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New England QSO Party — 2024

nv1w Announcements, On the air

[Via Tom Frenaye, K1KI. — NV1W.]

The New England QSO Party on May 4th and 5th 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 68 counties in New England on the air so we hope you will encourage your friends to join in the fun! Even if you can only join us 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 state/county. Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who sends in a log with at least 25 QSOs will be sent 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 received logs from 784 stations from around the country and world. There were 808 stations from New England on the air!

The full rules are here -> http://neqp.org/rules/

Results from the 2023 NEQP were posted a couple of weeks ago — https://neqp.org/2023-new-england-qso-party/

The 2024 NEQP will take place in three weeks. Please get on and make some QSOs even if you don’t want to send in a log!

Thanks!

73 Tom/K1KI

New England QSO Party, May 6–7

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(via Tom Frenaye, K1KI.)

The New England QSO Party on May 6th and 7th 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 us 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 at least 25 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 871 stations from around the country and world. There were 295 stations from New England on the air!

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

The full 2022 results were posted a couple of weeks ago: https://neqp.org/2022-new-england-qso-party/

This next weekend is the 2023 NEQP. Please get on and make some QSOs even if you don’t want to send in a log!

New England QSO Party, May 7–8

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(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!

Update to Tech POTA Day

NW1S Announcements, News, On the air, Outdoors 0 Comment

Update on the Tech POTA Day: 

We tried to get access and permission to operate from the Norman Smith Education Center but they are hosting a private function and cannot accommodate us. Just outside their gate there are several good clearings where we will be setting up our Parks on the Air station. There is also a quick path around the center to the peak along the skyline trail. 

TALKABOUT: We will use the Great Blue Hill repeaters for communicating during the event: NE1AR 146.985/PL 88.5, and 449.125/PL 146.2 (Echolink Capable). As a backup you can contact NW1S via text or phone: 978-430-0750

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PARKING: The closest and easiest way to get to the activation site is the Chickatawbut Parking lot (shorturl.at/jxAJQ), though space is limited. There is also a parking lot at Route 28 and Chickatawbut Road (shorturl.at/hFL15). If you’re looking for a longer hike, park at Houghton’s Pond Parking (shorturl.at/byK78) and follow the trail towards Chickatawbut Hill. Trail Map: shorturl.at/gmDP2.

GETTING THERE: After parking you may hike one of the many trails or take a short walk up the road towards Norman Smith Education Center. The Gate MAY be open to that road but please do not drive up that road as we are only asking for access for one car so we can haul up the gear. Don’t forget to drop us a quick email if you’re thinking of going even if just for a short while: nw1s.brendan@gmail.com.

EVENT: The Boston Amateur Radio Club plans to be up there from 1030am to around 4pm and have coordinated to have a SOTA to POTA contact with a Ham from Temple Mountain, 58 Miles away! We also have a BARC member in Virginia who will be listening to make contacts with us as well. 

SATELITE: The SO-50 Amateur Radio satellite will be in the air between 11:53 and 12:07 local time on Saturday! We have three radios, including a full duplex VHF/UHF radio, set up and ready to make a contact via satellite.

HUNTING: The Blue Hills have archery hunting but it is only permitted Monday through Thursday so we should not have any issues. 

SPOTTING: We will be spotting via the POTA.us spot page and will do our best to add BARC in the comments section of the spot. You can also look for all spots from K-8402.

WEATHER: It looks like it’s going to be a cold one up on the hill so dress appropriately. 
CLUB: The Event is hosted by the Boston Amateur Radio Club. Visit www.barc.org/ and join today if you’re not already a member.

BARC Member to Activate Park on the Air!

ke1ml Announcements, On the air
BARC Member to Activate Park on the Air!

In a VERY exciting development, BARC member Brendan Baldonado, the newly licensed KC1NEF, lets us know about an upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) activation he’s about to attempt. He says:

“As you may know I am getting ready to take my General and Extra exam, but thought it could be a fun challenge to “Activate” a park using only Tech bands and Abilities. My Plan is to activate using 5 bands, if I can, with no data and no CW and mostly VHF!

The activation is not a contest so spotting is allowed, I only need to make 10 contacts to activate. For more information on POTA, go to http://parksontheair.com/

I am asking for help in activating the park by trying to contact me on the frequencies and modes listed below. I will submit a log through Parks On The Air where your callsign will receive hunter credit for you as well as activation credit for me! In addition to uploading the logs to eQSL and LoTW, I plan to buy either post cards as QSLs, or take a few pictures and turn them into Special Edition QSL cards for all the people who help me activate.

I plan to activate on Wednesday October 21, 2020. I’ll be at the Bunker Hill Monument and Park, a registered National Park, with my battery powered FT897 and Matchbox Random Length End Fed Dipole in a Tree. I’ll be starting around 2:00 PM (1800z) and going until about 6:00pm (2200z).

If you can reach out via these frequencies and let any other hams know to try and reach me I would be greatly appreciative.

Wednesday OCT 21 2020
10 Meters: 28.450 – USB
6 Meters: 50.294 – USB
2 Meters: 146.450 – FM
1.25 Meters: 223.450 – FM
70 CM: 446.00 – FM

For the most up to date spots please look at www.pota.us and look for my callsign: KC1NEF

New England QSO Party – May 4th and 5th

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The NEQP 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. We’re working to make sure that all of the New England counties are active again this year and would appreciate your help. Get on for at least an hour or two and join in on the fun. Please let me know if you can put in any time at all so we can work on activity from the rarest counties.  Will you be QRV? Let us know which county you’ll be on from with a message to info@neqp.org

Oh yes, the NEQP is also lots of fun when mobile. Every time you cross a county line the action starts over again. It’s amazing what a 100w radio and mobile whip can do.  The QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep Saturday night. It goes from 4pm Saturday until 1am Sunday, then 9am Sunday until 8pm Sunday. Operate on CW, SSB and 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 makes 25 QSOs and sends in a log will get a certificate.Last year we had logs from 166 New England stations and 387 more from around the country and world. The full NEQP rules are here ->  http://www.neqp.org/rules.html

The 2018 results are posted (and the results since 2002 are also available) ->  http://www.neqp.org/results.html

It’s just a few weeks until the 2019 NEQP. Please make some QSOs even if you don’t want to send in a log.

SKYWARN Recognition Day is Saturday, December 1

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Once again, BARC will be participating in SKYWARN Recognition Day at Great Blue Hill Observatory In Milton on Saturday, December 1. Our station, WX1BHO, will be on the air from approximately 0900 to 1500 local time. This is a great low-key way to get your feet wet in the HF bands.

Access to the summit is gained by a 20 minute hike from the base of Great Blue Hill located on Route 138 next to the DCR Trailside Museum or (if you arrive early in the day) by car. Further information is available by contacting Mark Duff, KB1EKN, at emgmgt@comcast.net. If you’re interested in hiking up the hill, contact Joe Chapman, NV1W, at nv1w@arrl.net.

New England QSO Party This Weekend

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A reminder that the New England QSO Party is this weekend! Here are the relevant facts:

Date: First full weekend of May (May 5-6, 2018)

Contest Period: 2000Z Saturday until 0500Z Sunday (4pm EDT Saturday until 1am EDT Sunday) and 1300Z Sunday until 2400Z Sunday (9am EDT Sunday until 8pm EDT Sunday).

Categories: Single-operator high power, low power(150w or less) and QRP(5w or less) categories, plus multi-operator, single transmitter. Same four categories for mobiles.

Contest Exchange: Send signal report and state/province (DX stations send signal report and “DX”). New England stations send signal report, county and state.

You can find the full rules at http://neqp.org/rules.html.

Halifax Explosion Centennial Special Event

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From December 2 through December 10 the Halifax Amateur Radio Club will be holding a special event using the call CK100VDA to commemorate the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917. More information can be found here.

The explosion occurred on the morning of December 6, 1917, when a naval mishap set off a fire on the loaded munitions ship Mont Blanc. The explosion, which killed 2000 and leveled much of the city of Halifax, was the largest man-made explosion until the atomic age.

Fortunately, Boston was able to send a lot of aid quickly. Halifax sends Boston its official Christmas tree each year to mark the friendship between the two cities, and you can do the same by working CK100VDA this month.