Ray Lajoie, AA1SE, writes on the Western MA ARRL Members list:

Project Big E is a 17-day amateur radio exhibit to be held at the 2022 Big E from September 16-October 3, 2022 in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Western Massachusetts ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator and Hampden County Radio Association president Larry Krainson, W1AST, is the Project Big E General Chairman.

The Big E, formerly known as The Eastern States Exposition, is billed as “New England’s Great State fair.” It is the largest agricultural event on the eastern seaboard and the sixth-largest fair in the nation.  In 2021, the Big E had 1.5 million visitors, and over 1.6 million visitors in 2019. [Wikipedia.org]

Planning for Project Big E is underway. An impressive ham radio booth will showcase the many aspects of modern ham radio, and provide an avenue for people to sign up for information and courses in their local area.

Features proposed for Project Big E will include:

·         an EmComm display

·         DMR and/or other digital mobile mode demo

·         Digital HF modes on a big screen

·         A special event station (N1E) with unique QSL cards

·         SSB, CW and digital modes

·         Demonstrations of portable stations for field operation (i.e., Parks On The Air, Summits On The Air)

·         A live ARISS contact

Project Big E can succeed only if there is a sufficient number of volunteers and radio clubs who agree to participate in the event.  A web page has been created at https://nediv.arrl.org/ProjectBigE.

Also, a special Groups.io mailing list group has been established. To join, send an email to ProjectBigE+subscribe@groups.io.

To volunteer for specific days/hours, go to the special Google form signup sheet and register.

——————————————————————–

ARRL Western Massachusetts Section

Section Manager: Raymond P Lajoie, AA1SE

aa1se@arrl.org

——————————————————————–

Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes:

I’m starting a weekly Zoom meeting every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EDT to discuss all things for the Big E Booth. 

We will start with organization and planning the booth layout as well as the continuation of getting the word out to clubs and volunteers and more. 

Please urge your club presidents to join us too and everyone is invited. I hope to see you on. 

Project Big E General Chairman Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes on the ProjectBigE mailing list:

As everyone knows, we have been accepted to host a ARISS contact. That’s exciting news and a small team is in place working out the details.

Also, I managed to find a local company that does creative work and will do the live streaming, video editing, projection enhancement and recording of the ARISS contact.  The company is Black Helicopter Creative and they are donating their time and effort to make this contact and the live stream a professional view for all. They have done work for the RedSox, Fenway Park, ESPN and others. You can learn more at:  https://www.blackhelicoptercreative.com/.

Also, I spent an hour on the phone with ICOM the other night and they are very enthusiastic about the booth. They offered to lend us a few HF and VHF/UHF/D-Star radios for the booth. Once the upper management approves, we’ll be locked in for ICOM on our operating table. The goal is to have a hotspot operating too with D-Star, DMR and possibly Fusion able to use it to demonstrate some digital modes.

There is more being planned.

Right now, we are looking for those that have done demonstrations and may have booth displays. The Nashua Club has offered to lend us a few items and we are looking for more from other clubs as well. If you have something, can you either post it here in a picture or email me direct with a description and photo’s please. W1AST@arrl.net.

We have a questionnaire out on the New England Division website: https://nediv.arrl.org/project-big-e  read down to “How Can I Help” and fill in the Google Form Signup Sheet link.

For those of you traveling from more than 2-3 hours away, I am looking for more HOST families in my area that could accommodate  a few people that want to stay and volunteer. I’m hoping my home club, the HCRA, steps up in a big way for this. My wife and I can accommodate 3 to maybe 4 people. Maybe 2 more if you have a sleeping bag and air mattress or a cot. But, we’re working on that.

Lastly, we are looking for some display cabinets. Does anyone or club have something? Please contact me.

We’re 4 months from the Big E right now. We need you to get the word out to local hams through your clubs. There is a flyer (bright green sheet at Near-Fest) that you can download on the NEDIV site too. We handed out around 250 the Friday of Near-Fest. More went out on Saturday. Get them out to your members please.

We have 17 days we need to man the booth for 12 hours per day per Big E rules. This booth we have is a $4000 booth that is being given to us. We have to make it look good and be there all the time. We set up the day into 2 6 hour shifts. Or anyone is welcome to do a 12 hour shift. It will be a long day, but very worth while. IF you’re wondering about meals, there will be 120 different food vendors there plus what may be available in the State buildings. You won’t go hungry!

So, once again, go here and volunteer:  https://nediv.arrl.org/project-big-e

Best 73 for an enjoyable weekend for all.

Ed Snyder, W1YSM, writes:

   Linda Lee writes on the W1YU-officers mailing list:

Hello ham radio enthusiasts:

I wanted to let you know about a sneak preview screening happening at the Davies Auditorium on May 3, 2022 at 7:30 pm. The film INVISIBLE THREADS – From Wireless to War is about the early development of wireless technology and features Tesla, Marconi and a mysterious German wireless plant called Telefunken, which secretly aided the German military effort during WWI.

Ham radio expert Charles Apgar is also featured.

After the screening, filmmaker Joseph Sikorski (Tower to the People) will participate in a Q&A session.

Please feel free to spread this information to anyone you think might be interested. 

You can see the trailer & register for the free event here:

https://www.InvisibleThreadsFilm.com/yale

I hope to see you there!

All the best,

Linda Lee

What: 2022 World Amateur Radio Day

Who: All amateur radio operators worldwide

When: Monday, April 18, 2022 at 0000 UTC until Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 0000 UTC

Where: A global event covering all regions of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)

Why: World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18 each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president.

Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short-wave spectrum?could support long-distance radio signal propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to promote the interests of amateur radio worldwide and to protect and enhance its spectrum privileges. Today, the IARU is a federation consisting of more than 160 national amateur radio organizations in as many countries and separate territories. The International Secretariat of the IARU is ARRL, the national association for amateur radio® in the United States.

On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy our global friendship with other amateurs, and to show our skills and capabilities to the public.

How: World Amateur Radio Day is not a contest but rather an opportunity to “talk” about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about your radio club and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day (held each year during the fourth full weekend in June) and another ham radio related activity in your community – such as volunteers who serve in local emergency communication readiness including the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service^®.

Here are just a few ways to participate in, and promote, World Amateur Radio Day:

• Get a station on the air! Create your own personal “event” to talk about amateur radio to others, including family and friends.
• Find out more about World Amateur Radio Day by checking the IARU website and other Resources listed below.
• Create and hold a special net or on-air event on World Amateur Radio Day to raise the level of attention for the celebration, and to encourage other hams to talk about our hobby. Consider creating and offering a commemorative certificate for contacting your special activation. It can be an electronic one as these are cost effective.
• Get the word out! If you are an ARRL Public Information Coordinator, Public Information Officer, or responsible for radio club publicity, send a press release and conduct some public relations outreach to highlight the day and/or events. Talk about all of the activities radio amateurs have continued to support during the pandemic, and how amateur radio serves our communities. Find recent examples of amateur radio in-the-news at www.arrl.org/media-hits.
• Promote your personal World Amateur Radio Day activity(ies) on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag #WorldAmateurRadioDay. Make sure you send it to various clubs, reflectors, and media.

Join us in celebrating World Amateur Radio Day and all the ways amateur radio brings us together!

Resources

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio
http://www.arrl.org/world-amateur-radio-day (this page)

IARU
https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/world-amateur-radio-day

IARU Region 2: The Americas
https://www.iaru-r2.org/en/on-the-air/world-amateur-radio-day/

Article: “Why World Amateur Radio Day is key to highlight crucial service,” ITU News Magazine (No. 1, 2021)
https://www.itu.int/en/myitu/Publications/2021/02/02/15/24/ITU-News-Magazine-No-1-2021

Public Relations and Outreach

2022 World Amateur Radio Day backgrounder (PDF)
2022 World Amateur Radio Day media advisory (WORD template)

Poster or flyer
World Amateur Radio Day poster (8-1/2 x 11 JPG)
Día Mundial de la Radioafición poster (8-1/2 x 11 JPG)
Special thanks to ARRL member Anne Frank, KD9LRB of Deer Park, Wisconsin, featured in these posters!

Social media and website graphics (JPG)
440 x 220  English  Spanish
468 x 200  English  Spanish
608 x 259  English  Spanish
700 x 225  English  Spanish
1080 x 1080  English  Spanish
1200 x 628  English  Spanish
5599 x 1566 banner  English  Spanish