Category Archives: SM Report

Hello, the celestial odometer has clicked off another number! I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. Now the question is, will it be boring or exciting. As they say, time will tell.

First off, I received the news that Steve Boyson N1VLG passed away. He was the State Government Liaison for Eastern Mass. He also assisted WMA as that position could not be filled. The SGL position is described as such:

The section’s State Government Liaison is the primary contact for all governmental affairs having the potential to affect amateur radio. The SGL helps inform legislative and regulatory entities of the importance in amateur radio considerations in each bill, and potentially helps muster a section wide amateur radio publicity campaign to bills as needed. Requires full ARRL membership. The WMA SGL will be expected to work in lockstep with the EMA SGL as they would both be working to the same goals with the same state government.

If there is anyone interested in this please contact me. Ideally, both Massachusetts ARRL sections could have their own SGL. EMA had graciously assisted us and I appreciate that. That voice representing us is important!

As January 1 approaches we also have a changing of the guard in our division director as Tom K1KI takes over once again. I wish to thank Fred AB1OC for his three years of dedicated, hardworking service. I know one item on Tom’s agenda is to get the Tech class HF privileges that the FCC has sat on for years finalized, approved and placed in operation. This can be a huge step in getting more techs on HF to keep them active and advancing themselves in the hobby.

Usually, I look at the New Year and look at what kind of mayhem I can cause this year. 😊 I am still continuing to run license classes with a General class course coming soon. One thing is my club visits has fallen off largely due to my mother’s health issues and did not want to stray too far. Hopefully I will be able to get out and see you again.

One thing I am going to work on is increasing activity with traffic handling. I am asking nets to look at generating traffic to other hams and taking messages and delivering them. Many nets call for check in’s and ask if there is any traffic. This does have the potential to wake up the nets as there is more activity. Traffic can be within the net, between clubs, even section and country-wide. I have been presenting and hosting Zoom sessions on traffic and NTS and am planning more. I do have training materials available on the nts2.arrl.org website under training and documentation. The ema.arrl.org has a section worth looking at under National Traffic System. Contact me for any questions or for more information.

The next thing is the continuing saga of the practice of mentoring. (yah! That same ole rodeo) I continue to see where mentoring has had positive effect on that new ham. I have interacted with some new hams that have passed the exam at my session. I see firsthand the level of interest when you take an interest in them. Ok, it’s a little effort and with persistence it WILL pay off for your club. There is more to a club than going there to gulp down coffee and treats! Be an important part and participate to help the club grow with members and activity. Remember who taught YOU when you were a newbie.

Ok, the soapbox is creaking a little so I need to get off of it! My hopes are we can work together in raising the needle and keep the momentum moving. Thank you to all the participants in 2024 and hope we have bigger numbers in 2025! You know where I’m hiding.

73,
Ray AA1SE

Hello WMA. By now, you are cursing fall every time you look out the window and see all those leaves on the ground. Also knowing the silly season is around the corner. Of course, we all have our Santa Ham list at the ready, right?

There is plenty of stuff going on though. I hope you have placed your vote for the director of New England for the next three years. The deadline is noon Nov 15. The candidates have been busy visiting clubs doing their own campaigning for their agenda’s.

Another goodie is the upcoming SET which is on Nov 10. Thanks to Chuck WS1L for putting it together and getting the word out. Hopefully the participation will be good. Remember, this is open to ALL hams whether they are in ARES or not. It’s all about communications preparedness.

On Oct 14, I hosted an NTS training on Zoom and it was really successful with 82 in attendance from across the country. There is now an edited recording of it available on the nts2.arrl.org website. Many thanks to Marcia KW1U, Bob KC1KVY and Shawn N1CVO for being part of the session. I do plan on doing it again at a later date and maybe some other things as well.

Tuesday Oct 29, I start a Technician License course on Zoom. This is part of the WMA Train and Test Group I formed and the program has been getting great feedback not to mention new hams licensed. The one thing I have been emphasizing is mentoring, finding a club, and other things to get that new ham off to a good start and be on the air.

I’m sure you got word that DXCC is back online. They are now processing the backlog of submissions. There is still work to do, (like our arrl.org email address!) but are making progress.

The new location for Near-Fest was met with great reviews. Friday was reported a packed fairground. The fairground seemed a bit more compact, but was adequate for their needs. It even had heated restrooms! Hopefully they will have a good relationship for many years to come.

The recent events in North Carolina and Florida does serve as a reminder of the value amateur radio has as a hobby for ourselves, but also as a service to our communities. We did receive some good publicity from the media as to our efforts there. We need to promote ham radio to as many as possible. That is by getting on the air, starting relationships with our served agencies, training and mentoring, the list goes on. Everyone with a license needs to be participating in something for not only that, but to add new hams to keep this hobby vibrant and active for many years to come. NEVER assume someone else will do it. YOU need to be the solution, not the problem.

If I do not see you soon, I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and safe Thanksgiving and see you next month.

73 Ray AA1SE

Well, here it is. The end of summer 2024. Wow, did it scream by! It also was a toasty one too. How many operated at the beach?

I have pretty much recovered from HamXposition. Again, I was a lovely shade of red. That is a HOT parking lot! Why do I do this you ask? Well, yes, I do sell treasures and make some coin, but there is another good reason and that’s the opportunity to mentor. I cannot tell you how many times a new ham is looking for information on antennas, wire, connections, even first radio. The time out there is worth it if a newbie gets on the air.

The convention again was another winner. More vendors, forums and people. It was great to see a lot of acquaintances as well as making new friendships. Sunday, I had my WMA forum and the 20 or so people got updates as to what I have been doing and Chuck WS1L also talked about ARES. All in all, it was well received. And I did it without PowerPoints! The early number showed ticket sales and attendance was up from last year and word was they already maxed out the hotel. They are looking at the trade center up the street with shuttle service. This can equate to more vendors coming to it. The Space Weather Lady did a great job in presenting her talk. It was not geeky as some have been and at times quite funny. Don’t miss next year. Your participation is what’s driving its success.

I wish to ask those that do VE sessions, club officers, and other related items to look at your programs and see if you can start, upgrade, expand your mentoring. I run a VE session and what I do is have a separate sheet to add the candidates name, town and email. When the person passes the test, I then email the nearby club at let them know there is a new ham and to reach out to them and invite them to the club. I give the person a mentoring guide, an ARRL membership application and my card and spend time talking to them. These are important things to welcome a new ham and to get them started. Not only will your club benefit but the newbie will feel their time studying was well worth it. Doing these things have already shown signs of success. These efforts by all will only make your club grow and be more active. If more VE’s and clubs do this, who knows what they will look like.

With September rolling in is the start of club meeting season. As I have likely mentioned before a good meeting should have some agenda and not just toss around stories of “back in the day” It does not have to be old/new business all the time. Refreshments are a bonus. A presentation is recommended. Whether is from a member or from outside. How about a subject or an activity to teach newer hams. Mix it up. Have no one? There is a TON of presentations online. Having a lively meeting program will keep them coming next month. Live demonstrations even a homebrew/kit build night. Offer up some prizes.

That’s enough for now. Don’t sit on the easy chair and say “someone else will do it” That someone else is YOU! Mentor the future of radio, help grow your club.

Thanks, and 73,
Ray AA1SE

Hi there, I meant to write this right after Field Day! Whoops! Been busy, Geritol wore out, senility, your choice.

So, June and July are here and we have had heat, rain, humidity, I guess that means we had Field Day. Yep, another toasty, wet event. Good news is we survived! Yours truly did take the tour and visited all the sites. All in all, it was pretty successful. My visit to HCRA site was met with one nasty storm and spent the visit under an easy-up on top of a picnic table. I would of rather see the bear!

A special shout out is to the Mt Tom ARA site. It is surprising what a few people and a new Field Day site will do. Two years ago, they were struggling even with their hamfest. They have found new life! Membership is growing and their field day is a very active one at the Blandford Fairgrounds. They have a great arrangement there. Hat’s off to you! Well done! This is what you get with members participating and getting it done. Clubs take notice!

The ARRL has been feeling a great deal of pain with the cyberattack they got on May 17 and is still not completely resolved. The Learning Center, phones, etc are back and only now LOTW is back online. Needless to say, the number of nay-sayers has been having their own field day by taking their half-truths, gossip, rumors and splattering it on social media. This is NOT how we should be acting as hams! This organization has far many more benefits to offer and should get our support. Think about what this attack has cost the league in restoral services, lost revenue, etc. That price increase is small to what they are going through right now. The FBI are working on investigating this and not sure if the other attacks we have heard about are related. Please be patient as we ride out the storm. By the way, my arrl.org email has not been working as a result. Email me at ray.aa1se@gmail.com if you need to reach me.

I just completed my first effort in participating in the 13 Colonies special event. Thanks Larry W1AST for the invite. (I think 😊) I actually worked all days and racked up 1067 contacts. The best day was the last one where I was on FT8 on 15 meters and hit the mother-load of DX! Multiple AK, even got China, a ton of JA, and more! I know, it’s old hat for some of you but it was a treat for me. (One of the reasons I’m late for getting this out sooner) I used this opportunity to use a different station setup and learn new things. (One is laptops can be finiky!)

Clubs this time are enjoying a break from meeting. Do plan on some summertime activities and operate. POTA has been booming lately, and as I indicated I have been working on different setups to see how it does. Good practice for the mad scientist skills. Good thing to do indoors or out. Remember, heat can make things wonky including yourself so be safe out there.

Till next time, 73
Ray AA1SE

Hello, it has been a relatively quiet month of April, but on the other hand it was busy. I guess the big one is the Boston Marathon. That event came and went very successfully. From my seat, things went a lot smoother than ever. Everyone knew what to do and how to do it. Kudos and thanks to all those who woke up super early and helped out in the event.

One club that has been very dormant was the WPI club. This club has been around since 1920. They are now coming back to life which is fantastic. They do have a wrinkle though is they discovered an Asbestos problem in the station so they are closed until they fix it. They have been announcing nets and activities so take a moment and support them by checking into one of them.

A while back I announced that Phil K9HI was introducing an activity called Project Ascend which was active recruiting, outreach and mentoring resources, etc. An application to ARDC was submitted for a grant and sadly it got turned down. This pretty much killed the project. I think he had something with this concept. Can a section, or a club or clubs put something like that together? YES! It does take time, resources and willing participants but it is to grow the hobby. To provide new hams the guidance to get on the air, to welcome them to the hobby. Teaching new hams today are the mentors for tomorrow. I am not opposed to hearing someone’s idea about this. I have a staff of tech specialists who would love to help a ham with a tech issue.

Speaking of staff, have you ever thought about being a volunteer for the Western Ma section? I do have a number of positions that need filling and our ARES program needs people as well. Really, the big requirement is they are active and participating! Assisting me in projects that may crop up. One position is a Asst Section Manager to visit clubs, reporting to me or even coming up with a cool idea. I would love to have one that knows their way around a website. Gil WK1H does a great job with this site, but can use some help as well as he has job, family, etc. Having someone like this can also help with clubs and even myself develop a more attractive website which interacts with our social media stuff. SEC Chuck WS1L needs DEC’s and EC’s. We need people to help in developing an emergency communication system. There is a plan, but no one to help!

Another thing I am planning on is trying to get NTS traffic handling more established in WMA. Smoke signals don’t work anymore! There are nets that can restart traffic handling and maybe start it up to boost their own net activity. I am planning on setting up a training webinar to provide instruction on how to properly pass traffic. It will be conducted by current and experienced traffic handlers. More on that to follow.

Did you notice something? I didn’t start this off with mentioning the weather! I hope you enjoy my report and please give some thought as to helping this old buzzard out.

Thanks so much and 73,
Ray AA1SE