CAARA Newsletter
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CCCAARAAARA NeNewsletterwsletter AN ARRL AFFILIATED CLUB JANUARY ISSUE- 2010 CAARA will be participating in the upcoming SPAR winter field day event which will be held on the last President’s full weekend in January. SPAR is The Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio. You may find more Corner information by going to their website which is by Curtis AA3JE www.spar-hams.org Field Day is perhaps the most popular of the many activities enjoyed by Amateurs. Every June the bands Well it’s here. A brand new, never used, shiny new come alive with improvised signals proving the ability year. I started the year by organizing the “Boat to respond to emergencies. The event also offers an Anchor” are in my basement. It took longer than I opportunity for camaraderie and a chance to test thought, since each radio or piece of gear down there ourselves in less than ideal circumstances, however, had an associated memory. The GE AR-88 that was emergencies and natural disasters don’t always left on my doorstep with a note “Free to a good happen in the summer. Winter winds, icy limbs and home”, the Heathkit someone had put together with bitter cold replace the thunderstorms and blistering their feet, the WWII submarine regenerative receiver heat of summer. To test our abilities to operate in the that led to my first hernia repair, the manual TR winter, in 2007 SPAR established a Winter Field Day switch that led to my putting 100 watts into the input event and invited all Amateur Radio operators to of my receiver....... golden memories all. participate. In both 2007 and 2008 the event was enjoyed by many and considered a success and has This is THE month for working contests. The been designated an annual event to be held the last sunspots are back (though not yet in full force), and full weekend each January. Therefore it is time to CW is raging.... If you are not given to CW, how issue the invitation for the Third Annual SPAR Winter about PSK-31? Twenty watts on PSK 31 can work the Field Day! world. Nothing builds character like antenna work in sub-zero temperatures (and a house full of company The 2010 Winter Field Day will be held from 1700 that you need to escape). Get active! UCT (12:00 noon EST) Saturday January 30, 2010 through 1700 UCT (12:00 noon EST) Sunday January Things at the club are going very well. The “clean up” 31, 2010. The object of the event is familiar to most was a great success, and the Morse code classes are Amateur Radio operators: set up emergency-style amazingly active due to the good efforts of Rick, communications and make as many contacts as WZ1B. We had an impromptu late December possible during the 24 hour period. The rules combination luncheon-fox hunt from which I have not encourage as many contacts on as many bands and yet had a report and we are getting ready to start work modes as possible, because during a real emergency, on the schedule for this year. the most important factor is the ability to SO NOW IS THE TIME. communicate, regardless of band, mode or distance. Membership is free and open to all amateurs who If you have any ideas on a program you want to see want to encourage technical and operating skills. You this year, please contact any board member, call me or can register by going to the SPAR Forum and show up at any meeting in January. This is YOUR registering, using your amateur callsign as your user club, running YOUR activities, and we need YOUR name. input. 73 AA3JE- Curtis Wright Please join with SPAR in promoting amateur radio and keeping our bands alive! 1 Welcome to CAARA: CAARA Newsletter Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association CAARA, an ARRL affiliated club, operates the 2 6 Stanwood Street meter W1GLO repeater on 145.130 MHz with Gloucester, MA 01930 antennas located on the Cingular tower in the CAARA Newsletter is a monthly publication of the Blackburn Industrial Complex in Gloucester Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA). Massachusetts. It has an average effective radius It is the policy of the editor to publish all material of 60 miles, and serves Eastern Massachusetts, submitted by the membership provided such Cape Cod, Rhode Island, Southern New material is in good taste, relevant to amateur radio Hampshire, and maritime mobile stations. and of interest to CAARA members, and space is CAARA also operates the W1GLO repeater on available. Material is accepted on a first come, first 224.900. The W1RK 443.700 repeater with serve basis. Articles and other materials may be antennas located in Magnolia is owned and submitted by internet to Jon at [email protected]. If operated by club member Ralph Karcher and it possible, material should be in Word too is available for club use. format.Material may also be submitted as hard copy to Jon-K1TP or any Club Officer. All material published in the CAARA Newsletter The Association is one of the few amateur radio may be reproduced for noncommericial use clubs that has its own clubhouse. Located at 6 provided such use credits both the CAARA and the Stanwood Street in Gloucester, it includes a author of the article. Copyrighted material will not permanent HF station with rotating beam and be accepted without accompanying written vertical antenna along with a 2 meter packet permission to publish. station and 2 meter voice and 220 MHz The opinions expressed in the CAARA Newsletter transceivers. are solely those of the editor or other contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opions of either Amateur radio exams are held on the second the Board of Directors or membership of CAARA. Sunday of each month at 10:00AM at the CAARA clubhouse. Anyone who is considering Jon Cunningham-Editor a new license or an upgrade, is welcome to test K1TP with us. There is no pre-registration necessary. Board of Directors- 2008-9 Contact the head of our VE team Bob Quinn if you have any questions about monthly testing. President: Curtis Wright AA3JE Vice Pres: Briggs Longbothum AB2NJ Monthly member meetings are held on the first Treasurer: Hank McCarl W4RIG wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM except for Clerk: Dean Burgess KB1PGH July and August. Directors: Each Sunday evening at 9:00pm, the club Jon Cunningham K1TP operates a 2 meter net on 145.130. This is an William Poulin WZ1L open and informal net which disseminates club Charles Downey N1OCT news and prepares operators for emergency Thomas Andrew KA1GTA Richard Copithorne KR1G communications work. All are invited to check Stan Stone W4HIX into the net as club membership is not a James Mondello W1DDX requirement. Dick Macpherson WB1W 2 Hello to all... It has been one year since the major with their Amateur Radio station at nearly a 1500 foot destructive ice storm that had a major impact on the elevation, they were able to contact stations directly Northeast United States and portions of Southern NewNovemberand maintain contact CAARA with the National Meeting Weather England and the NWS Taunton County Warning Area Service Forecast Office in Taunton until the repeaters on December 11th-12th, 2008 with damaging ice in were brough back on the air later on Friday Morning portions of Southern Maine, Central and Southern December 12th. If it were not for the efforts of the New Hampshire, Western, Central and interior WECT, it is quite likely critical data of what the storm Northeast Massachusetts, Northwest Connecticut and was doing and how severe the storm was would not portions of New York and Vermont. It is important to have been known until hours later. Many Amateur remember the history of such a destructive storm. This Operators woken up by the storm to the sound of special announcement has been written to recall the exploding electrical transformers and the snapping and events of this serious storm over the region. It became knock down of large branches and trees from the icing clear by December 9th and 10th of 2008 that the got on the air to report what they were seeing, even in region had the potential to see a destructive ice storm cases ! where some Amateur Operators, lost whole over the interior region of New York and New antenna arrays and suffered severe damage on their England. In addition, Southeast Massachusetts, own property that they needed to go address. It is this portions of Rhode Island and Connecticut were in the type of effort that made the level of reporting so path for heavy rainfall with the potential of flooding extraordinary and drew praise from many agencies. At and strong to damaging winds in these areas. Just prior the height of the storm, over 500,000 people were to the major destructive ice storm/nor’easter event, a without power in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. period of strong to damaging winds affected portions State of emergencies were declared in New Hampshire of Eastern New England with mild temperatures. and Massachusetts where the ice storm had its most Winter Storm/Ice Storm Watches were issued on significant impact. Amateur Radio SKYWARN December 9th and 10th and these were upgraded to Operations active throughout the storm was the first Winter Storm/Ice Storm Warnings. A Flood Watch and means of providing critical situational awareness and Wind Advisory/High Wind Warnings were also issued. disaster intelligence information to the National The storm began to unfold on Thursday December Weather Service Taunton Massachusetts and Gray 11th startingTopic: as plain Antennarain and as the day woreTheor on, the y Maine forecast offices, state emergency management rain changed to freezing rain as colder air from in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts and to Canada oozed southward and was wrapped into the FEMA Region 1.