Section Manager Report for January 2018

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Hello everyone. This is going to be a regular feature to keep all up to date in the going’s on in our section. Anything of timely importance will be posted separately as normal.

As you are aware my priority has been getting a staff together to fill spots that are vacant or to replace those who wish to step aside. First of all, I would like to welcome Cory Goodall AC1AZ as our SW Mass ASM, and Roland Chaffee KC1VQ as our new SGL. The top of the list is selecting a new Section Emer. Coord. This is an important one as I consider this a cornerstone to the organization. With this we can align our EC staffing to an efficient structure and review and revamp our communications plan. With this plan I look to use this as a means to promote our abilities to the served agencies. It is understandable that ARES is going through a revamp in itself and FEMA may play a part in things, I do ask that this does not be a decision factor. The other position needed is a Public Information Coordinator. This role will be expanded as I will be looking to “get the word out”. Not just to the media as needed but in promotion as well. Also, I have a need for an ASM for the northwest sector.

One thing to consider is these positions may seem like a huge job, my emphasis is going to be teamwork! Everyone working together does make the job easier, it can also make it interesting and also fun. This way also we do not burnout as quickly.

Ok, enough of that. Lately I have been listening to the Paxton repeater more as our ASM, Greg WA1JXR has started a really cool net to teach people CW. He has for the last two weeks had check ins of at least 36 hams and reports of others listening on other receivers! This is huge! This is what our section needs more of throughout and Greg nailed it. Well done! The other thing that encourages me is the amount of new hams and others offering to assist. This, I feel is what keeps new hams interested as they feel there is something more other than just getting their license. This repeater has been a popular one for a long time, and the huge footprint certainly helps. All to often I hear repeaters out there with very little activity. I encourage those to use them more to promote your clubs, assist the newbies and anything else that comes to mind.

One thing I wish to highlight is we do have technical assistance team within our section. This is headed by Brian Arsenault N1FIY. He has a few tech specialist’s available. If anyone is in need of assistance in anything reach out to them. I hear they can’t wait to help.

If there is anything that comes to mind that you wish to let me know, please feel free to email me. I have asked the staff to give me an informal report of their activities and news (or gossip hi-hi). I do want to know what’s going on out there. Remember, I am the voice to the League for you. I also want to thank all those that emailed me in welcoming me to the section. In closing, please consider volunteering for a spot that is available. Together, I want to do good things.

73 to all and Thanks

Ray, KB1LRL

FCARC to Support the Greenfield Winter Carnival Sleigh Bell Race

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The Greenfield Winter Carnival Sleigh Bell Race will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2018. The Franklin County Amateur Radio Club will be supporting this event as they have in the past.

The amateur radio support team will meet at the Hope and Olive Restaurant. Because of last year’s UHF frequency disaster, and the new court house, this year they will be testing for use of simplex. Specifically, the most likely channel of use for this event will be the FCARC simplex frequency of 147.435 MHz. Please have your handhelds and mobiles set up with a channel for the 147.435 Simplex.

Setup and taking in people for radio positions will begin at 8:00 AM. The race start time has traditionally been at 10:00 AM. The race traditionally takes about 90 minutes for the last runner/walker to make it back to the Hope and Olive Restaurant start/Finish line.

All those interesting in helping with this effort, please contact Richard KB1NOX at stwricha@aol.com.  More details on the Greenfield Winter Carnival, including the Sleigh Bell Race, are available at the event website.

Learn CW Training Net on VHF

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The Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association will be conducting a “Learn CW Training Net” on the Club Repeater W1BIM on 146.97 PL 114.8 on Monday Nights at 7:30 PM starting January 15.

Greg WA1JXR will be your Net Control Operator and CW Instructor. The purpose of the Net is to teach Ham Radio Operators new and old how to send and receive CW. The net will be a combination of FM voice as well as modulated CW (MCW) transmissions over the repeater. CMARA members as a club project have built an MCW interface for their 2M FM radios which will allow them to send CW. If others are interested in obtaining a MCW Interface Kit you can contact Greg WA1JXR at wa1jxr@comcast.net and I will start an interested list. If we get a minimum of 10 kit orders I will do a bulk buy of parts and circuit board and assemble more kits.

So check it off on your calendar and check into the “Learn CW Training Net” on Monday nights and learn and have fun with the Original Digital Mode, CW.

73’s Greg Algieri WA1JXR

Volunteer Registration for Boston Marathon Now Open

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Volunteer registration is open for the 2018 Boston Marathon! Sign up today on the BAA’s web site. You don’t need to specify any group name or passcode. Just make sure you request at least one ham radio assignment in your preferences. Once you get your application confirmation number, you’re all set.

If you’re a returning volunteer, you’ll be asked to provide your BAA Volunteer Loyalty Number. You should’ve received that in a separate e-mail from the BAA today. There’s also a tool to look it up on the BAA volunteer site. If you still have trouble finding it, e-mail us and we can help you out.

Don’t delay! Volunteer registration closes in early February. Help us get the word out by forwarding this e-mail to your club and other hams who might like to volunteer. Most volunteers first learn about the event through word of mouth. If you know new amateurs who might like to join us, make sure to let them know about it. Even just a quick mention at your club meeting can be a big help.

Again, If you have any questions about volunteer registration, or the 2018 Marathon generally, please get in touch anytime. Volunteering at the Marathon is a big job, and we appreciate the time and effort everyone puts into it. We’re happy to do what we can to make your work more comfortable or effective.

Again, we look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Thank you, and 73,

Matthew Forman, K6MCF
for the Boston Marathon Communications Committee
contact@hamradioboston.org

KB1LRL Reaches Out Regarding Section Field Appointments

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Hello to all Amateur Radio enthusiasts. I hope that you all had and will have a wonderful holiday season.

As some or most are aware, I will be assuming the duties of Western MA Section Manager as of January 1st. I wish to first and foremost want thank Ed, W1KT for his leadership for the last 12 years. I wish him the best of luck in the future.

Since my election to the position, what I have been looking for is what needs to be done to revitalize this section and get it updated to meet the needs of all the parties involved. The major task is to get the proper staffing in place. Some have indicated they do not wish to continue with their positions. I ask that they continue to support me as I select a new candidate to replace them.

The biggest one is the Section Emergency Coordinator. John N2YHK does not wish to continue in this position. I thank John for his tenure. He has made valuable contributions during his time. So, at this time, I will be looking for individuals to consider taking on this position. Please read the Appointment Description in the ARRL website or by clicking on the SEC staff member on this website. When a SEC is selected, we will work on firming up the county level DEC’s, local EC’s and the rest of the WMA ARES organization.

The Amateur Auxiliary and the OO program is currently under review and updating by the ARRL and the FCC so there will be no changes or additions until the new protocol is in place.

One of the position I will be looking for along with the SEC will be two more Assistant Section Managers, one for the southwest quadrant of the section and one for the northwest quadrant.

I am asking that anyone who is interested in any position, is wishing to continue or wants to step aside please send me an email. I ask to also please spread the word to the various clubs and let them know as well. I will be reviewing all based on qualifications, and their involvement and participation currently.

I will be emailing others with existing WMA ARRL field appointments to see what their wishes are. But, I do ask that everyone please email me and give me the information I ask and a brief summary of your qualifications, and what you have contributed to the section since the appointment. Please again let others know who may not view this website. There will be more communication as time goes on. I do not wish to make this a huge message, but, we as a section needs to get a lot in place at the start. I do ask once again to consider becoming part of the Western Ma Section team.

Thank you and 73,
Ray KB1LRL

Communications Interoperability Training with Amateur Radio Community Set

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Elements of the US Department of Defense (DOD) will conduct a “communications interoperability” training exercise November 4-6, once again simulating a “very bad day” scenario. Amateur Radio and MARS organizations will take part.

“This exercise will begin with a national massive coronal mass ejection event which will impact the national power grid as well as all forms of traditional communication, including landline telephone, cellphone, satellite, and Internet connectivity,” Army MARS Program Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, explained in an announcement.

During the exercise, a designated DOD Headquarters entity will request county-by-county status reports for the 3,143 US counties and county equivalents, in order to gain situational awareness and to determine the extent of impact of the scenario. Army and Air Force MARS organizations will work in conjunction with the Amateur Radio community, primarily on the 60-meter interoperability channels as well as on HF NVIS frequencies and local VHF and UHF, non-Internet linked Amateur Radio repeaters.

Again this year, a military station on the east coast and the Fort Huachuca, Arizona, HF station will conduct a high-power broadcast on 60-meter channel 1 (5330.5 kHz) on Saturday from 0300 to 0315 UTC. New this year will be an informational broadcast on Sunday, on 13,483.5 kHz USB from 1600 to 1615 UTC. Amateur Radio operators should monitor these broadcasts for more information about the exercise and how they can participate in this communications exercise, English said.

“We want to continue building on the outstanding cooperative working relationship with the ARRL and the Amateur Radio community,” English said. “We want to expand the use of the 60-meter interop channels between the military and amateur community for emergency communications, and we hope the Amateur Radio community will give us some good feedback on the use of both the 5-MHz interop and the new 13-MHz broadcast channels as a means of information dissemination during a very bad day scenario.

Ham Radio Clubs Brings JOTA to the Scouts

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On September 21st at 7am, three radio clubs converged at the district Boy Scouts headquarters in Lancaster, MA to introduce amateur radio to the local scouts for the 60th annual JOTA event. The Scouts and their parents and other leaders were given a demonstration of some of the many facets of Ham Radio.

The three clubs participating were the Montachusett ARA from Lunenburg, Nashoba Valley ARC from Pepperell, and the Mohawk ARC from Gardner. Mohawk ARC brought their communications trailer, NVARC provided their tower trailer and MARA brought radios and supporting gear.

The scouts were treated to many aspects of radio including QRP kit radios, SSB, DMR, Morse code, phonetics and Echolink. The scouts had the opportunity to make contacts with other JOTA event stations across the country.

The biggest hit was the Foxhunt demonstration where the Scouts enjoyed the warm weather and attempted to locate the transmitter using tri-angulation. Stan Pozerski, KD1LE along with Skip Youngberg K1NKR created Thinking Day on the Air events for the Girl Scouts and brought their expertise in enhancing this event. They also set up tables with practice keyers and Morse code sheets and coached them on the code as well as phonetics. Kevin Erickson, N1ERS and his Mohawk group bought their nicely setup utility trailer set up for operation and gave the kids a great SSB demonstration.

This was the second event for JOTA and it saw an increased amount of participation by both Scouts and volunteers. MARA extends great appreciation to all the clubs and the volunteers for such a successful event and looks forward to a bigger and better one next year.

de Ray, KB1LRL

From ARRL President: Relief Efforts Need Your Help

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Dear ARRL Member:

There are few times when I have needed to reach out directly to you for your help. This is one of those times.

The American Red Cross (ARC) has asked ARRL for assistance with relief efforts in Puerto Rico. In the nearly 75-year relationship between ARRL and ARC, this is the first time ARC has made a request for assistance on this scale. Hurricane Maria has devastated the island’s communications infrastructure. Without electricity and telephone, and with most of the cell sites out of service, millions of people are cut off from communicating. Shelters are unable to reach local emergency services and people cannot check on the welfare of their loved ones. The situation is dire.

How can you help?

1)    Volunteer. ARC needs up to 50 radio amateurs who can help record, enter, and submit disaster-survivor information into the ARC Safe and Well system. There are very specific requirements and qualifications needed for this deployment; for instance, familiarity with Winlink, an Amateur Radio license of General class or higher, and previous experience in disaster response. Deployment will be for up to 3 weeks (at ARC expense). If you would like to be considered for deployment, please complete the following online ARRL form, which asks for your qualifications and skills: Volunteer Deployment Form

2)    Donate to Ham Aid. ARRL’s Ham Aid program loans Amateur Radio equipment kits to established Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) groups and partner agencies during disaster response, in order to establish Amateur Radio communications support. Ham Aid is supported by donations from individuals and corporations – including many of our ham radio industry partners. ARRL has previously staged Ham Aid equipment in Texas, and in the last few weeks, we have supplied kits in Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Our supply of Ham Aid kits has been rapidly depleted. Your donation to Ham Aid will help us now. Your contributions to Ham Aid are 100% tax deductible. To make a donation online, go to www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form and select “Ham Aid” from the ARRL donation form. To donate by mail, print a donation form, and mail it with your check payable to ARRL, noting “Ham Aid” on the memo line of your check; mail to ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 USA.

It has been four weeks since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas. In little over a month, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria have left paths of destruction and catastrophic flooding that will impact the lives of people throughout the southeast U.S. and Caribbean for years to come. Throughout these disasters, our trained ham radio volunteers, and especially those in coordinating roles, have helped us meet the requests of our partner agencies and organizations. To all ham radio operators who have been on alert, activated, deployed, or donated, THANK YOU. We are grateful for your service and for your generosity.

73
Rick Roderick, K5UR
ARRL President

NCS’s and Ops Needed For SATERN SSB Net During Hurricane Maria

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Greetings:

The International SATERN SSB Net has been in daily operation from 0900 (CT) / 1400 Z until at least 1800 (CT) / 2300 Z (at least until 900 or 2000 (CT) the last two days) since this past Tuesday, 19 September 2017.   SATERN had initially planned on terminating the Net operations for Hurricane Maria by today, Friday, 22 September 2017, However, the amount of Health & Welfare messages flowing through the Net the last two days is expected to continue today and likely through at least Sunday or Monday (25 September).

Hurricane Maria is now the fourth activation of the International SATERN SSB Net in a month. As a result, our dedicated group of Net Control and Net Relay Stations are very tired and it is time to reach out for some assistance.

Therefore, I am asking the ARRL, HWN and MARS to reach out to their operators to ask them to assist the International SATERN SSB Net in one of two ways:

  • By signing up for a one hour slot as Net Control Operators sometime on Saturday, Sunday and / or Monday. To do this send an email to the following people indicating what time(s) they are available from 0900 (CT) / 1400 Z until 1800 (CT) / 2300 Z any one or more of those three days:
    Net Manager Ken Gilliland (AG6SV)
    Assistant Net Manager Bob Rogers (WA5EEZ)

    We are looking for experienced, qualified Net Control Operators who have had some experience as both a Net Control Operator and in handling messages by voice. Net Control Operators with a strong signal (power, antennas, etc.) and / or bilingual would be a valuable additional asset / skill.  The Net is operating on 14.265 MHz.

  • For those who may not wish to be a Net Control Operator or simply want to do more in addition to that, SATERN always needs Net Relay Stations to simply check-in and assist that hour’s Net Control Station.  With Net Control Stations operating from all over the country, they often may not hear a station with message traffic. As a result they rely on the Net Relay Stations to assist them with that. Stations with a strong propagation path into the Caribbean (especially Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and others) are especially valuable. Again, bilingual operators are a particular asset in this operation.

As National SATERN Liaison, I sincerely thank each of you for being willing to help out in this operation.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Bill Feist, WB8BZH
National SATERN Liaison
Bill.Feist@uss.salvationarmy.org

Volunteering in Florida ARES Mutual Assistance

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The ARRL has been asked to share the following from the Communications Branch Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management:

“The State of Florida appreciates the service of ARES. State of Florida SEOC and its staff will never request individuals or provide individuals any information on an incident.  All requests for individuals in the ARES program in the State of Florida will follow the North Florida ARES Plan and direction of their Section Manager Stephen Szabo. Absolutely no direct communications to the SEOC or its staff is to be made by individuals to request to be deployed or provide services at anytime.”

Any amateur wishing to volunteer to assist needs to go through the ARRL Northern Florida Manager Steve Szabo’s established processes, as that is the system Florida Emergency Management is utilizing to coordinate Amateur Radio activities.  Under no circumstances should individual Amateurs contact Florida Emergency Management.

We also remind ARRL / ARES volunteers who may be assisting in support of the ongoing relief and recovery efforts that the only persons who should be speaking on behalf of the ARRL or its field organization are the ARRL Section Manager or their Public Information Coordinator / Public Information Officer.   Unfortunately we have had reports of false information being apparently shared via Amateur Radio channels.  This type of misinformation can negatively affect the hard work being done by various Emergency Management agencies involved, as well as the various agencies also providing assistance, and can be harmful to the efforts of the Amateur community trying to assist in the response and relief efforts. ARRL SMs, PICs, and PIOs only provide information publicly where it has been vetted by state officials, and only as directed.  Unauthorized false reports can seriously and negatively impact the work of relief and recovery officials as well as damage the good relationships that Amateurs have in those relief and recovery communities.  Let the trained PICs/PIOs do their jobs!

Thanks to the hundreds of Amateurs who are providing communications assistance as this story continues to unfold.  With everyone working in concert and through appropriate channels, your work is helping make a difference.

Dan Henderson, N1ND
Assistant Secretary, the American Radio Relay League, Inc.
Regulatory Information Manager
ARRL – the national association for Amateur Radio
Phone: 860-594-0236

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