Aron, W1AKI, Abby, KC1FFX and her dad Jamey, KC1ENX operated in the ARRL Rookie Roundup on Sunday, April 16 as a Multi Op Entry from the AB1OC/AB1QB QTH. They had a constant stream of callers throughout the 6-hour contest and made a total of 273 QSOs and earned a score of 15,437.
This was the club’s 2nd consecutive year operating in the ARRL Rookie Roundup and it was great to see how Aron, Abby, and Jamey have improved their contesting skills over the past year! They are now seasoned contesters!
Jamey, KC1ENX and Abby, KC1FFX operating in the ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB
The N1FD team took first place in the Multi-Op Area 1 category and had the highest score of all entries in the contest, narrowly beating out KM4LAO, the top single op who was operating from Michigan.
Here are some comments on operating in the contest from Aron, W1AKI:
It was a lot of fun! The pileups weren’t too bad, and people were very patient, which made it a really friendly environment. Everyone could take their time to make sure that the exchange was made correctly. (This was especially important since there were several other contests going on over the same weekend.) We made a QSO with a KL7TH, rookie in Alaska and she seemed at least as excited to get NH as I was to get Alaska. I got a generous handful of calls from hams who got their licenses back in in the 1950s. I made a DX contact with someone in the Caribbean who got their first license a while back in the UK, and another DX contact with Italy.
Thanks go to Anita AB1QB and Fred AB1OC for the use of their station and for their guidance! We were all limited to 100W, but I could really hear the Alaska station come up loud and clear as I swung the 4 over 4 SteppIRs around to the right heading, and it became an easy QSO to make. I also got great signals from a few mobile stations and a few QRP stations.
Looking at the results, I am struck by two things: (1) KM4LAO, the YL in Michigan who came in a very close second to us did it working all by herself, and (2) there were so few entries! Whether it’s your first contest, or you’re working your way up the learning curve, or you want to help others learn what it is about contesting that you’ve been enjoying for years — and give them another point, the Rookie Roundups are a great opportunity. You don’t need to worry about “mic fright” because there are no serial numbers in the exchange: you give the same information to everyone.
The upcoming CW and RTTY Rookie Roundups are a great incentive for me to work on my code and to try out digital modes. There aren’t many better places to make your first contacts in a new mode.
My OM, Fred, AB1OC found out some time in 2010 that he could get a Ham Radio license without needing to pass a code test. He took his test in December 2010 and got his Technician, General and Extra license in one exam session. I have a background in Electrical Engineering so I picked up his books and thought it would not be hard to get my license as well. In April 2011, I passed both my Tech and General exams and was licensed as a General.
QSL Card from FO/AB1OC and FO/AB1QB from Bora Bora
A few months later, Fred was invited to go on a trip to Bora Bora, French Polynesia. I was studying about propagation for my Extra class and saw that this would be a great place to operate from as we were staying in bungalows out over the water. I suggested that we take a radio along on the trip. Before long we had a whole portable station with an IC-7000, Buddipoles, a Signalink for digital, antenna tuners, the whole works. I was responsible for getting our operating licenses for French Polynesia. I learned that in order to operate, we needed to both have Extra licenses. That was my incentive to get my Extra, which I got in December 2011, just in time for our trip in February 2012.
AB1QB in 2014 JARTS RTTY Contest
What do you like to do most with Ham Radio?
My favorite Ham Radio activities are DXing and RTTY Contesting. I have earned a DXCC Challenge and have confirmed 290 DX entities and I have earned certificates in the ARRL RTTY Roundup as #1 in New Hampshire, and the BARTG HF RTTY contest, where I placed in the top 5 in my category. I have also earned the JARL Century Cities award for contacting 100 Cities in Japan. I am just one contact short of my 5 Band WAS, looking for that last contact with Alaska on 80 meters.
My pursuit of new DX entities led me to create my current hobby project, the DX Alarm Clock, a Raspberry Pi based software program that I can customize to notify me when those needed entities are spotted on the air.
AB1QB logging for AB1OC/M during the NPOTA activation.
I also like that Ham Radio involves such a diverse set of activities. I have been a tower climbing ground crew, helped to build (and rebuild) a SteppIR DB36 Yagi, was a driver and member of the Hollis site management team for WRTC 2014. I have also operated as W1AW/1 during the ARRL Centennial and as K2K in the 13 Colonies Special Event. and operated from a mobile station in our F150 from several National Parks.
What is your background?
My educational background is in Electrical Engineering and most of my technical experience is in Software Development and Program Management. I am currently a Program Manager at Verizon managing projects related to a cloud platform.
Nashua Area Radio Club License Training Class
What do you like to do with the Club?
I am currently the Activities Chairperson for the club. I have organized several contesting activities at our home QTH to help other club members to become involved with contesting. These include the ARRL Rookie Roundups, including the latest one where the multi-op N1FD entry achieved the highest score in the contest. We also hosted a multi-single entry for CQ WW SSB, where we helped the club get a DXCC in a weekend. I am also an instructor for our Ham Radio license classes, where I teach digital modes and propagation. I also use my project management skills to manage all of the logistics for the classes including the VE sessions. It is a great feeling to be able to help people get their licenses.
Gordon West Extra Class Book – Used in our License Class
Our last license class this Spring will be the Extra Class scheduled for April 28-30 at Dartmouth Hitchcock Nashua. We still have openings in the class – you can sign up using the online form on our website. We hold the exam session at the end of the class so you could walk out with your Extra license and get privileges to all of the Amateur Bands!
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