October SPARC Now Available!
Free Weekly General Class on Zoom
From Rol, K3RA:
A free, weekly, live, Amateur Radio General Class Licensing course on Zoom will begin on Thursday, Oct 27 and will run through Thursday, January 5. There will be 9 sessions, with two breaks for holidays. The three-hour sessions will start at 6:30 PM Eastern Time. Sessions will be recorded. These are the classes that we have been holding for years sponsored by the National Electronics Museum. Please publicize this with anyone that you think would be interested. Those wishing to sign up should email roland.anders@comcast.net.
BARC VE Session, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7:30 pm
BARC will be holding its first post-pandemic volunteer exam session on Tuesday, October 18, at 7:30 pm at Artisans Asylum in Allston. You must register for the test in advance with either Joe Chapman, NV1W, at nv1w@arrl.net, or Jim Clogher, N1ICN, at n1icn@arrl.net.
The test fee is $15 and you must have an FCC registration number (FRN). More information on the test can be found on the BARC Exam Sessions page on this website. Directions to the Artisans Asylum are here.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Joe Chapman, NV1W at the above address or at 617-267-6349.
BIG E Space Chat is a “Go” on September 27, 2022
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, writes:
The pre-contact program for our upcoming ISS contact at the BIG E will begin at 1:20 pm ET on Tuesday, September 27. Our astronaut will be Bob Hines, KI5RQT. Our ground station for this contact will be ON4ISS in Belgium.
Parking and the walk to The BIG E arena will take some time so be sure to get there early. Remember to bring a printed official copy of your Amateur Radio license and you and up to 3 family and friends will get free admission to The BIG E on contact day.
The arena will hold well over 1,000 people. The BIG E is helping us to publicize the event and arrange for TV coverage for the program and the contact. We would appreciate everyone’s help in getting the word out!
Our pre-contact program will begin with a series of videos about space, NASA, ARISS, going to Mars, and more. Our pre-contact program speakers will include:
- Gene Cassidy, CEO Eastern States Exposition
- David Minster, CEO ARRL
- Fred Kemmerer, Director ARRL New England Division
- Bob Phinney, President New England Sci-Tech
We hope to see you and many folks across the New England and Hudson Division at the BIG E next Tuesday!
September SPARC Now Available!
BARC General Meeting, Thursday, September 15
The Boston Amateur Radio Club will hold its September General Meeting on the Zoom Teleconferencing Platform on Thursday, September 15. The Zoom room will open at 7:00 pm for a period of socializing, and the meeting proper will begin at 7:30. A Zoom link will be published in this month’s SPARC and on the www.barc.org website on the day of the meeting.
Our speaker is Clint Bradford, K6LCS, presenting “How to Work Amateur Satellites with Your HT”. You do not need 100W of transmit power nor expensive antenna arrays to work the FM voice amateur satellites! Many hams already have the necessary equipment to “work the birds.” This presentation will walk you through ALL the steps needed to successfully work several ham satellites – including the International Space Station.
Clint K6LCS has been a ham since 1994, and found his niche in the hobby: working amateur satellites with minimal equipment and telling ALL about it! He has served a liaison between NASA, the ARISS team, and schools coordinating amateur radio contacts between the International Space Station and students (and also orchestrated a wildly successful ARISS contact). Audiences have never found his presentation slides “wordy” nor dull. Trivia questions are included throughout the session – audiences are never bored.
For reference materials, Clint has created a support Web site at work-sat.com. The Web site has become a one-stop source for ALL the citations and equipment recommendations and software suggestions made in the presentation.
Professionally, Clint was sales manager for ADI / Premier Communications / Pryme, worked for a Motorola commercial two-way dealer a couple of years, and for Ham Radio Outlet a couple more. He resides in Jurupa Valley, California, with his wife, Karen, and their rescued lab, Freja (FRAY-ya).
This will be a “perfect storm” meeting, as the club President, Vice President, and Secretary will all be unable to attend, so there will be no business portion of the meeting.
Volunteers Needed for the Head of the Charles Regatta – Friday 10/21/22-Sunday 10/23/22 – 0600-1800 Daily
KC1AEI-Matt Knowles writes:
Volunteers are needed for the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) from Friday 10/21/22-Sunday 10/23/22 from 0600-1800 daily. The Head of the Charles Regatta is a rowing event taking place on the Charles River in Boston. We staff safety boats on the water and first aid stations on land to provide emergency communications to event organizers. The HOCR is sponsored by BNY Mellon, Vineyard Vines, etc. and is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization. For more information, see the event web site and volunteer registration web site links below:
Event Web Site: https://www.hocr.org
Volunteer Registration site (Select Emergency Services (HAM Radio – Land Station) or Emergency Services (Ham Radio – Safety Launch): https://volunteer.regattacentral.com/hocr/browse
Any skill level is accepted, please reach out with any questions. Thanks!
Regards,
KC1AEI-Matt Knowles
Email: matthewsknowles@gmail.com
Call for volunteers: The Big E
(From Larry, W1AST, via Bruce Blain, K1BG)
The Big E is coming up fast and the first day is Friday, September 16th.
As of right now there are 12 clubs and around 110 people signed up to staff the ham radio booth. We are looking for a few more to help us lock down the schedule. Are you available on any of these dates and times?
Each day is broken into two sessions. The first runs 9:30 am through 4:00 pm and the second runs 3:30 pm through 10:00 pm. The overlap is to help the new arrivals for the 2nd session learn what had been working during the first session so they could continue. The sessions are named Session 1 and Session 2.
Here is where we need volunteers as of right now:
Monday, Sept 19, session 1 – need 2 people
Monday, Sept 19, session 2 – need 3 people
Tuesday, Sept 20, session 2 – need 3 people
Sunday, Sept 25, session 2 – need 3 people
Tuesday, Sept 27, session 2 – need 4 people
Friday, Sept 30, session 2 – need 3 people
Saturday, Oct 1, session 1 – needs 1 person
Sunday, Oct 2 (Final Day), session 1 – needs 2 people
Sunday, Oct 2 (Final session), session 2 – needs 2 people
Are you available to help? If yes, please volunteer or add a session to what you have already volunteered for.
As a reminder, everyone that volunteers gets their Big E fairgrounds parking reimbursed and their admission reimbursed (or free tickets provided to them).
Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9_iH1ZucHuCFCNwreEuVPWnmLOT5D_s92vHPuEUASS78Tew/viewform
Learn more here: https://nediv.arrl.org/project-big-e
I hope you are available to help us lock in these last few days of the schedule for the ham radio booth.
Thank you and 73,
Larry, W1AST
ARRL WMA ACC
HCRA President
Visit my Ham Radio club website at: www.HCRA.org
Team K2H – 13 Colonies Massachusetts State Manager
Project Big E 2022 Organizer
Proud Member of ARRL, BARS, FCARC & YCCC
413-348-3289
Ham Assistance Requested: 2022 Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life
Hi all, Dave Gilman KC1DDH is looking for amateur radio volunteers for the 2022 Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life. Please see below for more information
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The 2022 Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life is coming up on Saturday October 1st, 2022 and I am in need of Amateur Radio Operators to volunteer for SAG (Support & Gear) operations and if there is sufficient quantity of volunteers we will also be staffing the rest stops.
For those who have not worked this event before, it is a charity bicycle ride starting and finishing in Holliston Massachusetts. Funds raised benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in their quest for a cure.
There are 3 routes. A 12 mile, 30 mile and 62 mile loop and 4 rest stops traversing several towns around Holliston.
If you are available to help out please fill out this form and I will be in touch with more details as the date gets closer.
Thank You,
Dave Gilman KC1DDH
Course Safety & Communications Coordinator
KC1DDH@Gmail.com
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