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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/

On March 16, 2019, Internet service was installed at the WARA repeater site by Comcast.  Stay tuned for more information on how it will be put to use.

The Waltham Amateur Radio Association invites all hams and friends for a festive Holiday Dinner! It’s a great time to get that “eyeball” QSO with some of the folks we’ve been talking to all year. Spouses / friends / prospective hams are all welcome! No RSVP necessary. When: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 @ 6:00 PM, Sichuan’s Garden, 411 Waverley Oaks Rd, Waltham, MA 02452. Cost is $25 per person at the door which includes the buffet and 1 ticket for the door prizes. Membership renewal will also gain you an extra ticket for the door prize. The main prize this year will be a $150 gift certificate for Ham Radio Outlet.

There will be no regular (last Wednesday) club meeting in December.  The next regular club meeting will be on January 30, 2019.

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.

• 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
  

While at Boxboro a fellow HAM W1AWX introduced himself and showed me this great pic of WARA’s site taken from almost 40 miles away! Thanks Arthur!

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