The Barnstable Amateur Radio Club (BARC) received a grant from the ARRL to establish a ham radio station for scouts at Camp Greenough in Yarmouth on Cape Cod. The camp hosts scouts from all over New England and BARC participates in Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) events at the camp as well as, most recently, Winter Field Day. Donations from local businesses have amplified the value of the grant many times. These included building materials for both walls and operating desks, volunteer professional labor and even fiber-optic connectivity from Comcast. Following removal of 18 trees, Eversource installed three poles with pulleys to suspend wire antennas on March 8. Heavy equipment arrived in the morning with a full crew. The poles were rigged and lifted into position once the holes were dug. They are now ready to lift wire antennas into position, once the station build is completed and the equipment is in place. The station itself has been framed on three sides and old wiring removed. An ADA-compliant door will be installed for station access prior to completion of the framing.
Two operating positions , some furniture and a workbench are planned and some equipment donations have been offered, in addition to that funded by the grant. The station will be capable of remote operation to allow on-site classroom facilities to be used for amateur radio instruction including that for the radio merit badge using live demonstrations. BARC will relocate its satellite antenna array to the new station that will be fully HF, VHF and UHF capable.
BARC is targeting this summer for project completion.
contributed by Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, Newport County (RI) Radio Club
Examples of short 12 cm microwave antennas: a Yagi and an omni-directional vertical
How short is short???
Last century, the HF bands from 10 meters to 200 meters were considered “shortwave radio.”Paul Fredette, K1YBE, is on a mission to pitch the Super High Frequency (SHF) microwave ham bands (3 cm to 33 cm) as this century’s new “shortwave radio”, ripe for experimentation.So, how short is the new short? A football fan offered the comparison that 10 meters is roughly 10 yards, or the length of the first down line on a football field. And for comparison, 3 cm is roughly 1 inch, or the width of the white stripe on a football. To get a sense of relative antenna size, I just looked out the window at my HF antenna zigzagging for 100+ feet across my backyard, and compared that to the microwave antennas pictured above for scale, showing inches on a ruler. The new short is a different magnitude of short, with opportunities and new challenges for the ham to tackle.
To promote STEM learning and workforce development opportunities around this shift, Rhode Island’s Paul, K1YBE, is enthusiastically promoting the notion of an Amateur Radio Training Experiment Network (ARTEN) that uses mesh networking educational projects to make this accessible to a broad audience. The “new” shortwave bands from 3 cm/10 GHz to 30 cm/1 GHz can be a catalyst as we reach out to invite in a new generation of hams. ARRL-affiliated club microwave experiments underway include the Newport County Radio Club’s pilot mesh networking project placing carbon dioxide sensors in a local farm, with the collected data set available to schools. Examples of welcome community outreach include holding our radio hands-on building/experimenting workshops at a local maker-space, FabNewport, during their after-school programming. Kids stop by our table, curious and full of questions. In this way, STEM learning is not bolted on but part of the ongoing mentoring and experiential learning that defines the ham community and helps home-grown innovators flourish.
The ARRL mission includes encouraging “radio experimentation and, through its members, advances radio technology and education.” As Wikipedia reminds us: “Throughout its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. Research by amateur radio operators has founded new industries, built economies, empowered nations, and saved lives in times of emergency.” More than a century ago, the pivotal Radio Act of 1912 assigned licensed amateurs to the shortwaves under 200 meters. In 2023 it’s remarkable to look back and forge ahead in the frontier of microwave “shortwave” bands open to hams, from 3 centimeters to 33 centimeters. What’s possible?
Paul Fredette, K1YBE, will be speaking on ARTEN – New England Mesh Networking at Microwave Update 2023 on Saturday April 16th. This is an international conference focused on amateur radio on the microwave bands. Meanwhile, Paul, K1YBE, will be presenting a talk on ARTEN at the Newport County Radio Club’s upcoming monthly meeting; this talk will be posted to YouTube shortly after. If you are curious to learn more or would like Paul to speak to your club, please reach out to him directly at Paul Fredette, K1YBE, k1ybe@yahoo.com.
Screenshot from an upcoming talk, ARTEN – New England Mesh Networking, by Paul Fredette K1YBE at the Amateur Radio on the Microwave Bands Conference near Hartford, April 15-16, 2023
If you are a club president or section cabinet member and failed to receive an email with Zoom information about this meeting, please contact Phil Temples, K9HI, at k9hi@arrl.org.
To: All Section Managers, section cabinets, club presidents or designees:
Subject: 1st Cabinet Meeting for 2023
Please join us for the first of four scheduled New England Division Cabinet Meetings, on March 11, 2023 from 10:00 AM-12:30 PM.
It is that time of year again… the Maine State Hamfest and Convention [in Lewiston] Friday, March 24th and Saturday March 25th. Talks on Friday night will be 7:00 and 8:00 PM. Vendor sales and talks will be from 8:00 AM until Noon on Saturday.
Admission for the Hamfest is $10.00 per person.
The Grand Prize will be a $200.00 gift certificate from Ham Radio Outlet.
There will be an additional $200.00 cash prize being offered for people wishing to participate in offering their contact information for Hamfest and Androscoggin Club communication. There are several talks already planned, with more to be featured. The talk schedule will be updated as speakers are confirmed.
Project “Big E” is back again and plans are underway to staff an amateur radio display booth this year. Changes will be made to how the booth will be arranged and presented to the public.
This year, the dates are Friday, September 15 thru Sunday, October 1. We will be applying for another grant and if we get one, we will be able to provide admission tickets and parking reimbursement again this year.
Last year was a lot of fun for everyone and we hope you will join again for another Big E.
The first of three 2023 New England Division Town Hall meetings was held on February 23. Registrations for the Town Hall meeting set an all-time record with 204 registrants.
Director Kemmerer reviewed the accomplishments from the January, 2023 ARRL Board of Directors meeting, and discussed his committee work as did Vice Director Temples. Three of the division’s assistant directors recapped their recent activities and accomplishments.
In addition, Kemmerer fielded questions on a variety of topics, including: possible HOA bylaw wording from ARRL favoring Amateur Radio antennas; malicious interference on 75 meters; help with Logbook of The World certificates; moving toward radiogram support for ICS-213 format; bandwidth versus baud rate, and so forth.
Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) can be viewed, below. The video presentation will be posted soon.
ARRL New England Division Town Hall 2023-02-23 video recording
The Western MA Train & Test Group invites you to a FREE on-line course so that you, too, can upgrade to the Amateur Extra class license.
Sign up at: 
To: All Section Managers, section cabinets, club presidents or designees:
The February, 2023 Eastern MA Section Newsletter is now available at 
Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:
