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.

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

SOTA/POTA Activation on Mt. Pack Monadnock Coming Up

On Saturday, June 10th we’ll be activating Miller State Park (POTA KFF-2662) and Mt. Pack Monadnock (SOTA W1/HA-041) in Peterborough, NH. This is also the date of the ARRL’s June VHF contest!  Miller State Park does have an auto road up Pack Monadnock and there is a $4 fee per person.  There are picnic tables at the top if you would like to pack a lunch. I am thinking we should plan on arriving at 11:00 am and hopefully set up and ready to go by 12:00 pm.

This should be a great opportunity for a wide range of our members to get out and activate portable. With three activities going on we should have something to tickle your fancy. Below is a quick description of each activity with links for more in depth information.

SOTA is an amateur radio award scheme for people who want to get out and operate portable from mountain peaks. A couple of important rules for SOTA are that you can only activate a peak once in a calendar year – so if you’re using your own call sign you won’t be able to activate Pack Monadnock again until 2018 – and you must operate separately from your car (nothing attached – antenna, battery, etc) and you cannot use fossil fuels.  You must operate battery, solar, wind, hydro powered. You may work all modes (CW, digital or voice) on all bands.

POTA (Parks on the Air) is much more lenient, as far as operating possibilities. You, or your vehicle, must be totally within the park and you can operate using fossil fuels (generator or car). Parks can be activated more than once in a calendar year and QSOs are cumulative for the park if you return. Here is a link to a quick description for getting started with POTA. You may work all modes (CW, digital or voice) on all bands.

ARRL June VHF contest begins on Saturday at 2:00 pm and runs through Sunday at 11:00 pm.  I have never participated in a VHF contest, but being on top of a mountain can only help!

In order to keep some organization to the activation, I have created a Dropbox file for members to sign up and list any equipment they would be willing to bring.

Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, etc.

73,

Jamey KC1ENX

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

Rookie Roundup Certificates and Other Awards

KC1FFX, Abby, KC1ENX, Jamey, and W1AKI, Aron recently operated in the ARRL Rookie Roundup Ham radio contest using the N1FD Callsign.  Certificates were sent out this week and N1FD received one for placing 1st in their category of Multi-Op  Area 1!

Ham Radio Contest - 2016 N1FD NEQP Certificate
2016 N1FD NEQP Certificate

AG1A, Wayne, KC1ENX, Jamey, and AB1OC, Fred operated in last year’s NEQP as a mobile and recently received a certificate for placing 2nd in the New England Multi-Op  Mobile category.  They are planning to enter the contest again this year on May 6-7.  They would like to be joined by a  CW operator to help them make a run for the #1 spot.   If you are interested in joining them, please contact Fred at [email protected].

These certificates and other awards that the club has received can be found on our awards page.

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

N1FD Multi-Op Team wins 2017 ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB

Aron, W1AKI,  Abby, KC1FFX and her dad Jamey, KC1ENX operated in the ARRL Rookie Roundup on Sunday, April 16 as a Multi Op Entry from the AB1OC/AB1QB QTH.  They had a constant stream of callers throughout the 6-hour contest and made a total of 273 QSOs and earned a score of 15,437.

This was the club’s 2nd consecutive year operating in the ARRL Rookie Roundup and it was great to see how Aron, Abby, and Jamey have improved their contesting skills over the past year!  They are now seasoned contesters!

Jamey, KC1ENX and Abby, KC1FFX operating in the ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB
Jamey, KC1ENX and Abby, KC1FFX operating in the ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB

The N1FD team took first place in the Multi-Op Area 1 category and had the highest score of all entries in the contest, narrowly beating out KM4LAO, the top single op who was operating from Michigan.

2017 ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB Results

The full results can be found at http://www.b4h.net/arrlrr/rr_scores201704.php

Here are some comments on operating in the contest from Aron, W1AKI:

It was a lot of fun! The pileups weren’t too bad, and people were very patient, which made it a really friendly environment.  Everyone could take their time to make sure that the exchange was made correctly. (This was especially important since there were several other contests going on over the same weekend.) We made a QSO with a KL7TH, rookie in Alaska and she seemed at least as excited to get NH as I was to get Alaska. I got a generous handful of calls from hams who got their licenses back in in the 1950s. I made a DX contact with someone in the Caribbean who got their first license a while back in the UK, and another DX contact with Italy.
Thanks go to Anita AB1QB and Fred AB1OC for the use of their station and for their guidance! We were all limited to 100W, but I could really hear the Alaska station come up loud and clear as I swung the 4 over 4 SteppIRs around to the right heading, and it became an easy QSO to make. I also got great signals from a few mobile stations and a few QRP stations.
Looking at the results, I am struck by two things: (1) KM4LAO,  the YL in Michigan who came in a very close second to us did it working all by herself, and (2) there were so few entries!  Whether it’s your first contest, or you’re working your way up the learning curve, or you want to help others learn what it is about contesting that you’ve been enjoying for years — and give them another point, the Rookie Roundups are a great opportunity.  You don’t need to worry about “mic fright” because there are no serial numbers in the exchange: you give the same information to everyone.
The upcoming CW and RTTY Rookie Roundups are a great incentive for me to work on my code and to try out digital modes.  There aren’t many better places to make your first contacts in a new mode.
Anita, AB1QB

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