Tag Archives: Education and Training

Bob Heil to Speak to Nashua Area Radio Society on March 7th

Our March Membership Meeting will feature Dr. Bob Heil, K9EID.  Bob will speak to us about Antennas and Installation Techniques and Radio Settings .

Ham Nation
Ham Nation

Dr. Bob Heil is well know to amateurs as the former host of Ham Nation and the founder of Heil Sound.

Heil Sound makes world class Ham Radio and Professional audio equipment including headphones, microphones, and related equipment.

Heil Talk Box
Heil Talk Box

But did you know that Bob has made a name for himself in the world of Rock and Roll? He has created touring sound systems for several rock and roll bands such as the Grateful Dead and the Who.  Bob invented the Heil Talk Box, which was used by many rock and roll musicians.  He even has a display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Bob Heil Organist
Bob Heil at the Organ

An accomplished organist, Bob played for us at the end of meeting the last time he visited us.  You can see the recording on our Videos page – look for the March 2022 Membership Meeting.

Bob Heil is a great storyteller and his previous visits to the Nashua Area Radio Society were truly memorable.  Don’t miss Tuesday’s meeting.

To learn more about Bob Heil and his incredible accomplishments, visit his QRZ and Wikipedia pages.

The membership meeting will take place on Tuesday March 7th starting at 7:00 pm. It will be a hybrid meeting, at the Nashua Library in the NPL Theater as well as on Zoom.  For more information, including the Zoom link, see our main page and scroll down to the section titled Plans for Online Meetings and Tech Nights.

Getting Ready for HamXposition 2022

Next week is the Northeast HamXposition 2022 in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  Nashua Area Radio Society will host our exhibits on ham radio again this year. We presented our display at previous HamXpositions and at other venues such as NEAR-Fest.

HamXposition 2022
HamXposition

Here is an example from one of our past presentations.

Example
Example

Preparation and Testing

Our displays include much more than the basic trifold display board. We also include relevant items that are in the topic of each display and many displays have videos running with more details to inform and entertain our guests.

A few of us met last week to test out all of the video display components of our exhibit at Fred, AB1OC’s and Anita, AB1QB’s QTH. We will have 6 video loops running in our displays this year.  All are running from customized Raspberry Pi’s which are all networked together and can be controlled from a central PC for ease of management. Alan, KC1PWB is working here to prepare one of the displays for testing.

HamXposition 2022
Display Test

Here, Anita and Fred are testing the Flex Maestro we will use as our live demonstration radio at the event. It, along with the Raspberry Pi’s are all hard wired to the Network Pod seen on the right. Our testing in advance will make setup much easier on the day of the event. We did encounter some issues during testing and were able to take advantage having full access to all tools needed to troubleshoot and remediate the issues without any time pressure to get it done at the last minute.

Maestro Setup
Maestro Setup

Tasks

As is often the case, there are many tasks to manage behind the scenes before we have our first visitors come to see our exhibits. NARS has done this before and we have a good idea of how to manage things. Here is a high-level breakdown of some of the major tasks

  • Update Displays
  • Volunteer’s assignments
  • Plan Layout
  • Create Packing List
  • Transportation to HamXposition
  • Setup
  • Operation
  • Breakdown
  • Transportation from HamXposition
Transport Truck
Transport Truck

Many of us have pickup trucks and two of them plus a car is enough to handle transporting our exhibit.

Current Displays

  • Nashua Area Radio Society Information
  • Get On the Air Work the World
  • Kit Building / Raspberry Pi
  • Field Day and Emergency Communications
  • Satellite Communications
  • High Altitude Balloons
  • Fox Hunt
  • SOTA/POTA
  • Morse Code

Some of our displays were showing a bit of age and those have been updated and refreshed by Anita, AB1QB for this year.  This is what part of our exhibit at last year’s HamXposition looked like last year right before it opened.

2021 HamXposition Display
2021 HamXposition Display

Come and Visit

We are very proud of our exhibit.  It is the result of much effort over the years and is an excellent way for us to share our hobby with other people, whether they be hams or not.  More importantly, I am even prouder of the enthusiasm and support of this project from our member volunteers who will be guides during the event and gave their time and energy to sharing our mutual love for this hobby.

GOTA Display
GOTA Display

I look forward to welcoming you to our exhibit at HamXposition this year.

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