Serving ARRL members who reside in the New England sections
Ray Chaffee, WA1ORT, writes on the Twin State Radio Club mailing list:
I am looking for operators for the weekend. I plan on operations starting on Friday at 7:00 PM until Sunday at 10 AM. Operations subject to band openings.
I hope to have at least 3 HF and DMR stations. I would like to do a fox hunt on Saturday if I have enough help.
We will be at La Salette on Route 4A in Enfield, NH.
Ray WA1ORT
From the JOTA-JOTI website:
JOTA-JOTI (Jamboree-on-the-Air-Jamboree-on-the-Internet) is the world’s largest digital Scout event taking place on October 15-17, 2021, on the Internet and over the airwaves. Held every year in October, the event connects millions of young people around the world for a full weekend of online activities that promote friendship and global citizenship. JOTA-JOTI enables young people and volunteers to participate in fun and engaging group activities over the Internet and amateur radio focused on developing 21st century skills through Scouting.
JOTA-JOTI 2020 took place from 15 to 17 October. The dynamic program comprised a variety of non-formal education activities, including webinars, global campfires, talent shows, live shows, fun challenges and more through an interactive 3D campsite. JOTA-JOTI aims to support young people of all ages to learn about communications technology, the values of global citizenship, and their role in creating a better world.
Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, writes on the ARRL Members Only mailing list:
While on tour visiting 11 Field Day sites in MA and CT, and last weekend in Maine at Lobstercon (this means you Dennis, K1LGQ – the last president of the Nashua Amateur Radio Club), I heard from several people that the ARRL should do things to encourage youth interest in ham radio.
The question tells me that ARRL has not done a good job at communicating some of the things ARRL does NOW. For example, ARRL’s Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is being offered this week, the week of July 12, 2021. It is a combination of live and recorded sessions, providing instructions for schoolteachers on a variety of activities related to wireless technology and amateur radio. These activities provide practical lessons that teachers can use in their classrooms. There are 18 scheduled sessions. See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Teachers%20Institute/TI_2021_Program_v2.pdf.
Cost: Teachers Institute opportunities are virtually free for the participants. The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, a modest per-diem to cover meals, instructional resources for the electronics, microcontroller, and robotics segments of the course, and a resource library of relevant ARRL publications. There is only a $100 enrollment fee to attend Teachers Institute.
For further information, see http://www.arrl.org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology.
If you know of a licensed teacher in New England who should attend next year’s session, please let me know. I’ll pay that teacher’s enrollment fee.
Furthermore, and reflecting a concern related to me earlier this year by Mitch Stern, W1SJ (VT), this Thursday, the ARRL Board Committee on Administration & Finance will consider a League program to pay first time license fees (when those $35 fees become effective later this year) for those under age 18. The CEO will report to the Board on the financial impact of such a decision. If you have thoughts on this program, please let me know.
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ARRL New England Division
Director: Fred Hopengarten, K1VR
k1vr@arrl.org
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From the Nashua Area Radio Society website:
“On the weekend of May 22nd and 23rd, the Nashua Area Radio Society held a Technician License Class for students from Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, NH, and from Council Rock High School South in Holland, PA. Both schools recently had contacts with the ISS. The Bishop-Guertin High School ISS contact was held earlier this year in February. and the Council Rock High School South ISS contact was in December 2019.” [Full story]
David Henry, KC1PEN, writes on May 20, 2021 on the Meriden Amateur Radio Club Facebook page:
At its Annual Meeting in January, the ARRL Board of Directors considered a motion to offer a new plan that would pay the new but not-yet-implemented $35 FCC application fee for a limited number of new radio amateurs younger than age 18 who, at the time of testing, belonged to an ARRL Affiliated 501(c)(3) charitable organization and passed their tests through an ARRL VEC-sponsored exam session. The proposal called for reducing the VEC fee for these candidates to $5. The initial proposal came from ARRL Southeastern Division Director Mickey Baker, N4MB. Other Board members offered subsidiary motions. Supporters said the purpose behind the motion was to ameliorate the potential financial hardship the pending FCC application fee posed on certain minors applying for their first license, and to encourage new youth membership. [Full story]
School Club Roundup (SCR) comes but twice a year, in February and October, and the February edition is upon us. The 5-day event runs from Monday, February 8 at 1300 UTC to Friday, February 12 at 2359 UTC. Any mode — SSB, CW, or digital — is allowed for the event, but only digital modes that support the full exchange of required contact information are permitted. [Full story]
Jon Turner, AC1EV, writes:
An ARISS contact is scheduled for this Friday, February 5th with students from the Ottawa Carleton District in Ottawa, ON, Canada. The contact will be a multipoint telebridge contact. Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, will serve as the relay amateur radio station. The astronaut is Mike Hopkins, amateur radio call sign KF5LJG.
The pre-contact program will begin around 12:20 pm local time and the ISS will come over the horizon at about 12:40 pm local time. You can listen to the downlink from the ISS on 145.800 MHz FM and you can watch the pre-contact program and the contact on the ARISS YouTube channel via the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxm5Ca2y0HD_NxXlZWXv11A
[…] There are different frequencies for uplink and downlink so it is only possible for the public to monitor the downlink. The ISS will be overhead in our area for this contact, so it will be easy to hear.
One of the things I am doing now in ham radio is helping Fred Kemmerer, who is the President of the Nashua Area Radio Society, work with schools to make scheduled contacts with an astronaut on the International Space Station. Fred is a designated ARISS mentor for the US. ARISS is an organization that coordinates Amateur Radio activities on the International Space Station. I am currently assisting Fred behind the scenes with testing and setting up the ground infrastructure and internet connectivity needed to have students who are remote to their school have successful contacts with the ISS. We have a project underway with a school in Nashua for a contact in a few weeks.
This is a link to the recent contact from RSU#21 in Maine:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN70OpJFMgs&feature=youtu.be
Here is a link to a report from a TV station about a contact from a few weeks ago with RSU#21:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=013JxlionCU
Here are other links on the contact you may find interesting:
https://www.wabi.tv/2021/01/22/maine-students-talk-with-astronaut-on-international-space-station/
I hope you find this interesting and are able to tune in to hear ham radio from space.
73 and stay safe (sane, too)
Jon Turner
AC1EV
The Quarter Century Wireless Association, Inc. has announced its Memorial Scholarships winners. Among the recipients are: Catherine Hong, KC1MFU, who attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“Catherine Hong, KC1MFU […] is a sophomore at MIT, double majoring in Mechanical Engineering (design concentration) and a Joint degree in Comparative Media Studies & Brain and Cognitive Science. She wants to be a conscious creator, imbuing objects and experiences with functional and/or narrative value. To do so, she must understand how people find meaning and interpret the world around them, how society shapes and is shaped by media & technologies, and how to technically plan, design, and create the ideas she imagines. In her free time, Catherine draws profusely, engages in kitchen experiments, and picks up new skills from the extracurricular activities she is in, such as the computing club, the caving club, the VR/AR club, and the Radio Clubs.” –QCWA February 2021 eJournal
Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) will be held this year on October 16, 17, and 18. Register online as an individual or as a group.
Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world. In a typical year, more than 1 million Scouts participate in JOTA, with over 11,000 stations operated by 20,000+ young radio amateurs from 150+ countries around the world.
JOTA details are available on the K2BSA website. The website menu will direct users to additional supporting information. K2BSA’s Jim Wilson, K5ND, says many locations are already offering virtual radio merit badge classes “and no doubt will be using similar approaches for Jamboree on the Air.”