Tag Archives: On The Air

Antennas, CW and QRP, Education and Training, Featured, General, Homebrewing, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

Plans for HamXposition @ Boxboro 2019 – We Need Your Help

The Nashua Area Society will be part of the fun at HamXposition @ Boxboro again this year. We will be adding some new things this year as well as providing the Ham Radio Expo display that we did last year. Our contributions will include:

  • An expanded Ham Expo Display
  • Ham Bootcamp – a new activity for prospective and recently licensed Technician and General Class Hams
  • An Expanded Kit Building Activity
  • Several Forum Presentations featuring some of our recent projects and NARS Activities leading to our recognition as Club Of The Year

We will need a lot of help from NARS members to make our contribution to HamXposition successful. More on this later in this article.

Ham Radio Expo Display

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Expo Display

Our Ham Expo display will cover many activities that you can do with Amateur Radio. Our display will also include three GOTA stations:

  • A Computer Controlled Satellite GOTA
  • A Remotely Controlled High-Power HF GOTA
  • A Repeater GOTA

We will also be adding a radio programming clinic where you can get your HT programmed at the show.

Ham Expo Layout

The diagram above shows the planned layout for our Ham Expo display. It will cover the entire back wall of the main exhibit hall in the vendor area and will include the Satellite GOTA station in the bar area as we did last year.

Ham Bootcamp

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Bootcamp Activity

Ham Bootcamp is a new activity this year. Ham Bootcamp is a hands-on activity for folks interested in getting a Ham Radio License and folks who have gotten their Technician or General Class License and would like so help to get on the air or to upgrade their station to take advantage of their new General Class privileges. Our planned activities are outlined in the chart above. Most will be hands-on in small groups of 10 or less so we can answer questions and demonstrate how to have fun with Ham Radio. Ham Bootcamp will take place from 9 am to noon on Saturday and will accommodate up to 100 HamXposition attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.  We will also provide a $5 discount coupon to all Ham Bootcampers to use toward one of the kits that are included in our kit building activity at HamXposition.

Kit Building Plans

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Morse Tutor Kit

The popular Morse Tutor kit will be back again this year and we’ll have folks on hand as well equipment so that folks can build their kit and get it working at the show. You can find more about our Morse Tutor kit here.

We will be adding a second kit at our kit build – a 70 cm ground plane antenna. This is an antenna that you can build and use to help your HT or base rig get out better on the 70 cm band. We’ll have an analyzer and folks who can help you to tune your antenna for the best operation after you complete your kit.

Forum Presentations

NARS Forum Presentations

The Nashua Area Radio Society has had a pretty amazing year and we will have the opportunity to share some of our experiences at HamXposition via forum presentations. You can see the topics for our planned presentations above.

We Need Your Help

NARS HamXposition Teams

HamXposition is an important undertaking for us and for the northeastern Amateur Radio Community as a whole. We need your help to plan and execute our plans. Please reach out to Dave, Jerry, Scott or myself and join our HamXposition Team. It will be a lot of fun and a rewarding change to give back to the northeastern Amateur Radio Community.

Fred, AB1OC

Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter

Field Day 2019 Recap

Field Day 2019 was one to remember.  We built an 11A station with a new VHF Tower and 160 meters.   Setup and takedown went smoothly.  The operating positions were full for most of the event.  We increased our score by more than 3,000 points over last year!

Field Day Site
Field Day Site

Hudson Memorial School proved to be a great Field Day Site for the 2nd year.

Transportation and Setup

Tower and Antenna Setup
Tower and Antenna Setup

Setting up at Field Day was a challenge, with 4 towers, the 160-meter wire antenna, and RBOG and the Satellite station.  Thanks to a hardworking and organized team led by Craig, N1SFT, we had everything onsite by Thursday evening or Friday morning and the Tower and Antenna setup went very smoothly.  We even had some professional help, when Matt, KC1XX showed up!

VHF Tower
VHF Tower

Here is the newest addition to field day, the VHF Tower.  With the antennas on the tower and the use of FT8, we had a record number of 6-meter contacts.  And Fred was able to walk the VHF bands with a few clubs to get some QSOs on 2 meters and 70 cm as well.

Field Day 2019 Operation

Ryan, KC1KJS, operating at Field Day
Ryan, KC1KJS, operating at Field Day

At 2:00 pm local time, the operations began and continued for 24 hours. It was great to see some of our younger members operating at Field Day.

CW Operations
CW Operations

We also had world class contesters Matt, KC1XX and Bob, WA1Z in the CW Tent along with Dennis, K1LGQ.

Keith, KC1IMK at the Digital Station
Keith, KC1IMK at the Digital Station

We had a very cool high tech Digital setup with 3 stations running FT8 using networked Flex Radios and antennas on a 60 ft tower.  Thanks to Dave, K1DLM,  for providing this setup.

Abby, AB1BY Operating at Night
Abby, AB1BY Operating at Night

Operations continued all night.  Rumor has it that Abby, AB1BY and her dad Jamey, AC1DC operated SO3R in the Digital tent on FT8.

Great Food

Jerry, K1OKD at the Grill
Jerry, K1OKD at the Grill

We also had world class food at Field Day.  Thanks to Jerry, K1OKD, Food team lead and Andrea, KC1JDX and Peter, KC1FNF, we never went hungry.

Sterling, AK1K
Sterling, AK1K

Thanks to Sterling, AK1K, we got 200 bonus points for messaging and had fun in the process handling the messages.

Field Day Site after Field Day
Field Day Site after Field Day

We left the site just as it was when we arrived. Thanks to all who helped take everything down and bring it all back to BOB!

Field Day 2019 Results

Field Day Results
Field Day Results

Here are our 2019 Field Day Results – a big improvement over last year!  Thanks to everyone who helped out with Field Day – too many to mention in this article.  This was one of our best Field Days ever! You can see more detail on our score and the list of our Top Operators on our Field Day page.

Anita, AB1QB

Activities, CW and QRP, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

July Contest Notes

Half Gone

It’s difficult to believe that half of 2019 is already behind us. We’re only a few months away from the start of the 2019-2020 contesting season. As the NARS Field Day totals have shown, there is still plenty of good propagation out there so don’t believe all that talk about the bands being dead. The bands, especially during contests, often have a surprising amount of activity. Take advantage of it.

13 Colonies

The height of Summer brings us things that are an equal amount of fun and competition. Though not a contest, per se, the 13 Colonies Special Event will bring you pile-ups worthy of CQ WW. If you’ve not found some slots to work already, check out the NARS club 13 Colonies effort and get involved.

A Couple of Highlights

I’ll start with one of my favorite contests of July: the RSGB IOTA Islands on the Air contest.

RSGB IOTA Contest [1200Z July 27 to 1200 July 28]

Exchange: RS(T) + Serial No. + IOTA No. (if applicable)

I have often done this contest from the Boston Harbor Islands (NA-148), either Georges Island or camping on Lovells Island. There may be a club field-trip to Georges for a Saturday 6-hour effort. Keep a watch on the Forums section of the website for more information.

CQ WW VHF Contest [1800Z July 20 to 2100Z July 21]

Exchange: 4-character grid square

I’ve done this contest from the top of Mount Wachusett and it is a ton of fun. Of course New Hampshire has a bunch of mountains to try your luck. Walk up the slope and get SOTA points, too!

Take your 6m and 2m all band radio and do SSB, FM, and CW from a mountaintop and rack up the grid squares. This is a really fun way to spend an afternoon.

North American QSO Party, RTTY [1800Z July 20 to 0559Z July 21]

Exchange: Name + state (DC/province/country) for North America. Just name for those outside North America.

The National Contest Journal holds QSO parties and sprints for each mode twice a year. These contests are fun because they are not jam-packed with people. If your new to a mode, or if you just want to sharpen your skills, these are great contests to try.

Until Next Time

Summer is a good time to catch up with family, see a few baseball games [Go Spinners!], or do that outside project you’ve been putting off. But, if you do have some time, get on the air!

73 de

Scott, NE1RD

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide