2025 Boston Marathon Volunteer Registration Opening Soon!
All, Volunteer regestratioin for the 2025 Boston Manathon is now open. If you are interested in volunteering for the Boston Marathon as as an Amateur Radio Oprreator. Just follow the instructions contained in the link below. Larry Freitas - N1KLF Volunteer registration for the 2025 Boston Marathon is now. Returning volunteers will receive an email from the BAA that includes registration instructions. In order to make registration as smooth as possible, we are providing specific instructions for our Amateur Radio Operator (ARO) volunteers. If you haven't previously volunteered, or have a friend who would like to volunteer, please go directly to the Volunteer Registration page and follow the instructions for new volunteers. Step by Step Sign Up Guide: https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/44002570599-2025-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide A few notes for volunteers: Almost all amateur radio positions are single person assignments. We are not able to group people on a single assignment, but we will try to accommodate which segment you are assigned to in order to allow for similar start/end times. Do you want to run Boston? In recognition of the contribution the Amateur Radio Communications team provides to the Boston Marathon every year, the BAA has granted us an invitational bib to be awarded to one of our volunteers! Here¡¯s how it works: Applicants must be Boston Marathon volunteers who have served on the Amateur Radio Communications Team in at least one (1) of the most recent three (3) Boston Marathons. Applicants must agree that if selected, they will pay the applicable entry fee ($375) to the BAA. Applicants must agree to comply with all terms and conditions set by the BAA. Applicants must be capable of completing the Boston Marathon within the allotted time. Applicants must hold a valid Amateur Radio license (of any class) issued by the FCC (or regulatory body in the applicant¡¯s home country) at the time of application. Applicants must be eligible to participate in BAA events. The Amateur Radio Communications Committee will utilize the following criteria to determine how the Invitational Entry will be awarded: All interested eligible parties must fill out the linked Google Form to express their interest Applications must be received by January 3, 2025. All applicants will be entered into a random drawing for the Invitational Entry following the application deadline. The selected applicant will be notified by email by January 6, and is required to formally respond and accept within seven (7) calendar days. If after seven days, the selected applicant has not accepted the Invitational Entry, that applicant¡¯s Entry will become void and a second drawing will be held for the Entry to be reassigned. Following receipt of an Invitational Entry from the Amateur Radio Communications Team, recipients will be ineligible to receive this Invitational Entry again until the fourth Boston Marathon following their award. Help us get the word out by forwarding this email to your club and other amateur radio operators who might wish to volunteer. Most volunteers first learn about the event through word of mouth. If you know new licensees who might like to join us, please make sure to let them know about it. Even just a quick mention at your club meeting can be a big help! If you have any questions about the upcoming volunteer registration period, the invitational amateur radio bib program, or the 2025 Marathon in general, 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 fun, comfortable, and effective. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon. Thank you, and 73, Boston Marathon Communications Committee contact@... Copyright ? 2024 BAA Amateur Radio Communications Committee, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you volunteered at a past Boston Marathon. Our mailing address is: BAA Amateur Radio Communications Committee 185 Dartmouth Street 6th Floor B
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consortium date for December 2024
We are planning a Consortium meeting for 2 December 2024 . 7pm at the Manville Rod and Gun Club 250 High Street Manville. The subject will be The Icom IC-7300 Controls. Topic will include a live setup with hands on opportunities. Remember there are no dues or fees necessary to attend. Bob and I hope to see you there. BTW, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Jim J K1GND
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CMC choke resources
Hello BVARC, Following my talk on CMC (Common Mode Current) chokes here are some possibly helpful links. FT240-31 style fair-rite (2.4 inch mix 31) toroid core from Mouser Electronics https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fair-Rite/2631803802?qs=P8bU7i9nNAWMk1EJQzshLg%3D%3D&countryCode=US¡ècyCode=USD $6.35 each in single quantities (plus shipping). It's important to order these from a reputable source as cheaper knock-offs abound. Email me if you are interested in placing a group order and how many you want. We could also order some high quality teflon insulated coax and UHF connectors to form a complete kit and build some together at a future meeting. Commercial alternatives: https://myantennas.com/wp/product-category/cmc-2/ https://palomar-engineers.com/rfiemi-solutions/common-mode-noise-coax-filter/ I've used the MyAntennas Common mode choke (RF Isolator) at my antenna feedpoint with good results. I was asked about the effect on the antenna SWR. The antenna is an 80-10 OCFD and adding the choke shifted the resonance on 80 meters so the coverage across the bands aligned better. It greatly reduced the RFI issue with our whole house smoke alarm, and also lowered the receive noise level. End fed or off center fed antennas are much more likely to create RFI issues due to so called "common mode currents". Every situation is potentially different so how much this will help in your shack depends. For "random wires" and end fed half waves which are popular for POTA preventing the feedline from radiating as part of the antenna and using a dedicated counterpoise can provide better results. Alternatively, if you want your coax feed line to act as a radial (or radiator) you can place the choke nearer the transmitter to prevent RFI problems. 73, Peter K1AV
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25th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day December 7, 2024
Hi Everyone, Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. On Saturday, December 7th, same day as our Christmas Party, Skywarn is having a special event and we our hoping a lot of Rhode Islanders can help out. Just a few radio calls from everyone who has ever been part of Skywarn would help a lot. Thanks, Teri- W1PUP 25th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day December 7, 2024 There will be a SRD special event from 0000 ¨C 2359 UTC on the day. The objective is for all amateur stations to exchange QSO information with as many Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters and National Weather Service Stations as possible on the 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2-meter and 70-centimeter bands. ARRL will be on the air during the event from the ARRL Radio Laboratory station, W1HQ, using the call sign WX1AW. Spotters are encouraged to register for SRD at https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition. There will be participation certificates available after the event. 2024 SKYWARN Recognition Day Participant Sign Up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5-bcm8jmg4wHs0-Q3TAdo2jp8vKBtVi3O-zm3Gf8YK1jXhQ/viewform RI-ARES org site: https://new.riares.org/organization/
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2028 BVARC 75th Anniversary
Ok so I'll start this now so we have plenty of time to figure it out. (Also I'm wide awake at 4am as usual and brainstorming ideas to keep the cabin fever at bay) As brought up at the September and October 2024 meetings, I guess I need to form a committee for the 75th anniversary of BVARC. So anyone who would like to input or be on the committee please let me know, many hands make less work for everyone, or something like that. ;) First the club will be 75 years old in 2028. I propose we use W1DDD/75 for the year and have special QSL cards made for those who would like to send a QSL card and a SASE. Now with that we'll need a QSL mamanger. I would have no issue with that part. Maybe enlist a couple club members to help fill out cards or I'm thinking print the stickers with the QSO info from the logs and attach to the cards, a common practice I've been noticing lately. Then I'm thinking well what about foreign stations? A Forever Stamp for International is currently $1.65 each. Do we set up like the DX stations where they pay on a site and we send them the QSL card via Bureau or Direct? Some stations charge $3 to 5 USD for a QSL card to cover their costs of the card, envelopes and postage. I find that fair as some stations use those funds for non profits in their country, others use it to make more QSL cards and of course the cost of postage is constantly climbing. Also thinking most of us use N3FJP logging software and LOTW, some use QRZ.com and eQSL. Biggest thing is we'll need to have one person get the logs to verify QSO info for the QSLs and QSL Cards. As for operating, thinking we need to coordinate that also, or do we set specific frequencies on each band? Also do we do some POTA/SOTA operating that year as a club? As for Winter and Summer Field Days, we'll stick to W1DDD as adding the /75 will be too much when operating for those 2 events. (Same for the 2m Wednesday Nets but that's up to the Net Control Station) As I say I'm brainstorming ideas for the future. 73 Matt NA1Q
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FIELD DAY RESULTS
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https://contests.arrl.org/ContestResults/2024/Field-Day-2024-FinalQSTResults.pdf
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HAM Radio Items For Sale
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To BVARC members, Patty¡¯s cousin, WE1G, recently passed. He was a HAM since 2021. He lived in Merrimack, NH. His family, daughter and son-in-law, have idea what to do with his radio equipment. After his services last Saturday, they asked if Patty and I would stop by his house. We offered to help them sell some equipment and send them the money for each item sold to them. These items, less the antenna, are at our home in Blackstone. The following are a few items that we wanted to list first: - Icom 7300 sold to Roland Blais - Yaesu FT 710 Transceiver had very limited to no usage. We set it up at our house and it worked fine. Asking $750. - Yaesu FT 70DR/DE Handheld radio. Asking $100. - Powerwerx Power supply SPS 30DM new in the box. Asking $125. - Hexbeam antenna NA4RR, includes the Yaesu rotor and controller G450, plus misc cables, etc. This needs to be taken off the barn and picked up in Merrimack, NH. Asking $500 but that includes you taking it down, disassembled and picked up. Any questions, please contact Ray KC1HQB or Patty W1AUT
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POTA activation Saturday at Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
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Hello BVARC, I¡¯m planning a POTA activation tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 11/2) around 1:30 pm at the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park in Blackstone. If you¡¯re interested you can email me, stop by, or try to make contact by checking the https://pota.app website for active spots. I¡¯ll have a small station with two portable antennas available: 1. POTA PERformer - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LwSbXXeovjJdT8ijpOi-9FYR--nNsxgD/view 2. Rybakov - https://wb3gck.com/2018/12/09/revisiting-the-rybakov-806-vertical/ 73, Peter K1AV https://pota.app/#/park/US-7971 County St & Staples Ln Blackstone, MA 01504 United States 42.01551¡ã N, 71.55257¡ã W
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Prime Day sale on TIDRADIO TD-H3
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I noticed Amazon has an interesting deal on the TIDRADIO TD-H3 for Prime Day. Does anyone have experience with these? I was drawn to USB-C charging and Bluetooth programming from your smartphone. Under $30/radio in sets of two so easy to stash in a go kit.
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NEAR900 Net tonight
If anyone is interested the NEAR900 900 mhz Net at 9pm is taking early check ins right now. You can access it either thru any of the 900 mhz repeaters or via Echolink using W1ATD-L or AllStar Node 60635. 73 Matt NA1Q
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3D2V and 3D22 active
2024 DXpedition to Rotuma is on 40m FT-8 right now. Just worked them -18/-20 @09:11UTC 10/12/2024if you need them. 73 Matt NA1Q
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I walked by this plaque for years
Just something funny for the day. 73 Marc W1MCX
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Need help getting com port in windows 11
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Hi everyone, I have a new PC and I have tried every u-tube video and cannot get the ports/comp folder to show up in the Device Manager. If anyone can walk me through their solution I'd appreciate it. Be happy to bring my computer to you if that helps. I am trying to set up FT8 and Winlink and having difficult time.
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Live repeater feed from NC
N2GE Repeater in Rutherford County NC... https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/42258
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POTA activation Saturday at WW II Veterans Memorial State Park
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I¡¯m planning a POTA activation tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 10/5) around 2pm at the World War II Veterans Memorial State Park in Woonsocket. If you¡¯re interested you can email me, stop by, or try to make contact by checking the https://pota.app website for active spots. I¡¯ll have a small station with two portable antennas that are easy to setup: 1. POTA PERformer - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LwSbXXeovjJdT8ijpOi-9FYR--nNsxgD/view 2. Rybakov - https://wb3gck.com/2018/12/09/revisiting-the-rybakov-806-vertical/ 73, Peter K1AV https://pota.app/#/park/US-2881
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Another Reason Amateur Radio is an Important Resource
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In the wake of Hurricane Helene WCNC had this story https://www.wcnc.com/article/weather/hurricane/helene/ham-radio-helene-recovery-north-carolina/275-a905e9cd-5b86-48ff-b4b5-f0e4546115dd 73 Matt NA1Q
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Settlers Day- What a success!
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Saturday was our event at Settler's Day at the Manville Sportsmen's Rod and Gun Club! I'd like to thank all who participated and hope we can do this again.
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REMINDER: BVARC Special Event ---Saturday September 28, starting at 9am- 5pm
For some reason a lot of regular emails got returned, so I am sending the notice out again thru groups io, I apologize for the duplication. The Settler¡¯s Days EVENT starts this Saturday at 9am- 5pm at Manville Sportsmen's Rod and Gun Club. Set-up will begin at 7:30 in the field in back of the Consortium building. Mickey will be providing the QSO-A GO-GO! We are looking for support from our members to stop by to get on the radio even if it¡¯s just for a half hour, speaking with interested visitors or just to support BVARC team. And if you haven¡¯t seen the QSO A GO-GO just seeing this is worth the trip! The Settler¡¯s Day¡¯s event is held yearly, the Sportsmen club is open to the public for this weekend only. This is a family event to allow the public to visit and teach gun safety, Archery and other activity for all ages. If anyone has safety concerns - we will be set-up nowhere near any shooting, we will be right by the clubhouse we the food is served. Please come and support our club. Saturday, September 28th Manville Rod and Gun Club 250 High St Manville, RI
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KL5DY on 15m FT8
If anyone needs Alaska on 15m KL5DY is on 21.074 from BP51 calling CQ on FT8 73 Matt NA1Q
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Get on 900 Mhz repeaters without the radio
Hi everyone, In light of the FCC Docket 24-240 which is the attack on the 900 Mhz band by NextNav, I would encourage fellow amateurs to try out the 900 Mhz band. And you can do it without getting expensive radios, all you need is Echolink on your computer, tablet, cellphone, or even an I-pod (I use an I-pod Touch when not using the cellphone) The NEAR900 group has 16 900 Mhz repeaters linked across New England. The closest ones to us are Cumberland RI and Wrentham MA. Outside of that, there is the lovely repeater in Marshfield MA, W1ATD which has a Echolink connection W1ATD-L listed under Links in the Echolink station list. Now I hear folks say Echolink isn't real radio, it's a mix of internet interconnection between hams and repeaters using a system similar to IRLP. So if you're not doing anything Thursday evenings, check in to the NEAR900 net at 9pm Eastern Time. Early check-ins start around 8:30-ish, and someone is usually around to take early check ins. Give you an idea, I've seen between 29 to 40 check ins on average this summer. After a taste of this band, I made a inexpensive investment (under $70.00) of a Retevis RT-10 1W Analog/DMR FM 1 watt handheld. This is the most inexpensive way on to the band, other than used commercial gea, and kind of interesting as 900 Mhz 33cm band functions like the 70cm band. 73 Matt NA1Q
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