Category Archives: Education and Training

Education and Training information is for folks looking for help to earn or upgrade their license, learn about Amateur Radio, and get help with Ham Radio questions.

Antennas, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

Latest Tech Night – Putting Up A Tower

July 2019 Tech Night – Putting Up A Tower

We recently did a how-to presentation on Putting Up A Tower at a Nashua Area Radio Society Tech Night. The video from this presentation can be viewed above.

Putting Up A Tower Video - Topics Covered
Putting Up A Tower Video – Topics Covered

We covered a variety of information related to planning, building and integrating Guyed and House-Bracketed towers. You can view the accompanying presentation materials here.

The Nashua Area Radio Society produces similar how-to training materials on almost a monthly basis and we make these materials available to our Members an Internet Subscribers (folks that live too far from our location to be regular members) for a small cost which supports our new Ham development programs and covers the production and storage costs associated with the video material. Here’s a list of the training topics that we’ve produced to date:

2019 Tech Nights

  • Almost Everything You Need to Know About Antenna Fundamentals Part 1 by Spencer Webb, W2SW and Steve Golson, W1SEG
  • Raspberry Pi for Portable Digital Communications by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • HFTA, Feedline Design and Busting Pileups by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • QSL’ing and Awards by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB
  • Fox Hunting: Radio Direction Finding for Beginners including a Tape Measure Yagi Build by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • Surface Mount Technology by Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS
  • RF Design with Smith Charts, Building a First HF Station, and Begining with CW – Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Anthony Rizzolo, KC1DXL; and Jerry Doty, K1OKD
  • All About Field Day 2019 by our Field Day Planning Team
  • Putting up a Tower by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2018 Tech Nights

  • Operating Your Station Remotely by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Transceiver Frequency Measurement and Calibration by George Allison, K1IG.
  • DMR Radios and Programming by Bill Barber, NE1B
  • WSJT-X: FT8, WSPR, MSK144 and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Computers by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC,  Brian McCaffrey, W1BP, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Craig Bailey, N1SFT
  • All About Field Day 2018 by our Field Day Planning Team
  • Portable Operating Gear – demonstrations by Nashua Area Radio Society Members
  • K1EL Kits by Steve Elliott, K1EL
  • Antenna Modeling I by Scott Andersen, NE1RD.
  • Building and Operating a Mobile HF Station by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2017 Tech Nights

  • High-Altitude Balloons: Amateur Radio at the Edge of Space and was presented by our HAB Team.
  • Getting On The Air 2.0 by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and B. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
  • All About n1fd.org – Getting the most from our Website by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • Digital Modes: RTTY, PSK, and WSJT-X by Mike Struzik AB1YK, Anita Kemmerer AB1QB, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Bonding and Grounding by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • All About Field Day 2017  by Dave Merchant, K1DLM, and our Field Day Planning Team.
  • Building and Operating a Satellite Ground Station by Burns Fisher, W2BFJ and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • DXing and QSLing by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB; Bill Barber, NE1B; Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Dick Powell, WK1J.
  • Weak Signal VHF and UHF Stations by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Bill Barber, NE1B.
  • Getting the Most from your HF Transceiver and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and Dave Michaels, N1RF.

2016 Tech Nights

  • Popular Loggers – Ham Radio Deluxe and DXLab Suite by Dave Merchant, K1DLM and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • Low-Band Antennas by Dennis Marandos, K1LGQ; Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Brian McCaffrey, W1BP; and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • RF Simulation and Matching by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
  • Directional Antennas by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Dave Michaels, N1RF; Brian Smigielski, AB1ZO; and Greg Fuller, W1TEN
  • All About Field Day 2016  by our Field Day Planning Team.
  • Surface Mount Soldering and Desoldering, a Hands-On Presentation by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
  • Building Your First Station and Getting On The Air by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Dave Michaels N1RF
  • Software Defined Radios by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and Skip Youngberg, K1NKR
  • Advanced Repeaters (DMR, EchoLink, DMR, and D-STAR) by Anita Kemmerer; AB1QB, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Bill Barber, NE1B
  • Antenna Modeling with EZNEC by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

You can gain on-going access to the full library of Amateur Radio Training and How-To materials by supporting our work to bring new people and young people into the Amateur Radio Service as a Nashua Area Radio Society Internet Subscriber. You can learn more about how to become an Internet Subscriber here.

Fred, AB1OC

Activities, Digital, Education and Training, Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, Space, Station Equipment

Field Day Satellites, VHF+ and Fox Hunting

We will have lots of great activities for folks who are interested in operating on the VHF and above bands at Field Day 2019. Here are some of the activities that we’ll be doing:

  • Satellite Contacts using a Portable Computer Controlled Satellite Stations
  • Weak Signal SSB, CW, and FT8 Contacts on 6m, 2m, and 70cm
  • Fox Hunting using Radio Direction Finding (RDF) to find hidden 2m Radio Transmitters
  • Satellite Station, VHF+ Station, and Fox Hunting Training

Satellites at Field Day

Field Day Satellites
Field Day 2019 Satellite Passes – Saturday

We will have a lot of great satellite passes during Field Day this year! The table above shows a summary for Saturday. Sunday passes are also very good! You can see view the passes and associated details in our 2019 Field Day Satellite Pass Book.

Field Day Satellites
Computer Controlled Satellite Station

We will be using a Computer Controlled Portable Satellite station which features the new Icom IC-9700 Transceiver.

Field Day Satellites
Portable Satellite Antennas

Our Portable Satellite Station uses circularly polarized yagis and an Az/El Rotator system to enable us to track and make contacts through LEO satellites. You can learn more about the station hardware and software here.

VHF+ Station

VHF+ Station
VHF+ Antenna System

We are planning a serious VHF+ effort at Field Day 2019. We will be putting up a dedicated 40 ft tower with yagis, low-loss feedlines, and preamps for the 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands.

Icom IC-9100 Transceiver

The VHF+ station will use an Icom IC-9100 Transceiver and will support all modes including FT8 Digital operation via WSJT-X.

Fox Hunting

Field Day Fox Hunting
Large N1FD Fox

We will have several “Foxes” out during Field Day 2019. Fox Hunting (locating hidden transmitters using Radio Direction Finding) is a great way sharpen your RDF skills and have fun.

Training, Training, Training

Field Day Training
Field Day Satellite Training

We will be offering training on all of these activities at the start of Field Day 2019. Training will begin at 11 am at the VHF+/Satellite Station Tent. We will cover Satellite Operating, VHF+ Operating, and Fox Hunting then.

Field Day Training
Fox Hunting Training at Field Day

It might be worth coming to Field Day 2019 just for the training – Don’t Miss It!

See you at Field Day!

Fred, AB1OC

 

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

Skywarn Training Report

Late spring brings with it the start of a new severe weather season. As we saw this week in the Dayton area, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes can cause damage and threaten life. The Hara Arena, the former site of Hamvention was destroyed by a tornado.

National Weather Service forecasters track storms carefully using radar and automated weather observations, but their forecasts can be aided by Skywarn reports from trained observers. These eye-witness observations can validate radar data and help forecasters make decisions on whether to issue additional warnings.

I recently attended a Skywarn training session conducted by the Norton, MA National Weather Service office. The class was held at the Milford, MA Fire Department and lasted about two and a half hours.

Rob Macedo (KD1CY), the Norton office’s Skywarn amateur radio coordinator, taught the class with the assistance of an NWS forecaster. Rob started the training with an overview of how often southern New England has severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. He discussed a few of the tornadoes that have occurred in New England, and the role that Skywarn spotters played by informing NWS forecasters of conditions on the ground.

Rob taught that moisture, instability, and lift are the ingredients needed to form a thunderstorm. He also told us about the stages of a thunderstorm, thunderstorm types, and cloud identification.

The instructors spent quite a bit of time on thunderstorm types and cloud identification. Properly identifying clouds is key to spotters providing accurate reports to the forecasters.

The NWS forecaster concluded the training with a discussion on challenges of weather spotting in New England and the criteria for reporting weather phenomena.

This was the fifth time I’ve taken the course over the last 20 years. I was impressed by how the training materials use videos and photographs from New England to help prospective spotters better understand what they’ll see here. My first training I took in the late 1990s was done with a slide projector showing photographs of perfect examples of thunderstorms in the mid-west, things we’d never see here.

Skywarn training is a wonderful opportunity for any weather-lover, and a great way to fulfill our obligation to use amateur radio to benefit the public. Learn more about local Skywarn programs at the NWS Norton office, and at the WX1BOX website.

Brian, W1BP

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