HCRA Health and Welfare Net

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The Hampden County Radio Association will be conducting a Health and Welfare Net beginning on Tuesday May 5. The net will take place every Tuesday and Friday morning at 11:00 AM. We will continue the net for as long as there is support or need. The purpose of the net is to inform colleagues and friends of your health and welfare as well as to check on people you have not heard from recently due to social distancing. The net is open to all licensed amateurs regardless of affiliation and we encourage you to check in.

The HCRA Health and Welfare Net will be held on the Holyoke Soldier’s Home W1BR repeater on a frequency of 146.715 Mhz, PL of 100.0 and negative offset. This repeater was chosen to honor the memory of the veterans from the Soldiers Home who have passed from the corona virus. If anyone would like to become a Net Control Station on a rotating basis or even for only 1 time, perhaps to honor the memory of a family member or friend, please email: AA1WH@arrl.net

Additional information is available on HCRA’s website.

New Amateur Licensees – April 2020

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Congratulations to the latest new hams of Western Massachusetts:

Gene Howard, KC1MYI
11 Park Rd
Sunderland, MA 01375-9567

Kerry K Reynolds, KC1MYA
30 Taft St
Northbridge, MA 01534-1286

Matthew Caola, KC1MYD
460 Walnut St
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4816

Mark H English, KC1MZB
88 Whitins Rd
Sutton, MA 01590-2733

 

Section Manager Report May 2020

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Hi fellow hams,

The saga continues, sadly, and they are still saying we are still not even nearly out of the woods. I truly hope everyone out there is safe, sane, and well.

I am currently in PA undergoing my training and I have been monitoring the situation and keeping up to date as far as ARES goes. SEC Bob K1YO has been really using his time to build up the staffing and getting the communications system worked on and soon will get some trainings started, especially with Winlink and another digital modes. The progress for an active ARES service here in WMA has been phenomenal. Bob has also been getting the staff together via Zoom for any status updates and I have been present at these meetings. Thankfully there has been nothing major and we are just in a monitor state.

We just launched our new Net Listings on the website. This was put together by John Nitzke, KF1KI whom I truly thank for the effort. I took the information that those of you sent to me and updated the list so it will be a fairly active and accurate listing. The EMA section will get a copy to post as well. EMA has one in a Google Calendar on their website. The plan is both sections will have a pretty good list of nets.

Now here’s the challenge……

Anyone who wishes to access one, more, or all of the nets, HF or on repeaters, get on and check in. Obviously location and propagation will play a factor. If you go to a scheduled net o the list and not hear anything, try again at another time, and once more. If after three times you hear nothing, report it to whomever, (me for this section) I will do my best to verify and if it does not exist, I will remove it. That way you can stretch your radio’s legs a bit and see how your station is performing. If you have a net you go to regularly and it’s not on the list send it to me to put in or if you can edit it in Word you can do it but keep it in the same format please. If there is great participation, we should have more net activity and a nice active listing to go to.

That should do it for now, Thanks to all who are doing their part in keeping the situation as safe and tolerable as possible. Especially those on the front lines who are facing it head on!

Most 73 to you all!
Ray, KB1LRL

New England QSO Party

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The New England QSO Party will be held on May 2nd and 3rd.  Now’s your chance to be the sought after stations instead of the other way around!

The NEQP is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries. You’ll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.

We’re working to make sure that all of the New England counties are active again this year and would appreciate your help. Get on for at least an hour or two and join in on the fun. Please let me know if you can put in any time at all so we can work on activity from the rarest counties. Will you be QRV? Let us know by email which county you’ll be on from.

Oh yes, the NEQP is also lots of fun when mobile. Every time you cross a county line the action starts over again. It’s amazing what a 100w radio and mobile whip can do.

The QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep Saturday night. It goes from 4pm Saturday until 1am Sunday, then 9am Sunday until 8pm Sunday. Operate on CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters. For each QSO you’ll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state. Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who makes 25 QSOs and sends in a log will get a certificate.

The full NEQP rules are here. Hope to hear you on the air during the contest!

CMARA Breakfast Net Helping Fellow Hams

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The Central MA Amateur Radio Association has recently started up a new Breakfast Net.  The net runs on their W1BIM repeater system every day at 9 AM local as well as on 80m on 3982 kHz at 10 AM local.

The purpose of the Breakfast Net is twofold.  First is to reach out to all hams in the area and keep us socially connected during these times of physical isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and enjoy some easy-going conversation.  The second is to check in and see if anyone needs help during these times, with special attention towards older folks whom are more at risk from the virus.  In many cases, the net arranges for others that are already going to be out and about to help get groceries or other supplies and deliver them to those more at risk.

All are welcome to check in on either the repeater or the HF versions of the net.  See you there!

Looking for Local Net Information

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Hi everyone,

I am looking to add to our website a listing of all the nets in the state as well as within the listening footprint. These can be casual, emergency, hf or repeater nets. The Eastern Ma website has a good one available and want to combine them with what we get so anyone has a means to see whats there for nets.

The purpose is to give new hams a resource to use nets for on-air experience, also given the current situation it can give all hams a reliable, active resource in which to participate in various nets. The league has listings but they have not been updated in some time. Having ours on our website we can maintain it better.

Send me what you have to rplajoie@comcast.net. Even though I may already know it send it along. Include any nets you regularly participate in even if it’s from another state. The more, the merrier.

Thanks and stay safe and sane.
Ray KB1LRL

HamExposition Postponed Until Nov 6-8

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I hope this messages finds you safe and healthy.   After long consideration, the convention committee has decided to postpone the 2020 convention to the week of November 6 through 8. 
 
There are several reasons for this, the first and foremost is the health and well-being of our attendees.   In addition, there are many logistical problems with holding the convention in July, even under the most favorable conditions of the pandemic emergency being over by then.
 
1. We believe it is unlikely that the state’s ban on large gatherings will be completely lifted by the end of July.
 
2. Even if it were, we believe attendance will be severely impacted due to lingering (and quite appropriate caution).
 
3. Almost all of our exhibitors are unwilling to commit to anything prior to June.
 
4. The convention is subject to penalties for cancellation.  The penalties increase as we get closer to the convention date.  By moving to November, we move out the schedule on these penalties.  This will allow us to reassess the viability of the convention in early August.  By then we will have further insight into  prevailing conditions.
 
5. The November weekend was the only one available to us – and could be lost to another group if we did not act on it.
 
We know that many look forward to attending each year, and have probably grown weary of all the cancellations of events like these.  However, given the reality of the situation, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to postpone.
 
 
Stay safe & 73,
 
Bob – K1IW
Chairman
Northeast HamXposition 2020

New Amateur Licensees – March 2020

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Congratulations to the latest new hams of Western Massachusetts:

Antonio J Costa, KC1MTR
320 S East St
Amherst, MA 01002-2615

Daniel P Lesperance, KC1MTS
63 Laskowski St
Chicopee, MA 01020-3577

Joseph P Gomes, KC1MTM
PO Box 24
Cummington, MA 01026-0024

Robert Denault, KC1MXD
36 Lombard Ave
East Longmeadow, MA 01028-1641

Mark Bouchard, KC1MTO
267 Parker St
East Longmeadow, MA 01028-2614

Sarah K Oelker, KC1MTX
75 Evergreen Dr
Holyoke, MA 01040-1619

Matthew Chipman, KC1MTQ
1 Chatham Way
South Hadley, MA 01075-7517

Peter G Goodale, KC1MTW
180 Stony Hill Rd
Wilbraham, MA 01095-1510

Gary G Boyd, KC1MTP
78 Lumae St
Springfield, MA 01119-2506

Craig A Melchiori, KC1MTN
42 Edgemere Rd
Dalton, MA 01226-2012

Samantha Wood, KC1MTY
188 Silver St
Greenfield, MA 01301-1804

Ronald T Malotte, KC1MWX
176 Maple Ave
Apt 5-01
Rutland, MA 01543-1337

Igor Leib, KC1MWJ
94 E Main St
Westborough, MA 01581-1417

Damien M Lapierre, KC1MUT
11 Westview Dr
Sutton, MA 01590-1848

Section Manager Report April 2020

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Hi everyone. What a difference a month makes. Last month we were looking forward to meeting’s, hamfests, baseball, etc. Now the new sport that’s popular is toilet paper searches and keeping the kids occupied. Needless to say, this has become a sobering experience for a lot of people. This also brings a new respect for those into making (makers) and preppers. We as hams share similar interests as we are always working on our gear so it will work under bad conditions and situations. Now that we are hunkered down, I’m sure ham projects are getting worked on and caught up, and BETTER!

With the situation in place, clubs have had to cancel events and meetings. Members have been coming up with ways to stay active within the group. I have seen some new nets springing up and there is some online stuff as well. There is a WMA page on Facebook where clubs can share information and ideas. It is pretty secured so no junk will get in. Of course, any articles of interest to all can go to Gil, WK1H, Grant, KC1KCE, our new PIO, or myself. With that, The League as you know is all working from home and can be contacted via email. There have been questions regarding exam sessions that people have been preparing for. They are looking at this as well as other things to keep parts of these areas moving. There is chatter, although nothing confirmed that the Extra class question pool may get extended to cover those that were studying before the June 30 cutoff. I’ll keep you posted.

Some of you know of my latest act of insanity where I retired from my job and went to school and got my CDL. March 30 I will be out of state going to orientation and training with Schneider. When I am done, I will be going over the road over 37 states. This was a little premature but none of the local companies would not hire unless you have experience, despite the huge demand. I will still, the best I can continue to keep up to date, attend online meetings and answer emails and calls, etc. There is good forward momentum going on, I want to keep it going.

As I have mentioned in the past, I have always encouraged the advancement of Ham Radio in some form. Whether it’s learning a new mode, taking lessons on EMCOMM, building antennas, etc. If you have kids or grandkids, this is an excellent opportunity to “home school” them in science, or if you are good, math. This hobby richly promotes STEM, what a great opportunity while at home! While I am away and, on my downtime, I do plan on busting out the Morse Code cd’s and learning code…again! Let’s see where that gets me.

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. With any luck we will be out of this and we get back to normal with the exception that we ALL, hams or not, have learned from this experience.

Thank you all and 73!

73,
Ray, KB1LRL