MTARA Annual Hamfest

The Mount Tom Amateur Repeater Association is holding its annual Amateur Radio and Electronics Hamfest on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Drive in Chicopee. All amateurs and those interested are invited!

Admission is $5 for adults and children 12 and under are free. Doors open at 6:30 AM for vendors only and 8:30 AM for general admission.

The hamfest will feature:

  • A snack bar serving hot and cold beverages, hot dogs, burgers and the like.
  • Several raffles (tickets $1 each or 6 for $5)
  • An amateur radio license exam session will be run at 10:30 AM. Candidates must obtain a FCC Registration Number (FRN) and pre-register on the Pioneer Valley VE Team’s website prior to the exam.

Those wishing to reserve a table for selling, please contact Brian Mullarney N1FI. Mail-in registration is also available using the form in the official MTARA Hamfest flyer.

Talk-in for the hamfest will be on the W1TOM repeater (146.940 MHz, PL 127.3).

In connection with the MTARA Hamfest, the Hampden County Radio Association is presently selling tickets for their annual raffle. There will only be 250 tickets sold for HCRA’s raffle at $10 each. The raffle will be for brand new Icom IC-7300 transceiver. The raffle winner will be drawn at the MTARA Hamfest.

WMA Section Manager Ray Lajoie KB1LRL is planning on attending the hamfest.

New England Vintage Electronics Expo 2

The New England Antique Radio Club will hold its New England Vintage Electronics Expo 2 on Sunday, March 3, 2019 from 8 AM to 4 PM at the Courtyard Marriott Event Center, 2200 Southwood Drive, Nashua, New Hampshire. Billed as “the East Coast’s largest antique radio and vintage electronics show and flea market, the event features over a hundred indoor tables and more than sixty vendors. Adult admission is $10; spouses, and children under 18 are admitted free. Flea market admission is free from 11 AM to 1 PM. Onsite parking is free. For more information, see http://www.nearc.net/swapmeetinfo.htm.

Post courtesy of the Eastern Massachusetts ARRL website.

Volunteers Still Needed for 2019 Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon Communications Committee is currently at 250 out of our goal of 350 volunteer registrations for this year’s Boston Marathon. Registration is scheduled to close on February 6th (we have requested an extension on this, but there’s no guarantee the BAA will grant it) so there isn’t much time left. 

If you’re interested in volunteering, please register today. You can sign up at https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/volunteer/volunteer-registration. Please share this note with your ham friends / organizations that may be interested.

Any questions can be directed at contact@HamRadioBoston.org.

Local Communities Looking for RACES Officers

A few months ago, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency conducted a survey for all local community emergency management directors across the Commonwealth. The survey was specifically about the use of amateur radio and RACES locally within their community, whether they have an appointed RACES Officer, and if not, if they would like to find one.

The Radio Amateurs Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a radio service using amateur stations for emergency management communications during periods of local, regional or national emergencies. RACES is defined in law in Part 97.407 of the FCC rules. In the event the U.S. President ever needed to silence the regular Amateur Radio Service by invoking the War Powers Act of 1941, only RACES appointed stations could continue to operate and assist their appointed served agencies. Requirements for RACES varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but will include possession of a FCC amateur radio license.

As a result of this survey, the list of communities below are interested in locating an amateur radio operator to serve as their RACES Officer. If you are interested in any of these appointments, please inquire with that community’s emergency management director. It is also highly recommended to discuss the matter with MEMA Regional RACES Officer which services that local community’s county. We might be able to recommend you based on whatever previous amateur radio EmComm or other public service you’ve done that we’re aware of. We may also be able to give you additional insight into the role in that community.

The MEMA Regional RACES Officers are:
Region 1: Terry Stader KA8SCP
Region 2: Mike Leger N1YLQ
Region 3: Frank Morrisino K1LMY
Region 4: Gil Hayes WK1H

Communities looking for RACES Officers:

  • MEMA Region 1 (Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex Counties)
    • Belmont
    • Manchester-by-the-Sea
    • Nahant
    • North Reading
    • Revere
  • MEMA Region 2 (Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties)
    • Barnstable
    • Chilmark
    • East Bridgewater
    • Edgartown
    • Marshfield
    • Rochester
    • Somerset
    • Yarmouth
  • MEMA Region 3 (Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire Counties)
    • Chesterfield
    • Colrain
    • Huntington
    • Russell
    • Sandisfield
    • South Hadley
    • Stockbridge
    • Washington
    • West Springfield
  • MEMA Region 4 (Worcester County)
    • Ashburnham
    • Fitchburg
    • Grafton
    • Royalston
    • Sterling
    • Sturbridge
    • Sutton
    • West Boylston
    • West Brookfield

Section Manager Report February 2019

Western MA ARRL

Hello everyone. So, I hear that our friend Phil predicted an early spring. We’ll see about that. If you recall, last time he did that we got bombed with endless snows. I don’t know about you, it’s been a relatively decent winter, but I like the warmer temps.

January 12 I was in Springfield where other section managers, club presidents, etc. gathered with Fred, K1VR for his first cabinet meeting which is held before the board of directors meeting. He was greeted to a packed room and there was some great discussion. The first item was the release of our presentation for reintroducing the tech specialist program which will also involve getting elmering (mentoring) back to help support new hams when they enter the hobby to introduce them to the many avenues that it has to offer. Paul, W1SEX put together the presentation and showed it at the meeting. Thank you, Paul, for a stellar effort. This will be made available to all on the website as well as we are looking to get this in the ARRL web as well.

Along with the presentation we will be also introducing other tools and information that clubs will have access too, including a brochure to give new licensee’s when they pass the test. This will be available to customize as they want to their local club. This does not take away from the ones they use now. I have seen some nice ones and stick with it! There was quite an emphasis in getting the league to bring out more and better information and ease of access to it to aid also the new ham. I will admit finding things there is a bit clunky at times.

It appears Berkshire county will have a full compliment of EC’s. Dave W1TTT has been working with me in getting personnel in place and will be gearing it up to get that county off the ground for ARES. This will be finalized very shortly. I will be starting on another county soon. Anyone interested in assisting for their county, let me know.

I paid a visit to the CMARA club meeting in West Boylston. As usual there was a great turnout there. A nice presentation on 3-D printing and they had their officer elections there. Brian K1BML has been elected President receiving the gavel from Bob, W1TAB. Thank you Bob for your efforts during your tenure.

Of course, it is February and I’m sure thoughts are starting to turn to Field Day. It is my hopes to do the visits like last year. It was enjoyable and impressed to see the setups and activities that goes on there. I have been doing the MARA event and seeing the others gives me a different perspective of their own logistics there.

That’s enough chatter for now. Watch out, I may be sneaking in to your meeting soon enough.

Take care and 73,
Ray KB1LRL