We got up to some great news this morning. The Nashua Area Radio Club is once again Number 1Field Day!!
2016 Results – 7A Category
We are the Top Club in our Category (7A) for 2016 with a final score of 9,292. The next closest club was W6TRW with a score of 5,610. You can see all the 2016 results on the ARRL score page. For a more detailed breakdown of our score for 2016, check out our Field Day page.
Congratulations to everyone who helped to make our 2016 operation a success! Also, a special thank you to our planning team –
Our Planning TeamMike, K1WVO Helping To Deliver Our Field Day Presentation During Our Club MeetingPresentation At Our Club Meeting
We certainly have many great memories from our 2016 Operation. I spent some time today looking at the photos from our 2016 Operation and the video from our 2016 Operation again. I picked out some photos to share here –
Our 40m V-Beam
Our setup was well planned and the execution was top-notch!
CW/6m Row With One Of Two Of Our Towers And Beams20m CW StationSSB Stations and Digital ATV Station on 70 cmLEO Satellite Station
Many folks in our club pulled together to build our setup and we operated hard during Field Day.
Mike, KU1V OperatingEd, K2TE Operating 40m CWBill, NJ1H Operating 20m CWJamey, KC1ENX, Operating 20m SSBAbby, KC1FFX Operating on 75m SSBBrian, AB1ZO Operating on 40m SSBJeff, WA1HCO Operating On 6mField Day Fun 2016Merle, W1MSI Provided Us With A Feast!
We also helped to introduce folks to Amateur Radio via our GOTA Station.
Our GOTA Station Provided By Wayne, KB1HYL
It’s fun to think about all the great things that went on during Field Day this year.
Our 2016 Highlights Video
Looking forward to our 2017 Field Day operation!!!
The first half of 2016 is behind us and I believe that we are well on our way to a record year as far as contacts made by our club. Among other things, I have had the fun of being the QSL manager for our club as well as for the New Hampshire stations (K2K) for the 13 Colonies Special Event.
Members of our club have made a total of 13,787 contacts so far this year using a combination of the N1FD call sign and K2K New Hampshire. All of these contacts represent a great effort on the part of our members. For me, the real story here is about the fun we’ve had together on the air and the great progress that many of our newest members have made in developing their operating skills along the way.
Learning About Contesting
ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB – A First Contest
Our first major on the air operation was the ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB Contest in April. This contest is for Amateurs who have been licensed for 3 years or less and it’s a great opportunity to try contesting and to learn HF operating skills.
ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB – A First Contest
We entered using our club call sign, N1FD in the multi-op category and took first place! More importantly, many of our recently licensed members got a chance to get on the air and begin developing their operating skills. The group made 280 QSOs and had a lot of fun. You can read more about this operation here on our Blog.
Mobile Contesting
New England QSO Party Mobile Ops
We got a chance to try contesting from a mobile as part of the 2016 New England QSO Party (NEQP). Several of us got together for a weekend of activating counties and having fun as part of this contest. We operated as N1FD/M and the contest gave us a chance to develop and hone our SSB contesting skills further.
NEQP Contest Operations
In addition to many county line activations in MA, NH, and VT, we also activated two National Parks. In spite of difficult band conditions, we made 631 QSOs and had a great time. You can read more about this operation here.
Field Day
Learning To Operate Through Satellites
Next came our 2016 Field Day operation. We tried several new things as part of Field Day this year. One of these was LEO Satellite operations. Several club members got together to build a great LEO Satellite Station and several of us made our first Satellite contacts while testing it prior to Field Day.
2016 Nashua Area Radio Club Field Day
June and July represented a Tsunami of Amateur Radio operating for several of us. This period began with the best Field Day operation that I have ever been part of. We built quite a station and had a great time using it to operate during Field Day 2016.
2016 Field Day – Many Members Came Out
We had a great turn out for Field Day this year with a mix of newer folks who were experiencing their first Field Day and the seasoned veterans in our club who have done Field Day many times before. The camaraderie and the learning were fantastic!
2016 Field Day – We Continued Practicing and Building Our Operating Skills
Many of our members operated during our 2016 Field Day operation and our diligence paid off. We increased both our score and the number of contacts (2,464) made by a significant amount over last year and had a great time doing it!
Next came the 13 Colonies Special Event. I am the manager for the New Hampshire Colony which operates under the K2K call sign each year. The K2K operating team was made up entirely of Nashua Area Radio Club members this year. This event produces huge pileups and it really challenges one’s operating skills.
13 Colonies – A Chance To Operate in a Large Special Event This
We operated using a combination of SSB Phone, Digital, and CW and the club members made a total of 9,719 contacts!
13 Colonies 2016 – N1FD Top Club Certificate
This was more than enough to make the Nashua Area Radio Club the Top Club in the event! We used the 2016 event to further develop our operating skills as well as provide opportunities for new Amateurs to have fun on the air and make contacts.
National Parks On The Air (NPOTA)
Activating Saint-Gaudens NHS – Operating Portable on 20m
Our most recent operation was the Activation of Saint-Gaudens NHS as part of the ARRL’s NPOTA program. Aron Insinga, W1AKI, and his XYL Merle, W1MSI have been working on this project for some time and it was great to see it come together to result in a very successful activation. You can learn more about Saint-Gaudens and out plans to activate it here on our Blog.
Activating Saint-Gaudens NHS as part of NPOTA
We activated Saint-Gaudens on Sunday, July 10th with two stations – a 20m portable station using an Inverted-V antenna and 100W and a mobile station on 40m running 500w.
Activating Saint-Gaudens NHS – Operating Mobile on 40m
We again had a good mix of experienced operators and newer folks from our club. It was especially great to see how well some of the newer folks have come along in terms of their operating skills. The group made a total of 528 QSOs in a little over 4 hours and had a great time doing it! We are all looking forward to our second planned NPOTA activation later this summer on August 7th.
Highlights From Nashua Area Radio Club’s 2016 Activities
I must say that I don’t think I have ever seen a group of Amateur Radio Club members do so much operating on the air within such a short period of time. Check out the video above for, In particular, I believe that some of our newer members are well on their way to becoming world-class operators if they keep going the way they are. Anita, AB1QB and I find it particularly rewarding to have the chance to be part of helping our club to grow and to build our skills. It has been truly a privilege to be part of the Nashua Area Radio Club team.
Ok, this is slightly misleading but it’s true. I had a QSO with a Canadian station over 200 miles away on 2 meters. From my car none the less!
You may wonder how this was done. I had some help from above that’s how. I discovered that on the International Space Station (ISS) is this cool thing called a digipeater. Now I’m no pro at this but I will attempt to explain in hopes that someone else can enjoy getting their toes wet in Amateur Satellite opportunities.
To start, here is an eQSL card of my from my first QSO of this nature:
Note the mode on this card. It’s packet. The digipeater on the ISS relays APRS messages. This was all foreign to me prior to this contact. I discovered all of this by accident while I was monitoring the ISS frequencies for voice and SSTV. APRS transmissions were pouring out of my radio. Curiosity got me to research the sounds and ultimately steered me towards giving it a go.
Although I already had all the parts and pieces to start my way I lacked the knowledge of what to do. It took some figuring out, but I now have a simple and relatively low-cost way of working some satellites. Unlike voice mode, you do not need a directional antenna to do packet through the ISS. I use my mobile radio in my car, an omnidirectional antenna, a USB SignaLink sound card and an inexpensive Windows tablet pc. I downloaded UISS and AGW packet engine (both are free). I think I blew a brain fuse or two figuring out how it all goes together, but in the end, it works.
The uplink and downlink frequency for this is the same: 145.825
Go ahead, tune in and listen while the ISS is over your location. There are many websites and smart phone apps to give you the pass schedule.
If you are interested in this and want help getting started on this for yourself then feel free to shoot me an e-mail [email protected]
