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New England ACC Group Meeting Recap, March 27, 2021

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ARRL Affiliated Club logoThe New England Affiliated Club Coordinator group met on March 27, 2021 via Zoom to discuss issues of mutual interest to the field organization in the various New England sections.

About a dozen field organization volunteers—Section Managers, Assistant Section Managers, and Affiliated Club Coordinators—representing Maine, Vermont, Eastern & Western Massachusetts, and Connecticut were present for the 90 minute call. The meeting was chaired by Connecticut ACC Ed Snyder, W1YSM.

Agenda items included: the impact of COVID-19 on clubs and hamfests; a review of recent virtual state conventions in Vermont and Maine; possible joint club activities, including the upcoming 2022 “Big E” ham project by Larry Krainson, president of the Hampden County (MA) Radio Association; review of an outline by Tom Walsh, K1TW, for an upcoming QST article highlighting the importance of affiliated clubs; and a report on the newly formed ARRL Field Organization Working Group by Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI. 

The group meets monthly and conducts business between meetings via a groups.io mailing list.

Wellesley ARS “POTA Party,” Winchendon, MA, March 27, 2021

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Parks On The Air logoDan Brown, W1DAN, writes on the Wellesley (MA) Amateur Radio Society mailing list:
 
Who: Anyone interested in amateur radio regardless of experience, license, or equipment
What: Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) Activation of Otter River State Forest (Lake Dennison Recreation Area). 
 
Where: Lake Dennison Recreation Area, 219 Baldwinville State Rd, Winchendon, MA 01475 (drive in to the first large parking lot). 
 
When: Saturday March 27, 2021 starting at Noon. 
 
Special Instructions/Notes: Just show up. Bring any radio or other equipment you may want to use, or use my stuff. Sign up for POTA if you plan on logging your own activation https://parksontheair.com/ .  If you are not planning on logging then please plan on getting on the air with my callsign (POTA Hunters want to get their points!) It is a large parking lot and big outdoor area. We will be there unless the weather is very very bad (i.e., electrical storm, typhoon); I will post to this group if it’s canceled. We will monitor 146.52 if you want to bring a vhf radio. We will operate at least ssb and cw, other modes welcome. I will be in a green van…it is unmistakable. Bring whatever you need to be comfortable (food, water, shelter, etc.)
 
My equipment: I will bring enough equipment to set up at least one cw and one ssb station. I also have band pass filters for 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 40, and 80 meters so we can run stations simultaneously. PLEASE BRING A SHORT COAX JUMPER WITH PL259 CONNECTORS IF YOU THINK YOU MAY WANT TO USE ONE OF MY BAND PASS FILTERS! I do not have enough to share. 
 
Pandemic notes:
Plan on wearing a mask. Outdoor gathering limits are 25 people in Massachusetts; if we exceed this we can split into separate groups, it’s a large enough area.  You of course are responsible for your own safety, so whatever precautions you need, please prepare for it. 
 
Okay, that’s all. Bottom line: Show up and play radio! I can’t wait to meet you all in person! 
 
Mindy
KM1NDY

AA8RK: “College Ham Club Round Table” at RATPAC Online, March 24, 2021

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RATPAC logoRATPAC’s scheduled Wednesday’s March 24, 2021 Zoom presentation will be at:  

9:00 PM AST / 9:00 PM EDT / 8:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM MDT / 6:00 PM PDT / 5:00 PM AKDT / 3:00 PM HST

 Topic: College Ham Club Round table

 Speaker/Presenter: Ralph Katz, AA8RK

Hey folks: These Zoom sessions are left open after the presentation. 

After the Zoom presentation has been closed, sign back into Zoom to visit.

  • This meeting will be recorded. By participating you consent to being recorded. 
  • Please change your display name to Your First Name, Call Sign and Location, e.g. Dan K7REX Idaho. 
  • Please stay muted until ready to speak. Your space bar works like a PTT for unmuting
  • You may ask questions in chat; please stay on topic while using chat.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2128884758?pwd=VjBldDhSRXh5cG16MUVhcVRTbUNTZz09

Meeting ID: 212 888 4758
Passcode: College
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,2128884758#,,,,*5305467# US (Houston)
+16699006833,,2128884758#,,,,*5305467# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 212 888 4758
Passcode: 5305467

K9EID: “Optimizing Your Station” at Meriden (CT) ARC, March 25, 2021

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Meriden ARC logoThe Meriden (CT) Amateur Radio Club welcomes legendary audio expert Bob Heil, K9EID, as our Activities Meeting guest speaker next Thursday, 3/25/21 at 7:30PM Eastern Time.

All Connecticut Hams are cordially invited to attend the Zoom Meeting.  Bob’s name is synonymous with high-quality ham radio audio, and he will speak on “Optimizing Your Station.”

Whether you’re newly (or even not yet) licensed or a long time veteran, you’re sure to learn something.

Here is the Zoom link:

<https://zoom.us/j/91067706626?pwd=K2lwcUJrQVNpMVhJU0hvTDcwbHQvZz09&fbclid=IwAR17bnKB9fZiMDCWfhaMJOknvMPtiiW70Lp4VbXWPEWkDC8CpiQWik8b3Fg>

Please advertise this to interested parties and club members.

Amateur Radio Fee Collection Schedule

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FCC sealContrary to what you may have heard or read, the collection of application fees for the amateur radio service and certain other services will NOT begin  on April 19, 2021.
 
Although April 19, 2021 is the date the rules in the FCC Report and Order adopted last December generally take effect – i.e., one month after the R&O was published in the March 19, 2021 Federal Register – certain parts of those rules, including collection of the application fees for the amateur radio service, will NOT begin on that date. 
 
The effective date for new amateur radio fees has not yet been established. The FCC explicitly states in the published Notice that the fees will not take effect until:
     *  the requisite notice has been provided to Congress; AND
     *  the FCC’s information technology systems and internal procedures have been updated; AND
     *  the Commission publishes future notice(s) in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of such rules.
 
The League’s counsel for FCC matters estimates that the effective start date for collecting the fees will be some time this summer, but regardless of the exact timing we will have advance notice.

HamSCI Free, Virtual Workshop, March 19-20, 2021

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HamSCI 2021 Workshop logoCome join HamSCI at its fourth annual workshop! Due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, this year’s workshop will he held as a free virtual workshop.  The meeting will take place March 19-20, 2021 using Zoom hosted by The University of Scranton in Scranton, PA  and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The primary objective of the HamSCI workshop is to bring together the amateur radio community and professional scientists. The theme of the 2021 HamSCI Workshop is midlatitude ionospheric science. Invited speakers include Dr. J. Michael Ruohoniemi, Virginia Tech Professor and Principal Investigator of the Virginia Tech SuperDARN Initiative, and Joe Dzekevich K1YOW, an amateur radio citizen scientist who recently published his work in CQ Magazine. Dr. Elizabeth Bruton of the Science Museum of London will be the Keynote Speaker.

This workshop will also serve as a team meeting for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station project, an NSF-funded project to develop a citizen science instrument for studying space weather from your backyard. The PSWS is led by the University of Scranton, and includes participation from TAPR, Case Western Reserve University/W8EDU, the University of Alabama, the New Jersey Institute of Technology CSTR, MIT Haystack Observatory, Dartmouth College, and the amateur radio community at large.

Special Bulletin to All RI Amateurs – March 17, 2021

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Happy St Patrick’s Day to all:

In my recent monthly Activity Report for March, it seems that I painted my report regarding the cancellation of VE sessions with too broad a brush. Quick to point out my oversight, The Newport County Radio Club reported that they have conducted twelve sessions in 2020 and cancelled only one. I’m sure that they were Covid compliant. They were also happy to point out that they conducted a successful VE session early in March.

I am happy to report that to the approximately 350 ARRL members who register to receive these monthly reports, but I’m not a mind reader. I must be told these things. Recently, I have been trying without much success to switch e mail addresses. In that process, I apparently have missed some e mails for which I am very sorry. Maybe folks need to request that I send them a receipt when they send me information until I get this issue straightened out.

NCRC is offering classes to obtain the Technician and upgrade to General license.

The Technician Class will begin at 6 PM on Tuesday April 20th.

The General Class will begin at 6 PM on Friday April 23rd.

To register for the Technician Class use this URL: https://forms.gle/yyBU7DWSxvLhBnLGA
To register for the General Class use this URL: https://forms.gle/xYDkYjiuSX5vgTwH8

I’m sorry I didn’t publish this important information earlier. I hope that fellow RI Amateurs reading this now will pass it along to those who you know might benefit from knowing it. The dates are a month away.

Thanks and 73,
Bob Beaudet, W1YRC
RI Section Manager

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ARRL Rhode Island Section
Section Manager: Robert G Beaudet, W1YRC
w1yrc@arrl.org
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“Inside the Summit-Obsessed World of Ham Radio”

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WG0AT operating from a mountain summit“On a gray Friday afternoon last spring, Steve Galchutt sat high atop Chief Mountain, an 11,700-foot peak along Colorado’s Front Range. An epic panorama of pristine alpine landscape stretched in almost every direction, with Pikes Peak standing off to the south and Mount Evan towering just to the west.  

“It was an arresting view, and the perfect backdrop for a summit selfie. But instead of reaching for his smartphone, Galchutt was absorbed by another device: a portable transceiver. Sitting on a small patch of rock and snow, his head bent down and cocked to one side, he listened as it sent out a steady stream of staticky beeps: dah-dah-di-dah dah di-di-di-dit. “This is Scotty in Philadelphia,” Galchutt said, translating the Morse code. Then, tapping at two silver paddles attached to the side of the radio, he sent his own message, first with some details about his location, then his call sign, WG0AT.” [Full article]