Category Archives: SM Report

Section Manager’s Report December 2024

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Here we go again! Another silly season is upon us. Where between contacts we are writing Santa Ham for that special toy to find under the tree. Hmmm, someone needs to write a Holiday special we can see every year.

Of course, I use this time of year to assess how we have been doing so far as a section. I can honestly say we moved the needle a little. There has been a growing emphasis on new hams and mentoring. I have been pushing mentoring more and it is starting to catch on. I have also been getting VE’s to be more proactive when that person has passed the test. I have been encouraging clubs that, in order to grow their clubs, they need to have an active part in this. Not just have an old-geezers social circle and talk about the ham that has become SK.

Another thing that has gathered renewed interest is our ARES program. Chuck WS1L recently had the WMA SET and was met with some good activity reports and a number of people who have joined ARES and have taken the ARRL EMCOMM courses and the ICS ones as well. Chuck has done a yeoman’s job of setting up the baseline standard for it and set up the email service so everyone gets notified. There is good stuff to build and expand on the program. Keep it up!

The Mt. Tom club has been experiencing a very nice growth spurt due to an increased presence in Facelessbook and some good outreach. This is what somebody’s efforts have produced. Other clubs can learn from this. Well done people!

The election for director is now over and Tom K1KI has been elected back into that role. This did come as a bit of a shock for me. My hopes are that whoever is on the board take this role and chart the direction for the league to best benefit Amateur Radio, the organization, and its members. It can be a daunting task, but if they put aside their differences, and egos and work together, good things can be accomplished. No one person cannot be the cause, cure and blame for what’s been happening lately. This also includes the membership not just in WMA but NATIONWIDE! We ALL need to work together!

I am looking at 2025 with optimism based on what we have done this year. We all need to play that part however small in a hobby that has brought joy to a lot of people to bring more people, teach more people, let them know that ham radio is a happy, healthy hobby to be in. And with that, it is my hopes ALL of you have a very Happy Healthy, Safe season.

73 to all,
Ray AA1SE

Section Manager’s Report November 2024

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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

Section Manager’s Report October 2024

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Hello earthlings! It’s October and it’s that time for raking leaves, cooler weather, and NEAR-Fest which is on the 4th and 5th. Remember, it is at a new location in New Boston, NH. Hope to see you there.

If anyone is interested in Traffic Handling, I am hosting a training session on how to send, receive traffic and net controls. This will be joined by Marcia KW1U and Bob KC1KVY and Shawn N1CVO from the Heavy Hitters Net which is held every weeknight at 2145 hours. This is to provide the training for those interested but also, I am hoping to encourage hams in participating in this time-honored part of our hobby, to bring more traffic to our nets and to volunteer in being net control, and other functions. If you are not aware, ever since I started as your Section Manager, I have had no one step up to be our Section Traffic Manager locally within our section. Marcia from EMA has been so kind to help us with that and I am grateful for that. We really do need one in our section.

My intent this month was to get some club visits in but have been having some family issues to deal with. I do apologize and will try to get out there soon. Keep trying to make your meetings interesting and in the Hollywood terms, “Leave them wanting more!” Look to sources locally and nationally for ideas. Move the meeting to a Saturday or Sunday and have a foxhunt, POTA activation, antenna party, etc. Sure beats the “old business, new business” meetings. Many clubs now are adopting separate business meetings, or having business meetings every few months and there is no harm in that.

If you are not aware the ARRL New England Division election is here and it is a contest. Fred Kemmerer AB1OC is the incumbent and Tom Frenaye K1KI is the challenger. An email was sent from the League and a postcard will be also sent. This is now an electronic ballot process with the option to get a mail ballot by following the instructions sent to you. Please do some homework and make an informed decision. Your vote counts!

Our ARES program is getting a little noisier with the help from Chuck WS1L. He has been working on MUCH improved communication to all the members and are getting more interest in EMCOMM. There is a couple of served agencies that are getting involved as well. We have been creating standards that are in line with SAFECOM and an updated task book is now in place. Thank you, Chuck, for all your efforts!

So that’s enough noise from me. Think about volunteering for something or think about a bigger, more active club. Thanks to those that have worked hard in our section.

73, Ray AA1SE

Section Manager’s Report September 2024

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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

Section Manager’s Report August 2024

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Hello, we are now getting to a busy month as clubs are having gatherings, doing POTA activations and working on your tan. Radio in the summer has all kinds of opportunities. Hope you partake in some of them.

The League is still having issues within their system. LOTW and the Learning Center and others are functioning but other thing may be some time before it is restored. One item is my aa1se@arrl.org email address. It appears other hams can contact me directly with it but within the system it does not. So section emails are not working. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell others to come to this website for information, and to use ray.aa1se@gmail.com for email. Thanks in advance.

Speaking of the Learning Center, I just took the basic and intermediate EMCOMM courses that was just released. I really liked how they put it together and its ease to get through it. I highly encourage you to go to https://learn.arrl.org/ to access these and other offerings and take advantage of some good, free education on radio.

As it is August, we come to the part of summer where our thoughts turn to our annual HamXposition convention. Would you believe this thing has been around for 100 years! This year is looking to be better than last year. Huge thanks go out to ALL those that organizes this event. As usual I will be there in the flea market selling my goodies and Sunday I will be indoors. Stop on over and say hi. 9AM on Sunday Chuck W1SL and myself will have our WMA forum. I would like to see more than a dozen attend. I will have a couple of items but for the most part it is YOUR meeting. What do you want to know, what do you want us to do for you, suggestions, feedback. This is a good spot for it. So, I hope to see you there and not the crickets.

I hope everyone is having a great summer and doing all the things you wanted to do…as long as you have radio stuff with you! Hi-hi! Enjoy and see you at the convention!

73,
Ray AA1SE

Section Manager’s Report July 2024

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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

Section Manager’s Report June 2024

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Rest in peace MFJ and You Do It Electronics. I don’t know about you; free enterprise and small business seems to be dying rapidly. I think the advancements of technology has a bad side when you look at a computer and just order something. No customer service, no travel, large corporations just getting fatter and fatter without a care. Small business just doesn’t have a chance. Sad. End of rant.

Already halfway through the year. Yikes! Here comes Field Day. As per previous years. I will be doing “the tour.” I wonder if the Hampden Country Radio Club will invite Yogi Bear this year? As usual I will attempt to visit each one. I know where most of you will be, if any have changed venues let me know. Make sure you put yourself in the ARRL Field Day Locator.

I made the pilgrimage to Dayton this year. I spent a good amount of time at the ARRL booth answering questions and meeting many hams from all over. Nice to see some of the locals too. It was a great crowd and I did get some toys. I did leave there a little poorer, but I felt a bit invigorated as well.

Speaking of the ARRL, they have been dealing with a serious IT issue that has impacted multiple aspects of their system. They have been quiet about it as the last update was on the 22nd. I really hope the league and the directors look at this issue and try to get a solution to not only the system issue but also the personnel issue for that department.

If your club is looking for something to recognize an accomplishment by one of your members, there are a number of certificates available for download to print. Get some fancy cardstock and present one to them. There are a few like Mentor award, Ragchewer, etc. More are being developed and some are reserved for officials like me. Go to the ARRL’s First Contact Award page and have a look.

Our HamXposition in Marlboro is winding up to out do last year. They have been working hard to bring you the most bang for your buck there. A lot of comments were the commercial vendors not being present. Very true! So far this year they have secured FlexRadio, Elecraft and some others. They are also having a Mini Contest University from K3LR. The Space Weather Woman will be the Saturday banquet speaker. Tickets are now on sale – go here to buy them. Help keep this convention growing. Who knows, maybe it will rival Orlando, Huntsville!

Summer is here and I hope in your plans you are going out to play some radio. POTA I am sure will be really active as the popularity is booming and only growing. Have a great, safe summer!

73,
Ray AA1SE

Section Managers Report May 2024

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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

Section Manager’s Report April 2024

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Wait for it…Wait… Where is Spring??? The Sun and warm! HURRY UP! That is the general feeling. Nice days but cold and rainy days warm. Wait for it.

I got some club visits in this month and am VERY happy to say that I am seeing some growth in attendance and in memberships. There was a number of new hams present as well. One highlight was the Quaboag Valley ARC. There was not a chair to be found. The town’s fire chief was there and very interested in ham radio in his department. Best of all was one ham GAVE a new ham a Yaesu FT DX 1200 radio in mint condition. He simply was not using it. Surely that is inspiration and incentive to get that extra in record time! Well done Quaboag. That is mentoring at it’s best! I can honestly say all club’s practicing mentoring is starting to reap rewards. Between the league, myself and others to promote it, is starting to pay off. The challenge….STAY WITH IT!

With April pretty much here the big talk around town is April 8 with the total eclipse event. There are some communities that are planning and getting ready for traffic and parking issues and other things that may have the potential to create a strain on their infrastructure. There will be a number of ham activities including a QSO party, Ham-Sci has some projects taking place and some others I am not aware of. Just be safe out there.

In the middle of the month on the 15th is the annual Boston Marathon. Approximately 300 hams from all around will be there to assist like they have been for many years. Hopefully it will be a smooth, incident free event and everyone will have fun. I volunteered for a net control position but I couldn’t break that force field, so I’ll be in transportation again.

The end of the month is the 2 day Near-Fest which is on the 25th and 26th. Yes, Thursday and Friday. A schedule error caused this and hopefully will be the only one. So, if you can, come on up Thursday and support this great hamfest. If not, see you Friday.

So, as you can see why we need that sunshine and warmth. Lot’s going on. I have a couple of antennas to work on and am sure you do too. The bands have been really hopping lately and I hope you are taking advantage of it, for your logs as well as showing ham radio and getting the new hams on the air.

Hope to see you out there in some fashion!

73,
Ray AA1SE

Section Manager’s Report March 2024

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Well, hello! Miss me? I had originally planned to get this out after the Mt. Tom hamfest to report about it. Then I discovered I have a noise issue at my QTH I am tracking down. Next thing I see is Gil WK1H giving me a gentile nudge about my report and 10 days into the month. (Thanks Gil) Yep, forgetful played a part in this too.

Ok, we had 2 hamfest’s locally, one in Marlboro and then Mt.Tom. As usual it is always great to see everyone and meet some new ones along the way. Overall, it looked like both did really good and did not disappoint those who went. Some went in and took the test and the smiles was a good sign that we have some new hams in the ranks. My hopes are they have found a mentor to help them get on the air and learn more about our hobby and have joined a club. Veteran hams don’t wait to be asked. Reach out, extend your hand and make a new friend and teach them!

Going back to the noise issue I am having, for those that do have a problem there we have resources available. Rob Leiden K1UI is an New England Assistant Division Director is in charge of RF and Spectrum management. He has assembled teams in each section and are trained in hunting down issues with equipment received from an ARDC grant. There is also a web link available here. They do ask you do some legwork to try to locate it yourself. With information in hand and need help, contact the group in your section so they can get started. Mine appears to be powerline but am not positive yet. All I needed was a portable radio and tuned to an empty frequency. The Grundig (now Eton) radios are good due to the wide range of frequencies you can go to. Rob is interested in the cases so get feedback to him as the league is looking at this also to see if will go national.

For those that do not know yet, the league’s EC-001 and EC-016 is going away after April 1. If you are doing the course now you need to have it completed by then to get credit. A new course will be out that day and will be found in the ARRL Learning Center.

Another thing making a comeback is the book donation program. Clubs looking to donate books to a library can purchase for 250 dollars including shipping. Visit this League HQ page to find out more.

That about it for now. Hope everyone will welcome spring with enthusiasm and get those outdoor projects going. Make it a club event for more fun.

See you next month. 73,
Ray AA1SE