The correct date and time for the Nutmeg Hamfest in Meriden, CT is Sunday, October 13th, 2013 8AM – 2PM. In September and October Zero Beat it was incorrectly shown as October 7.
Now that October is near, it means we have another HCRA meeting to look forward to attending.
We’ll have John (N1OLO) from Hamsource.com. He will be giving a presentation on some of his new products like the Ezgate 80 and EX Power Strip as well as other solutions.
Also starting with our October meeting, Bob – K1YO, HCRA’s technical director, will be holding a regular pre-meeting technical demonstration called Tech Corner. During this
time, Bob will give a technical demonstration on a particular aspect of the hobby. This month Bob will show us how to test ferrite chokes using an MFJ259B analyzer. Tech Corner is a very welcome addition to our regular meetings and I encourage everyone to come a little early to learn something new. This would also be a good time to bring technical questions for Bob and ideas for future Tech Corners.
We will also be accepting membership renewals and we’ll have tickets for the FT-857D Raffle.
Hope to see you there!
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HCRA Board Meeting Minutes- sept
HCRA Board Meeting Minutes
September 10, 2013 7:00pm
Hampden Bank Parking Lot
Members Present:
Jim Mullen
Matt Wilhelm
Ed Lacombe
Frandy Johnson
John Pise
Dave Cain
Richard Wheeler
Dave Scarpa
Jeffery Bail
Guests: No Guests Attended
Agenda Item #1: Vice President (7:10pm)
Discussion Item: September Database Issues
Action Item: To Continue with Current DB until Online is ready
Discussion Item: Donation to Perry Lane School
Action Item: Approved by Board
Agenda Item #2: Financial Report (7:20pm)
Discussion Item: Current total revenue, 6877.25 total
Discussion Item: 857 raffle, 62 Sold So Far
Discussion Item: Status of WRTC Sales, $391 in Deposits so far
It was discussed whether prices should increase
After Jan 1st, and it was decided they should not.
Discussion Item: Paypal Membership renewals, 18 renewals
Agenda Item #3 Secretary Report (7:30p)
Discussion Item: Format of Minutes discussed Guidelines given
Discussion Item: Status of State and federal filings, Both completed
Discussion Item: Status of online meetings, tabled for now
Agenda Item #4 Zero Beat Report (7:35pm)
Discussion Item: Cutoff date for articles next issue 9/24
Agenda Item #5 Membership Report (7:45pm)
Discussion Item: Membership Renewals, 47 renewed
Agenda Item #6 Technical Report (7:50 pm)
Discussion Item: Bob not present but still plans Techinical corner sessions at meeting
Discussion Item: Holyoke Hospital Looking for help to track jamming on repeater
it was decided Jim KK1W would assist them Agenda Item #7
. Agenda Item #7 Program Report (8:00pm)
Discussion Item: CW Training class update, class still being worked on for Feb-Mar start
Discussion Item: Silent Auction go ahead, white elephant table every meeting, 10%
donation to club.
Discussion Item: Meeting content for the upcoming 6 months.
Agenda Item #8 At Large (8:05pm)
Discussion Item: January License classes plans
Old Business: No new info on APRS node in chester
New Business: Clubs ilrp node retired, equipment dispersed
Holiday Party planning, Meal Price increase
Discussion of board members roles.
Meeting Closed: 8:13pm
Due to a “production error” the first copy of September Zero Beat had page 5 and 6 duplicated. The revised copy is now available at
https://hcra.org/wordpress/zb/sep13.
73,
Frandy, N1FJ
You may see the latest issue of Zero Beat at
https://hcra.org/wordpress/zb/sep13.
73,
Frandy, N1FJ
Welcome back. On behalf of myself and the HCRA Board Of Directors, we hope you’ve had good and memorable times since our last meeting. With Labor Day Weekend behind us, fall will soon be upon us, and with that comes all those get-ready-for-winter chores. However, for now we can enjoy September and on Friday, September 6th, our first HCRA meeting of the 2013/2014 season.
Traditionally, the September meeting is renewal time for club members. As our Club President, Jim-KK1W says “Your dues go toward funding HCRA events like Field Day and the Holiday Party, offset mailing costs for our members without email access, cover our web hosting and liability insurance expenses and IRLP node maintenance and more. We need your continuing support to keep HCRA rolling along in high gear.” That being said, I’ll have the membership table set-up and ready to assist you in keeping your membership in good standing.
If you’re one of those people who don’t like to wait to the last minute to get things done and/or enjoy new things and new technology, then the HCRA has something you’ll find useful. Membership renewals may now be done online! It’s easy, it’s fast -and- it’s secure. Please click on this link to see for yourself: https://hcra.org/wordpress/membership-payment
Please note however, at this time only renewals can be processed at this time. New members will still need to submit hard copies of membership applications, as their information is not in our database. If you choose to renew in person at the September 6th (or at any) meeting, if you would please bring a completed application with you, it will make the process quicker for everyone. You can download an application here: https://hcra.org/wordpress/membership
73, and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting!
Thanks to the efforts of Nick (K1MAZ), the SOTA Jerks (NE1SJ) and all those who participated, we were able to pull off the inaugural New England SOTA Day. We had about 10 activators from around New England and Canada activate SOTA peaks all around the same time on August 10th 2012.
Activators Include
[table]
Callsign,Name,Summit,Designation,Location
NE1SJ,Frandy (N1FJ),Pocumtuck Rock,W1/MB-015,Deerfield MA
KK1W,Jim,Webb Hill,W1/CR-011,Hardwick MA
K1MAZ,Nick,Quabbin Hill,W1/CR-013,Ware MA
NT1K,Jeff,Mt. Tom,W1/MB-006,Holyoke MA
WN1E,Dave,Mt. Norwottuck,W1/CR-004,Amherst MA
KB1RMA,Chris,Fort Mountain,W1/MV-002,Epson NH
N1EU,Barry,Misery Mountain,W1/MB-021,Williamstown MA,
N1AW,Al,Bald Mountain,W1/MB-014,Bernardston MA
W1PNS,Peter,Putney Mtn.,W1/GM-114,Putney VT
VA2SG,Jean,Mt Brassard,VE2/LR-052,Quebec CA
[/table]
* – Bold Callsigns are members of HCRA
Soap Box
Jeff (NT1K) Mt. Tom
Climb was easier than I recall. It only took little over 1/2 hour to make the hike. Forgot some equipment which limited my G5RV Jr. height to about 12ft. I thought it was going to cause some issues but I managed to make a decent amount of contacts including a hand full of summit to summit contacts.
Jim (KK1W), Webb Hill
This was my second time on Webb Hill. If you read the trip log from our first activation you know the story of the huge ant hills on the trail. They are still there. I drove up Hill road until I didn’t want to scratch my truck any more, parked and walked to the trail head. Once there I followed the trail until the ant hills came into view, then I used the ‘go to’ function in Back Country Navigator to bushwhack from there to the summit. Too many ants for me! The hike is about .3 miles with maybe 200′ elevation gain.
During setup there was no breeze and the mosquitoes were unbelievable. I literally bathed myself in Deet, it helped but it was still miserable. I mentally decided I was ‘outa-there’ ASAP once I made a few contacts. Thankfully a breeze came up and it was fine from that point on. There’s no suitable rocks up there for setup but I kluged an operating desk out of my backpack and hung it off a tree. All in all I was QRV for about two hours and made lots of contacts on 40 and 20 meters, both CW and phone, and a few on 2 meter FM. By the time I broke down the station around 2:00 PM there were 41 QSO’s in the log including 10 S2S contacts. Very cool!
I used an EFHW wire antenna with one end suspended 25′ up in a nearby tree. the antenna tuned well on 40, 20, 17 and 15 but I didn’t see any skimmer spots on 15 so I’m not sure how well it was working on that band.
All in all a fun time on a beautiful day.
KK1W
AL (N1AW), Bald Mtn
My activation of Bald Mountain W1/MB-014 was frustrated by the SOTA database which said “object reference not set to an instance of an object” when I clicked Submit. I’m supposed to be a computer professional (retired) but that wasn’t helpful.
Other than that, and not getting on the air on 146.52 until 1705Z and on HF until 1759Z (poor planning and misplaced antenna parts). I had a good time, my first solo activation and a previously unactivated summit. Results: 11 QSOs (3 on 2m, 3 on 40m, 4 on 20m, and 1 on 15m), 3 S2Ss, VT and CA, (but the two in VT were two different ops on different bands on the same summit). Sorry I didn’t work any of you guys, I heard someone talking to NE1SJ once on 2m but did not hear Frandy and I was on 20 cw at the time anyway.
I sent a message to the SOTA database manager, I presume eventually my log will be accepted.
Chris (KB1RMA), Fort Mountain
Dave (WN1E), Mt. Norwottuck
Nick (K1MAZ), Quabbin Hill
Pete (W1PNS) w/ Charles (N1CAI), Putney Mountain:
Please read pete’s write up on his blog!
Any additional information please contact us!
That’s right! You can now renew your HCRA membership online using either your credit card or PayPal account.
You can get there two ways. One is by clicking here and the other is by going to the membership menu and clicking on “Online Renewal”. Once at the new page, all you have to do is enter in your callsign and your current e-mail address you would like to be contacted at and then press the “Pay Now” button. You will be then taken to a secure payment page where you can use your PayPal account or If you don’t have one, please click on “Pay with a debit or credit card”. Fill out the required information and the HCRA will be notified.
Please note: This is a payment option in addition to the others. So if you prefer to mail in your membership or pay at a meeting then that is fine. This is just another option for those who asked.
At the current time, Online payment is for renewals only! New members please
go HERE.
Thank you,
Jeff – NT1K
 |
From: Al Woodhall (N1AW)
The Bridge of Flowers 10K road race takes place in Shelburne Falls on Saturday August 10. The Franklin County ARC will be providing communications. We welcome additional volunteers. To sign up contact Chris, KB1NEK, (413) 625-0344, e-mail camyers_1@verizon.net. Radio operators should arrive by 7:30, at the alley next to Baker’s Pharmacy on the Shelburne side of the river. Event info can be seen at
Http://www.bridgeofflowers10k.com
Update 8/8/13
It would be appreciated if volunteers arrive a bit earlier, like 7:00 a.m. The main street will be closed to traffic at 7:30. The net control site will remain accessible from the parking lot in the rear.
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