Boston Amateur Radio Club

[From Phil Temples, K9HI]

The IEEE is holding an antenna conference in Boston in the Seaport District in July. They’ve approached Tom Walsh, K1TW, the Eastern MA Section Manager to see if we would staff a booth and provide VE exams for conference attendees interested in ham radio.  Parking fees would be waived, and they would hold a free reception for the ham volunteers.

“The 2018 IEEE AP–S Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting will be held on July 8–13, 2018, at the Westin Waterfront hotel in Boston, MA. The combined symposium and meeting are cosponsored by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP–S) and the U.S. National …” The conference URL is: https://www.2018apsursi.org.

Would you have an interest in being involved in this project? It should be a lot of fun! We still need a few more volunteers. You can find more details and a sign-up link at: https://ema.arrl.org/hamradio-ieee-ap-s-2018-seeks-volunteers-july-8-12-2018/.

April is always a jam-packed month for public service events, and we always close it with the Run of the Charles. This is a really unique and fun event, a series of canoe and kayak races to support the Charles River Watershed Association. The organization works to protect the natural ecology of the Charles River, and keep it safe and clean for people to enjoy as well.

At this event, we handle on-site registrations, reports of rules violations, and of course we’re always keeping an eye on participants’ safety. All the rain over the week prior made for strong currents, which unfortunately led to a lot of boats capsizing, including one that got stuck on a bridge and needed emergency assistance. That didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits, though; we handled 24 registrations throughout the day, which is in line with most years, and everyone had a safe race.

Thanks to all twenty volunteers who came out to support this event and the Charles River: Jeff PinterParsons, W5UVO; Alan Lewis, K1ALL; Mark Richards, K1MGY; David Cantrell, WH6DSN; Henry Brown, K1WCC; Rick Savage, KB1LYJ; Kathy Savage, KB1LPW; Gary Schwartz, N1ZCE; Bill Bridgham, N1RYT; Keilin Bickar, KE1LIN; Cheyenne Greatorex, N1QZS; Dave Allen, KC1GEQ; Jim Clogher, N1ICN; Ed Curley, KC1CLA; Lyman Smith, W1LKS; Lela Smith, KC1ACV; John Marcus III, W1JWM; Dave Gilman, KC1DDH; Brian Mallory, KB1WZU; and Thomas Achtemichuk, W0ZIO.

Before the Boston Marathon, there’s the BAA 5K. This is a short road race, put on by the same organizing team as the Boston Marathon, with a course that runs from the Boston Common through Back Bay and back. The competition is fierce—multiple world records have been set at this event.

Amateur radio volunteers work with medical personnel at this event to provide communications support around supplies, logistics, and dispatch. We were stationed with them at water stations along the route; with prefinish spotters; and with sweep teams working in the post-finish area. Fortunately favorable weather on Saturday helped everything go according to plan, and we didn’t have to deal with any serious emergencies.

Clear communications go a long way to help keep those plans running smoothly, and everyone was sharp and professional on the air. Special thanks to our friends at the Harvard Wireless Club who brought a whole team to support all the post-finish sweep operations: Robert Anderson, KC1IFV; Elton Lossner, KN4GIT; Gunnar Plunkett, KM6NFL; Jeb King, KD9JKT; and William Collins, W1PL. And many thanks to all the volunteers: Scott Gaudet, KC1EXS; Thomas Achtemichuk, W0ZIO; Chris McArdle, KB1REM; Colin McArdle, KB1REL; Peter Sullivan, W1ABC; Rick Savage, KB1LYJ; Kathy Savage, KB1LPW; and Cheyenne Greatorex, N1QZS.