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Sci-Tech ARS Girl Scouts’ “First Contact” event

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STARS patch(2026-03-21, Natick, MA) The Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS) in Natick, MA hosted a girl scout troop from Melrose, MA. Sincere thanks go to: Barbara, KC1KGS; Jocelyn (TBD); Seth, KC1PZY; Max, WØMXX; Brad, KC1TUY; Zachary, KC1NXK; and Bob, K5TEC, for helping teach the scouts on Saturday. It was nice that the girls got to hear from two YLs as well as the rest of us.

In the first of many activities, the scouts got to hold a meteorite from an asteroid and one from the moon, discuss earth to space communications, then watch a three-minute ARRL video about ham radio. 

Next, Barbara gave an inspiring talk about ways girls can get involved with ham radio and become one of the YLs. Joscelyn, a young student here at Sci-Tech, gave a thoughtful and encouraging talk about her journey to get her radio license with suggestions to the scouts for success. 

We watched a two-minute video about our StratoScience Workshop where ham radio is highlighted with high-altitude weather balloon launches, then we visited Max at his research workstation to learn about radio electronics and soldering APRS circuits to track the science projects carried by those balloons. A teen in high school with an Amateur Extra license, Max runs the New England Weather Balloon Society hosted here at New England Sci-Tech.

Then we went outside for a Fox Hunt with Seth who showed off the homemade Yagi antenna and helped the girls find the hidden transmitter. While outside, the scouts had a short exercise in contacting each other using four FRS HTs.

The final activity had the scouts in the radio room where they first listened to contacts made through the International Space Station (ISS). Thanks to Max for arranging that with NASA! (haha) and for running the rooftop satellite tracking system for this activity. Then the girls lined up at the HF station for a lesson with Zachary and Brad. There they all got to make a contact with a YL named Jessica in Oklahoma, KJ5NSH. Thank you Jess!

At the end of the event, the scouts each got an ARRL “First Contact” certificate, carefully filled out by Brad and individualized by the scout leader. They were also thrilled to receive an ARRL radio patch, and a Sci-Tech logo patch. Fun was had by all (and lots of learning, too)! 

— Bob, K5TEC, STARS Secretary

Ninth Annual HamSCI Workshop, New Britain CT, March 14-15, 2026

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HamSCI 2026 logoThe 9th annual HamSCI Workshop is upon us! Join us at Central Connecticut State University and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Headquarters in Newington, CT on March 14-15, 2026. We’re excited to welcome you to this fast-growing meeting. Organizers have worked hard to put together a memorable two-day event.

This year’s theme, “Discovering Science Through Ham Radio”, celebrates the community’s achievements, including Personal Space Weather Station deployments, meteor scatter propagation studies and the promotion of WSPR as a propagation sensing tool. The workshop is expected to feature more than 50 poster and oral presentations, plus invited tutorials, and a banquet with a keynote address by a prominent member of the community. [More]

HAM-CON, Colchester VT, February 28, 2026

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ARRL Vermont Section Manager: Paul Gayet, AA1SU, writes on the ARRL members list:

HAM-CON, the ARRL Vermont State Convention will be Saturday, February 28 at the Hampton Inn Colchester, conveniently located at I-89, Exit 16. HAM-CON is unique as it is the only hybrid convention. If you are unable to travel, you can join the forums and demonstrations on-line from the comfort of home.

We have another great show planned. Elecraft co-owner Wayne Burdick N6KR will do a presentation on the various Elecraft radios you might consider.

The World Radio Team Championship (WRTC) will be held in England this July and chairman Mark M0DXR will be available to tell us about it.

We’ll have forums on POTA activations, operating the ham satellites and operating on the long wave bands. Demonstrations will include AREDN, DMR and our HF station W1V. Add to this the flea market, ham exams, game shows, door prizes and hundreds of hams and you have a great time in the making.

If you buy your tickets by February 14th, it is only $8. Not sure you will be going? Buy your ticket anyway. If you cannot attend in person, watch the event on-line either during or after the event. However you choose, please attend, and bring a friend! Or if you are out of town, come up Friday, and spend the night in the hotel and wake up the next morning ready to hamfest!

Details:
HAM-CON Web: ham-con.org
HAM-CON Tix:: ham-con.org/hamconpay.html

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ARRL Vermont Section
Section Manager: Paul N Gayet, AA1SU
aa1su@arrl.org
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Mt. Tom Hamfest Canceled

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Hello all, regretfully I have to inform you that the Mt.Tom hamfest [in Chicopee, MA, on February 28, 2026].has been cancelled due to low vendor participation. I truly hope it will return next year.

Have a great day
73
Ray AA1SE

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ARRL Western Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Raymond P Lajoie, AA1SE
aa1se@arrl.org
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Connecticut Parks On The Air Activators Group Becomes an Official Club

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CT POTA WB1CT logoThe Connecticut Parks On The Air Activators group has become an official club. Formed as a 501(c)3 non-profit entity in late 2025, the club was assigned the call sign WB1CT by the FCC. What started as an informal gathering of hams interested in Parks On The Air activating in the Spring of 2021 has evolved into regular meetings of the group on each Support Your Parks weekend for the past three years and over 100 active POTA activators in the state communicating regularly on their groups.io list.

Group organizers and now officers of the club include Trustee, Shawn Warren, KC1NQE; Director, Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH; Treasurer, Peter Cimino, K1PCN; and Secretary, Brian Horne, N1BAM.

To formally christen the new call sign, the officers and some close friends gathered on a cold morning on January 1, 2026 at US-1728, Wharton Brook State Park to activate the park under the new club call sign, WB1CT.

In addition to regularly scheduled outings to allow POTA hunters worldwide get Connecticut in their log, the CT POTA Activators schedule a special “park-to-park” net during each Support Your Parks weekend on 40 meters to allow all of the activators to make contact with each other. As hunters well know, hunting parks within their own state or adjacent states can sometimes be the most difficult to get. The park-to-park net is organized in a way that allows each activator to act as net control and call all of the other activators to get those Connecticut parks in their logs. They go down the list until everyone has completed a QSO with everyone else. 40 meters seems to work well across the state with everyone being able to hear each other.

If you’d like to join the club, which is presently limited to activators within the state, you can look us up on QRZ at WB1CT, which also links to our CT-POTA groups.io site for more information.

Brian, N1BAM; Conrad, N2YCH; Peter, K1PCN; and Shawn, KC1NQE

 

Maine ARRL Section News, January 2026

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ARRL logoPhil Duggan, N1EP, writes on the ARRL Maine Section Members List:

Happy New Years to all Maine hams!

Aloha from Hawaii. Yes, we are on our dream vacation, but will be back in Maine soon sharing the cold and snow with all of you, hi hi.

BOAT ANCHOR HAMFEST

FEB 14 from 8am until noon at the Calumet Club in, 334 W River Road, Augusta.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

It has been an honor to serve these past few years as your section manager. I am not running for reelection this time. This is a perfect opportunity for you to exercise your leadership skills and lead Maine’s ARRL section into the future. The section manager responsibilities are listed at this url:

http://www.arrl.org/section-manager

Here is a link to the section manager nomination requirements, examples, etc.

http://www.arrl.org/section-terms-nomination-information

The ARRL must receive your nomination no later than March 10. My term ends on June 30, and the new section manager would begin on July 1 for a 2-year term.

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ARRL Maine Section
Section Manager: Philip W Duggan, N1EP
n1ep@arrl.org
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2026 Boston Marathon Amateur Radio Volunteer Registration Remains Open – Volunteers Still Needed – Deadline – Friday 2/6/26

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The BAA Amateur Radio Communications Committee Writes:

Volunteer registration for the 2026 Boston Marathon is open and ongoing. If you’ve already registered to volunteer at the 2026 Boston Marathon, we’d like to thank you for your interest in joining our team!

For anyone who hasn’t yet, please don’t delay! Volunteer registration closes on Friday, February 6. It would help our planning processes if you could complete your registration by Friday, January 30.
Registration Link (for new and returning volunteers):
https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/info-for-volunteers/

Step by Step Sign Up Guide:
https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/44002570599-2026-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide

A few notes for volunteers:

Almost all amateur radio positions are single person assignments. We are not able to group people on a single assignment, but we will try to accommodate which segment you are assigned to in order to allow for similar start/end times.

We’d like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the winner of the Boston Marathon ARO bib lottery, Sparsh Bansal, KC1MGP. We’re looking forward to cheering you on!

Final documentation is generally released during the first week of April. Before this can happen, we need the final logistical details from the various area coordinators for Start, Course, Finish, and Transportation. Where possible, we will release documents as they become available. In this case, look out for emails from the committee and your Team Captain.

As always, we appreciate your help in getting the word out to prospective volunteers. Please send this to hams or clubs that you think may be interested in joining us on the amateur radio team for the 2026 Boston Marathon!

If you have any questions about the content of this message or about volunteering at the marathon in general, please don’t hesitate to send them to contact@HamRadioBoston.org.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Thank you, and 73,

Boston Marathon Communications Committee
contact@HamRadioBoston.org

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2026 HamX: Call for Speakers

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2026 HamX logo

 

HamX is the largest amateur radio convention in the Northeast!  With close to 1,800 attendees each year, HamX draws radio amateurs from all over and is an ideal venue to present your ideas and experiences.

This is a call for speakers on topics of general interest to the amateur radio community.  Some examples include: Operating practices, contesting, DXing, mobile stations, emergency communications, emerging activities, STEM outreach, club improvement, radio history, restoring antique gear, test equipment, kit building, antenna design, AI in amateur radio, VHF/UHF/Microwave/Mesh, EME and more.  If you have a story to share, we would like to hear about it.

To submit a talk proposal, please go to the following website and enter the requested information. 

 https://registration.hamx.org/speaker/

If you have any further questions, please reach out to the program chair at the e-mail address listed below.

We look forward to your contribution at HamX 2026!

Mark Noe KE1IU

HamX Program Committee Chairperson

ke1iu@hamx.org

RI Section Manager Update

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RI logoGreetings ARRL Rhode Island Section and happy new year!

First, I want to thank Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, for her leadership as Rhode Island Section Manager over the last couple of years. There is a lot going on in the Rhode Island Section – great clubs, top notch contest stations, new ARES leadership, active SKYWARN participation, just to name a few. The Section Manager role can be challenging and demanding.  Thank you Nancy for all your work on behalf of Rhode Island radio amateurs.

I’m not going to go into great detail with a bio, you are welcome to look me up on QRZ or on my webpage to learn more about me. I’d rather focus on what I bring to the Rhode Island Section as the newly appointed Section Manager.

To start, I have a good understanding of the ARRL Field Organization.  Over the course of my Amateur Radio career I’ve served as an Emergency Coordinator, Volunteer Examiner, award checker for DXCC and WAS, Public Information Coordinator, and Assistant Section Manager. I spent about nine years working at ARRL HQ as the Emergency Preparedness Manager and contributed to the Section Manager workshops. I’ve also written for QST, the ARES E-Letter, was lead author on Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio, editor for The Public Service Communications Handbook, and contributor to the ARRL Operators Manual.

My approach to Amateur Radio focuses on three areas:

• Get on the air

• Be a mentor

• Try something new, experiment

We enjoy a hobby that provides us a tremendous amount of spectrum. If we don’t use it, we lose it; we sink or swim together regardless of our individual pursuits in Amateur Radio. “What are we doing to bring new blood into the hobby”, well this starts with you. Share your knowledge, experience and passion for radio with others. Amateur Radio constantly challenges us to learn and grow, which is good! Make the most of it.

Finally, I firmly believe if we have folks in the Rhode Island Section who are doing good work – in clubs, with ARES, with contests, POTA, or any other pursuit – we need to encourage them to keep going! It’s easy to be an arm chair quarterback, it’s also pointless. Go for the extra effort and support the many ways we do Amateur Radio in the Ocean State.

So, whats next? What are my first steps as Rhode Island Section Manager?  Well, here’s what I have in mind:

• New email distro list for ARRL Rhode Island Section. A Google Group has been set up to send out Section news. You can sign up for this email list by completing an online form, here’s the link https://forms.gle/eU2ca9zip8k2W6cy8 . The first Section Newsletter will go out in mid-January.

• Rhode Island Section meeting. Sometime in the first quarter of 2026 we will have a Rhode Island Section meeting – likely via Zoom or combination of Zoom/in-person. It is an opportunity to hear from Section leadership and for leadership to hear from you.

• Website update. It has been a while since the RI Section page has been updated, so we will begin work on that.

It is an honor to be appointed to this position and I look forward to working with you all in support of Amateur Radio in Rhode Island.

73,

Mike Corey, KI1U

ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager

ki1u@arrl.org

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ARRL Rhode Island Section

Section Manager: Michael Corey, KI1U

ki1u@arrl.org

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2026 ARRL Celebration of the USA 250 Semiquincentennial

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America 250 logoDear Massachusetts Hams,

I am reaching out to you, to see if you would like to be part of the 2026 ARRL Celebration of the USA 250 Semiquincentennial Special Operating Event. This is part of the Year of the Club and the 100th Anniversary of the ARRL Field Organization along with a year long Worked All States (WAS-250).

I am the state manager for Massachusetts.

For two weeks in 2026, there is the ability for stations located in Massachusetts to operate as W1AW/1. ARRL membership is not required. The weeks are as follows:

• February 11-18
• August 12-21

August 14th & 15th will be an SSB operation from the New England HamXposition in Marlboro. They will have precedent in choosing the band and mode (probably SSB) for a block of time.

We are looking for ops that can get on multiple times during this week, from your club, home, mobile or portable stations and work stations that will be hunting you. Your transmitter MUST be in Massachusetts.

Modes that can be operated are:
• SSB
• CW
• Digital
• Satellite

ALL Logging MUST be done with computer logging that can export in ADIF format. The log will be sent to me once your operating has completed.

All volunteers will need to work together and share operating times with the team of ops.

There will be an operation guide emailed a few weeks before the operating week to all volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering for the first Massachusetts operating in February, please contact:

Larry Krainson, W1AST
FunHamRadio@gmail.com