We received some very sad news recently. A long-time member and supporter of the Nashua Area Radio Society and Amateur Radio, Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS, has become a silent key.
I first met Hamilton at a NARS exam session where he earned his Extra Class license, by passing the Technician, General, and Extra exams all in one session. He became active with NARS and began contributing almost immediately. Hamilton made many contributions to NARS.
Hamilton served as an instructor for our license classes and presented some of the most difficult topics in a way students could understand. He was famous for his Yagi antenna demos, which will be missed at our license classes.
Hamilton explaining a design of his at Project Night
Hamilton was an engineer’s engineer – one of the best that I have had the pleasure to know. He would always take the time to patiently explain the most difficult ideas in simple terms, helping them master technical concepts. When members need help repairing a radio or another piece of gear, Hamilton helps them get back on the air. His workshop was impressive, and he really knew how to use his gear.
Hamilton, K1HMS Testing CW Stations
Hamilton loved Field Day and served as co-chairman. He was always there to help us build our stations and to operate them. We would find a way to pitch in and help with whatever the team needed to succeed at Field Day. He was always team-focused.
Hamilton was also a past Treasurer of NARS, and served on our non-profit incorporation/501(c)(3) committee
Hamilton loved to mentor and wrote many articles on our website to help newer folks learn about Amateur Radio station building, operating, and electronics. You can find his contributions in this area here.
It was a privilege to have known Hamilton. I have the highest respect for him as a person. Even when he was very sick and fighting to regain his health, he found time to continue contributing to NARS’ educational work and to share his knowledge and mentor others. I will miss him very much.
2020 was a year that most people would like to forget. However we had a great year at the Nashua Area Radio Society, as we continued to have great meetings and activities online despite the pandemic. Here is our 2020 Year in Review.
Winter Field Day
WFD 2020 Operations
Winter Field Day 2020 was held the last weekend in January. We improved our score by over 100% and came in 2nd in the Outdoor Category. See this article for more on our operation and this article for the results. This was the last major event that we were able to spend together.
Craig N1SFT Working to setup for Winter Field Day
The Pandemic – Meetings Moved Online
May Meeting – Bob Heil, K9EID
When the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, we could no longer meet together. We moved our meetings online and continue to hold our monthly membership meetings and tech nights over Zoom web conferencing. Although we miss getting together in person, this allowed us to include our internet members in our meetings. In addition, geography was no longer a barrier so we brought in some great speakers for our monthly meetings including Bob Heil from Ham Nation, Tim Duffy, K3LR from DX Engineering, Ray Novak from Icom, Fred Lloyd from QRZ, Doug Grant, K1DG, world class contester, and more!
Tim Duffy, K3LR Speaking at June Membership Meeting
September Meeting – Doug Grant, K1DG – Getting Started in Contesting
Ray Novak, N9JA, tells us about the Icom-705 at our November Meeting
Summer Field Day – 2020 Year in Review
Field Day Virtual Site Visit on Zoom
The Nashua Area Radio Society decided to not hold a large group operating event for Field Day 2020 due to the pandemic and the need to social distance. The ARRL modified the rules to allow Category D (Home w/non-emergency power) stations to contact each other and to allow operators to designate a club with their entries.
We held a social distanced field day but still maintained a few of the annual field day activities. Sterling, AK1K took the lead in teaching us all how to send and receive messages for the messaging bonus, and led a messaging net during Field Day. We also held a Zoom meeting and invited an elected official and several club members who are in public agencies so that the members attending could claim those bonuses. Club members who were operating published articles with their plans on the website. You can visit this link to see the Field Day stories.
Our total club score was 14,952, and put us in the top 3% of all clubs.
Jeff, AC1FX Operating at Field Day 2020
Summer Field Day Antenna Setup at Jon, AC1EV’s Station
Spencer Webb, W2SW, Taught us about Antennas, Feedlines and much more!
In addition to taking our membership meetings online, we also took our Tech Nights online each month. This allowed our members as well as internet subscribers to have access to the live training sessions. We had some great speakers including Spencer Webb, W2SW, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and learned all about EME, Antennas, Contesting, Portable Operating, PCB Design with Eagle and more! Members and Internet Subscribers can find video recordings of our tech nights on our website.
Jamey, AC1DC, Teaches us about Portable Operations
Gordon West Checks In to Technician Class
We also took our license classes online this fall. We are now offering an online exam session after the class to all students in the class. Gordon West dropped in to offer some words of encouragement to our Technician class! Our Spring 2021 Classes are on the calendar and registration is open.
Class Zoom
Ham Bootcamp
October 2020 QST Cover
This year we took our Ham Bootcamp program online. We held an all day Ham Bootcamp on Saturday November 7th, where we taught new and inactive hams the skills they need to get on the air. The session was very successful – we had over 200 people attend! The ARRL published an article about our Ham Bootcamp in the October Issue of QST, which helped Hams all over the country and in Canada find out about it. Our next Ham Bootcamp is scheduled for April 24th, 2021. See this article for more information and links to register for Bootcamp.
Thanks to our Ham Bootcamp instructors, Abby, AB1BY, Jamey, AC1DC, Aron, W1AKI, Burns, WB1FJ, Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB.
Abby Speaks About Fox Hunting in Fall 2020 Ham Bootcamp
Membership
300 Member Cake
2020 was a great year for membership! We celebrated over 300 members at our December Meeting – an increase of over 100 members since 2019! We now have over 240 regular members and over 80 internet subscribers!
Student Teacher Contest Series
Keith Sangillo, KC1IMK – Winner of the Student Teacher Contest Series
We held a Student Teacher Contesting competition this year to encourage young people to get on the air and develop their operating skills. The winner was Keith Sangillo, KC1IMK, who won an IC-7300. Abby Finchum, AB1BY was a close 2nd and will win a DX Engineering Hex Beam Antenna.
NARS in the Media – 2020 Year In Review
Ham Nation Bob with Ham Bootcamp QST Article
The Nashua Area Radio Society got quite a bit of media exposure this year. We published 2 articles in QST, were on Ham Nation twice, and were mentioned in a youth contesting article in the National Contest Journal.
Jim, K1BRM, tells Ham Nation audience about the NARS QSO Party
Our activities chairperson Jim, K1BRM was interviewed by Val, NV9L on Ham Nation to publicize the NARS QSO party, which we held in the fall. We also publicized Ham Bootcamp on that episode.
Note that ARRL Membership is Required to access QST and NCJ online
December Meeting
We ended the year with a memorable December Meeting, where we held Elections, heard from our NH Section Manager, John Gotthardt, K1UAF. We even had a visit from Santa where we could tell him Ham toys we want for the holidays! I hope everyone got what you wanted!
Santa at December Meeting
As we close 2020, we are hoping for a better 2021, and that we can finally get together in person with our fellow club members. We wish all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
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