May F.C.A.R.C. Inc. P.O. Box 773 Greenfield, MA FIRST CLASS MAIL

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1 F.C.A.R.C. Inc. P.O. Box 773 Greenfield, MA FIRST CLASS MAIL May 2012 Upcoming Events New England QSO Party May 5-6 E-board Meeting: Monday May 7 7:00 p.m.: Al Woodhull s, Leyden Club Breakfast: Saturday May 12 8:00 a.m.: Denny's, Greenfield Club Picnic: Saturday May 19 Time 1:00 p.m.: Fred Smead's VE License Test: Monday May 28 7:00 p.m.: Northfield Unitarian Church E-board Meeting: Monday June 11 6:00 p.m.: Greenfield High School Annual Meeting & Officers Election: Monday June 11 7:15 p.m.: Greenfield High School Club Breakfast: Saturday June 16 8:00 a.m.: Denny's, Greenfield Field Day: Saturday and Sunday June 23/24 all day: Poet's Seat Tower, Greenfield

2 Calendar May 2012 NEW ENGLAND QSO PARTY MAY 5-6 See article by Tom Frenaye K1KI below. ANNUAL CLUB PICNIC, SATURDAY, MAY 19 AT 1 PM Once again Fred and Jan Smead have invited club members to a picnic at their house at 1 in the afternoon of Saturday, May 19. The address is 75 Mt. Warner Rd. off Rt. 47 in Hadley. Bring food to share. There will be no program meeting in May. CLUB BREAKFAST- SATURDAY May 12, 8:00 AM, DENNY S RESTURANT The May monthly club breakfast will be at Denny s restaurant on Federal Street in Greenfield. E-BOARD SCHEDULE CHANGE As of May, E-Board meetings will revert to being held on Mondays. The next meeting will be Monday, May 7 at Al Woodhull N1AW's house, 199 Eden Trail, Leyden contact him for directions (aswns@hampshire.edu). Traditionally the E-Board always met on a Monday, but in recent few months it was moved to Tuesdays because one member had a conflict with meetings of another organization. Secretary s Report E-BOARD MEETING, TUESDAY, APRIL 10, BOB DICKERMAN WA1QKT 1. Topic for upcoming meeting will be Field Day introduction and planning. We will try to personally invite as many of the new licensees as possible to the meeting. The general plan is to duplicate last year's operation, which seemed to work well. Bob WA1QKT will visit trailer to check tires, look for 80/40 m trapped dipole, etc. Carter WA1TVS is graciously allowing us to use his RV for SSB station/restroom facilities again. Planned antennas mostly same as last year: 10 m to 20 m hex beam, 20 m Moxon, AC1L antenna, 80/40m trapped dipole, KB1NEK Chris's 140' dipole, Phil N1YPS 6 m beam Will need extra people to hold ropes for hexbeam setup/teardown We need to ask Gary KB1AKU or Dan N1VFN if they will tow trailer to and from site CW Radio: Kenwood TS-850 (Al N1AW), TS-140 (Al N1AW) backup SSB Radio: Yaesu FT-450AT (Bob WA1QKT), TS-140 (Al N1AW) backup Carter will cook Sunday breakfast. We need to ask John KB1NOH and Barb KB1NOI if they want to handle the other meals. Bob WA1QKT sent letter to Greenfield Town Hall for permit Bob W1SRB will submit article to Recorder prior to Field Day 2. Tentative Technician License Course: KB1NEK will contact Shelburne Control ops, some of whom expressed some interest in Ham tickets, and we may put ad in Recorder to add students. 3. We are thinking about moving E-board meetings back to Monday nights. 4. Howard N1LUP drafted as-already-amended By-laws to include clerk rules. 5. Nominating committee needed for 2012 elections of President, Secretary, and Director - will ask AC1L if he wants to guide related work. Election on June Triathlon Sunday August 5, will have new route since covered bridge washed out, N1AW will organize 7. Bridge of Flowers August 11, W1SRB and Howard N1LUP will organize 8. NoBARC 40th Hamfest Sunday, August 12, in Adams, MA just off Route 8 9. Chris KB1NEK would like to step down as president. He is still ARES Emergency Coordinator for Franklin County, West, and ARRL Assistant Section Manager and Affiliated Club Coordinator 2

3 (Northwest), and is currently EMD in Shelburne. At the E-board meeting Chris expressed interest in an FCARC appointed position - FCARC Emergency Coordinator - that has been vacant for years, and was immediately and unanimously appointed to the position. As Emergency Coordinator he will work in parallel to ARES to enhance emergency capabilities of FCARC. His first idea is to mobilize members to conduct short digital nets using Fldigi after some of our usual voice or CW nets. PROGRAM MEETING, APRIL 23, BOB DICKERMAN WA1QKT After we all enjoyed coffee and snacks made by Belle KB1NOG and Carter WA1TVS, the meeting was called to order at 7:20 PM by Chris KB1NEK. Nominating committee, with at least 2 people, needed for 2012 elections of President, Secretary, and Director - KB1NEK will ask Richard AC1L if he wants to guide related work. Election on June 11. KB1NEK said SKYWARN training will be held: Monday April 30 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the Red Cross facility in Keene, NH. Thursday May 31 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM at Channel 22 News in Chicopee, MA. Saturday June 2 from 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM at Hitchcock Free Academy in Brimfield, MA. Howard N1LUP said that he will contact Fred Smead regarding picnic. He later reported that the picnic date is set for Saturday May 19 at 1:00 PM. The next VE license test session will be on Monday, May 28, at the Northfield Unitarian Church. Folks thinking about upgrading should be aware that a new Extra Class license test will be used starting July, Bob W1SRB said that the New England QSO party is coming up on May 5 and 6, and he encouraged members to participate. He mentioned that last year he won the local division in the low power category, in part because he was the only entry. Al N1AW prompted Bob WA1QKT and Chris K1SMY to say that they won the November CW Sweepstakes in the Multioperator Low Power New England Category, with only 16 QSOs, again, in part, because they were the only contestants in that category. Al has also won at least one ARRL contest under similar circumstances, although (I believe) he garnered quite a few more contacts. Chris Slack N1IMU was welcomed and introductions were made all around. Chris was active in the club in the early 1990's, and was the president of FCARC during that time - the youngest president in the history of the club. The business part of the meeting was followed by a general discussion of Field Day, including a review of the topics discussed at the E-board meeting. Bob WA1QKT reported that the trailer seems in good condition, and that the bandpass filters have been stored under one of the seats in the trailer. The 80m / 40 m trapped dipole is in the trailer. A new trailer registration will be posted. Al N1AW and Bob W1SRB presented photos of prior year's Field Days and described the events for the newcomers. 12 people attended the meeting. News, Activities & Articles LINKED REPEATERS ON RTE 2 - AL WOODHULL N1AW 3

4 Chris, KB1NEK, and Al, N1AW responded to an invitation from the Mohawk ARC to attend a meeting in Gardner on April 25. They had asked us if we might be interested in linking our KB1BSS 2 meter repeater with repeaters operated by the Mohawk ARC and the Montachusett ARA. Currently these clubs have linked repeaters in Fitchburg and Gardner, and a repeater in Athol will be joined to the system soon. Athol is, of course, on the border of Worcester County with Franklin County. Having our Leyden repeater available would make it possible for a traveler to continue a conversation over a major portion of Route 2. For us in Franklin County the link to the Athol repeater could be very helpful in coordinating with the eastern part of the county during an emergency. The technology being used is IRLP, the Internet Radio Linking Project. The linking is entirely voluntary, and can be turned on or off by a user. Connection to other more distant repeaters would also be possible. This is something Chris and Al think the FCARC should think about. Much information is available on line about the technology, just Google "IRLP". We hope to present more information about this in a future issue of the Communicator and/or on the website. During the ice storm in December 2008, five members of the FCARC were asked by state ARES officials to relieve radio operators at two shelters and the EOC in Gardner. Amateur radio operators had been providing emergency communications for several days, and needed relief for rest. Paul Topolski, W1SEX, who invited us to consider the linked repeater plan, was very much involved in the ice storm communications, and remembered our contribution. He is now the emergency management director for the city of Gardner. KB1BSS 440 REPEATER PROGRESS AL WOODHULL N1AW Gerry Lempicki, KA1STZ, has reported some progress with the FCARC 440 MHz repeater, which was moved to his home in Ashfield a few weeks ago for diagnosis. As this is written it appears that the problem was failure of a crimped connection on the main 12 VDC connection from the power supply to the repeater transmitter. This did not cause the transmitter to shut down, as there was another path through a much thinner wire, but the voltage drop probably caused a decrease in transmitter power. Possibly more important, the "high" voltage level of some digital control signals may have been reduced below the level where the control functioned properly. At press time we are not sure that all problems have been identified and solved, but things are looking good. As soon as the 440 repeater is back in service there will be an announcement on the website, and, of course, on the 9 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Thursday nets on the KB1BSS 2 meter repeater. 4

5 NEW ENGLAND QSO PARTY MAY TOM FRENAYE K1KI, ARRL NE DIVISION DIRECTOR The New England QSO party is coming the weekend of may and we are always looking for more activity from western Massachusetts. Last year we had 74 callsigns from western Massachusetts reported. The neqp is a great way to test your antennas on meters and to be the focus of a lot of activity as stations from around the world look for New England stations. Plus, it's fun!! Here is a summary of the New England QSO party rules: Object: To contact as many New England stations (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) in as many New England counties as possible on m. (New England stations work anyone) Date: First full weekend of May. (May 5-6 in 2012) Contest Period: 2000Z Saturday until 0500Z Sunday (4pm EDT Saturday until 1am EDT Sunday) and 1300Z Sunday until 2400Z Sunday (9am EDT Sunday until 8pm EDT Sunday). Categories: Single-operator high power, low power(150w or less) and QRP(5w or less) categories, plus multi-operator, single transmitter. Same four categories for mobiles. Singleoperator stations using assistance during the contest (packet or Internet spotting nets, etc.) will compete in the multi-single category. Contest Exchange: Send signal report and state/province (DX stations send signal report and "DX"). New England stations send signal report, county and state. QSO Points: Count one point per phone QSO, two points per CW (includes digital modes)qso. Multiplier: Stations outside of New England use counties as multipliers for a total of 67 (CT/8 MA/14 ME/16 NH/10 RI/5 VT/14). New England stations use states(50)(count DC as MD), Canadian provinces(14) and DXCC countries as multipliers. Scoring: Total score is QSO points times the multiplier. Mobiles count QSO points per county and multipliers from all counties (counted once). Suggested frequencies: CW , SSB ** Now that the broadcast stations are mostly out of , try 7180 on 40m SSB.** Reporting: Logs should indicate times in UTC, bands, modes, calls and required contest exchange. All stations include your club's name in the log header or summary. Entries must be submitted within 30 days and sent to NEQP, P.O.Box J, West Suffield CT or via e- mail to logs@neqp.org (Cabrillo format preferred). Awards: Certificates will be awarded to the top scorers (25 QSO minimum) in each New England county, U.S. state, Canadian province and DXCC country. A number of special plaques will also be awarded to top scorers. Additional details can be found on the NEQP web site at We're especially looking for mobile stations to put the rarest counties on the air. If you think you might be on for at least a short time in the NEQP, let us know with a brief message to us at info@neqp.org. MAILING LISTS, BLOGS, AND PODCASTS ARE GOOD SOURCES OF HAM INFO DAN ROMANCHIK KB6NU Whether you're a newcomer or an old-timer, the Internet is possibly the best way to learn as much as you can about amateur radio. On the Internet, you'll find many, many ham radio mailing lists, podcasts, and videos. In essence, these resources give you access to hundreds, if not thousands, of Elmers. 5

6 One mailing list that I always suggest to new hams is the HamRadioHelpGroup ( The purpose of this group is to help "those who are interested in getting started in Amateur Radio or upgrading their license." This mailing list has a good mix of beginners and experts, and most questions are answered quickly and correctly. One thing that I really like about this group is that the moderators do a good job of keeping the discussions on track, and will squelch them when they stray off topic or threaten to turn into flame wars. In addition to the HamRadioHelpGroup, you might also want to join a more targeted mailing list. For example, if you re interested in learning Morse Code (hint, hint), you might join the SolidCpyCW list ( If you just bought a Yaesu FT-60 hand-held transceiver, you might want to join the FT-60 list ( Chances are that no matter what your interest, there s probably a mailing list to discuss that interest. I m subscribed to a lot of amateur radio mailing lists and could probably spend most of my day just reading and replying to them. In order to get the most out of them, without them taking away from my on-air time, I only read those threads that I am really interested in, and even then, I quit reading them once they have started to drift off-topic. I also un-subscribe myself from lists that cover topics that I m no longer interested in. Blogs, podcasts and videos: In addition to getting on a few mailing lists, you might want to read a few blogs and subscribe to podcasts. These are also great sources of information about amateur radio. I blog about amateur radio at and lots of hams find it a good source of information. You can find a list of other ham radio blogs that I d recommend on my home page. Podcasts are also a good source of information. One podcast that you might want to check out is the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast ( Since 2008, Jerry, KD0BIK, has been producing PARP, and currently has more than 50 different episodes online. For other podcasts, consult the list on Jerry s home page. Finally, there are literally thousands of amateur radio videos on the net. On YouTube alone, there are approximately 32,000 of them. The American Radio Relay League has its own channel ( but perhaps the most popular amateur radio video channel is the K7AGE channel ( K7AGE has more than 6,200 subscribers and his videos have garnered more than 2.1 million views! Whatever source or sources of information you select, remember to not let them take up too much of your time. Ham radio is about more than just reading, listening, or watching. It s about doing! THE COMMUNICATOR is an informational publication for members of the Franklin County Amateur Radio Club. Officers: President: Chris Myers, KB1NEK (camyers_1@verizon.net ), Vice President: Al Woodhull, N1AW (n1aw@arrl.net ), Treasurer: Howard Field, N1LUP (howfield@comcast.net ), Secretary: Bob Dickerman, WA1QKT (rld@dickermanelectronics.com), Director: Belle Dyer, KB1NOG (bdyer58@mtdata.com), Director: Bob Solosko, W1SRB (w1srb@arrl.net) This is your newsletter! Amateur radio information of general interest, club member project descriptions and doings, radio applications to other activities, corrections, or suggestions are all welcome. Individual submissions make for variety! We need more writers! Send submissions to Bob Solosko at w1srb@arrl.net. 6