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.

Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Youth Activities

Student Teacher Contest Update!

The Student Teacher Contest Results have been updated with results from (ARRL) Summer Field Day and the 13 Colonies Special Event.  We have a new leader, Keith Sangillo, KC1IMK!

Abby, AB1BY Operating in the 13 Colonies Event
Abby, AB1BY Operating in the 13 Colonies Event

Keith, KC1IMK and Abby, AB1BY operated remotely from the AB1OC/AB1QB station during Summer Field Day as part of the AB1QB entry.  They also operated as K2K during the recent 13 Colonies Special Event.

2020 13 Colonies Special Event Certificate
2020 13 Colonies Special Event Certificate

Student Teacher Contest Update

With a great entry from the 13 Colonies Special Event of 281 non-duplicate QSOs in 3 hours, Keith, KC1IMK has pulled ahead of Abby, AB1BY.  The competition is still neck and neck – Keith has a score of 1208 and Abby’s score is 1180.

The contest score is the sum of QSOs made in a contestant’s top 4 entries.  Both Keith and Abby have reached more than 4 entries with the latest entries.  Now each of them needs to improve on their previous scores to pull ahead.  Full results and rules for the competition can be found at Student-Teacher Contest Series.

Next Opportunity

The North American QSO Party (NAQP) – SSB is coming up on August 15th,  With its 100 watt power limit, it will be a great opportunity for contestants to increase their scores.

Anita, AB1QB

Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

2020 13 Colonies Special Event: The Results Are In

The 13 Colonies Results are in and the K2K New Hampshire Colony set the event record for a single state with a total of 22,696 contacts! You can read about the K2K operation in the 13 Colonies Special Event in this article.

2020 Thirteen Colonies Top State
2020 Thirteen Colonies Top State Plaque

This was a record year for the event.  A grand total of 202,089 QSOs were made by all of the 13 Colonies special event stations combined.  This was 32,205 more than the 2019 total!

2020 13 Colonies Special Event Certificate
2020 13 Colonies Special Event Certificate

13 Colonies Results

K2K New Hampshire was the top State with 22,696 QSOs. The last time we won top state was in 2017 when we made only 5 more contacts than K2M/PA that year.  Here are the 2020 totals for each state and the two Bonus Stations:

  • K2K/NH: 22,696
  • K2M/PA: 19,917
  • K2G/GA: 17,527
  • K2J/NC: 16,541
  • K2F/MD: 15,102
  • K2L/SC: 14,511
  • K2H/MA: 14,378
  • K2A/NY: 13,651
  • K2D/CT: 12,198
  • K2E/DE: 11,523
  • K2C/RI: 11,282
  • K2I/NJ: 10,161
  • K2B/VA: 5,838
  • WM3PEN: 10,214
  • GB13COL: 6,550
2020 Thirteen Colonies Top Club
2020 Thirteen Colonies Top Club Plaque

In addition, the Nashua Area Radio Society was the Top Club with 22,696 contacts, and Fred, AB1OC was the Top SSB High Power operator with 5,171 contacts.

KC1XX Team
KC1XX Team

We could not have done this without Matt, KC1XX, and his world-class contest team (All NARS members) running CW and SSB pileups and a great team of SSB, Digital, and CW operators, operating from their homes and remotely from AB1OC.

Abby, AB1BY
Abby, AB1BY

Thanks also to all of the Amateurs who worked K2K!  If you want a K2K QSL, you can find QSLing instructions on the K2K QRZ page.  If you would like to get a certificate, you can find instructions on the 13 Colonies event website.  You do not need to contact every colony and bonus station to get a certificate

K2K Operators

Each member of the K2K team will receive a plaque for Top State!  Congratulations to the operators:

  • AB1BY – Abby, Operating from AB1OC, Hollis, NH
  • AB1OC – Fred, Hollis, NH (State & QSL Manager)
  • AB1QB – Anita, Hollis, NH
  • AC1DC – Jamey, Nashua, NH
  • K1DLM – Dave, Operating from AB1OC, Hollis, NH
  • K1GQ – Bill, Wolfeboro, NH
  • K1QX – Craig, Operating from KC1XX, Mason, NH
  • KC1IMK – Keith, Candia, NH
  • KC1IML – Mark, Candia, NH
  • KC1XX – Matt, Mason, NH
  • KM3T – Dave, Operating from KC1XX, Mason, NH
  • NE1B – Bill,  Hudson, NH
  • NN1C – Marty, Operating from KC1XX, Mason, NH
  • W1FV – John, Operating from KC1XX, Mason, NH
  • W3UA – Gene, Bedford, NH
  • WA1Z – Bob, Operating from KC1XX, Mason, NH

Anita, AB1QB

Featured, General, On The Air

NARS QSO Party Coming on September 26th and 27th

The Nashua Area Radio Society will be sponsoring a NARS QSO party on Sept 26th at 0000z to Sept27th 2359z.

Field Day is in the books, The 13 Colonies Special Event has finished up, and contest season doesn’t start up for a while yet so let’s get on the air and have a QSO party to take our mind off the Covid-19 Epidemic for a little while.   All amateurs are invited to participate.

Note; If the weather is favorable pick a SOTA peak or a park to operate from just make sure to follow all current Covid-19 guidelines.

Keith KC1IMK On 6m
Keith KC1IMK On 6m

NARS  QSO Party Rules

The full rules follow below.

Object: To contact as many amateur radio operators in as many states, provinces and DX entities as possible

Who:  You don’t have to be a Nashua Area Radio Society Member. Everyone is invited to participate!

Date: September 26 0000z to 2359z September 27, 2020

Categories: Multi-Multi not permitted. Power categories are accounted for in the multiplier section of the rules.

Exchange: W/VE: RST + State/Province

                    DX: RST + DX

Valid Contacts: Work each station once per band and mode.

QSO Points: phone QSO = 1pt, digital and CW = 2 pts.

Multipliers: Each US State, Canadian Province, and every DX Entity is a multiplier.

Power Multiplier: Stations not indicating power level within their log will be scored as operating with greater than 150 watts (>150 watts).

  • Greater than 150 watts (> 150 watts), total score X 1
  • 150 watts or less (<= 150), total score X 2
  • 5 watts or less (<= 5 watts), total score X 3

Scoring: Final score= total QSO points x power multiplier.

Electronic entries only and should include a complete Cabrillo format log. If your software does not provide that option, include a summary file in plain text format. Logs should indicate time in UTC, bands, modes, calls, and complete exchange.

 Entries should be emailed within 30 days to [email protected]. 

Sorry paper logs are not accepted.

NARS QSO Party Awards

2020 ARRL Handbook

Certificates will be awarded to the top 3 stations and the top overall score will also receive a 2020 ARRL Handbook. 

Thank you and I hope that everyone has some fun!

Jim K1BRM

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide