Author Archives: Gilbert Hayes

New WMA Amateurs from March 2023

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Please welcome the recently licenses amateur radio operators in the WMA section!

John W Fitzsimmons, KC1STE
27 Lawnwood St
Agawam, MA 01001-3558

Robert J Hunt, KC1STB
792 Bay Rd
Amherst, MA 01002-3544

John M Lapaire, KC1SPV
112 N Maple St
Hadley, MA 01035-9614

Donald A Lafountain, KC1SOY
82 Bliss St
Florence, MA 01062-2606

Margaret E Lafountain, KC1SPJ
82 Bliss St
Florence, MA 01062-2606

Theodore W Matthias, KC1SOQ
PO Box 13
Southampton, MA 01073-0013

Ryan A McKinster, KC1SPD
16 Bardwell St Apt 2
South Hadley, MA 01075-2502

Sean M Callahan, KC1SPU
39 Alquat St
Westfield, MA 01085-4901

Mark T Crowe, KC1SOP
40 New Broadway
Westfield, MA 01085-5107

Sascha Cameron, KC1SNR
202 Bradford St
Pittsfield, MA 01201-4565

Charles J Audette, AC1OQ
13 Southbrook Ln
Pittsfield, MA 01201-9119

Dennis T Croughwell, KC1SPN
545 Main St
Dalton, MA 01226-1611

Joseph P Kopera, KC1SRI
PO Box 95
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370-0095

Peter Kruskall, KC1SRV
32 Sawyer Ln
Harvard, MA 01451-1237

Ross D Jones, KC1SSD
155 W Bare Hill Rd
Harvard, MA 01451-1626

David Tarantino, KC1SPQ
6 Jonathan Ave
Millbury, MA 01527-3949

Jonathan A Yoffe, KC1SRU
185 West St
Uxbridge, MA 01569-2004

George H Kocyan, KC1SRE
PO Box 52
Whitinsville, MA 01588-0052

Rachel A Phillips, AC1OS
49 Maple St
Milford, MA 01757-3650

Ross D Keogh, AC1OY
49 Maple St
Milford, MA 01757-3650

Section Manager Report April 2023

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Ahhhhh….Spring! May it last a long time. At least for 3 months! I’m sure you are looking outside and writing up the list of repairs, cleanup, tree cutting, etc. especially from the most recent storm. I kind of embarrassed myself when I could not assist in storm reporting as my power went out for 12 hours and no backup was in place. Lesson learned. I also have antennas to fix and battery power re-installed and mobile set up. I’ll be busy.

Mixed in with the list of to-do’s is that toward the end of the month I will be having surgery in Worcester and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks at least. I will do whatever I can parked in front of a PC but emails may be delayed.

A busy month is in store as activities are ramping up. First of all, the VOTA W1AW/1 Massachusetts event is April 12. There are spots available if you are interested in operating. You can do it as a group or by yourself and any mode. Contact Larry, W1AST at w1ast@arrl.net to sign up. Let’s all have some fun and make the state proud! Speaking of Larry, he is also heading up the upcoming Big E event once again and is looking for volunteers now. Planning is now heating up as you may know as this takes a lot of time to line up everything to cover a 16-day event. I will be doing what I can and I hope you and your club can help as well. Let Larry know to volunteer.

April 28 and 29 is our favorite, Near-Fest at the Deerfield NH Fairgrounds. I have enjoyed going there and lately have been challenged getting there recently. I hope you can get out there and enjoy the area, the people and the food.

March 28 I will be kicking off the WMA Train and Test Extra class course. This is one that does not get taught a lot as it is a large undertaking. This course has actually went national and many (69 signups to date) around the country have signed up. Our teaching is actually done by a group so it is taught by those who are subject matter experts and the others can chime in to provide “color comments”. There is a need for a few volunteers to help teach the classes. This is on Zoom and you do not have to be on every session. If you are interested contact me and I can provide further information.

Field Day planning is ramping up within the clubs and one of the challenges I have been hearing about is having participants to help in setting up, take down and various other functions. The natural reason for one is those that have been doing it year to year is they are getting on in years. One thing that can help is breaking out from the norm and trying something different that makes it easier. Using this as a promotional tool to attract hams and non-hams alike. Getting the word out beyond the club can help as well.

That’s it for this month. I hope you get outside and enjoy Spring and while your at it bust out some gear and get some Q’s in your log.

See you soon!
Ray-AA1SE

Big E 2023 Here We Come!

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Greetings All,

We’re hard at work getting things into place for this year’s Big E. For 2023 it runs Sept 15 to Oct 1. The booth has been reserved, insured, the paperwork signed, and bills paid.

 A few of us have been talking about making some changes to make the booth more approachable to the public, more visible and more welcoming. 

We’re reducing the number of people in the booth per session to 3 instead of 4 to 6. We’re removing the special event station which removes the need for internet and an op. The space will be used differently. We hope to make the displays; other than the morse code keys; more hands-on and accessible.

We’re in the midst of applying for another ARDC grant. The application will be completed by April1 with the hopes of getting another grant and being able to reimburse everyone for admission and parking costs. Those are the two largest costs of the booth.

Also, we will put in place a much better sign up and data collection method. We had a few issues with the data collected last year and must fix that this year.

In April, we will start the planning meetings. The zoom link will be posted here.

For now, we are looking for clubs and individuals to sign up and volunteer. Without you all who volunteer, the booth will fail, so please volunteer. Here is the sign up for link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvo1vUzuuJTHbTtDLeApQQD1m4ZzX9kVe_hF2416e6apho3g/viewform

If you can not click the link, please copy and paste it into your browser.

Thank you for your volunteering and help to make The Bog E Booth a BIG SUCCESS this year!

73,
—

Larry Krainson – W1AST

  • Project Big E Organizer 2022 and 2023
  • ARRL WMA ACC
  • HCRA President – HCRA.org 
  • 13 Colonies MA State Manager (K2H) – Ask to be an op!
  • Proud Member of: ARRL, FCARC & YCCC

Western MA Train & Test Group Amateur Extra Class Begins March 28, 2023

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Amateur radio "action" photos for Western MA Train & Test Group

The Western MA Train & Test Group invites you to a FREE on-line course so that you, too, can upgrade to the Amateur Extra class license.

The free on-line Zoom classes will start Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Classes will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM.

QR code for Western MA Train & Test Amateur Extra Course

Sign up at: https://forms.gle/6KT2PCGFnibQdDDF7

Questions? Contact Ray Lajoie via email at ray.aa1se@gmail.com.

Talk to the World with your Upgrade to Amateur Extra Class HF Operating Privileges

Ask Us How!

We Need a Little Help!

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Hello, we have a couple on needs which we hope you can help with:

  1. First Larry, W1AST is looking for someone with some graphic drawing experience who would like to create a QSL card for the upcoming 13 Colonies event coming up.
  2. Second, he is also looking for volunteers for the VOTA W1AW/1 event coming in April.
  3. Also look at the notice from the NEDIV.arrl.org site about the Big E.

   If anyone like to assist Larry contact him at w1ast@arrl.net.

   Also, the WMA Train and Test Team is looking to add some instructors to the group. This is something that does not require a full effort and you can teach a chapter based on your expertise and be a backup on the others. Slide decks are provided. For further information contact me at ray.aa1se@gmail.com

   Thank you!

Ray-AA1SE

ARES and SKYWARN Activation for March 14 Winter Storm

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SITUATION

As of 1030 on Monday, 13 March 2023 all Western Massachusetts ARES members are notified that a severe winter storm will impact our area during tonight, all day Tuesday, and into Wednesday. We are expecting a large amount of heavy, wet snow and some high winds that are likely to bring about power outages and other storm damage and infrastructure issues.

MISSION

All WMA ARES members who are able to do so are requested to report any known instances of storm damage, failures of infrastructure as well as winter precipitation types and accumulation totals via their local ARES nets. Unless specifically requested to deploy by local emergency officials or other served agencies, all reporting should be done from your present location. ARES nets will begin on or about Monday evening, 13 March 2023 or Tuesday morning, 14 March 2023 and will run until the storm impacts have been fully reported.

EXECUTION

The Western Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Service will establish ARES nets in cooperation with SKYWARN for the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Albany and Boston. Reports of storm damage, failures of infrastructure and winter precipitation types and accumulation totals will be solicited from spotters and the reports received will be transmitted to the appropriate NWS office.

ARES nets will begin Monday evening, 13 March 2023 on the Mount Tom repeater. They will begin no later than Tuesday morning, 14 March 2023 on the Mount Greylock repeater. Nets will run until the storm impacts have been fully reported. Monitor the channels below for other net times. All nets times are subject to change based upon local conditions and need.

Net Control Stations will request storm damage or infrastructure failure reports containing:

  1. Callsign
  2. Name
  3. City/Town, County, State
  4. Location of damage or infrastructure failure
  5. Type of damage or failure (i.e., power outage, water leak, trees down, roof collapse, etc.)
  6. Time of the observation

Net Control Stations will request SKYWARN reports containing:

  1. Callsign
  2. Name
  3. City/Town, County, State
  4. Location to the nearest street intersection
  5. Elevation if known
  6. Precipitation Type (i.e., snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain)
  7. Total accumulation to the nearest tenth of an inch
  8. Time of the observation

Net Control Stations will record reports and transmit them to their respective Weather Forecast Office using their preferred means of reporting. If NWS Liaison Stations have checked in to the net, the Liaison Station may transmit these reports.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOGISTICS

ARES nets will not require travel or deployment. Members should ensure they have essential needs on hand to avoid any need to travel during the impact of severe weather.

SIGNAL

The following VHF analog FM channels will be used for weather spotting nets in the following general areas:

  • Berkshire County – Mount Greylock repeater 146.9100/146.3100 Tone 162.2 Hz
  • Hampden/Hampshire – Mount Tom repeater 146.9400/146.3400 Tone 127.3 Hz
  • Franklin/Worcester – Paxton repeater 146.9700/146.3700 Tone 114.8 Hz

In addition, the following channels may be polled by NWS Boston Liaison Station WX1BOX for any reports:

  • Fitchburg repeater – 145.4500/144.8500 Tone74.4 Hz
  • Gardner repeater – 145.3700/144.7700 Tone 136.5 Hz

The following HF channels are tentatively established as backups in the event of infrastructure
failures impacting the VHF channels above:

  • Western Mass. Emergency Net – 3944 kHz LSB
  • New York Stare Phone Traffic and Emergency Net – 3925 kHz LSB
  • Eastern New York ARES Net – 3993 kHz LSB

73 de Chuck Chandler, WS1L
WMA Section Emergency Coordinator
chandlerusm@gmail.com

Introducing the New WMA ARES Membership Database

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The Western Massachusetts Section has re-started the former Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) membership database.  This database was in use up until 2019 or 2020, and contains records going back to at least 2013.  We are in the process of cleaning up the membership records, and we are urging every ARES member in the WMA section to log in or create a new record and make sure we have your information up to date. 

To update or create a new WMA ARES membership record, on this website, use the menu to navigate to Emergency Communications > ARES Member Registration System.

If you already have a password from prior use, it should still work.  If not, there is a link to reset your password, but it requires that you have access to the email you used when you first registered.  If you cannot access an existing registration, email either Gil, WK1H gilwk1h@gmail.com or myself, Chuck WS1L chandlerusm@gmail.com and we will get you reset.

If you have never registered with this database, you will need to create a new record.  You will find that this database has fields for a lot of data to record your equipment, availability and training.  Please be as thorough as possible as the information provided is a value when we need to match abilities with needs.  

Even if you already have an existing record, please take a few moments to update all your information so that we have the most up to date records possible.  Every ARES member should update their information once a year so that we are able to accurately assign resources to needs. 

Many thanks for being a part of ARES!

73 de Chuck, WS1L
WMA SEC

New WMA Amateurs from February 2023

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Please welcome the recently licensed amateur radio operations in the WMA section!

Maxim Veremchuk, KC1SKS
44 Sprague St
West Springfield, MA 01089-3423

Eric R Schirmer, KC1SLU
226 Gray Rd
Templeton, MA 01468-1142

Willow E Nichols, KC1SMN
2 Ledgewood Dr
Boylston, MA 01505-2034

Declan T Foley, KC1SLO
3 Parker Pl
Princeton, MA 01541-1235

Section Manager Report March 2023

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Hello, a busy February was in store for me with meetings, visits and planning. This seems to be the preview of what the rest of the year is going to be like.

Hamfests are firing up. We just had the Marlboro Hamfest and that was fun. Nice to see a lot of familiar faces there. The turnout was really good also. The next one is March 4 in Chicopee for the Mt Tom club, and further down the road is Near-Fest at the end of April.

I have been visiting club meetings when I can, mostly on Zoom. I did go to the Quaboag Club as I was invited to do a presentation there. I applaud their efforts in the revitalization of that group. Keep at it! Also I presented at the Mt. Tom club live. I do have other’s lined up as well.

I attended the division Town Hall meeting with our director, Fred AB1OC. He touched base on the grant program and the VOTA event. Also he talked about highlights about the board meeting and some things they are working on at the league. Looks like they have a busy year as well. Good stuff coming down the road.

One of the things I have been involved with is the NTS 2.0 project. Over 30 people in 5 groups are now working on various tasks to revitalize this time honored function and get it back to modern methods and promote it to the newer generation of hams. Trainings and on-air activities are in the works.

On March 28 The Western Mass Train and Test Group will be launching the Extra Class License Course. Much work is going into this as we need to get the program put together. As you may know, last year was our first year and it was a pretty good success. We have worked in making it somewhat unique which helps in preventing the “glassy eyes” that happens sometimes. I am looking to add some more instructors to the group. Email me at ray.aa1se@gmail.com if you are interested.

That’s about it for now. Remember to be a mentor to the new hams and get them on the air and active in your clubs.

73,
Ray- AA1SE

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