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The Waltham ARA will not meet on the usual Last Wednesday of the month this month, which falls on the eve of Thanksgiving. Instead we will meet one week earlier, November 20, 2019. For general information on our meetings, see About / Meetings.

Also, stayed tuned for information on our December meeting. As we have done in recent years, there will be holiday dinner instead of a regular meeting.

On Saturday, June 22, 2019, WARA held its combined club picnic and a 4-hour operation in the ARRL Field Day in Prospect Hill Park, Waltham, close to our repeater site. The food was good and the FD operation was very laid back. To learn more about the ARRL Field Day, see www.arrl.org/field-day.

Here are the results of the FD operation, as submitted to the ARRL:

Eliot W1MJ posted a Google Photo Album of the event, and of the STARS Field Day in Natick where he went from Prospect Hill. Ron KG1T added a few photos, and other event participants are welcome to do likewise: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cwKY6JQKLk7CyTFh6

On June 14, 2019, Roger WA1NVC and Tom KA1GXR install these new 450 MHz and 900 MHz repeaters on Prospect Hill.  Roger has also set up the 900 MHz repeater with full time IRLP linking to the NEAR 900 Network. 

Our Current IRLP Status

The National Company of Malden, Massachusetts was a world class manufacturer of commercial and amateur radio communications equipment from the early 1930’s until the late 1960’s. Their HRO series was used extensively by numerous allies during World War II, and can be credited with helping in the effort to receive coded messages from behind enemy lines. George Maier, W1LSB, will take us through the company’s history, products, and talk about some National employees that he knew personally.

New England QSO Party – May 4th and 5th

The NEQP is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries.   You’ll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced Contest’ers, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.We’re working to make sure that all of the New England counties are active again this year and would appreciate your help.  Get on for at least an hour or two and join in on the fun.  Please let me know if you can put in any time at all so we can work on activity from the rarest counties.   Will you be QRV?   Let us know which county you’ll be on from with a message to info@neqp.org.

Oh yes, the NEQP is also lots of fun when mobile.  Every time you cross a county line the action starts over again.   It’s amazing what a 100w radio and mobile whip can do.  The QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep Saturday night.  It goes from 4pm Saturday until 1am Sunday, then 9am Sunday until 8pm Sunday.  Operate on CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters.   For each QSO you’ll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state.   Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who makes 25 QSOs and sends in a log will get a certificate.Last year we had logs from 166 New England stations and 387 more from around the country and world. The full NEQP rules are here ->  http://www.neqp.org/rules.html

The 2018 results are posted (and the results since 2002 are also available) ->  http://www.neqp.org/results.html

It’s just a few weeks until the 2019 NEQP.   Please make some QSOs even if you don’t want to send in a log.


   73 Tom/K1KI

At the March 27, 2019 WARA meeting, there were discussions and show-and-tell about putting our new repeater site Internet service to good use.  Presently, it is only being used for basic repeater control.  Plans are in the works, with some equipment already assembled, for 900 MHz IRPL repeater linking, putting our APRS node online, and possibly moving the 2M EchoLink connection to the site.  Ned, W1NED, presented some information about these topics, and has made his presentation info available here:  http://copylink.dhs.org/wara/