Ten Year Anniversary: Western MA Tornadoes

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Radar image of Springfield tornado, 2011From South Coast MA Amateur Radio Group Facebook page:

Today is the 10-year anniversary of the tornadoes that struck Western and Central portions of Massachusetts. In this video we hear and see the important role that Amateur Radio Operators played relaying “ground truth” information to the National Weather Service Office in Taunton. A compilation video of the June 1, 2011 EF3-Tornado with photos from Amateur Radio Operators, SKYWARN Spotters, NWS Storm Survey and an aerial survey from Amateur Radio Operators.

Norfolk County (MA) Radio Association Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary With Special Event Operation

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From ema.arrl.org;

The Norfolk County Radio Association is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with a special event operation from 0000 UTC June 5 to 2359 UTC June 12, 2021 on the suggested frequencies of 3.825, 7.225, 14.235, 21.285, and 28.325 MHz as well as other frequencies at the discretion of club members.  Club members will operate their own stations using the club call W1AGR during this operating event. A special QSL will be available with an SASE to the club station trustee, K1HC, 422 Everett Street, Westwood, MA 02090. 

The club had its beginnings in Norwood, MA in 1921 when a group of young radio amateurs gathered to exchange ideas and help each other build their home-made radio equipment.  It originally became affiliated with the ARRL two years later, in 1923.  The club grew to include hams from local area towns and then re-organized in 1932, calling themselves the Norfolk County Radio Association.  The spirit of those early years continues today; its members are always ready to help others and mentor new hams getting started in amateur radio. NCRA members have made memorable contributions to amateur radio in technology and communications, including support for various public service needs such as municipal events, SKYWARN reporting, Red Cross, and local disaster training. 

Congratulations to the Norfolk County Radio Association for reaching this historic milestone. 

 

Stratford (CT) ARC Announces 2021 Scholarship Recipient

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Stratford ARC logoThe Stratford Amateur Radio Club‘s “K1TMW Alan G. Thorpe Scholarship Award” for 2021 has been awarded to Kaleb Ruddle, KN4JGJ, Lawrenceburg, Connecticut. The announcement was made by the award administrator and President emeritus, Bob Betts, N1KPR. 
 
The Stratford ARC was formed over 60 years ago and is an ARRL affiliated club providing service to the local community and enhancing amateur radio.
 

Happy Birthday, Rhode Island ARES

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Paul Silverzweig, W1PJS, writes on main@ri-ares.groups.io:

With Memorial Day weekend comes the 4th Anniversary of our very first leadership meeting, held in Coventry, which included several of our current leadership who have been with us through the entire time.

We have done much in those few short years. We began with just a core leadership team and a lot of void to fill. About two months after that first meeting I deployed to Houston TX for Hurricane Harvey, and a month later went directly to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria… I was away for 7 months in total… obviously this impacted the first year of RIARES rebirth… but we are strong now, with about 100 members, and a strong leadership team. We have, in those 4 years, held 6 exercises, participated in more than a dozen public service events, established a 501c3 nonprofit RIARES Foundation, developed a Preparedness & Training Guide, have the most active weekly repeater net in RI, with a simplex VHF net and an HF net gaining participation.

I’d like to thank all of the leadership team and members who have helped bring us to where we are.

We have a long way to go, however. So I am asking all of you to pull a bit harder, participate a bit more, and step up when you can for events, exercises, training courses, and most importantly, with ideas on what you think will help us go forward.

Thank you!

Nashua Area Radio Society Holds On-line Technician Class for High Schoolers in NH, PA

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Zoom window showing Nashua Area Radio Society Tech ClassFrom 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]

 

HCRA Foxboxes Deployed in Chicopee, MA Vicinity, May 28, 2021

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Hampden Co RA logoKen Dion, KD1KU, writes on the Hampden County RA Facebook page on May 28, 2021 at 2:45 PM:
 
Attention all fox hunters: HCRA Foxbox1 and Foxbox2 have gone into hiding! Both are located somewhere within the City of Chicopee, MA.
 
I would like to issue a special challenge to all hunters (and future hunters) to locate both Foxboxes this Memorial Day weekend! Are you up to the task?
 
FB1 and FB2 are transmitting on the 2-meter simplex frequency of 147.55 with one watt into a duck-type antenna. PL tones and additional details can be found at the link below.
 
For more details go to https://groups.io/g/WMAFoxHunters.
 
Happy Hunting!?

Researcher and Past Arecibo Observatory Director Gordon Pettengill, W1OUN, SK

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photo of Gordon Pettengill, W1OUNFrom the ARRL Letter, May 27, 2021:

Renowned physicist, astronomer, and past Arecibo Observatory Director Gordon Pettengill, W1OUN, of Concord, Massachusetts, died on May 8. An ARRL member, he was 95.

“He was instrumental [as Arecibo Observatory Director] in getting some ‘telescope time’ at that facility for hams to do EME (moonbounce) on 432 MHz, giving a lot of hams with modest stations a shot at making a QSO via moon reflection,” said Chip Taylor, W1AIM. “He was the first person to use that big dish to do radar mapping of the surface of Venus, Mercury, Mars, and various asteroids and comets. And he was a mentor to many of us interested in microwave communication.”

A World War II combat veteran, Pettengill completed his bachelor’s degree at MIT after the war, then received a doctorate in high-energy physics at the University of California-Berkeley. His career in radio astronomy took off when he joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory, using the Millstone Radar in Westford, Massachusetts, for astronomical observations.

In 1963, he moved to the newly opened Arecibo Observatory. He was named its director in 1968. In 1977, he was Principal Investigator of the radar aboard the Pioneer Venus Orbiter that created the first near-global topographic map of any planet, and in the 1990s he was the Principal Investigator of the Magellan mission to Venus.

Pettengill was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1979, and served as Director of MIT’s Center for Space Research from 1984 until 1989. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1980 and spent his sabbatical at the University of Sydney, Australia. He retired in 1995. He was active on the air until recently.

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