The WARA holiday party was held for the third time at The Great Wall Restaurant in Bedford, MA, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Fifteen WARA folks attended. Good food, good company!

Geno W1GNO was the lucky winner of our raffle for a $100 DX Engineering gift certificate.

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

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.

Field Day 2023 Photo Album

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:

For logistical reasons, this meeting will be online only. We hope to return to hybrid meetings at some point.

Guest speaker Fred Cirera, W6BSD will present, “Digital Voice Modes for Amateur Radio“. You don’t need a General or Extra class license to enjoy QSOs with people worldwide. All amateur license classes can use Digital Voice (DV) modes such as Fusion, D-Star, DMR, and many others to connect with people throughout the US and other countries using digital repeaters or amateur hotspots. During his presentation, Fred will discuss the differences between the DV modes and how the backend infrastructure works.

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

Field Day has arrived! At our recent meeting, we discussed a sked for FD contacts on 2M FM simplex (and ARRL suggests it here). Let’s do the following, weather permitting:

• Saturday, June 27, 2:00 PM EDT: 146.55 MHz
• Sunday, June 28, 10: AM EDT: 146.55 MHz

Tips:

• There are some fairly easy bonuses, each worth many contacts.
  • Copy the W1AW Field Day Bulletin (schedule)
  • Swap Messages to Section Manager on our repeaters.
  • All bonuses are detailed in the Field Day Rules.
• Let’s touch base with each other throughout the weekend on our 146.640 MHz repeater (or 449.075 if ’64 is having a Bad Hear day).
• For a Field Day FAQ and other info, see the ARRL FD Page.

On Saturday, June 22, 2018, WARA will combine a club picnic and a 4-hour operation in the ARRL Field Day.

Time: 12:00 – 6:00 PM
Location: Sunset Shelter, Prospect Hill Park, Waltham (near the repeater site)

The club provides hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, condiments, plates, napkins, etc. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own (non-alcoholic) drinks and a side or snacks to share.

The FD operation is very laid back, and everyone is welcome to operate.

To learn more about the ARRL Field Day, see www.arrl.org/field-day.

But we have arranged a new program for the February 27 meeting.  Ted Robinson, K1QAR, will give a presentation on High-power Magnetic Loop Design.

See http://walthamara.org/meetings/ for details on time and location.

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.