Training Resources for Internet Subscribers and Members!

We’d like to welcome our Internet Subscribers to the Nashua Area Radio Society:

    • Bill, KM6BYD – Santa Rosa, CA
    • Stephen, KH6VK – Kailua Kona, HI
    • Bill, K8TE – Rio Rancho, NM
    • Gary, N1RNJ – Williamstown, VT
    • William, W3WTD – Easton, MD
    • Mark, N5CBF – Benbrook, TX
    • Gary, KD2PYB – Binghamton, NY
    • Susan, AI4VV – Huntsville, AL
    • Bill, KD8WMJ – North Kingstown, RI
    • Tatiana, KM6UVK – San Francisco, CA
    • Maximillian, KM6VDK – San Francisco, CA
    • Bryce, N4ZJW – Darien, GA
    • ​Joel, W6JKW – Crescent City, CA
    • Mark, W8EWH – Novi, MI
    • James, K3YMI – Columbia, MD
    • Bill, WD9GIU – Peru, IN
    • David, KJ7AKG – Puyallup, WA
    • Joe, K1VDZ – Cheshire, CT
    • Kevin, W9KEG – Peru, IN
    • Samuel, KG5FP – Georgetown, TX
    • Mike, KI8R – Lancaster, OH
    • Daniel, KA1BNO – West Warwick, RI
    • Tim, K5TGS – Roanoke, TX
    • Dennis, KL7HRO, Two Rivers, AK
    • Keith, KI7KEH, Clinton, UT
    • Paul, N1HOB, Newalla, OK
    • Chris, KC3QFN, Dover, DE
    • Barb, KD2UVG, Queens, NY
    • Jim, KN4UJW, Fernandina Beach, FL
    • Vincent, KD2TMJ, Sandyston, NJ
    • Paul, N5SJQ, Everett, WA
    • Joe, W2BCC, Cornwall, NH
    • Mark KL3MR, Anchorage, AK
    • John, KC3QHW, Swoyersville, PA
    • Walter, KB0URZ, Washington, DC
    • Chuck, KB3JIN, Newtown, PA
    • Robert, KN6CPT, San Diego, CA

Thank you for supporting our work to create materials to assist Hams in building their skills and learning new things. We hope that you are enjoying the Amateur Radio learning materials here on our website.

We’d also like to welcome a new partner club, the Barry Amateur Radio Association in Barry County, Michigan. BARA is partnering with us to use our training resources at their meetings.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight the material that is available to you, as an Internet Subscriber, here on n1fd.org. Don’t forget to log in to our website before trying to access these training resources.

Tech Night Training Materials

Scott, NE1RD at Tech Night
Scott, NE1RD at Tech Night

Our Tech Night Library contains over 100 hours of high-quality training materials on a variety of topics including:

2020 Tech Nights

  • Simple HF Wire Antennas by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Mountain Topping and Portable Operations by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • All About Antennas II by Spencer Webb, W2SW.
  • VHF+ Weak Signal Stations Part 1 – Overview and 6 Meters by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • How To Post on n1fd.org by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Field Day From Home by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC,  Sterling Eanes, AK1K, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC, and Jon Turner, AC1EV
  • Getting Started with Amateur Satellites (and Progressing to Linear Birds by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC (a special How-To Session for CWA and Friends)
  • N1MM+ Logger by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Getting Started in EME Communications by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • 2020 Project Night by NARS Members
  • Getting Started in Contesting by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2019 Tech Nights

  • All About Winter Field Day 2020 by our Winter Field Day Planning Team
  • Almost Everything You Need to Know About Antenna Fundamentals Part 1 by Spencer Webb, W2SW and Steve Golson, W1SEG
  • Raspberry Pi for Portable Digital Communications by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • HFTA, Feedline Design and Busting Pileups by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • QSL’ing and Awards by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB
  • Fox Hunting: Radio Direction Finding for Beginners including a Tape Measure Yagi Build by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • Surface Mount Technology by Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS
  • RF Design with Smith Charts, Building a First HF Station, and Begining with CW – Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Anthony Rizzolo, KC1DXL; and Jerry Doty, K1OKD
  • All About Field Day 2019 by our Field Day Planning Team
  • Putting up a Tower by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2018 Tech Nights

  • Operating Your Station Remotely by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Transceiver Frequency Measurement and Calibration by George Allison, K1IG.
  • DMR Radios and Programming by Bill Barber, NE1B
  • WSJT-X: FT8, WSPR, MSK144 and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Computers by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC,  Brian McCaffrey, W1BP, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Craig Bailey, N1SFT
  • All About Field Day 2018 by our Field Day Planning Team
  • Portable Operating Gear – demonstrations by Nashua Area Radio Society Members
  • K1EL Kits by Steve Elliott, K1EL
  • Antenna Modeling I by Scott Andersen, NE1RD.
  • Building and Operating a Mobile HF Station by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2017 Tech Nights

  • High-Altitude Balloons: Amateur Radio at the Edge of Space and was presented by our HAB Team.
  • Getting On The Air 2.0 by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and B. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
  • All About n1fd.org – Getting the most from our Website by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • Digital Modes: RTTY, PSK, and WSJT-X by Mike Struzik AB1YKAnita Kemmerer AB1QB, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Bonding and Grounding by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • All About Field Day 2017  by Dave Merchant, K1DLM, and our Field Day Planning Team.
  • Building and Operating a Satellite Ground Station by Burns Fisher, W2BFJ, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • DXing and QSLing by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB; Bill Barber, NE1B; Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Dick Powell, WK1J.
  • Weak Signal VHF and UHF Stations by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Bill Barber, NE1B.
  • Getting the Most from your HF Transceiver and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Dave Michaels, N1RF.

2016 Tech Nights

  • Popular Loggers – Ham Radio Deluxe and DXLab Suite by Dave Merchant, K1DLM, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • Low-Band Antennas by Dennis Marandos, K1LGQ; Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Brian McCaffrey, W1BP; and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
  • RF Simulation and Matching by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
  • Directional Antennas by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Dave Michaels, N1RF; Brian Smigielski, AB1ZO; and Greg Fuller, W1TEN
  • All About Field Day 2016  by our Field Day Planning Team.
  • Surface Mount Soldering and Desoldering, a Hands-On Presentation by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
  • Building Your First Station and Getting On The Air by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Dave Michaels N1RF
  • Software-Defined Radios by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and Skip Youngberg, K1NKR
  • Advanced Repeaters (DMR, EchoLink, DMR, and D-STAR) by Anita Kemmerer; AB1QB, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Bill Barber, NE1B
  • Antenna Modeling with EZNEC by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

Sample Tech Night Video – Putting Up A Tower

Each Tech Night session is recorded and edited in HD video to produce a quality learning experience. The slide presentations that are used as part of our Tech Night sessions are also stored in online archives for your reference.

Online Q&A Forums

Nashua Area Radio SocieryNember Forums

As Internet Subscribers, you also have posting access to our most popular Forums to ask questions and receive advice from other Nashua Area Radio Society members. These forums include:

What’s Coming Next?

We have a great lineup of new Tech Night programs coming. You can see what we are planning on our Tech Night Page. We welcome ideas for new Tech Night programs from our Members, Internet Subscribers, and Partner Clubs. Please email us with your suggestions at [email protected].

Interested In Becoming An Internet Subscriber?

We created our Internet Subscription program so that Hams who live outside of New Hampshire and Massachusetts can share in our growing library of training materials and resources. You can learn more about becoming a Nashua Area Radio Society Internet Subscriber here.

Do You Live in New Hampshire or Massachusetts?

If you are local to us, you can become a Member of the Nashua Area Radio Society! In addition to all of the programs and training resources that are described here, you can also participate in our local events (ex. Field Days) and meetings. You can learn more about becoming a regular member of the Nashua Area Radio Society here.

Interested In Becoming A Partner Club?

The Nashua Area Radio Society’s mission includes helping Amateurs Worldwide to develop their skills and have fun with Amateur Radio. We have invested a great deal of effort in creating high-quality Amateur Radio Training material that can be used on-line. We’ve also begun working with clubs outside of our area to help them to provide world-class training using the content described here.

We also work with partner clubs on ideas and the development of new program projects that have helped us to grow. If your club is interested in partnering with us on training, membership growth, and/or Ham development, please contact us at [email protected].

Anita, AB1QB
Membership Chairperson

Get A Custom Program for Your HT

It seems that many Hams struggle a bit to get their HTs programmed with the right set of repeaters and other memory settings. The Nashua Area Radio Society will be offering a custom HT Programming Clinic at HamXposition @ Boxboro 2019 to help hams get their HT’s programmed.

HTs That We Can Program

HTs at Tech Class - Amateur Radio Youth Outreach - HT Program
HTs at Tech Class

We will offer custom programming for the following HT models:

Icom HTs

  • ID-31
  • ID-51 (all models)

Kenwood HTs

  • TH-D72
  • TH-D74

Yaesu HTs

  • FT-4X and FT-4V
  • FT60
  • FT65
  • FT70D

BaoFeng HTs

  • UV-5R
  • BF-F8HP

TDXone

  • TD-Q8

How Will It Work?

HT Program
Custom HT Programming Request

The programming process will be with the completion of a request (shown above) that includes some basic information about the radio to be programmed. Each person can select from a list of options for their custom program which includes:

  • Preserving a limited number of existing memories in their radio
  • Calling Channels and Simplex Frequencies
  • Custom Repeater List for your location including DSTAR and Fusion Repeaters
  • FM Satellites Frequencies with Doppler Correction (AO-85, AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, and PO-101)
  • APRS Frequencies
  • The Nashua Area Radio Society’s Fox Frequencies

The NARS Member who is running the HT Programming Clinic will save a copy of the existing program as a backup and then use an RTSystems programmer to assemble the custom program from a combination of on-line apps and stored program components.

The user’s location is used to generate a custom list of repeaters with a 10-15 mile radius of their location. This list can include DSTAR and Fusion capable repeaters if the user’s radio supports these.

HT Program
RTSystems Program for Yaesu FT65

The completed custom program will be loaded into the person’s HT and checked out.

We hope that you’ll stop by the NARS Display at HamXpostion @ Boxboro 2019 to get you HT programmed.

Fred, AB1OC

Ham Bootcamp

Ham Bootcamp includes a series of demonstrations and tutorials designed to help prospective and newly licensed Technician, General, and Extra class license holders get on the air and use their amateur radio license. It is also a great opportunity for prospective hams who are interested in seeing what the hobby has to offer.Our Bootcamp activities are provided online via a series of sessions geared towards Technicians and prospective Hams and General class licenses and higher Hams. Bootcamp participants will find all of this material interesting and fun no matter what their focus or license level.

We are continuing to provide our Bootcamp program during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are providing Ham Bootcamp in an online format using Zoom. Our online Ham Bootcamp program is available to all licensed and prospective Hams in North America. Please contact us to sign up for our next online Ham Bootcamp via email to [email protected].

Repeaters and VHF/UHF Session Activities

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

HF Session Activities

  • Putting together an HF Station for SSB, CW, and Digital
  • Picking and putting up an HF Antenna, Feedline, and Ground
  • Operating on the HF bands using SSB Voice
  • Software and setup for Logging Contacts via your computer
  • Getting started with WSJT-X and FT8 Digital
  • Finding DX and QSL’ing – Getting them in the log and confirmed

… and more!

Virtual Ham Radio Shopping Trip

  • Join us for a guided tour of all of the gear and goodies that are available to build or expand your station.
  • Ask questions and get answers from NARS experts on what gear might be best for your situation.
  • We provide the Virtual Shopping Trip via a follow-on Zoom session shortly after Bootcamp. Information on how to join us for this event will be shared at our next Bootcamp session.

Articles About Ham Bootcamp

Are you interested in learning more about our Ham Bootcamp program? We’ve written quite a few articles about Bootcamp here on our Blog. You can read them via this link. Also, check out the article about a  recent Ham Bootcamp at the New England HamXposition.

Bootcamp has also been featured in the October 2020 edition of QST Magazine. You can view the article here.

Sign Up for Ham Bootcamp

Don’t miss this twice a year opportunity to learn more about Amateur Radio, improve your station, expand your skills, and get on the air.

Our Fall 2020 Ham Bootcamp session will be held online via Zoom on Saturday, November 7th from 10 am – 6 pm Eastern Time.

See you at Ham Bootcamp! You can contact us to sign up for our next Bootcamp via email to [email protected].

Support Ham Bootcamp

The Nashua Area Radio Society provides many training and skills development activities for new Hams and Young People. We also have many programs to enable folks young and old alike to join the Amateur Radio service. Please consider supporting our programs and our work by making a donation via the GoFundMe campaign which follows.

The Nashua Area Radio Society is a 501c(3) non-profit charity.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide