WARA held its holiday party at The Great Wall Restaurant in Bedford, MA for the second time on December 11, 2024. Good food, good company!
WARA 2024 Holiday Party
Author: Eliot Mayer
Repeater Updates: ’64 EchoLink & 900 MHz P25
The WARA 146.64 MHz repeater now has a connection to EchoLink directly at the repeater site. Roger WA1NVC set up the new equipment, and installed it on December 10 with help from Tom KA1GXR and Eliot W1MJ. The procedure for making EchoLink connections from a radio using DTMF tones has changed – see About / Repeaters.
The 927.1375 MHz repeater now supports P25 digital voice as well as FM. See About / Repeaters.
Roger WA1NVC prepared the equipment for these updates, and installed it over two December site visits with help from Tom KA1GXR and Eliot W1MJ.
May 29, 2024 Meeting
We continue to meet online only. This has been working out well, especially considering the geographic diversity of our membership.
At the May meeting, our very own Geno W1GNO will give a presentation, Introduction to Doppler Radio Direction Finding (RDF). Christine N1AUP will give an update on the club’s plans for Field Day on the summit of Mt. Wachusett.
Zoom Meeting Info
Time: Feb 28, 2024 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2695622043?pwd=WEJwSkhYYWtyZndjbitJQXFFNWY4dz09&omn=89876257978
Meeting ID: 269 562 2043
Passcode: 362611
One tap mobile:
+13126266799,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US (Chicago)
+16469313860,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US
January 31, 2024 Meeting on HF Mobile
At the January 2024 WARA meeting, guest speaker Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, did a wonderful presentation on HF Mobile. Fred’s slide show is available here; it includes links to some excellent online resources for this aspect of ham radio.
Holiday Meet-Up 2023
The Waltham Amateur Radio Association held a Holiday Meetup on December 13. It was our first since 2019, and was also our first at Great Wall Restaurant in Bedford. Our old venue, Sichuan’s Garden in Waltham has closed.
It was nice seeing people in person that we normally only talk to over the club repeaters. In addition to nice food and conversation, we also had a raffle.
Holiday Meet-Up 2023
After a 3-year hiatus, we are excited to announce the Waltham Amateur Radio Association’s Holiday Meetup! It’s a chance to enjoy good food, great company, and share our passion for amateur radio.
Date: Wednesday , December 13, 2023
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Venue: Great Wall Restaurant, 609 Great Rd, Bedford, MA 01730
Cost: $32 per person (includes Chinese buffet and one ticket for the raffle)
(Cash bar available)
This is the perfect opportunity to meet other radio enthusiasts, swap stories, and maybe even win a prize in our raffle. Whether you’re a seasoned ham or new to the hobby, you’ll find a warm welcome.
Please RSVP to WARA Treasurer Rich Comer K1RBC by December 6th to help us plan accordingly.
November 29, 2023 Meeting Announcement
The November 29 Waltham ARA meeting will be fully remote. W6BSD, Fred Cirera, has graciously offered to present again, this time on amateur radio folklore. In his presentation “Myths and Fairytales”, he involves the audience, asking them questions and requesting their thoughts on each slide. This can lead to some pretty interesting discussions.
Join us online via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2695622043?pwd=WEJwSkhYYWtyZndjbitJQXFFNWY4dz09
Meeting ID: 269 562 2043
Passcode: 362611
One tap mobile:
+13126266799,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US (Chicago)
+16469313860,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kvk7xrZVv
October 25, 2023 Meeting Announcement
The October 25 Waltham ARA meeting will be fully remote. We will have a business meeting and discuss repeater updates and operations. Hope to see you there.
Join us online via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2695622043?pwd=WEJwSkhYYWtyZndjbitJQXFFNWY4dz09
Meeting ID: 269 562 2043
Passcode: 362611
One tap mobile:
+13126266799,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US (Chicago)
+16469313860,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kvk7xrZVv
September 27, 2023 Meeting Announcement
The September 27 Waltham ARA meeting will be fully remote. Eliot, W1MJ, will give a technical presentation about the design of his “fox” – an automated transmitter used in hidden transmitter hunts.
Join us online via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2695622043?pwd=WEJwSkhYYWtyZndjbitJQXFFNWY4dz09
Meeting ID: 269 562 2043
Passcode: 362611
One tap mobile:
+13126266799,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US (Chicago)
+16469313860,,2695622043#,,,,*362611# US
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kvk7xrZVv
Report on Field Day 2023
ARRL Field Day, June 24-25, 2023
For this year’s ARRL Field Day on June 24-25, the Waltham ARA partnered with the Montachusett ARA (MARA). We operated from the summit of Mt. Wachusett in Princeton, MA in Class 3A (3 transmitters, in the field on emergency power). We also operated a “Get on the Air” (GOTA) station for new hams, future hams, and Technician class operators. Over 1,000 contacts were made with other FD participants around the country, and in a few other counties, including an FT8 digital contact with New Zealand.
Though off the grid, the CW and Digital stations shared a single log file using N1MM Logger+ and an on-site wifi network. The columns in the log excerpt below are: Time, Call, Frequency, Mode, Class, Section. For example, the first contact shown was on FT8 on the 15-meter band with KF0X in Arizona:
