On the air

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.

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.

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.