Author: Eliot Mayer

Officer Elections & New Newsletter Editor

Officer elections were held at the monthly meeting, Wednesday November 28th 2018.   Ron KG1T has stepped up from VP to President.  Glenn N1GAS has stepped in to fill the VP roll.  Other officers are continuing in their present role.  See About WARA for the updated listing of WARA officers.

Also at the November meeting, George W1LSB volunteered to be our new newsletter editor.  Please support George by submitting stories, photos, technical articles, or anything else of interested to the club.  The next issue will be Spring, 2019.

Public Service Repeater Usage on October 6 and 27

The WARA 146.64 MHz repeater will be used as a backup repeater for two public service events in October:
  • October 6, from 7 AM to 2 PM:  Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Cycle for Life
  • October 27, from 7 AM to 2 PM:  Ashland Sporting Association Half Marathon
From the communications organizer for both events,  Mark Richards, K1MGY: 
Standby use means that the WARA 2M repeater may be used in the event our main system fails, or for overflow traffic.  Should the system be required, announcements will be made.  A closed net will NOT be conducted.  During breaks in communications, stations wishing to make brief calls are welcome.

We recognize that use of these resources is a privilege and extend gratitude on behalf of the two organizations to WARA for generously extending a hand.

Boxboro 2018

We hope to see you at the ARRL New England Division Convention in Boxboro on September 7-9.  Check out www.boxboro.org for all the details.  And …

Help us at the WARA booth at Boxboro! We’ll have a table indoors, encouraging new members to sign up and existing members to renew, by putting them in a raffle for a Alinco DJ-500. Volunteers will all be in a separate drawing for a door prize!  To sign up for an hour or two at the booth, click here. -Ron / KG1T

Celebration of K1UGM’s Life

Rhoda Morris, N1CSI, invited Waltham repeater friends of her late husband, Jim Morris, K1UGM, to a celebration of Jim’s life.  It was held at the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield, MA, on Saturday, May 5, 2018.

Jim was a regular on the 146.64 MHz repeater for many years.  If you don’t know Jim and are curious, see http://walthamara.org/2018/01/03/k1ugm-silent-key/.

Cover of the program
Rhoda, N1CSI, with a photo of Jim, K1UGM
On display were some of the replicas of antique scientific equipment that Jim and Rhoda created for a variety of museums. In the front is one of several replicas of Galileo’s telescope. In numerous QSOs on the ’64 repeater, Jim described the painstaking effort he made to achieve a near-perfect replica of the original telescope.

SKYWARN Training Session at WARA May 30 Meeting

The May 30 WARA meeting will be a severe weather spotter training session. The training is presented by Rob Macedo, KD1CY, in association with the National Weather Service SKYWARN program. Everyone age 16 and older who stays to complete the training will be able to become trained NWS weather spotters.

The training includes a two-hour thirty-minute computer-based presentation, which discusses the development of thunderstorms, the criteria for “severe” thunderstorms, as well as the cloud features associated with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Additional information will be presented about winter storms and proper snow measurement and reporting of coastal flooding, river, stream, and urban flooding and rainfall measurements. The session will also present the procedure for reporting weather information to the National Weather Service. Safety procedures for the various forms of summer severe weather (severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and lightning), winter storms, and flooding will also be covered in the training session. Anyone attending should bring a pen or pencil and bringing a notebook is optional.

The number of seats is limited, so per-registration is strongly advised. Use the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skywarn-training-class-waltham-ma-tickets-45327445610

For any questions or further info, contact Rob at rmacedo@rcn.com.

Amateur Radio License in a Day – April 21, 2018

Bill Poulin, WZ1L, sent us this informaton:

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association, CAARA, will be holding a one day study course for those interested in earning the FCC Technician class amateur radio license. This course will be held at the Lanesville Community Center on 8 Vulcan Street in Gloucester, MA on Saturday, April 21st, 2018, from 8:00 AM and going until 4:30 PM. Exams will begin at the end of class.

There is a $20.00 fee for course materials, snacks and the FCC Test Fee. You must sign up beforehand by e-mailing CAARA at techinaday@caara.net.

Tech-in-a-Day Flyer

WA1NVC Tests Feasibility of Bringing Internet to Repeater Site

March 4, 2018 – Roger, WA1NVC, investigates the feasibility of bringing Internet service to the repeater site.  It would enable networking of the 900 MHz repeater, and possibly other cool stuff like remote diagnostics.

Roger tried two different cellular data boxes. This one worked the best, especially when tested with the door to this metal radio room closed.
Checking the connection speed… Yes, fast enough for our purposes.