Category Archives: Activities

Nashua Area Radio Society activities. Included is Field Day, our Annual Picnic, Tech Nights, On The Air Activations and much more.

Activities, Education and Training, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

HAB Open House

On May 6, members and friends of the HAB (High-Altitude Balloon) Project gathered at Anita (AB1QB) and Fred’s (AB1OC) QTH for an open house to introduce the students participating in our project to amateur radio and the HAB itself. The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating with us, as rain was in the forecast. In fact, this was supposed to be the week before our actual launch so we could do some prep work with the kids. Fate had other ideas for the launch, however, as it was postponed due to more rain and has been since rescheduled to June 3.

Among the students there, we had representation from Merrimack High School, Bishop Guertin High School, and our independent group of which Abby (KC1FFX) and Connor (KC1GGX) made up 2/3 of the students.

HAB Project - Teachers (and a student) from Merrimack and Bishop Guertin
Teachers (and a student) from Merrimack and Bishop Guertin

Beginning around 9 am, we crowded into the kitchen to have Fred introduce the agenda for the day.

HAB Project Team gathering around the table
Gathering around the table

After showing off the HAB, the components, and explaining what everything did and how it was interconnected, we broke off into three teams. The first would tour the illustrious shack, the second would get a primer on antennas and towers in the backyard, and the third would brave the elements and go on a foxhunt.

HAB Team members going on a Fox Hunt
A crew going on a Fox Hunt

After each group was able to accomplish all three activities, we then invited the kids to make some QSOs in the shack and/or make some QSOs with Fred and Anita’s amateur satellite station v2.0. (I, myself, had made my first two satellite QSOs earlier that morning. A VERY cool station, indeed). A few were definitely nervous and mic shy, but most stepped up and seemed truly amazed (bewildered) that they could talk to some random person in some random corner of the globe.

By about 2 pm, there seemed to be expressions of fatigue on the young faces, and it seemed a natural time to conclude the day. All in all, it seemed the kids truly were excited about amateur radio and the HAB. We look forward to working with them in future phases of our HAB project and hope this is something that many of these freshmen can turn into a serious senior science project when they’re looking ahead towards graduation in a few years. (And perhaps, we’ll get some of them licensed too!)

73,

Brian (AB1ZO)

Hashtag: #N1FDHAB

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Station Equipment

Choosing my next Rig: What’s the best one for me?

My old (2012) Yaesu FT-950 lost output! I was getting maybe 5 watts out on any one band! What to do? These days, I am the proverbial “store-bought” ham … not even kit building! So the choices were to sell as a parts rig on eBay and put the proceeds towards a new rig so shipping the rig all the way to California for factory repair since no repair facilities are on the East Coast. Time for a lot of research!

I have always been a very analytical person. I guess that’s why I was so successful at my occupation: Air Traffic Controller and Air Traffic Manager.

Fortunately, I have been tracking new transceivers and their prices for some time.  To this end, I created an Excel spreadsheet. I got all the manufacturer transceiver brochures from HRO and, using the specs from my FT-950 as a base, listed the comparative item and assigned it points, plus or minus, as that transceiver compared to my FT-950 specs. Admittedly, this “point-value” system is subjective. Did I say, I was analytical?

The results: If I were to buy a new radio today, it would the Icom IC-7300. I am happy to share this spreadsheet with all my friends worldwide:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0upfryjKmcqYnJGUkFrczZsYTg/view

Oh, yes! In the end, I decided to repair my FT-950 at the Yaesu factory … they did a good job; quite reasonably priced … see you on the air!

Layne, AE1N

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter

Another Milestone at Our Last Club Meeting – 150 Members!

We reached another milestone as of our last club meeting – we have grown the Nashua Area Radio Club to over 150 members! This is the result of a great deal of hard work on the part of many of our club’s members. Welcome to the many new folks who have joined us!

Nashua Area Radio Club Members
Club Members at Our Meeting

We had a great turnout at our May meeting which features updates on numerous club activities including our upcoming Field Day plans, CW Classes, License Classes, our High-Altitude Balloon Project, our upcoming SOTA/POTA activation, our Club Repeater Net, our First Place Finish in the recent ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB, and more.

Burns Fisher, W2BFJ On Amateur Satellites
Burns Fisher, W2BFJ On Amateur Satellites

Club member, Burns Fisher W2BFJ, was our speaker and he provided an interesting presentation on AMSAT and Amateur Satellites. Burns wrote the software for AO-85 and his presentation sparked a great deal of interest among club members.

We are looking forward to lots of Amateur Radio fun in the coming months!

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide