Author: nv1w

Field Day will be June 25–26

nv1w Field Day

BARC will be holding Field Day this year at the Hale Educational Center in Westwood. For those who have not attended Field Day before, this is one of the biggest amateur radio events of the year, a cross between an emergency exercise, contest, party, and public relations event. Participants (including clubs like BARC) set up in a temporary location using emergency power and make contacts for 24 hours. If you attend you will learn a great deal—especially if you can help with setup and/or teardown—whether you’re still studying for your Technician or have been an Extra for years.

This will be our first year at Hale Education. You can find directions and a map here. The site is in Norfolk County, grid FN42jf. The one problem with the site is a lack of public transportation options, so we will be organizing carpools to and from nearby MBTA commuter stations. If you will need a ride or are willing to volunteer to make a few trips to the T to shuttle people back and forth, please contact Brendan, NW1S, at nw1s.brendan@gmail.com.

We will be operating in class 3A, which is a club running three HF transceivers at once, and using wire antennas for the HF bands between 80 and 10 meters. The rules allow one VHF/UHF station transmitting at any one time and that will be used on six and two meters using stacked beam antennas. Modes will be SSB, CW, and digital. We will also attempt a satellite contact again this year. If you have a Technician license or none at all, we can arrange for you to operate under the supervision of a control operator if you wish.

If you want to stay overnight, you will need to bring your own tent, sleeping bag, and anything else you need for spending the night. There are some hotels along Route 128 in the area if you don’t want to sleep on the ground but also don’t want to drive back and forth from home more than once. We will provide food, including a cookout on Saturday night. If you have special dietary requirements, please let either NW1S or NV1W know.

Setup will start around 9:00 am on Saturday. Operating time runs from 2:00 pm on Saturday to 2:00 pm on Sunday, after which we will tear things down and pack up. If you want to volunteer to help or just want to say you’re coming, send a note to Brendan, NW1S, at nw1s.brendan@gmail.com. If you need more information, contact Joe, NV1W, at nv1w@arrl.net.

BARC General Meeting, Thursday, May 19

nv1w Field Day, Meetings

BARC will be holding a General Meeting on Thursday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. on the Zoom teleconferencing platform. There will be no speaker this month; we will be discussing plans for Field Day on the weekend of June 25 and 26.

The meeting room will be opened at 7:00 pm for a period of socializing. Please put your call sign (if you have one) in your meeting name to help us figure out who you are.

https://zoom.us/j/99918732995?pwd=cFhSbmwySUQ2Qi90eGVUNFNhQ0N4Zz09
Meeting ID: 999 1873 2995 Password: BARC

BARC General Meeting, Thursday, April 21

nv1w Meetings

BARC will be holding a General Meeting on Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. on the Zoom teleconferencing platform. We will be hearing from Barbara Dougan, N1NS, who will present “A Little Bit About Forest Fires.”

The meeting room will be opened at 7:00 pm for a period of socializing. Please put your call sign (if you have one) in your meeting name to help us figure out who you are.

To join the Zoom meeting above go to: https://zoom.us/j/99918732995?pwd=cFhSbmwySUQ2Qi90eGVUNFNhQ0N4Zz09
Meeting ID: 999 1873 2995; Password: BARC

New England QSO Party, May 7–8

nv1w On the air

(From Tom, K1KI) The New England QSO Party on May 7th and 8th is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries. You’ll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.

Our goal is to get every one of the 67 counties in New England on the air so we hope you will encourage your friends to join in the fun! Even if you can join the fun for a couple of hours, we’d appreciate it! Will you be QRV? Let us know with a message to info@neqp.org.

The New England QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep on Saturday night. It runs from 4 pm Saturday until 1 am Sunday, then 9 am Sunday until 8 pm Sunday. Operate on CW, SSB and/or digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters. For each QSO you’ll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state. Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who sends in a log with 25 or more QSOs will get a certificate. The goal is to work stations anywhere in the world—and their goal is to work New England stations, so you’ll be very popular!

Last year we had logs from 947 stations from around the country and world.

The full rules are here: https://neqp.org/rules/.

The full 2021 results were posted last month: https://neqp.org/2021-new-england-qso-party/.

It’s just three weeks until the 2022 NEQP. Please get on and make some QSOs even if you don’t want to send in a log!

Thanks!

BARC General Meeting, Thursday, April 21

nv1w Meetings

The next General Meeting of the Boston Amateur Radio Club will be held on Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 pm on the Zoom teleconferencing platform. The meeting will be opened at 7:00 pm for a period of socializing.

Our speaker will be Barbara Dougan, N1NS, who will present “A Little Bit About Forest Fires”. Her background includes 20 years of western wildland fire assignments along with a few other types of incidents. She was an ICS qualified Public Information Officer, Liaison Officer, Resource Advisor, Radio Operator, and Comm Tech.

Information on joining the meeting will be forthcoming.

FCC $35 Amateur Application Fee Effective Date will be April 19

nv1w Exams, News

The FCC released a Public Notice on March 23, 2022, stating that the amateur radio application fees, including those associated with Form 605 application filings, would become effective on April 19, 2022. The Federal Communications Commission’s authority to impose and collect fees is mandated by Congress.

The $35 application fee, when it becomes effective on April 19, will apply to new, renewal, and modification applications that request a new vanity call sign. The fee will be per application.

Administrative updates, such as a change of name, mailing or email address, and modification applications to upgrade an amateur radio licensee’s operator class*, will be exempt from fees. (*this new information was just confirmed by FCC staff on Tuesday, March 29.)

Youth Licensing Grant Program

Anticipating the implementation of the fee in 2022, the ARRL Board of Directors, approved the ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program in July 2021. Under the program, ARRL will cover a one-time $35 application fee for license candidates younger than 18-years old for tests administered under the auspices of the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC). Qualified candidates also would pay a reduced exam session fee of $5 to the ARRL VEC. ARRL is finalizing details for administering the program.

ARRL VEC Application Fees webpage: arrl.org/fcc-application-fee

ARRL News Story: arrl.org/news/new-amateur-radio-license-applications-fee-to-become-effective-april-19-2022

Radio demonstration at the Milton Klondike Derby, March 12

nv1w Outdoors

The Scouts BSA Great Blue Hill district has expressed interest in having a few hams on hand to provide a demonstration of amateur radio during their Klondike Derby event at New England Base Camp in Milton on March 12, 2022.

We will be operating under the special event callsign W1BSA. (Thank you to Pi K1RV for use of the callsign.)

The base camp is in the Blue Hills State Reserve (K-8402); as such this event could count as a POTA activation.

Please fill in the information below if you might be interested in participating, including whether you’d like to attend and operate in person or monitor the airwaves for calls from the event. Details are still being worked out with the event organizers, including the number of operators that they’d like to have attend; please don’t be offended if in the end we have more interested hams than can be hosted.

If interested, sign up here: https://forms.gle/7SmjoZLPh4cyYHxJ6

If you have questions, please contact Tom Ulrich KC1OCY (thomas.rm.ulrich@gmail.com, 617-571-8650).

Boston Marathon volunteers still needed

nv1w Announcements, Public service

From Bruce Blain, K1BG:

Please let your membership know that the Boston Marathon is in need of an additional 80 – 100 volunteers to provide communications for the 2022 Boston Marathon. It’s a great opportunity to provide a public service, meet many fellow hams, and just have fun enjoying amateur radio during this event. It’s a great way for new hams and old hams alike to show what amateur radio is all about.

Make your membership aware! By email, webpage, local 2 meter/440 net, social media, newsletter, etc. Please get the word out.

For more information, please go here: https://ema.arrl.org/2022/01/23/boston-marathon-amateur-radio-volunteers-still-needed-race-day-monday-4-18-22-volunteer-registration-closes-2-18-22/

BARC Holiday Party is Sunday, January 9

nv1w Announcements

The Boston Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual Holiday Party on Sunday, January 9 at 1:00 p.m. at the Stockyard Restaurant in Brighton. The cost will be $25 per person including tip; you will be responsible for your own bar bill. We will be ordering off the menu.

Directions can be found here.

Please RSVP to Joe, NV1W, at joechapman@alum.mit.edu by Thursday,January 6, specifying your name and call sign (if any) and the number of people attending. If you put “BARC Holiday Party” in the subject line of your email it will make my life easier. You may settle up with Jim, N1ICN, at the party.

You may also send nominations for Ham of the Year to me at the same address.