Winter Field Day 2019 is about two months away. A few of us hardy NARS members are planning to setup an outdoor multi-op station for this event. If you are curious about WFD, Craig, N1SFT, has an excellent summary article. The primary goal of WFD is to gain some hands-on experience with emergency communications in winter conditions. And although our objective is to be safe while having fun during the doldrums of winter, it is a contest nonetheless. And as is the tradition for NARS, we are in-it-to-win-it! Thanks to Charlie, W1CBD, we have a mathematical model for using the allowed band/mode multipliers to take first place. But we’re missing a key ingredient: solid CW operators willing to commit to a few hours to help get the needed QSOs.
Okay, okay, I know what your thinking… are you nuts! It’s cold in January, and snowy too! But not to worry. We have a solid plan for a heated pavilion sheltered from the wind. It’s a short walk on a cleared & treated path from a plowed parking lot. I guarantee you’ll be colder doing holiday shopping than operating from our cozy camp.
We are looking for CW operators who are willing to commit to a few hours starting on January 26, at 2 pm EST. Our goal is at least 12-hours of CW coverage during the 24-hour event. If you’re interested in operating CW for WFD, please contact Jerry, K1OKD (email to ‘jerry at okdoty dot com‘). If you want to help participate with event planning or setup, we can always use more volunteers.
Even if you’re not interested in operating CW, please stop by, make a few digital or phone QSOs, and have some hot cocoa with us. You’ll be glad you did.
The Nashua Area Radio Society recently hosted another Youth Expo as part of the New England Tech Trek (NETT) at Fall NEAR-Fest. Our display featured many hands-on activities and displays.
Fred, AB1OC Introduces Students to Amateur Radio in the NETT ClassroomAB1QB Teaching in the NETT Classroom
There were quite a few students and teachers who attended NETT on Friday. We had a classroom at NETT to introduce the students to Amateur Radio and the activities in our display.
GOTA and Special Event Stations
HF GOTA Fun – Ira, KC1EMJ hostingJon, AC1EV Helps a Student Get On The Air
We set up three GOTA stations (two remote HF and one Satellite) at NETT. This gave the students a chance to make some Amateur Radio contacts and experience Amateur Radio at NETT.
N1T Youth Expo Special Event QSL Card
We again hosted an N1T Special Event on the air. All of our GOTA stations used the N1T callsign. Operators and their guests made about 200 contacts as N1T during NEAR-Fest.
Here’s some video from our GOTA operations at NETT.
Learning Morse Code
Learning Morse Code at NETT – Mike, Bill, and Jamey are Mentors
Our Morse Code activity at NETT was popular. This gave the students to try out Morse Code and learn from our experts!
Satellite Operations
Burns WB1FJ Explaining Satellite OperationsSatellite Antennas at NETT
The Portable Satellite Station 3.0 was back again at NETT and Burns, WB1FJ spent quite a bit of time introducing the students and NEAR-Fest attendees to satellites and satellite operating.
Amateur Radio Displays
NARS Display at NETT
NARS had many displays at NETT and folks who were attended enjoyed learning about many different aspects of Amateur Radio from SOTA, to DXing, to Kits and Computers and more.
Fox Hunting
Jamey, AC1DC hosts a NETT Fox Hunt
Jamey, AC1DC hosted several Fox Hunts at NETT. I ran into several groups of his Fox Hunters throughout the weekend and they were having great fun!
Kit Building
NETT Kit Building – Mackenzie, KE1NZY and Bill, AB1AV MentoringKit Build Fun at NETT – Craig, N1SFT and his Family having kit fun together!
We hosted another kit build at NETT. The latest version of the Morse Tutor kits was available to build at NETT. Over 20 of these kits were built at NEAR-Fest.
Photos and Video from NETT at NEAR-Fest
NETT Signage
NETT Signage
AB1QB Teaching in NETT Classroom
AB1QB Teaching in NETT Classroom
NARS Display at NETT
NARS Display at NETT
NETT Display - SOTA
NETT Display - SOTA
Fred, AB1OC Introduces Students to Amateur Radio in the NETT Classroom
Fred, AB1OC Introduces Students to Amateur Radio in the NETT Classroom
N1T Special Event at NETT
N1T Special Event at NETT
Learning Morse Code at NETT
Learning Morse Code at NETT
Learning Morse Code at NETT - Mike, Bill, and jamey are Mentors
Learning Morse Code at NETT - Mike, Bill, and jamey are Mentors
Morse Code Fun at NETT
Morse Code Fun at NETT
Morse Code Fun at NETT
Morse Code Fun at NETT
NETT Kit Building - Mackenzie,KE1NZY and Bill, AB1AV Mentoring
NETT Kit Building - Mackenzie,KE1NZY and Bill, AB1AV Mentoring
NETT Kit Build - Bill Mentoring
NETT Kit Build - Bill Mentoring
Kit Build Fun at NETT
Kit Build Fun at NETT
Explaining GOTA
Explaining GOTA
John, AC1EV Helps a Student Get On The Air
John, AC1EV Helps a Student Get On The Air
NETT GOTA Ops
NETT GOTA Ops
Jamey, AC1DC hosts a NETT Fox Hunt
Jamey, AC1DC hosts a NETT Fox Hunt
HF GOTA Fun
HF GOTA Fun
Burns Explaining Satellite Station
Burns Explaining Satellite Station
Satellite Antennas
Satellite Antennas
The photo gallery above includes some more photos from NETT at NEAR-Fest.
And here’s a video shot by a NEAR-Fest NETT attendee which include many highlights from NETT.
Thank You To All Who Supported NETT!
The NEAR-Fest organizers, attendees, and several of our members either provided matching contributions or generously donated to our fundraising effort to support STEM learning and skills development through Amateur Radio.
Our NEAR-Fest fund drive resulted in raising $2,400 in the two weeks up to and including NEAR-Fest. Thank you very much to all of our donors!
It would be impossible for us to host one of our Youth Expos without the tremendous support of NARS members. Folks stepped up to provide transportation, display setup, hosting for GOTA and display tours and much more during NEAR-Fest. Thank Youto everyone for your support!
Also, a special Thank You to our Media Committee for providing the photo and video content featured here.
We have been doing Amateur Radio open house activities as part of our High-Altitude Balloon projects and Kids Day for some time now. These events help young people to learn about and have fun with Amateur Radio and help us to create a STEM learning experience based upon Amateur Radio.
ARRL Kids Day 2018
Earlier this year, we began working on a project to scale our open house activities up to become an activity that we could host at local Ham Fests. We wanted to expand the scope of this activity to appeal to young people and all Hams to provide an opportunity to learn about Amateur Radio and to showcase some of the modern, “high-tech” aspects of the Amateur Radio Service. This project was debuted at the NETT event at NEAR-Fest.
Young People at NETT
Concurrently, Bill Barber, NE1B who is a Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS) member began working on a youth outreach event for the NEAR-Fest event held in Deerfield, NH. We got together with Bill, the NEAR-Fest leadership, and others to create the New England Tech Trek (NETT) at NEAR-Fest. We held our first NETT event earlier this month.
NETT Banner at the Display Entrance
NARS contributed 10 displays to the initial NETT event including:
We were able to secure the N1T Special Event callsign for the event and we used it to make over 450 contacts on a combination of the four GOTA stations that we had at NETT. We should have our NETT Special Event QSL cards back from our printer shortly.
NETT N1T QSL Card
Our GOTA Stations were among the most popular elements at NETT. Burns, WB1FJ ran our satellite GOTA station. He even managed to create a pileup or two as N1T on the birds!
Satellite GOTA
Quite a few folks made satellite contacts using N1T . Also, the satellite station antennas which were located outside the display building were interesting to many folks.
Satellite Antennas
Our Remote HF GOTA Stations featured FlexRadio Maestros and a nice DXing and Station Building Display. Dave, K1DLM and myself, AB1OC made our stations available to support the two HF GOTA setups and NETT.
HF GOTA
Ira, KC1EMJ helped several young folks to make their first HF contacts and Abby, AB1BY anchored our special event N1T station using the second setup.
N1T Special Event Station
The SDR-based remote stations and our Satellite GOTA helped us to demonstrate some of the “Hi-Tech” aspects of Amateur Radio to young people and to all Hams who attended NEAR-Fest. We live streamed our GOTA activities to Facebook so that the folks who worked us could see our operation in real-time.
Jamey, AC1DC and Connor, KC1GGX put together our displays on Fox Hunting, Morse Code, and portable operating. Their displays provided a great introduction to these activities.
Fox Hunting Display
Anita, AB1QB and Tom, AB1NS created a nice display on kit building and Raspberry Pi projects in Amateur Radio. This display was a popular one as well.
Kits and Computers Display
Bill, NE1B also engaged several other groups who provided displays at NETT. The Robotics and Drone were among other popular displays.
Robots Display at NETT
The following photo archive contains some pictures from the event. There are many good memories there.
NETT Banner
NETT Banner
N1T Youth Expo Special Event QSL Card
N1T Youth Expo Special Event QSL Card
Young People at NETT
Young People at NETT
NETT: N1T Special Event Station
NETT: N1T Special Event Station
NETT: HF GOTA
NETT: HF GOTA
NETT: Satellite Display
NETT: Satellite Display
NETT: Satellite GOTA
NETT: Satellite GOTA
NETT: Satellite Antennas
NETT: Satellite Antennas
NETT: Mobile HF N1T
NETT: Mobile HF N1T
Youth Expo Kits and Computers DisplayDisplay
Youth Expo Kits and Computers Display
NETT: Fox Hunting Display
NETT: Fox Hunting Display
NETT: High Altitude Balloon Display
NETT: High Altitude Balloon Display
NETT: Robots 1
NETT: Robots 1
NETT: Robots 2
NETT: Robots 2
NETT: NWS HAB Display
NETT: NWS HAB Display
NETT: Field Day - EMCOM DIsplay
NETT: Field Day - EMCOM DIsplay
Many, many members of NARS contributed a great deal of time and energy to making this project a success and I’d like to thank everyone who helped us!! I’d especially like to thank Hamilton, K1HMS, Mike, K1WVO, Craig, N1SFT, Charlie, AB1ZN, Bob, W1OLD, and Dave, K1DLM for their help with this event. Without everyone’s support, the NETT event and our presence there would not have been possible. We are looking forward to replicating the most popular elements from our displays at out Ham Fest events going forward.
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Winter Field Day 2019 is about two months away. A few of us hardy NARS members are planning to setup an outdoor multi-op station for this event. If you are curious about WFD, Craig, N1SFT, has an excellent summary article. The primary goal of WFD is to gain some hands-on experience with emergency communications in winter conditions. And although our objective is to be safe while having fun during the doldrums of winter, it is a contest nonetheless. And as is the tradition for NARS, we are in-it-to-win-it! Thanks to Charlie, W1CBD, we have a mathematical model for using the allowed band/mode multipliers to take first place. But we’re missing a key ingredient: solid CW operators willing to commit to a few hours to help get the needed QSOs.
Even if you’re not interested in operating CW, please stop by, make a few digital or phone QSOs, and have some hot cocoa with us. You’ll be glad you did.
