Category Archives: Newsletter

Nashua Area Radio Society Newsletter Articles. You can find an archive of our Newsletters on our website.

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

New Membership Meeting Presentations and Summaries

Scott, NE1RD has been putting together a great lineup of presenters for our Membership Meetings and Tech Nights. Our Members have asked that we include some of the Membership Meeting presentations that we’ve been seeing at our meeting here on our website. We’ve added a selected presentation archive to our Membership Meetings page for this purpose. You need to be logged into our website to see this material.

We have lots of activities going on and we begin each of our Membership Meetings with an update on what’s coming up and how our many projects are doing. We’re also going to include the update from our latest meeting as well.

You can find all of this material along with information about the speakers for our upcoming meetings on our Membership Meetings page.

Fred, AB1OC

 

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Space, Youth Activities

High Altitude Balloon 4 Launch Windows Set

We have set the initial set of launch windows for our High Altitude Balloon’s 4th flight (HAB-4) for the following three weekends in April:

  • Saturday, April 6th / Sunday, April 7th
  • Saturday, April 13th / Sunday, April 14th
  • Saturday, April 20th
  • Saturday, June 1st / Sunday, June 2nd
  • Saturday, June 8th/Sunday, June 9th

Students at Hudson Memorial School and Bishop-Guertin HS are both participating in our HAB-4 STEM program.

HAB-2 Launch Site in Winchester NH
HAB Launch Site in Winchester NH

We will again be launching from the Elementary School in Winchester, NH at around 10:30 am. Preparation for our launch will begin at 8:30 am.

Our HAB carries video cameras that allow us to see what the HAB sees as it travels through the atmosphere. You can click on the video above to see what a HAB flight is like including video taken at over 90,000 ft above sea level!

HAB Camera Insulation and Heating System

High Altitude Balloon 4 (HAB-4) will be the first to launch with our new camera insulating and heating system. This arrangement is intended to keep the cameras from freezing and shutting off early. The cameras will also carry the smaller, lighter weight batteries that we used on HAB-1. Together, we hope these improvements will allow us to capture video throughout HAB-4’s ascent, balloon burst, descent, and landing.

High Altitude Balloon 4 Flight Parameters
HAB-4 Flight Parameters

The graphic above shows the final flight parameters for HAB-4. We are expecting HAB-4 to burst at around 110,000 ft a.s.l. with the flight lasting about 2 1/2 hours.

HAB Flight Path Prediction - Saturday April 6th
HAB Flight Path Prediction – Saturday, April 6th
HAB Flight Path Prediction - Sunday April 7th
HAB Flight Path Prediction – Sunday, April 7th

The images above show the initial flight path predictions for the first  HAB-4 launch window. The weather and Jetstream forecasts are still fairly unreliable at this point (6 – 7 days in advance of the first launch windows). These will likely change quite a bit between now and this coming Thursday evening when we will make a final go/no-go launch decision for the April 6th / April 7th launch window. We will also be looking closely at the Ground Weather for acceptable ground wind speed under 15 mph at launch and either clear skies or limited cloud cover to permit HAB-4 to be launched.

HAB Flight Platform
HAB Flight Platform

The HAB will again be carrying a flight computer and APRS telemetry and tracking system. You will be able to track HAB-4 during its flight via aprs.fi. You can learn more about how to track our HABs here.

Stay tuned to our Forums for additional updates and the final go/no-go decision as the week progresses. If the first launch window does not work out, we’ll begin counting down to the second window (April 13th / April 14th). We hope that you’ll join us in Winchester, NH for our launch!

Fred, AB1OC

Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

April 2019 Contest notes

1 Comment

Spring is here and not a moment too soon! In this last weekend before April we have the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest that is one of my favorites. The exchange is easy: just a serial number and a signal report (always 59, please). This is a contest where everybody can work everybody else, so there is always somebody to talk to. If you are new to contesting (and you can count!) this is a good one to try.

The big contests of the year are nearly behind us. Just the two WPX contests (one in March and another in May) remain. But, there are QSO parties and other small contests that are coming up. Remember, with the solar cycle in the doldrums this is a good time to be working on your Worked All States award or trying new operating modes (like FT8).

Missouri QSO Party [1400Z, April 6 to 0400Z April 7 + 1400Z-2200Z April 7th] The exchange is easy: RS(T) and state. Look for the special event stations W0MA and K0H for extra points.

Mississippi QSO Party [1400Z April 6 to 0200Z April 7] runs concurrently with part of the Missouri QSO Party and also has an exchange RS(T) plus state. This is a good opportunity to get on the air and get credit for multiple contests!

FT8 DX Contest [1200Z April 13 to 1200Z April 14] Digital modes like FT8 seem to get through when others do not. Perhaps you can work on your DXCC award this spring! The exchange is RST + state.

New Mexico QSO Party [1400Z April 13 to 0200Z April 14] The exchange is a little different in this contest: name + state (the RS(T) isn’t demanded by the rules).

North Dakota QSO Party [1800Z April 13 to 1800Z April 14] If you don’t have ND in your log, this is an excellent opportunity to get those states squared away. Both North and South Dakota have very few active hams, so try to get these folks on multiple bands. The exchange is RS(T) + state.

Georgia QSO Party [1800Z April 13 to 0359Z April 14 + 1400Z-2359Z April 14] Again, the exchange is just RS(T) and state.

ARRL Rookie Roundup, SSB [1800Z-2359Z April 14] The exchange is name + 2-digit year first licensed + state. I remember the first couple of years I operated. I was first licensed in 2002 so I would use “02” in my exchanges for contests like this. This confused the daylights out of many of the people I contacted, and I got lots of requests for repeats! Spend a few minutes and give these new operators some points.

Nebraska QSO Party [1300Z April 20 to 0200Z April 21 + 1300Z-2200Z April 21] The exchange is RS(T) + state. Nebraska was hard-hit by flooding this year, so I don’t know how many stations will be on the air. I’ve found this a hard state to get in the log in general, so this might be your best opportunity all year.

Michigan QSO Party [1600Z April 20 to 0400Z April 21] The exchange is a little different for this one: serial number + state.

Florida QSO Party [1600Z April 27 to 0159Z April28 + 1200Z-2159Z April 28] The exchange is RS(T) + state.

So many of the contests this month have just RS(T) and state as the exchange that you can usually get on the air, work people normally with this exchange, and enter multiple contests (or at least make other contesters happy for the points). Contesting is like regular operating without all the chit-chat {grin}.

The more you know! A contesting term you should know is “rubber clocking.” That’s when an operator begins the contest just  a little before the start time, or operates just a little past the end time in an effort to squeeze in a few more QSOs. In short: don’t do it. Begin on time, and when it is time to stop, finish your QSO and stop. Play fair.

Remember that you don’t have to turn in your log just because you operated during a contest. You can work stations in a contest just to have fun, or to collect QSOs for awards. Contest sponsors appreciate your entries (they help make sure the other operators copied the exchanges properly), but they can’t demand it. Get on the air. Put some Q’s in the log, and have fun. Maybe pick up an operating award along the way. Perhaps you’ll then write about it here on the N1FD website!

As always, you can get a complete rundown of all the contests this month (and this year) at the www.contestcalendar.com website.

73 and good luck in the contests.

Scott, NE1RD

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