I wanted to post a very brief primer on how to set up NetLogger at your station if you are going to run a net.
Stations not running a net should also download and try NetLogger. It really enhances everyone’s experience when joining (or running) an over-the-air net.
You can download NetLogger here.
Thanks very much,
Craig Bailey, N1SFT
You always hear “when all else fails, amateur radio works”. That’s usually referring to some sort of failure to the power grid or normal methods of communication. We don’t usually think about the merits of amateur radio during a global pandemic like we’re going through now. Normal modes of communication work and the grid haven’t gone down, but amateur radio still serves a purpose.
During this pandemic we’re going through when everyone is sheltering inside, social distancing and many of us are out of work and out of our routine amateur radio can serve as a great distraction to all that is going on around us.
This past week amateur radio served this purpose for me. I had recently found out that I was without a job for the first time since I was a kid. It was a little overwhelming, to say the least. I was scheduled as net control for our weekly Sunday night repeater net on the N1IMO/N1IMN repeater system and was feeling pretty stressed out having just got the news that my clubs were shutting down for the foreseeable future. We had a great crowd on the repeater net and it was very calming for me to hear from everyone and how they are coping. It really brought me out of my funk!
I’ve also noticed a spike in activity on the HF bands as people turn to amateur radio for social distraction and news from far away places. If you’re feeling a little blue I would encourage you to get on the air and see how your ham community around the world is doing. It’s a great way to be social from a distance. This is also a great time to hone some skills. If I’ve got to spend more time at home, for now, I might as well use it to bolster my CW skills. Yes, I’ll be the one slowly calling CQ and asking for your call sign multiple times. FT-8 and FT-4, hate it or love it, has also had some great DX lately.
The Nashua Area Radio Society has been very proactive in keeping club members and other amateur radio operators in touch by moving to virtual meetings on Zoom and Facebook Live. Not only are we moving our meetings online, but we’ve added a 40-meter net scheduled after our meetings. At a time when we are practicing social distancing, we are actually increasing our activities and opening up to more people. We’ll also have a fox (hidden transmitter) hunt this week. Get outside and have some fun. No log to sign, just a picture of the fox will be enough to get credit.
We didn’t cancel our Amateur Extra licensing class that was scheduled last week. Instead, we moved to an online class for the first time. Our club also runs a program for newly licensed hams called Ham Radio Boot Camp. We had run two sessions before the pandemic hit with still one to go. Of course, the show must go on! We’ll be holding our third session this week… again, on the online.
During this time of uncertainty, I would encourage all of my fellow amateur radio operators to get on the air. You may need the distraction yourself or you may be providing a much-needed distraction to someone else.
Stay well and 73!
Jamey, AC1DC
In these difficult times where many of us are practicing social distancing, Amateur Radio gives us many opportunities to have fun on-the-air and stay in touch with friends. The Nashua Area Radio Society has several weekly on-air nets that can provide you with some Amateur Radio fun as well as a chance to socialize with friends. We are also taking our April and May Meeting online and add a new, 40m Phone net, to our lineup. You can read more about our plans here.
The Nashua Area Radio Society currently holds two weekly on-air Nets. The purpose of our nets includes:
All licensed Amateurs are welcome to join our weekly nets.
Our weekly repeater on-air net is held on Sunday Evening at 7:30 pm eastern time (Monday 00:30 UTC during standard time). The format of our Repeater Net includes a weekly discussion question or two which gives all who participate a chance to share something about themselves and their interests. This Net also includes information about upcoming Nashua Area Radio Society activities and events. We conduct our weekly nets on the N1IMN-N1IMO Repeater System whose wide coverage includes New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
You can access our Repeater Net via any of these repeaters or via EchoLink as N1IMO-R.
We have a different Net Control Operator (NCO) for our Repeater Net each week. The NCO for the next few nets posted in our On The Air Forum here on our website. The NCO will also post a list of the operators who check in each week in this same forum.
We hope to hear you on our next Weekly Repeater Net!
We also hold on Weekly HF on-air net on the 10m band. This Net begins at 8:30 pm eastern time (Monday 01:30 UTC during standard time) on Sunday evenings and features a round-table chat format. We hold our HF Net on or around 28.480 MHz using SSB Phone mode. The NCO for our HF Net can be contacted here. You can find more information about this net on our club calendar. All licensed Amateur Radio operators are invited to join our HF net.
We are inviting all Nashua Area Radio Society Members, Internet Subscribers, and all US-based Hams to join us for online our April Meetings.
NARS will hold our meeting using the Zoom online service. Zoom is free and all you need to join us is an Internet-connected Windows or Mac PC or a Tablet (ex. an iPad).
Here are the zoom links for our April Meetings:
We suggest that you join our meetings online at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start times.
NARS will also be conducting a new, after-meeting on-air net on 40m after our meetings. We will hold new after meeting on-air nets on or around 7.260 MHz LSB. Look for us to post an update on the final frequency on our home page (and here) just before our nets begin. We hope that these nets will give our members and guests a chance to communicate and socialize with each other. Folks who join us for the preceding online meetings will also be able to monitor our new after meeting nets via the online share.
We will also be live streaming video and audio from our nets to the Nashua Area Radio Society Facebook page.
We hope to see all NARS Members, Internet Subscribers as well as some new Ham friends around the United States and around the World join us for one of our Nets and/or join us for our April online meetings.
