Monthly Section News Summaries
Monthly Summary for August 2009
Hello all stations:
Our thanks to the SKYWARN team led by Rob, KD1CY, for their superlative
efforts during these severe weather outbreaks while bringing great prestige
to the amateur radio cause. The hurricane season has also been subdued (at
least to this writing), and we hope it will stay that way! From the ham radio
perspective, we had a busy and productive season. During Field Day weekend, I
saw many great sites where the evidence of preparation and teamwork were very
evident. Public service events took place during that time as well, and are
all chronicled in detail on our website http://ema.arrl.org.
We have some daunting challenges ahead of us during this and next year. The
first is one that affects our community directly, so I will address it first.
The good news is that it seems to be well in hand, thanks to the efforts of
our section and ARES staffs. Briefly, the issues surround the need for
amateur radio to better serve our government clients (particularly the
Commonwealth)in the presence of the paucity of budgetary funds, the
streamlining of missions, and the striving for true communication
interoperability. Moreover, these government agencies would prefer that we
focus on helping them gather information and other intelligence during the
“impact” phase of a disaster, rather than recovery operation support. We
expect that our non-government organization (served agencies) will also want
these services, while looking to us to continue to provide our traditional
recovery phase operational support.
The other is the pending attack of the H1N1 family of viruses. There is
nothing you can do directly to deal with this threat, except taking the
health precautions currently recommended. However, in your role as a
respected community member be calm and reassuring, discouraging rumor
spreading and helping people you talk with to find authentic and reliable
information. Recently, Den Conners, KD2S, became a SK. Normally, I would
respect our tradition of not publicizing our Section SKs, but his was an
historic passing. He truly was a pioneer in our hobby, and is responsible for
the major technical leap in our efforts to support our client agencies. Den
Connors, KD2S, the firstpresident of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR)of
Pepperell, Massachusetts, passed away September 3 from lymphoma. He was 58.
Connors, an ARRL Life Member, conducted the first amateur packet radio
contact with all-American hardware and software, using the Tucson Amateur
Packet Radio Terminal Node Controller (TNC) with Lyle Johnson, WA7GXD (now
KK7P). KD2S was one of the early movers and shakers in the New England Packet
Radio Association. In addition to his digital contributions, Connors was also
an active participant in ARES and RACES, as well as the crew for Region 1
comms for Seabrook and storms. He will be missed. (contributed by KA8SCP)
During the summer we had an important technical announcement from David Neal,
W2DAN on the BCRA-club list: ”I want to let everybody know that there is a
new Winlink 2000 Radio Message Server Node (RMS) W2DAN-10 on VHF at 145.010
It is time to dust of(sic) those tnc's (sic) and check out Winlink2000. There
are some good lessons online that will help you understand Winlink 2000 at
http://www.winlink.org and joining the Winlink 2000 Yahoo group.” The role of
Winlink 2000 in emergency communications is to supplement existing
methodologies to add another tool in the toolkit of the volunteer services
deploying emergency communications in their communities.” He and Roland,
N1JOY, demonstrated a Kam + which was used for APRS, VHF Winlink 2000 Airmail,
and HF Winlink 2000 Airmail during FD in the HAMCOW.
The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services is planning a Field Exercise on
Saturday, 26 September at Camp Wonderland in Sharon, MA. This event will
focus on disaster operations training for key members of the Command staff
and Volunteers. The drill will simulate a specific, large scale disaster
response, and work on building response capacity in a number of different
areas. If you are able to participate, or have any questions, please contact
n1dhw@arrl.net.
The ARRL has been asked to join the Massachusetts State Interoperable
Executive Committee (SIEC). ARRL New England Division Director Tom Frenaye,
K1KI, recommended Eastern MA Section Manager Mike Neilsen, W1MPN, as the
primary delegate, and Ed Emco, W1KT, Western MA SM, as the alternate
delegate.
Some additional stories on our website about EMA’s Amateur Radio Summer:
Members of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association and Cape Cod ARES
participated in an emergency evacuation exercise at the Falmouth Hospital in
August, 2009. According to Dan Howard, K1DYO, of Cape Cod ARES, hospital
administrators have requested a "list of equipment necessary to establish a
permanent station within their building." K1DYO says "the hospital has the
necessary funds to cover the cost.”
The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association again set up amateur radio operations
on Thatchers Island, off Cape Ann during the August 7-9, 2009, weekend.
According to CAARA's Briggs Longbothum, AB2NJ, The Fish and Wildlife Service
has issued a 'Special Use Permit' for the club's activity at the North Tower.
Briggs adds, The Thatchers Island Association has been very supportive of
their plans. CAARA planned to stream live video of the operation via UStream
from its web site. For more details, visit http://caara.net.
The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association reports that the Town of Chatham is
proposing the construction of a Titanic Memorial Museum centered on the 2012
anniversary of the famous sinking. Bob Courtemanche, N1WAT and Barbara
Dougan, KB1GSO attended a recent planning meeting. According to Courtemanche,
plans are in the early stages but "would emphasize the importance of radio
and have a
working radio station on site." It is hoped that the Falmouth ARA might "play
a role in the setup, repair and operations." Another planning meeting is
scheduled for October.
The Minuteman Repeater Association recently completed an intraclub hidden
transmitter fox hunt. Additionally, on Saturday, July 18, 2009, they held a
joint transmitter fox hunt with the the Quannapowitt Radio Association. For
those not familiar with this fun training activity, the fox is a stationary
ham radio operator in a vehicle transmitting on a repeater input frequency.
Cooperation among the hunters is encouraged, sharing initial direction
bearings and signal strength. These observations is necessary to allow some
localization (for example the town where the fox in located) so that finding
the fox within the time limits is more likely. Home stations are also
encouraged to participate and share their readings. This information is also
posted at: http://www.mmra.org/foxhunts.
A practice fox hunt turned into an actual radio direction finding event on
Saturday, July 11, 2009 to combat interference that had silenced the Genesis
Amateur Radio Society's repeater in Plymouth for three days. Genesis club
members traced the interfering signal to the intersection of Routes 28 and 58
in Wareham, MA, but could not make further progress. GARS member Kevin
O'Donnell, K1KOD contacted Bruce Hayden, NI1X, for assistance. "I said the
South Shore Fox Hunters were going to be on a fox hunt Saturday morning and
that I would ask the participants to help find the interference after the
hunt." Hayden added that "those participating that day were Whitman Amateur
Radio Club members." The team of NI1X and KB1REQ found the source in a
trailer park; W1GRC volunteered to approach the owner. The interference soon
disappeared. N1ZZN reported that the owner said that some visiting kids "must
have pushed the transmit lock bar down on his desk mike leaving the
transmitter on all the time." de W1MPN
Page last modified: 11:55 AM, 13 Nov 2009 ET
Page author: w1mpn@arrl.org
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