Thursday evening session at the ARRL Board of Directors Meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. (K9HI photo)
Radio Amateurs of Canada President Allan Boyd, VE3AJB/VE3EM, at this week’s ARRL Board of Directors meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. (K9HI photo)
2025 HamX Call for Talks
HamX is the largest annual gathering of Radio Amateurs east of Dayton and north of Huntsville. And it fields more talks and workshops than any other ham convention in the world. We’re not just a trade show, we convene to exchange ideas. Here’s your chance to participate. Locally, 2025 will be celebrated as the 250 th anniversary of “the shot heard ‘round the world.” But we all know that for over a century Amateur Radio’s signals have been heard ‘round the world.
Every year’s talks pretty much run the same gamut of subject areas—Antennas and Propagation, Contesting and DXing, EMCOM/PS, League, Operating Activities, Organization and Innovation, Technical, and Training. This year we’re emphasizing “signals heard ’round the world.”
So, consider volunteering to speak on signals.
- How we generate and transmit Amateur signals. (our bands, equipment, remote systems, antennas, propagation, etc.)
- How we modulate our signals. (CW, phone, digital, image, etc.)
- The uses we make of our signals. (on-the-air activities, EMCOM and public service, DXing, contesting, traffic, repeaters, EME. etc.)
Even if you can’t speak, you must have some ideas regarding what you or others want to hear about—elementary topics for the newcomers among us, intermediate-level topics for the general attendees, even advanced topics to challenge and educate us all. Pass them on as a
request.
Here are this year’s planning and preparation milestones:
- January through April – Individuals propose presentations. The Convention’s Programs Committee also solicits presentations. Speaker Login webpage active.
- By 30 April – Solicited presenters reply.
- By 1 June – Potential presenters commit to speaking if scheduled.
- By 30 June – Closeout: presentation curation complete. Presenters notified.
- By 30 June – Presenters finish populating database with personal information, talk title, and talk summary. (Minor grammatic and spelling edits are permitted until the database is locked.)
- 15 July – Database locked. No further editing by presenters.
- 31 July – Scheduling resolved, locked, and provided for brochure preparation.
- 10 August – Brochure submitted to printer.
- 21-23 August — HamXposition 2025!
It’s never too early to start planning! Contact HamXposition Program Chair Skip Youngberg at K1NKR@hamxposition.org.
New England Mesh Working Group Meeting, January 14, 2025
Ben Jackson, N1WBV, writes:
Just a reminder that the January New England Mesh Working Group monthly Zoom meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 14th at 7:30PM.
Some tidbits we will be covering:
* Successful linking of the VT mesh with the RI mesh via tunnel.
* Progress in Dartmouth
* Progress on the Cape
* Meshtastic
Please feel free to invite anyone who you may think would be interested!
73
Ben, N1WBV
[Contact Ben at <ben@n1wbv.net> for Zoom details]New England Division Update, January 8, 2025
New England Division
This is a short update as the new year opens. The ARRL Board of Directors will be meeting on January 17 and 18. While there is a draft agenda available, many of the reports and possible action items are just being circulated to the Board this week.
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Board%20Meetings/Draft%20Agenda%202025%20(SH).pdf
We plan to hold an information session on Saturday, January 11th at 11am via Zoom for New England Division ARRL members to update you before the meeting. Zoom connection info is below.
This Zoom session will also serve as a way to gather your suggestions and ideas to use as we have discussions with other Board members before and during the Board meeting. We’ll hold another Zoom session after the Board meeting to report on what took place.
Thanks for your support as I return to the ARRL Board. I’m looking forward to working to move forward on a number of critical issues with the help of Vice Director Phil Temples/K9HI.
Very 73 and Happy New Year!
Zoom:
Tom Frenaye is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: New England Division
Time: Jan 11, 2025 11:00 Eastern Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81456003601?pwd=AUGEwOxiTasrcXHYhOsrC7X006xXuM.1
Meeting ID: 814 5600 3601
Passcode: 886125
Dial by telephone
• +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
• +1 646 931 3860 US
Meeting ID: 814 5600 3601
Passcode: 886125
Maine Section News
ARRL Maine Section Manager Phil Duggan, N1EP, writes:
Boat Anchor Hamfest
First Maine Hamfest of the year is Saturday, February 15 from 8am until noon at the Club Calumet, 334 West River RD, Augusta, ME. Admission $5. VE Session time to be determined. No table fees, so bring plenty of gear to sell or swap. Sponsored by the Augusta Amateur Radio Association. P.O.C George Szadis K1GDI email grszadis@aol.com.
Hams Needed For Can Am Sled Dog Race
Northern Maine is looking for volunteers! Fort Kent, Maine is hosting the annual Can Am Crown of Maine sled dog races. The event runs March 1st, 2nd and 3rd. If you are interested in volunteering to work communications at Net Control, one of the checks points, or anywhere help may be needed, please reach out to the Can Am Comms Chief, James Jalbert, kc1ecv@gmail.com. This is a great opportunity to use your ham radio skills, make some new friends, expand your network, and see the great Northern Maine in the winter time. Reach out to James for more info.
WMA Section Manager Report, January 2025
The January, 2025 Western MA Section Newsletter is now available at https://wma.arrl.org/blog/2024/12/30/section-managers-report-january-2025/.
Win a Dream Station with the latest gear from Icom
From ARRL News:
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® has introduced a sweepstakes, offering members the chance to win an Icom Dream Station including a limited-edition IC-7760 HF/50 MHz transceiver, IC-PW2 amplifier, and microphone, generously donated by Icom America. [Full story]
Fesseden Special Events Station N3V, December 21, 2024
[On December 24, 1906, the first radio broadcast for entertainment and music was transmitted from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to the general public.]
Lem Skidmore, W1LEM, writes on the Barnstable ARC mailing list:
The Charles County Amateur Radio Club (CCARC) will be operating a Special Event Station on Saturday, 21 December 2024, to commemorate the 124th anniversary of Radio’s First Voice. On 23 December 1900, Reginald Fessenden made the first wireless transmission of human speech between two sets of 50-foot masts erected along the shore of Cobb Island, in Charles County, Maryland.
Who: CCARC
What: Special Event Station, call sign N3V (for New Voice).
Where: Old Fisherman’s Field, Cobb Island, MD (a grassy field bordered by Cobb Island Rd, Route 254, and Neale Sound Drive, just over the bridge to Cobb Island)
When: Saturday, 21 December 2024, On-the-air operations are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET.
How: Contact N3V on various bands/modes of operation, QSL information at N3V on qrz.com. https://www.qrz.com/db/N3V
*Potential operations include various bands 40M, 20M, 15M, 10M on modes SSB and FT8.
*Echolink: Connect to EchoLink node KB3KOW-R and call for N3V.
*Check your favorite DX Cluster, such as http://www.dxsummit.fi, for current N3V spots.
(We intend to self-spot periodically, but if you hear us, please spot N3V to help draw traffic)
*US Islands Awards concurrent activation for Cobb Island, Island # MD020R. https://usislands.org/
*Visitors welcome to join us at the Cobb Island operations site.
*Hope to see you or hear you on Saturday!
73
Jeff – KB3SPH
ARRL Kids Day is Only a Couple of Weeks Away on January 4, 2025
From ARRL News:
Kids Day runs from 1800 UTC – 2359 UTC. Operate as much or as little as you like.
The event is designed to give on-the-air experience to young people, to foster interest in getting a license of their own, and give older hams a chance to share their stations and love for amateur radio with their children. You can share the excitement with your own kids, grandkids, a Scout troop, a church, or the general public!
All participants are encouraged to post their story and thumbnail photos to the Kids Day Soapbox page. Tell the world about your operations, the fun you had, and the contacts you made! Remember, ARRL must have a completed release form in order to include youth photos (younger than 18 years of age) in ARRL publications.
There will be a second ARRL Kids Day on June 21, 2025.
More information, including frequencies, suggested exchanges, and how to download a certificate, can be found at Kids Day.