Discounted Membership Renewals Through January 31, 2018

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To all club members: By now, you will have received a letter in the mail detailing the annual membership renewal discount. To recap: if you renew your membership with the club by January 31, you may take a 20% discount on your 2018 dues! This will reduce Regular membership dues to $20, and Senior, Junior, and Family membership dues to $10.

You can renew by mail by with the membership form that was sent in the mailing, or online.

If you would like to donate to the club, you can also do so online or via mail.

SKYWARN Recognition Day is This Weekend!

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SKYWARN Recognition Day runs from 7pm EST Friday  December 1 to 7pm EST Saturday December 2.

From the NWS Website:

SKYWARN™ Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. It celebrates the contributions that SKYWARN™ volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection of life and property. Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the SKYWARN™ volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative. During the SKYWARN™ Special Event operators will visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators across the world.

The Boston Amateur Radio Club will be on the air from the Blue Hill Observatory using the callsign WX1BHO on Saturday from approximately 9am-3pm EST. Look for us on 40, 20 and 15 (Phone, CW, digital), as well as on 2 meter simplex and the NEDECN DMR network (MA Statewide & Region North TGs). See you on the air this Saturday!

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.

BARC General Meeting October 19

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On Thursday, October 19, join the Boston Amateur Radio Club at 7:30PM for the monthly meeting at the Brookline Police Headquarters Community Room.

The featured speaker at out October General Meeting will be Rob Macedo, KD1CY. Rob is the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator as well as the MEMA/FEMA Region 1/NWS Taunton SKYWARN Liaison. Rob will give an updated overview on SKYWARN and ARES in Eastern Massachusetts. As the Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net, he will speak on the recent hurricane net operations over the past 6 weeks including the recent Amateur Radio Operators deployment to Puerto Rico for relief efforts on the island.

Antenna / Coax Work Party October 21

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At Field Day this summer, it was discovered that the club’s triband beam antenna was not performing as desired. Specifically, a high SWR was noticed on the 15m and 10m phone bands. On Saturday October 21, the club will have an antenna work party at the home of Mark KB1EKN, near the 220 bus out of Quincy Center Station. We will erect the beam on a mast, and sweep it with an antenna analyzer. If anything appears to be a problem, we will re-tune the antenna as needed. While we have the crew together, we will also take the time to test and inventory the club’s coax. If there are enough people on site, we will break up into teams to work on both tasks in parallel. Sign up for the work party here​. The club will pick up lunch for volunteers. Contact Mark KB1EKN with additional questions.

Baystate Marathon & Half Marathon – Sunday October 22, 2017

nv1w Public service

[Via the MMRA “Public Service Events” email list.]

The Lowell CERT Communications Team has been asked to support once again the Baystate Marathon and Half Marathon. This year the event is on Sunday, October 22nd. Our operational time period is from approximately 0700 until event completion (estimated 1400). Our assistance has been requested by Lowell Office of Emergency Management and Lowell Fire Department. The communications team will be employing Amateur Radio to provide this communications asset. Amateur Radio will be used for 2 functions:

  • Medical operations: the purpose of this net is to provide a communications link for medical requests/status to the incident command post.
  • Accountability net: the purpose of this net is to coordinate with a race public information booth the status of runners who are unable to complete the race for any issue to any one is seeking this information.

Race info may be found at http://baystatemarathon.com.

Please contact Terry-KA8SCP ka8scp@wb1gof.org if you are able to assist or would like more information.

Please share this request with your local clubs. This is a pretty laid back event and suitable for first time public event participation.

Terry-KA8SCP

Terry M. Stader – KA8SCP
MEMA Region 1 RACES/Communications Officer
PART of Westford-WB1GOF, Senior Club Advisor
NESMC EMA Director