Section Manager’s Report March 2022

   Hello! I don’t know about you, but this has been one crazy month. I think they took the two days and stuffed those activities into the rest of the month. I am looking forward to seeing you at the Mt. Tom Hamfest this Saturday, Bob, K1YO, Smitty, KC1IKA Larry, W1AST and myself will have tables there. Should be a fun time there.

   This month, the Montachusett, Mohawk and CMARA clubs headed by myself (or instigated lol) in a joint effort have started a Zoom Tech License class which is currently attended by 10 students. The goal for this is not only to get people licensed, but also actively mentored to get them on the air and active in the hobby. My hope is this group will evolve and expand. We are learning ourselves and am working to streamline the courses and offer an effective way to present it. If anyone is interested in joining, send me an email.

   It has been observed by club presidents as well as myself there has been a distinct lack of participation among the membership in activities, testing sessions and classes, etc. That is one of the reasons I started the classes. I fully understand the lingering effects of Covid and the impact it has on what we do. We as hams are taught “if it don’t work, fix it!” That also means adapting to a situation. This should also include club activity. Clubs are dying because people are sitting back assuming someone else will do the job or plan the next activity. One phrase club Presidents would love to hear is “What can I do to help?” I know I would! Zoom has in my opinion opened up a lot of opportunities to give clubs not just meetings, but a plethora of content for presentations, trainings, etc. Don’t use it as a crutch. Online or offline, help out your club or you may just click on Zoom one day and it will be gone.

   The League has been active lately in getting key people onboard to bring more communication and resources to the members. One such resource is available grant money. The ARDC has provided the League with a sizable chunk of money and is making it available to clubs. Clubs that have certain projects going and need funding can benefit for up to 30,000 dollars. Stay tuned for more details as they are still working out the details. This is not part of the ARRL Foundation grant program. Stay tuned for more information as it comes.

   As we all look forward to the warmer weather, take some time to try something new, TEACH someone something new. Get together with others and work stations, do a demonstration, etc OUTSIDE. Like my Mama used to say, “the fresh air will do you good!”

Take care everyone.

Ray AA1SE

HAM-CON, the ARRL Vermont State Convention,  February 26

The ARRL Vermont State Convention, known as HAM-CON, will be held Saturday, February 26, at 8AM-1PM live in Colchester, VT and On-Line at HAM-CON.ORG.

If you are in our primary coverage area of Vermont, Northern NH, Northern NY and Southern Quebec, we hope to see you in person. However, anyone, anywhere can take part in HAM-CON. On-Line attendees will get to participate in the forums, will see the flea market room, will get to converse with other attendees in separate video rooms and even watch our special event station W1V.

We have a super line-up planned for this year! ARRL CEO David Minster NA2AA will start things off by telling us about 2021 happenings at ARRL and what to look forward to in 2022.  Our newly elected New England Director, Fred Kemmerer AB1OC will detail accomplishments made and planned for in his first 100 days in office. Dave Casler KE0OG, author of the “Ask Dave” column in QST, will be on hand to answer all of your technical questions. Ed Hare W1RFI will focus on current issues in radio frequency interference to ham radio operations. We’ll have other great forums on technical and operating topics, plus a totally fun forum never seen before. You won’t want to miss it!

Advanced admission to HAM-CON is only $6, available right on the web site http://www.ham-con.org. If you are not sure of your plans, buy your ticket now and it can be used live or on-line. The price jumps up to $10 on February 20, so don’t wait! Details on early vendor admission and table reservations can also be found on the site.

HAM-CON is one of the first Conventions of each year and the only New England Convention held in the first quarter. Be sure to join us to keep connected with other ham radio operators from the North Country and learn why we are considered the “best little hamfest in the world.”  Hope to see you there, live or on camera!

New WMA Amateur Licensees February 2022

Congratulations to the latest new hams of Western Massachusetts:

Aleksandr Baraban, KC1QGT
131 Ashley Ave
Apt B5
West Springfield, MA 01089-1333

Matthew T St George, KC1QHG
60 Kenwood St
Pittsfield, MA 01201-5661

Dennis Juhasz, KC1QHJ
74 Upland St
Unit C
Worcester, MA 01607-2003

Richard S Quimby, KC1QHD
100 Institute Rd
Worcester, MA 01609-2247

Amateur Radio and AUXCOM Support to the Department of Defense

ARRL will present a webinar on the evening of Thursday February 17 at 8pm ET (0100Z Feb 18) on Amateur Radio and AUXCOM support to the Department of Defense.

Use this zoom link to attend:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83781154615?pwd=L0NOY0hEV0tBdmNDWVNNeWRaVXJ5dz09
Check out the ARRL link below for more detail:

http://arrl.org/news/webinar-set-to-discuss-amateur-radio-and-auxcom-support-to-department-of-defense

This webinar will coincide with the start of MARS Exercise 22-1, which should provide opportunity to practice these skills.

Tom Kinahan
US Army Military Auxiliary Radio System
Region One Director
aaa1rd@usamars.us

Section Manager’s Report February 2022

Hello, I hope you take a few moments out of your digging out to have a read. We have not had a storm like that for some time now. I hope all is safe and well.

The past two storms our ARES and Skywarn groups have activated themselves and conducted nets on 3944 kHz LSB and gathered storm reports for the National Weather Service. Bob, K1YO and Rob, KD1CY came up with this idea to not only use this to provide information to the NWS but also to use it as a training/testing platform for ARES members to see what works or doesn’t, and what do we need to improve on it. I think this was a great idea and my thanks to all who participated. Watch for further HF nets in future storms, usually run on the bottom of each hour.

The Boston Marathon is still looking for volunteers. The announcement is as follows:

Keep your eyes open on your email. ARRL New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC will be holding his first town hall meeting in February. It is refreshing to see communication from division leadership. This was pledged during his campaign and he promised to stick to it. He is already visiting club meetings.

We now have a new ARRL Director of Emergency Management in Josh Johnston, KE5MHV. He has a lofty task ahead of him. Currently he is working on moving to CT. He has been also answering as many emails as he can. Any EMCOMM emails should be copied to Ken Bailey, K1FUG as well.

As you are aware there has been a serious lack of trainings and testings for new hams in the area. One class is starting in Pepperell on the 31st. I have formed a group from the Montachusett, Mohawk and Central Ma clubs to start planning and conducting classes and testings. Our goal is to not only get new hams on board and to mentor them to get on the air, but to create a program that makes it easy to teach and to hopefully get others to become teachers as well. With any luck and some work, we can develop this into a successful and self-sustaining program. This is not restricted to these clubs either anyone wishing to join just send me an email at ray.aa1se@gmail.com

Just a quickie. The Marlboro hamfest will be held on Saturday Feb. 19 at the Charles Whitcomb School. Mask will be mandatory. Hope to see you there.

Lots of stuff going on as you can see. Keep in touch here and elsewhere to stay up to date.

Stay warm!
73 Ray-AA1SE