VOTA W1AW/1 Vermont Activation, March 29-April 4, 2023

W1AW will be activated by Vermont stations from 0000 UTC Wednesday, March 29 through 2359 UTC Tuesday, April 4, 2023. 

The first hour of W1AW/1 Vermont will be streamed. Go to https://www.youtube.com/@DrDX/streams and click on “Live” starting at 8 PM EDT Tuesday night March 28.

For more information on W1AW/1 Vermont, visit: http://hamclass.net/w1aw1.html

The 2023 Volunteers On The Air program schedule can be downloaded at https://contests.arrl.org/docs/2023-VOTA-State-Activations-Schedule.pdf.

Southington (CT) Flea Market, March 26, 2023

Southington ARA logoThe Southington (CT) Amateur Radio Association will conduct its annual flea market on Sunday, March 26, 2023 from 8:30 AM to 12 PM at the Southington High School, 720 Pleasant Street, in Southington, CT.  The flea will feature ham radio equipment, electronics, computers, and more. 

Six feet linear table space costs $20 in advance; checks must be received before the day of the flea market. Day of the flea market, spaces are $25.  Additional persons helping pay $7.00 as general admission. (Be fair!) Children under the age of 12 free are admitted free. Doors open for all vendors unloading  at 6:15am.

The flea also features an ARES Spring Meeting. 

For further info contact Bob, K1HSN, at 860-628-4808

Web site info www.chetbacon.com/sara/
Email: W1ECV@ARRL.NET

Download the flyer at <http://www.chetbacon.com/SARAflea2023.pdf>.

CT Governor Proclaims April 16 – 22 Amateur Radio Recognition Week

From ARRL Web:

03/22/2023—Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has released an official statement, designating April 16 – 22, 2023, as Amateur Radio Recognition Week. The proclamation coincides with World Amateur Radio Day (WARD), which is held annually on April 18.

Members of the Meriden Amateur Radio Club (MARC) pursued the proclamation with the Governor’s office. “We want the public to know that many of their friends and neighbors are amateur radio operators,” said MARC President Ed Snyder, who’s amateur radio call sign is W1YSM. “Amateur radio is a worldwide community of volunteers who use their knowledge and skills to serve our communities,” added Snyder.

[Full story]

“Big E 2023: Here We Come!”

Project Big E logoLarry Krainson, W1AST, writes on the Project BIG E mailing list:

Greetings All. We’re hard at work getting things into place for this year’s Big E. For 2023 it runs Sept 15 to Oct 1. The booth has been reserved, insured, the paperwork signed, and bills paid.

 A few of us have been talking about making some changes to make the booth more approachable to the public, more visible and more welcoming. 

We’re reducing the number of people in the booth per session to 3 instead of 4 to 6. We’re removing the special event station which removes the need for internet and an op. The space will be used differently. We hope to make the displays; other than the Morse code keys; more hands-on and accessible.

We’re in the midst of applying for another ARDC grant. The application will be completed by April 1 with the hopes of getting another grant and being able to reimburse everyone for admission and parking costs. Those are the two largest costs of the booth.

Also, we will put in place a much better sign up and data collection method. We had a few issues with the data collected last year and must fix that this year.

In April, we will start the planning meetings. The zoom link will be posted here.

For now, we are looking for clubs and individuals to sign up and volunteer. Without you all who volunteer, the booth will fail, so please volunteer. Here is the sign up for link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvo1vUzuuJTHbTtDLeApQQD1m4ZzX9kVe_hF2416e6apho3g/viewform

If you can not click the link, please copy and paste it into your browser.

Thank you for your volunteering and help to make The Big E Booth a BIG SUCCESS this year!

73,

Larry Krainson, W1AST

K1EHZ: “A Coupled-Resonator HF Antenna” Featured in April, 2023 QST

Kudos to Jay Taft, K1EHZ, for his article, “A Coupled-Resonator HF Antenna” which appears in the April, 2023 QST. Jay also has antenna designs published in The ARRL Antenna Book. 

Jay is an Amateur Extra class licensee. He earned his first license in 1958 at the age of 14, and his first job was servicing marine HF radios along the Connecticut coast. Jay has a bachelors degree in biology, as well as a Master’s and PhD degree in biological oceanography.  The Bedford, New Hampshire resident operates Winlink global email gateways and is a member of ARRL, New Hampshire ARES, the Merrimack Valley ARA and the Granite State ARA. 

 

[Note: On March 10th, Jay Taft, K1EHZ, along with John Stanley, K4ERO,  gave a presentation to the Granite State ARA on Comparing Coil Form Materials.  This presentation is related to his recent April 2023 QST article titled “A Coupled-Resonator HF Antenna”. You can find the video of the presentation on the GSARA YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF-OyD3eH-k]

New Assistant Director for EmComm and Public Service: Jack Ciaccia, WMØG

photo of Jack Ciaccia, WM0G
Jack Ciaccia, WMØG

I’d like to welcome Jack Ciaccia, WMØG, as our new Assistant Director for Emergency Communications and Public Service. Jack brings a great deal of experience in emergency communications, and as a former as an ARRL Section Manager, club president and more. You can learn more about Jack’s background and experience at https://nediv.arrl.org/leadership/. Jack will take on the work of leading the NE-ECAPS group effective immediately.

I’d like to thank Cory Golub, KU1U, for all of the work that he has done as New England Assistant Director for EmComm and Public Service over the past 14 ½ months. Cory has done great work in establishing the NE-ECAPS group and has brought together a dedicated group of EmComm and public service folks here in New England to share ideas and best practices.

Best and 73, 

Fred Kemmerer,  AB1OC

(603) 413-5400

Mail: ab1oc@arrl.org

ARRL New England Division Director

Newport County (RI) Radio Club’s “POTA Activate-All-Rhode-Island,” September 6-9, 2023

Photo of POTA operation at Fort Wetherill, Jamestown RI
POTA K-2875, Fort Wetherill, Jamestown, RI

We are excited to announce the Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) is gathering a team including local enthusiasts and nationally known POTA ambassadors to activate all 52 Rhode Island POTA parks over four days in September. Teams of operators will spread out to activate the parks using SSB, CW, and digital modes.

Mark your calendars for this major opportunity to make a clean sweep of all RI parks – including Block Island and other seldom activated references in our much sought after, small state. (41 of the 52 POTA parks in RI have been activated less than 50 times ever.)

[Full Details]

Rhode Island March 2023 Activity Report

Greetings ARRL members and friends:

We’re on Daylight Savings Time now and have more daylight every day.  We haven’t had much of a winter. And only now as I’m typing this, we’re expecting some heavy wet snow. Of course, if we get any, it won’t last or amount to very much. 

For the first time in the 21 years I have served you as Section Manager, I am facing an opponent for re-election. This year, Nancy Austin KC1NEK is also running. She is currently president of the Newport County Radio Club. Obviously, I cannot suggest anything relative to the election other than to encourage you all to vote when ARRL sends you a ballot.  Please make your selection and return your ballot to ARRL as soon as possible. Best advice is to fill out your ballot as soon as you receive it so it isn’t lost or mixed with your junk mail or bills. Then mail it back to ARRL right away in the envelope provided. Thank you. 

HF propagation is beginning to show good signs. So, if you haven’t been on the air very much, I can tell you that you have missed some really good openings in the last few weeks. Six meters is starting to show activity also. Just yesterday, a station in Falkland Islands and several in South America were working stations up and down the east coast of US. It will only get better from here. 

Weather has been reasonable this winter, so if you have been putting off some necessary antenna work, you have no excuse linked to the poor weather. Be careful, however. If you’re a senior citizen like me, please don’t think that you can still climb trees, tall ladders, get on your roof and do other risky antenna work. Yes, we want the antenna to be as high as possible but please get it there safely. Someone at ARRL said long ago that if your antenna didn’t come down over the winter, it wasn’t big enough. I guess that’s the tipping point. 

The Volunteers on The Air (VOTA) program is creeping along steadily.  Every day, I see stations on 20 and 40 meters calling CQ VOTA. I always try to work them in order to give them the Section Manager’s 175 points. I totally love the fact that VOTA is encouraging folks to get on the air. Far too many fellow hams are inactive on the air. Some use 2 meter repeaters but as you know, I consider this similar to using a wireless intercom and not radio. When was the last time that you made an honest HF contact? So long ago that you can’t remember? I know some hams who have never made a contact on the air and been licensed for many years. I can’t help but wonder why they bothered to get a license. 

I can easily remember back in the dark ages when my first license, a Novice ticket arrived in that small FCC envelope. I literally ran from the mailbox to where I had set up my shack in my parent’s home. I was 14 years old and could hardly wait to call CQ on 80 meters. That was June, 1953 and the thrill of working distant stations hasn’t left to this day.  

Sadly, some folks taking their exams now are doing it only to see if they can pass the test. Some simply want another line on their resume to help their job search. 

We have nearly 800,000 licensed hams in the US. I suppose we should be happy that they all don’t get on any band at the same time and call CQ. What a mess it would be. 

Amateur radio is the greatest hobby that we have in this world, in my humble opinion. I’ve held W1YRC for 70 years and hope to do so for several more. Ham radio has been a perfect fit for me. Many agree but others prefer messaging on their cell phone or just sending e-mail. Has ham radio become obsolete? 

That question is as silly as asking if fishing or baseball has outlived its appeal. Anyone who actually thinks so doesn’t understand what the thrill is of radiating a signal to someone many miles away by using a radio that you built and can hold in the palm of your hand or an antenna that you made out of scrap wire with no connection with to Internet or telephone lines. 

Like baseball or fishing, the appeal is inherent within the occupation itself. One cannot cast a line or swing a bat without feeling joy in your heart and pure love for the feeling. It’s therapeutic to slowly tune the bands looking for weak signals before others find them. 

I feel no thrill when I dial my telephone. However, the feeling that I felt at age 14 is still loud and clear today when I call CQ. Where is my signal being heard? Who will respond to me? Will it be someone on the opposite side of the earth? That million dollar feeling doesn’t cost very much, other than the relatively small initial acquisition price of the radio. I just don’t have the same feeling of reward or accomplishment when I dial a phone or send a text message. I’m very happy that I hold a ham ticket. I know that special feeling very well and feel privileged. 

Our licenses expire every ten years. Do you know the expiration date of your license? Check it or look yourself up on QRZ.com. I regularly hear about someone whose license expired many months ago and he didn’t realize it. No one will send you a reminder when your license needs renewal. The process is simple and may be done entirely on line, but you absolutely must do it. Don’t let your license expire. You worked hard to get it, so don’t lose it by forgetting to renew it. As an ARRL member, the good folks in Newington or I will be happy to help you if you have any difficulty in the renewal process.    

I want to wish you a happy springtime and good DXing. Enjoy every day on the air. 

73,
——————————————————————–
ARRL Rhode Island Section
Section Manager: Robert G Beaudet, W1YRC
w1yrc@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

New England Wireless & Steam Museum “Yankee Tune Up,” E. Greenwich RI, July 22, 2023

Massie Wireless Station “PJ”
Massie Wireless Station “PJ”

Skip Youngberg, K1NKR, writes on the Algonquin (MA) ARA mailing list:

The New England Wireless and Steam Museum in East Greenwich, Rhode Island is having a Yankee Tune-Up on July 22, 2023. Come trade and sell your antique radios, vintage electronics and ham gear.

The entire museum will be open as well for your viewing pleasure.