently the vice president of The Bears of Manchester. This club has a long standing tradition of running the comms for the well known Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day. Phil has coordinated that event with over 50 ops for the last seven years.
Phil served as EC South Windsor, Assistant District Coordinator, District Coordinator and now Section Emergency Coordinator.
He is currently the chair of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Fire Investigation Subcommittee.
I know you will all give Phil the support you always give to our leaders. You can write to him at k1xfc@arrl.net. So do write him a note preferably off list and give him a warm welcome to the Section cabinet. Remember—the Section is a team. He will need your help. Congrats Phil—join the fun!
ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, has appointed Betsey Doane, K1EIC, as Interim Section Manager for the ARRL Connecticut Section.
The Sheldon, Connecticut native is no stranger to the job. Her stint as Connecticut Section Manager from 1991 until 2016 for 25 uninterrupted years of service makes her one of longest serving Section Managers in the history of the ARRL Field Organization.
In 2012, K1EIC was honored by the ARRL “for more than 50 years in the ARRL Field Organization, beginning as an Official Phone Station in the 1960s. Before becoming Section Manager, she served as Official Relay Station, Net Manager of the Connecticut Section NTS, Section Traffic Manager. Besides serving as Section Manager, Doane is also an Official Emergency Station. In 2005, she was named CCE Mentor/Instructor of the Year.”
In 2018, Doane received the Housatonic Community College Foundation (HCCF) Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in higher education.
During her time in the interim role, she hopes to “find a new permanent Section Manager and train that person.” Also, she would like to “reacquaint section members with the ARRL field organization. “There are lots of new people … who may not know what it does or what its value is to the national organization.”
Betsey hopes to “promote Zoom presentations among the clubs on topics of interest, including advanced technology.” She also will begin a search for a newsletter editor to compile club news for the Section.
“Thank you for stepping in as temporary SM. I very much appreciate your doing this,” writes New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
We wish Betsey Doane, K1EIC, all the best in her new endeavors!
New England Beacon, a newsletter for the New England Division, contains updates from the Director, Vice Director, Assistant Directors in addition to showcasing various goings on within the seven ARRL sections. Enjoy this third edition.
11/18/2022—Jon McCombie, N1ILZ, will become Section Manager (SM) of the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section on January 1, 2023. McCombie, of Eastham, was the only nominee to submit a petition to run for office when the nomination period closed in early September. As the sole nominee, he has been declared elected.
This past year, McCombie has been Assistant SM to Tom Walsh, K1TW, who has been the SM of the Eastern Massachusetts Section for the last 8 years. Walsh, of Bedford, decided not to run for a fifth 2-year term of office.
There were no balloted elections during this fall season’s SM election cycle. The following incumbent SMs ran unopposed, and they were declared reelected, beginning their new 2-year terms of office on January 1: Cecil Higgins, AC0HA (Missouri); Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ (Nebraska); Jim Mezey, W2KFV (New York City-Long Island); Rocco Conte, WU2M (Northern New York); Marc Tarplee, N4UFP (South Carolina); Tom Preiser, N2XW (Southern New Jersey); Michael Douglas, W4MDD (West Central Florida), and Joe Shupienis, W3BC (Western Pennsylvania).
Thanks to ARRL Field Organization Supervisor Steve Ewald, WV1X, for information contained in this story.
Fall has gone by very quickly for me. I have been busy with ARRL Board work, New England Division projects, attending Ham Fests, Mentoring and Licensing work, and a 6m Antenna Project. I am pleased to report good progress on all fronts. Here’s more about what I’ve been up to.
BIG E Space Chat
BIG E Space Chat Students and Speakers
New England school students made live radio contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station from The BIG E on September 27th. You can view a video of the contact below. This and other videos made by folks who attend Space Chat were viewed more than 3,000 times by people worldwide.
We received quite a bit of television and newspaper coverage for our contact as well. Here’s an example of some of the TV coverage that aired on New England stations –
In addition to inspiring the young people who participated in Space Chat, we were able to help to make the public aware of the value that Amateur Radio brings to young people. I want to thank the many folks here in New England and the great people at the BIG E for making this project possible.
Mike Walters, W8ZY, and I worked with a team to select and award the first round of grants as part of the ARRL Foundation Club Grant program. We received a total of 128 grant applications totaling over $1.7M! We awarded a total of $270K to 24 Radio Clubs in the United States.
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 second round of grants will be awarded early in 2023.
Board Projects and Meetings
National Traffic System 2.0 Project
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). We are in the process of holding a series of briefings for Traffic Handlers across all ARRL divisions on the NTS 2.0 project. The briefings will be completed in December. We have signed up a total of 35 volunteers to help us work through the details of implementing the NTS 2.0 program. We are planning a kickoff meeting for the volunteers and I expect that the Implementation Teams will begin their work by the end of this year.
The ARRL has initiated a routine Traffic Origination program as part of NTS 2.0. The first messages were sent in October to all Section Managers, STMs, Directors, Vice Directors, the ARRL CEO, President, and first and second Vice Presidents.
The purpose of this program is to provide information about our work on the NTS 2.0 program as it rolls out and to measure the performance of the National Traffic System.
ARRL Club Development Webinar Series
Mike Walters, W8ZY, Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, and I are working on a program to create a series of webinars for clubs to help them develop skills and solve problems. This webinar series will kick off in 2023 and will feature presentations by ARRL members on the following topics.
ARRL Club Development Webinar Series
Please get in touch with Mike Walters at mwalters@arrl.org if you are interested in helping us to produce content for the new Club Webinar Series.
Additional Board Committee Work
My work as chair of an Administration and Finance Subcommittee that is looking at ways to grow ARRL membership and increase active participation in Amateur Radio is nearly complete. The subcommittee will be sharing our final recommendations with the Administration and Finance Committee later this year and with the ARRL Board in January.
Finally, I have been serving as 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. We have been working on procedures and processes that govern our oversight work with our outside investment manager.
Assistant Director Teams
Our Division Assistant Directors have all held several meetings with their working groups this quarter. In addition, the Spectrum Protection team has received a generous grant from ARDC to equip RFI Teams in each New England Section with direction-finding radios and antennas to enable them to assist Hams across New England in resolving interference problems. Our Assistant Directors and their working group areas follow –
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
Each team has projects underway that will benefit hams across New England. This newsletter features articles about what our Assistant Directors are doing.
Communications, Club Meetings, and Hamfests
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, 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 New England Division leadership team member)
We held our third Town Hall Meeting on October 19th. 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 February 2023.
We held an ARRL Forum at Fall NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH, where we updated folks 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.
Our next Cabinet Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, December 17th. 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.
Here’s a summary of the many events and communications activities that we’ve participated in and hosted this year –
New England Division 2022 Events & Communications
The New Division Team has been attending club meetings to stay in touch with what clubs are doing and to hear feedback and concerns from folks. We each try to attend at least six club meetings every quarter. If you’d like one of us to visit your club’s meeting, don’t hesitate to contact me at ab1oc@arrl.org.
AB1OC Amateur Radio Activities
I’ve been working on an upgrade to the 6m antenna system at our QTH. The project consists of adding a total of 12 new 6m antennas along with tower-mounted preamplifiers. We are putting up three fixed stacks of 3-element Loop Fed Array (LFA) yagis and a new 7-element LFA yagi on our main tower. The project is just being completed, and I have been making Meteor Scatter contacts on 6m with the new antennas. You can read more about the project here.
US West Stack of LFA Yagis & Large LFA Yagi on Mast
I hope to see you soon at a Hamfest, Club Meeting, Town Hall Meeting, Cabinet Meeting, or some other event in the near future. All the Best, and 73,
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
ARRL New England Division Director
Email: ab1oc@arrl.org
The weather cooperated beautifully for the ARRL Headquarters’ Connecticut Open House and Picnic on Saturday, October 29. ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, reported that the event was well-attended. He estimated that around 130 Connecticut amateurs came to the picnic.
In addition to supplying tasty hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, the staff hosted an outdoor display of Ham Aid Kits used for disaster response. Books and items were on sale in the lobby area. The Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, was on full display for people to visit and operate. Every W1AW visitor was issued an attractive certificate.
The third of three 2022 New England Division Town Hall meeting presentations held on October 19 was, once again, well attended.
Director Kemmerer, Vice Director Temples and the division’s four assistant directors described their recent activities and accomplishments, including the ARRL Club Grant Program and The BIG E Space Chat. In addition, the six panelists fielded questions on a variety of topics, including: the status of Technician license band enhancement with the FCC; digital symbol rate rules; efforts to revamp NTS (“NTS 2.0”); ARRL membership renewals, and new ham recruitment.
The agenda (in PDF format) can be viewed, below; as well as the entire video presentation.
ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2022-10-19 slide presentation
ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2022-10-19 video recording
Dave Tessitore, K1DT, President of the Providence Radio Association (W1OP) writes in a December 27 email:
Betsey M Doane, K1EIC, writes on CT ARRL Members list:
The 
Betsey Doane, K1EIC, writes:
