Category Archives: On The Air

Articles and other information related to On The Air Operations, Special Events, Activations, DXxpeditions, Portable and Mobile On The Air Activities, Nets, etc.

Next POTA Activation Mount Agamenticus Maine August 5th

Hi all our next SOTA/ POTA activation will be Mount Agamenticus in York Maine. A club member recommended this one to me. They have recently redone the parking areas at the base and up at the end of the auto road so i’m eager to check it out. here’s a link for directions to Mount Aggy.  on the right-hand column of that page, you will find a link to a map of Mount Aggy as well.

Parking is a bit different in Maine. They may have a way of paying cash but the way they talk about it on the website is via an app on your phone called Pango. I’ll try to get more info before the membership meeting on this.

My plan is to meet at 11:00 at the parking area at the summit. I used street view and couldn’t find picnic tables. But there was a lot of open space, So to have a comfortable spot to operate I would recommend bringing a folding chair and table to operate from. below is a pic i took of my operating position on Mount Kearsarge in June with my tripod for my antenna just in the corner of the pic.

I will likely bring the same radio I used on Mount  Kearsarge a qrp 6-meter rig. It was rough starting out but picked up later in the day.

I will put a reminder in the forums once this story hits the website, Any cancellations resulting from dangerous weather conditions (which we have had a lot of lately) will be in the forums. It is the quickest way to disseminate information besides email which you can certainly send me and I will email you the latest information at [email protected].

Hope to see you on Mount Agamenticus!

73′

Jim K1BRM

First SOTA/POTA of 2023 May7th Mount Kearsarge

Our first SOTA/POTA  of 2023 is this Sunday, May 7th. Bring a sweater or fleece and a rain jacket just in case it can get pretty breezy and cool in the mountains even if we manage to get bright sunny skies. I will be monitoring the Henniker 147.195 machine as well as 147.555 simplex on the ride-up.

SOTA/POTA Satellite Station
Fred AB1OC and Anita AB1QB’s Mt. Washington operating position

The plan for  Mt. Kearsarge activation is to meet at the picnic grounds at the end of the auto road. The physical address for Rollins State Park  (the location of the auto road) is 1066 Kearsarge Mountain rd. in Warner.  I just went to their website here and they recommend a reservation so plan on visiting the link for a pass.

Anyone that wants to hike up from the other side and meet us here is the physical address of Winslow State Park 475 Kearsarge Mountain Rd, Wilmot, NH 03287. Check The nhstateparks.org website you may need a parking reservation on this side of the mountain as well.

We will most likely be operating from the picnic area at the end of the auto road. If anyone wants to operate from the actual summit it is only .5 miles away. I’m not sure how long a hike it is from Winslow State Park. In addition to SOTA/POTA  chasers the New England QSO party will be going on so, there should be plenty of opportunities to make QSO’s.

As far as radios an HT with an upgraded rubber duck can get you surprising performance from even a modest rise in altitude so if that’s all you have bring it and try it out.  I’ll have my  6-meter QRP rig and a new homebrew Moxon antenna.

Hope to see you on Mount Kearsarge on Sunday!

73′ K1BRM

SOTA/POTA 6m Station
Anita AB1QB and Curtis N1CMD SOTA operating

Register Now for Ham Bootcamp!

Are you a newly licensed Technician, or a General or Extra and have never been on the air or built a station?  Are you a prospective ham but would like to learn more about Amateur Radio activities?  Ham Bootcamp is the program for you.  We will be holding another online Ham Bootcamp on Saturday, May 14th, 2022.

Registration is open for the Nashua Area Radio Society’s Spring Ham Bootcamp.  Ham Bootcamp will be held online using Zoom web conferencing.   This will also let us reach out to new Hams across the country.

Jamey, AC1DC, elmers Randall, KC1KSY as he makes an HF Contact
Jamey, AC1DC, elmers Randall, N1KRB  as he makes an HF Contact

Our spring Ham Bootcamp will be held on Saturday, May 14th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern Time.  The morning session will focus on Technician level activities and the afternoon session will focus on HF activities for General and above licensees.   New this year will be a breakout session where attendees will have a choice between 3 different sessions.

Here is the agenda:

Abby on Fox Hunting
Abby Speaks About Fox Hunting in Fall 2020 Ham Bootcamp

Repeaters and VHF/UHF Session Activities

  • Putting together a Station for Repeaters – How to pick an HT or  Mobile Radio and an Antenna
  • Making Contacts and Joining a Repeater Net
  • Radio Programming Tutorial
  • Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites
  • Getting started with Fox Hunting
Jamey Explains HF Station Building
Jamey Explains HF Station Building

HF Session Activities

  • Putting together an HF Station for SSB, CW, and Digital
  • Picking and putting up an HF Antenna, Feedlines, and Grounds
  • Operating on the HF bands using SSB Voice
  • Getting started with WSJT-X and FT8 Digital

Breakout Session

The final session of the day will be a breakout session where attendees will choose to attend one of the following 3 sessions:

  • Learning CW
  • Finding DX, Logging Contacts, and QSL’ing – Getting them logged/confirmed
  • Portable Operating

Spring 2022 Ham Bootcamp will be Online on May 14th

Registration is now open for the May 14th session.  You can get more information about Ham Bootcamp at https://www.n1fd.org/ham-bootcamp/.

Each attendee should register separately using this link.   After registering, you will receive a link that will allow you to register for the Zoom meeting.  Following the Zoom meeting registration, you will receive a personal Zoom link via email.

Any questions about Bootcamp?  Contact me at [email protected]

 

Anita, AB1QB

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide