Category Archives: General

Articles about Amateur Radio and the Nashua Area Radio Society. This is a general category which includes most articles on our website.

Meeting Topics for the Next Six Months

“The best-laid plans of mice and men…”

— Robert Burns, On Turning up in Her Nest with the Plough, November 1785

Though we had some last minute speaker changes last winter, we had great presentations every night. Here are the planned meeting topics for the next six months.

May 1, 2018 MIT Haystack Observatory talk Phil Erickson, W1PJE
May 8, 2018, Tech Night Show and Tell: Hilltopping/portable gear All
June 5, 2018 Field Day Planning Meeting Field Day leadership
June 12, 2018, Tech Night Field Day Skill Builder (Towers, Cables, Filters, etc.) Field Day leadership
FIELD DAY
July 3, 2018 Field Day retrospective Field Day leadership
July 9, 2018,
Tech Night
Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio Anita / Jamey, AB1QB / KC1ENX
August 7, 2018 No meeting
August 14, 2018,
Tech Night
Foxhunting antenna build and strategy Jamey Finchum, KC1ENX
September 4, 2018 BitX40 Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ
September 11, 2018, Tech Night DMR Radios and Programming Bill Barber, NE1B
October 2, 2018 ISS contacts, satellite contacts, etc. Fred / Anita, AB1OC / AB1QB
October 9, 2018, Tech Night Frequency measurement challenge ideas and strategies George Allison, K1IG

Everyone should consider the above to be tentative, as speakers occasionally need to cancel or reschedule. That said, we have a few excellent speakers who have offered to step in should we have a last-minute cancellation. 

If you have interest in presenting something at a regular meeting or a tech night, please drop me an email. It doesn’t need to be highly technical. It doesn’t need to be an hour long. It just needs to be fun!

Look for a new page with meeting plans on the n1fd.org website soon.

Scott, NE1RD

N1FD Multi-Op Team #1 in Area 1 in 2018 Rookie Roundup SSB

ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB Scores
ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB Scores

2018 ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB Results

The scores are in.  The N1FD Multi-Op entry placed first in Area 1 in the 2018 ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB.  We also had the highest score of all the operators in the contest!

Congratulations to the Operators:

It was great to see how much the Rookies’ operating skills improved the longer they operated.  They are now seasoned operators who are ready for Field Day and the 13 Colonies events!

Dan, AC1EN logs with Keith, KC1IMK at the Mic
Dan, AC1EN logs with Keith, KC1IMK at the Mic

Thanks also to the members who elmered the Rookies, Jamey, AC1DC, Aron, W1AKI and Fred, AB1OC!

The ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB is a 6-hour contest for amateurs who were first licensed in 2016, 2017 or 2018.  The N1FD multi-op entry operated from AB1QB and AB1OC’s QTH on Sunday, April 15th.

Rookies and Elmers who joined the weekly repeater net.
Rookies and Elmers who joined the weekly repeater net.

Members who operated or elmered in the contest joined us after the contest in the weekly repeater net.  The live stream from our shack can be found on the N1FD Facebook Page.

Next Rookie Roundup

The next Rookie Roundup will be the Rookie Roundup RTTY to be held on Sunday, August 19th.    All Rookies or anyone who has never operated digital before are welcome to join us – hold the date!

Extra License Class – April 27-29

The Nashua Area Radio Society will hold our final license class of the Spring 2018 season, the Amateur Extra License class, on Friday – Sunday, April 27-29.

The Extra Class License is an upgrade from General Class.  Extra class will give you access to more frequencies on the HF bands, especially where those rare DX like to operate from.

Spring 2018 Extra Class Flyer

Day 1 of the class will be held at AB1OC/AB1QB’s QTH.  We will have lots of demos to help reinforce the material including test equipment, antennas and operating.  Days 2 and 3 will be held at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Gordon West Extra Class Book
Gordon West Extra Class License Book

Class preparation

To prepare for the class, you need to read the Gordon West Extra Class book, which can be found on Amazon.com.  When you register, we will send you a pre-work assignment based on the materials in the book.

We also recommend that you take practice exams like those from AA9PW or HamTestOnline.

To register for the class, visit https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class-registration/

Any questions?  Contact Anita, AB1QB at [email protected].

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