Serving ARRL members who reside in the New England sections
Greater Bridgeport (CT) ARC Secretary Kevin Pfeiffer, N1MRI, has been chosen as “Top Op of the Month” by the O.M. International Sideband Society, according to GBARC Vice President Emily Clarke, NI1Q.
“. . . N1MRI was bestowed a great honour by being nominated for and voted in as The OMISS Top Op for the month of November. Out of over 15,000 members, this is an amazing honour,” writes Clarke.
Congratulations, Kevin!
YouTube video blogger Kevin Thomas, W1DED, interviewed Gerry Hull, W1VE, recently:
“There are many hams who can claim five decades of amateur radio but there are few who have been immersed in so many facets of the hobby as Gerry Hull, W1VE. Gerry is active throughout his native Canada with several VE callsigns, he’s well known for his expertise in the remote ham radio space, he’s consulted for and operated the AA7JV Radio-in-a-Box project, and was instrumental in creating the online contest scoreboard concept. He’s a competitive contester, consummate DXer, technical writer, a long-time member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, and more. In this interview, Gerry talks specifically about his recent CQ WW CW multi-op contest effort at the Maine superstation, K1LZ, and then we do a speed round of questions that cover some of his nearly 50 years in ham radio.”
Boston Marathon Communications Committee <contact@hamradioboston.org>
Dec 7, 2023, 11:00 AM
Volunteer registration for the 2024 Boston Marathon opened yesterday. Returning volunteers have received an email from the BAA that included registration instructions. In order to make registration as smooth as possible, we are providing specific instructions for our Amateur Radio Operator (ARO) volunteers.
If you haven’t previously volunteered, or have a friend who would like to volunteer, please go directly to the Volunteer Registration page and follow the instructions for new volunteers.
Step by Step Sign Up Guide:
https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/44002497536-2024-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide
A few notes for volunteers:
Almost all amateur radio positions are single person assignments. We are not able to group people on a single assignment, but we will try to accommodate which segment you are assigned to in order to allow for similar start/end times.
Don’t delay! Volunteer registration closes on Friday, February 2 at 5:00 PM EST. It would help our planning processes if you could complete your registration by Friday, January 26.
Help us get the word out by forwarding this email to your club and other amateur radio operators who might wish to volunteer. Most volunteers first learn about the event through word of mouth. If you know new licensees who might like to join us, please make sure to let them know about it. Even just a quick mention at your club meeting can be a big help!
If you have any questions about the upcoming volunteer registration period, or the 2024 Marathon generally, please get in touch anytime. Volunteering at the Marathon is a big job and we appreciate the time and effort everyone puts into it. We’re happy to do what we can to make your work fun, comfortable, and effective.
We look forward to seeing everyone again soon.
Thank you, and 73,
Boston Marathon Communications Committee
contact@HamRadioBoston.org
Please make sure to whitelist volunteer@baa.org and contact@HamRadioBoston.org to make sure you receive BAA and ARO committee communications.
NOTE: You must be at least 18 years old to volunteer for the Boston Marathon.
Rosalie White, K1STO, writes:
I hope you can tune in tomorrow (Thursday, December 7, 2023) to an ARISS webinar that ARISS’s Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, is hosting with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ.
Richard will talk about his dad Owen Garriott, W5LFL (SK), and his STS-9 NASA mission 40 years ago that resulted in the first ham radio contact from space—the first time an astronaut could talk to someone from space besides NASA and heads of countries.
The webinar tomorrow is at 1 pm Eastern, and here’s the URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxm5Ca2y0HD_NxXlZWXv11A
Richard Garriott Thursday, Dec. 7 at 1 pm Eastern
73,
Rosalie K1STO
From ema.arrl.org:
ARRL New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI, recently visited the W1AF club shack on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massaschusetts, and awarded a 50-year ARRL affiliation plaque to HWC Vice President Cameron Lu, KC1LZI. The ARRL Board of Directors recognized the club in the form of an official motion at its July, 2023 meeting in Windsor, Connecticut.
The club has a distinguished history, and is one of the oldest radio clubs in the country. It was founded in 1909 as “The Radio Society of the Institute of Geographic Exploration at Harvard” and changed its name to the Harvard Wireless Club a year later.
w1af
Larry Krainson, W1AST, writes on the Project BIG E mailing list:
Dear Everyone,
I thank you for your ideas, commitment, and volunteering for the past two Project Big Es. We learned a lot over the past two years and this year went much better than last year.
I am stepping down as an organizer. I just cannot do it again; my wife would kill me if I tried.
I will turn over all my notes, spreadsheets, contacts, and materials to someone interested in continuing the booth.
By the way, we had 170 people sign up for ham classes. That list is being distributed to clubs that hold classes throughout New England. The ones much further away will be sent to the nearest Section Manager for distribution.
Along with all of the volunteers, the following people were indispensable in every aspect of making this year a success.
| Bob | K5TEC |
| Rick | KC1OYN |
| Barbara | KC1KGS |
| Phil | K9HI |
| Ray | AA1SE |
| Bob | K1YO |
| Ken | WB1DX |
A big thank you to everyone who participated at some level in this year’s BIG E.
Wishing everyone happy holidays and a healthy and fun New Years and many DX QSOs in 2024!
Larry Krainson – W1AST
Stefania Watson, K1GJY, of Saco, Maine, calling CQ on 14.248 MHz as WX1GYX for 2023 SKYWARN Recognition Day.
(Courtesy Wireless Society of Southern Maine Facebook page)
The Rhode Island November 2023 Section Newsletter is now available at <https://ri-arrl.org/ri-section-newsletter-30-november-2023>.
Paul Gibson, N1TUP, writes on the BEARS of Manchester and ctfoxhunter lists:
Greetings Foxhunters,
Keeping with tradition, I will be hosting a Foxhunt on New Years Day at 1pm.
This hunt will be conducted in the same manner that we have previously conducted live foxhunts. The hunters will assemble at the 91 Ayers Road in South Windsor, CT, home of the old Wapping Elementary School, be set up and ready to start by 1pm. The fox will take a roll call at 1pm on the BEARS repeater, 145.110 MHz, PL tone is 77.0 Hz. This hunt will be conducted using the repeater for all communication and information sharing. I encourage communication between participants and any base stations that can supply helpful information to the hunters. Once you have spotted the fox you should stop all transmissions. Pay attention, if someone says they are going to check an area and you never hear from them again, that might be a clue. Remember not to hunt the repeater output frequency as that will just lead you to the repeater. I will not be there. You will want to listen on the repeater input frequency, 144.510 MHz. That is the frequency the fox will be transmitting on.
The fox will be located within 20 air miles of the starting point and not within Hartford or Springfield. The fox will be on publicly accessible property that will not require anything other that a standard passenger car for access. The fox will host a “tailgate” party at the end of the hunt at the “den.”
If this is your first hunt, I would recommend riding along with someone who has done this before. Dress warmly as you will be outside at the end for the party, the rest of the time you will be in and out of the car taking bearings etc.
Experience has shown that hunters will start arriving in the den about 1 hour after the start. The event has a two hour time limit not including socializing in the den at the end.
Current information regarding this and other foxhunts in Connecticut are on groups.io. If you are not already a group member, you may want to consider signing up for the groups.io CTFOXHUNTER so that you do not miss any important foxhunt related news.
73,
Paul, N1TUP
I have been thinking a lot lately about what is most important to care for the future of Amateur Radio. There are many different views on the answer to this question. Some would say it’s about increasing participation in emergency communications and public service activities such as ARES, RACES, or the National Traffic System. Others would say it’s about protecting our bands. Those who live in HOA or covenant-restricted situations would emphasize the need to enable Hams to install antennas at their homes. Contesters would say that making contesting more accessible to a broader group of people is the most important thing to focus on. And there are many more views as well I am sure.
I have been working with others at the ARRL on a project to update the ARRL’s strategic plan for some time now and our working group has put a great deal of effort into answering this question. At this point in time, the average age of a licensed Amateur Radio operator in the US is about 75 years old. Another important piece of information to consider is that only about one in five people who earn their first Amateur Radio license will be active and on the air after a year. When I think about these points, it seems pretty clear to me that the first thing that we all need to focus on to ensure a strong future for Amateur Radio is the development of the next generation of Amateur Radio operators.
This one thing underpins all of the items that are mentioned at the beginning of this article. EmComm and Public Service activities, the future of contesting, and our ability to exert the necessary influence to protect our bands and overcome HOA restrictions all depend on an Amateur Radio service that is vibrant and growing.
The simple answer is that we need to license younger people and help everyone who gets a license or upgrade to learn about and participate in Amateur Radio to the fullest extent possible. This is all pretty obvious but the question that you are probably asking is “How do we do this?”
In my experience, success here begins with a commitment to Mentoring. We have found through surveys that one of the top reasons that new Hams get licensed and do not participate in Amateur Radio is that they lack mentors who will help them learn and get started.
What sort of help does a new licensee typically need? It’s usually pretty basic things – help to make their first QSO, help to choose an affordable VHF/UHF rig and get it installed and programmed, and help to learn their radio. For a new General, it’s about getting a basic HF antenna up, choosing an HF rig and getting it on the air, understanding how to deal with lightning protection and grounding issues, and learning to operate on the HF bands.
So how do we find ways to engage new Hams and provide mentoring? I have found that VE sessions and club meetings to be excellent opportunities to work with new people. How many times have some of us been part of a VE session where folks are getting licensed and observed that the VEs do not engage the candidates more than to complete the paperwork associated with their exam? This is a huge opportunity lost. Anita and I have been involved in licensing folks for quite awhile now and we helped over 400 people to earn a license or an upgrade. We always take some time with each person that we work with to understand what they hope to do with their license or upgrade and we try to either provide mentoring to help them or to connect them with others that are local to them to do this.
Similar situations sometimes occur at club meetings. A new Ham attends a first club meeting looking for folks who will share their interests and help them to get started. The club members usually don’t know the new person very well and don’t always engage them to understand how they can help. As a result, the new Ham moves on and may or may not pursue steps to use their license. Successful clubs often go out of their way to make new Hams feel welcome and actively try to find ways to mentor. There is one club here in Eastern Massachusetts, for example, that provides loaned radios and equipment along with mentoring to help new folks get a station together and get on the air. By the way, the clubs that proactively reach out and mentor new folks are usually growing and enjoy some of the largest membership rosters in their area.
Perhaps you are not a VE or involved with a club so what then? Well, let your friends know that you are willing to talk to and work with new folks to assist them. When you are on the air and you encounter a newly licensed or upgraded Ham, spend some time talking with them about what they want to do with Amateur Radio and try to actively help them. You can also engage in Amateur Radio websites and social media groups and answer questions and help new folks there as well.
I hope that you’ll consider giving the gift of mentoring. In my opinion, there is no single thing that we can do to help ensure a strong future for Amateur Radio. I would respectfully ask and challenge each of you reading this to choose a way to mentor that you would enjoy and give the gift of mentoring to a newly licensed or upgraded Ham. I think that you will find that the gift that you give will be more than returned in the form of appreciation on the part of the new Ham. If we can all make an effort here, I am sure that we will collectively create a much brighter future for the Amateur Radio Service.
Fred, AB1OC
ab1oc@arrl.org
ARRL New England Division Director