Welcome to HCRA

Author: Webmaster

  • Massachusetts to Host USA ARDF Championships June 5-8

    The USA ARDF (Amateur Radio Direction Finding) Championships return to the Northeast this year. ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV, said on-foot foxhunting fans of all skill levels will gather near Boston in early June for 4 days of intense competition. Registration to participate in the event has been extended to June 1.

    Activities begin on Thursday, June 5 with a 10-transmitter short-course sprint competition on 80 meters. The following day is the foxoring event, a combination of RDF and classic orienteering on 80 meters in which participants navigate to marked locations on their maps where very low-power transmitters can be found nearby. Saturday morning will be the classic full-course 2 meter main event, with five transmitters in a very large forest. The banquet and awards presentation follow that evening. A similar full-course 80 meter main event takes place Sunday morning, with awards presented afterward.
    ARDF champ Vadim Afonkin, KB1RLI, is this year’s lead organizer, event host, and course-planner.

    National ARDF championships typically take place in late summer or early fall. This year, though, the ARDF World Championships will take place during early September, however. To provide plenty of time for selecting Team USA members and planning overseas travel, the 2014 USA ARDF Championships must take place 3 months before.

    ARDF championship rules are set by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). For scoring and awards, participants are divided into 11 age/gender categories. In classic ARDF championships, competitors start in small groups comprised of different categories.

    The USA ARDF Championships are open to anyone who can safely navigate the woods solo. A ham radio license is not required. Each participant competes as an individual.

    Stateside winners will be considered for membership in ARDF Team USA, which will travel to Kazakhstan for the 17th ARDF World Championships.

    An online entry form and more information are available on the Boston ARDF website. Read more. — Thanks to Joe Moell, K0OV, ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding Coordinator

     

  • Meeting Highlights – 5/2/14

    Attended the meeting last night? Want to learn more about SDR (RTL) and JT65? Here are the links that were mentioned last night

    SDR 

    OsmocomSDR
    One of the first websites that expermiated with the RTL-SDR, A lot of valuable information is located on this website. A suggest read to purchase the correct unit

    RTL-SDR Dongle – $15 USB SDR Stick Blog
    This site is a blog featuring articles about the popular RTL-SDR. There are many sources of retail shop online that offer the RTL-SDR Dongles

    Ham It up converter
    Want to use the RTL-SDR to listen to HF signals? This is a very popular up converter that allow you to listen to HF

    NT1K-SDR-Final Power Point Presentation
    The slides from last nights meeting.

    JT65

    From
    http://wd1s.com/jt65/

     

    Remote Rig and JT65 Resources

    Powerpoint Slides

    JT65 resources

    JT65 Software and Setup

    JT65 Add Ons

    Remote Rig Software

    Ham Radio Deluxe

    DX Labs Suite

    PC Remote Control

    Team Viewer

    Skype for Audio

    Skype

    Other Links

    PSK Reporter Site

    WSPR

    K3UK LoTW Sked Page

    Who is Joe Taylor?

  • HCRA Foxhunt – June 1st


     HCRAfoxhuntsmall

     

    Now that things are warming up in Hampden County, I think it’s time to have ourselves a Foxhunt. So dust off your direction finding equipment and make sure it works. With thanks to Larry, W1AST (ex WB1DBY), We had a decent turnout for our last foxhunt that took place in the fall of 2013. Jeff, NT1K has volunteered to the be the fox this time. If you are interested and want to join in on the hunt, please contact NT1K. You can either reply to this post, fill out the form below, e-mail (my call @ arrl.net) or see NT1K at the next meeting. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to join in on the fun. Home stations with a beam could also help the operators by providing beam headings.

    We have permission to use the K1ZJH repeater. The fox will transmit on the repeater while the hunters will be using the input frequency to look for the location of the FOX.

    • Frequency: 146.715 MHz
    • Input Frequency: 146.115MHz (This is the frequency you want to track the fox on)
    • PL: 100hz
    • Date: Sunday, June 1st, 2014
    • Time: 3:00pm Local
    • Starting Location: Holyoke Mall Overflow Lot (Behind Sears)
    • Duration: 1-2hrs

    If you are new to Amateur Radio and  never participated in a fox hunt, This would be  the perfect time to get your feet wet. Take some time and read an excellent post by Larry (W1AST) about fox hunting basics. You can also check out homingin.com for more information.

    Transmissions will start at approximately 3:00pm. It’s Important that you check in with the fox.
    I will transmit for 1-2 min every 10 min. I will also chat it up with anyone else on frequency. My power level will vary from 55W (at the start) to 5W to make it easier for people to track me. 
    I will stop transmitting either when all checked in stations arrive or at 5:00pm whichever is first. That is why it’s important to check in.

    Home stations with the proper equipment are encouraged to help out and provide headings if possible. 

    foxhuntdia

    Are you Interested? Contact NT1K below
    [contact-form to=’NT1K@NT1K.com’ subject=’Interested In Fox Hunt (APR 2014)’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Callsign (If Any)’ type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

    [mapsmarker marker=”3″]

  • World Amateur Radio Day 2014

    hcra-wrd-2014
     Quoted from the ARRL Website.
    ““Amateur Radio: Your Gateway to Wireless Communication” is the theme for World Amateur Radio Day 2014, Friday, April 18. Radio amateurs celebrate World Amateur Radio Day each year on April 18 to recognize the anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in Paris in 1925. ARRL Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, was its first president. The primary purpose of World Amateur Radio Day is to highlight Amateur Radio and its benefits to countries and communities. This year the IARU and its more than 150 member-societies are marking the organization’s 89th anniversary.”

  • Ham radio ops / Volunteers needed for Simulated Emergency.

    From Bruce Fuller (KB1TLX):
    (As mentioned at HCRA’s past meeting (3/7/14))

    The simulated emergency is based on the aftermath of a “tornado”. They are looking for patients/victims and well as radio operators. For anyone interested, the volunteers can operate on the “Tag Team” basis, meaning they can volunteer for what ever time they feel comfortable with. The exercise will start on Thursday, 10 April at around 1400 hours and end on Friday, 11 April at around 1200 hours. The website to sign up for this exercise is http://umassdrill.eventbrite.com/

    logo

    Shelter victims will portray the part of those affected by the tornado disaster. They will arrive at 3pm and live the life of a shelter resident. Participants are encouraged to consider the option of joining a sleepover as part of the event. How many people can say they’ve had a slumber party in the Mullins Center?!

    Shelter volunteers will assist the team leaders with shelter operations. Volunteers are needed in various positions from 2-9pm. There are 8 positions to choose from:

    • Registration Volunteers: Assist with welcoming victims into the shelter.
    • Donations Management: Assist the team leader with collecting donations brought to the shelter.
    • Dormitory Management: Assist the team leader with management of sleeping quarters.
    • Medical Component: Assist the team leader with medical needs of clients (both simulated and real).
    • Food Service: Assist the team leader with serving pre-made meals to all participants.
    • Mental Health: Assist the team leader with assessing simulated mental health needs of clients.
    • Childcare: Assist the team leader with providing a safe and entertaining area for children.
    • Animal Sheltering: Assist the team leader with managing shelter pets.

    All exercise participants will be provided meals during the event, including snacks, dinner and breakfast.
    Registration for the shelter roles is on a first come basis. All participants are encouraged to bring their pets to the drill. You do not need to bring anything for cats and dogs, but be sure to bring the necessary habitat for unique pets (i.e. cage/heat lamp for snakes). Children are also invited to the drill as there will be a childcare area. Please be advised though there will be some simulated injuries with blood, so younger children are not recommended to attend.

    We hope you are able to join us at this great event!

  • Show and Tell Meeting March 7th, 2014

    HCRA’s Show & Tell Meeting is less than TWO weeks away!  What are you bringing to Show and Tell?

    At HCRA’s annual show and tell meeting, members bring in projects they have either completed or have made progress on over the last year and give a short presentation to the membership. This is a great opportunity to show others what you’ve been up to and for fellow club members to get ideas on projects they might want to try. Past projects have ranged from the simple to the complex and from very small to very large and everywhere in between. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to share and we look forward to seeing what you’re up to! If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

    73,Matt W1MSW

  • Zero Beat Deadline

    Deadline for Zero Beat’s March 2014 edition coming up!

    Please get articles, pictures to me by Wednesday, Feb. 26th or so!
    Thanks
    Frandy
    n1fj@arrl.net

  • The HCRA will be at the MTARA Hamfest, will you?

    On Saturday, March 1st, 2014, the Mount Tom Amateur Repeater Association will host its 26th annual Hamfest. This year it will be held at the Moose Family Center, 244 Fuller Rd, Chicopee, MA 01020.

    The annual MTARA Hamfest offers a good variety of commercial sellers, private sellers and amateur radio clubs. You’ll find new gear, used gear, reconditioned equipment, odds & ends as well as items Hams may no longer need, that might be just what you were looking for!

    In addition to the great things you’ll find there, the MTARA Hamfest a great place for a meet and greet, such as welcoming back those Ham-Snowbirds, or putting a face to that voice you’ve heard on-the-air. As in past years, the HCRA will be there and we encourage our club members to stop by the club’s table and say hello. We’ll have some items of interest, as well as offering HCRA *250* Raffle Tickets.

    You can find more information about this event, by checking out the MTARA 26th annual Hamfest flyer.

  • Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan

    The Federal Government has a guide to implement Amateur Radio in times of emergency, that guide is called the ‘Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide (AUXFOG). Likewise Massachusetts has it’s own guide, that guide is titled the ‘Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan’.

    In it’s introduction, the Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan states:
    “This plan contains the details of how the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is implemented across Massachusetts. Instructions and general operating procedures presented in this document are applicable to message traffic handling by RACES and used in all RACES training. All amateur radio operators are encouraged to use this document in training and/or activated net operations.” While the introduction specifically mentions RACES, this operations manual includes sections on RACES and SKYWARN.

    Some of the topics covered in the MARECP include:
    – Identification of Operators.
    – RACES Net Hierarchy.
    – Frequencies.
    – Available Simplex Frequencies – Per NESMC.
    – Net Control Duties and Authority.
    – Net Preamble for Massachusetts RACES Nets.
    – Massachusetts RACES Message Format

    If you’re already a member of RACES, ARES or SKYWARN, your going to want to read this document. After which you may want to print it to keep a hard-copy on-hand. To those interested in these groups, Emergency Communications (emcomm), or Hams simply wanting to brush up on Good Operating Practices, I encourage you to read this plan.

    Please click on this link, to view the Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan. Note: it’s in PDF format.

  • Show & Tell Meeting – March 7th

    There are less than two months left before Hampden County Radio Association’s Annual Show & Tell meeting. During this meeting members bring in projects they have either completed or have made progress on over the last year and give a short presentation to the membership. This is a great opportunity to show others what you’ve been up to and for fellow club members to get ideas on projects they might want to try. Past projects have ranged from the simple to the complex and from very small to very large and everywhere in between. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to share. There is still plenty of time to build that kit you have stashed away or put together photos from the project last summer. We look forward to seeing what you’re up to! If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

    73,
    Matt – W1MSW