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  • A Thank-you letter from Holyoke Hospital for the use of their Conference Center.

  • HCRA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes – 05-Sep-2018

    HCRA Board of Directors meeting 05-Sep-2018

    Attendees:

    President – WM1B (Dave)

    Vice President – W1AST (Larry)

    Secretary – N1FTP (Harold)

    Treasurer – NV1Q (Juergen)

    Zero Beat Ed. – Open

    Membership – K1VOI (John)

    Program Dir. – Najm (AB1ZA)

    At Large – Ron (AB1ZJ)

    Absent:

    Technical Dir – K1YO (Bob)

    ——————————— Meeting Open at 7:00pm ———————

    President Report:

    • Dave (WM1B) is still looking into QSL card designs and will have the W1NY reassigned to a Board member.
    • Paul (NF1G) will talk about a proposal as to how the club could sponsor a “pooling” procedure for member’s Outgoing QSL cards through the ARRL’s Outgoing QSL Service at the September meeting.
    • Field Day went very well this year. Thanks to Bob (K1YO) and Larry (W1AST). Next year, plan earlier. The sub teams were critical this year.
    • Reassignment of Trustee from WB1Z was discussed and the need for another Club Call in addition to W1NY was questioned. Dave (WM1B) will discuss with former BOD members and get their input. If the need is felt, a Trustee will be selected from the Board. The current Trustee would like to be removed as Trustee.
    • We still need a Zero Beat Editor. The job is not difficult if we keep it simple.
    • Ted (K3FEC) is now the Web Master for our Web site.
    • Suggest we send out a post card to past-due members as a reminder to renew in mid-September.
    • John (K1VOI) will be handling all incoming QSL cards
    • A thank-you letter was received from Holyoke Hospital for our donation to use the conference room. The letter will be posted on our Web site.

    Vice President Report:

    • When a new person comes to our meetings, we, the BOD must make an effort to make that person feel welcome and begin to answer any questions they may have.
    • What will we do about this years Holiday Party. Harold (N1FTP) will bring information as to what MTARA will be doing.

    Secretary Report:

    • Last months BOD minutes for approval: Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes
    • Both our 990-N (IRS 501C Tax Exempt Status) and our Annual Report have been sent out.

    Treasurers Report:

    – June-August Statement: (Please see below)

    – Juergen (NV1Q) is looking into the removal of Jeff’s name from the PayPal our Bank account

    Program Director Report:

    • Sep, Najm (AB1ZA) Software defined radio using GNU radio
    • Oct, DX Engineering
    • Nov, ARRL Section Manager, Ray, KB1LRL

    At Large Report:

    • Nothing to report.

    HCRA Financial Statement June-August 2018

    Beginning Balance: $8,693.89

    Ending Balance $6,728.95

    Income:

    ICOM rebate $100.00

    Dues $20.00

    Donation $23.97

    Table $10.00

    Donuts $29.50

    Wear $267.00

    ——————————–

    Total:  $450.47

    Expense:

    Web Hosting $334.80

    Boxboro Ad $125.00

    Raffle Tickets $38.00

    Wear $535.00

    Field Day $718.86

    Agawam P & R $300.00

    Holyoke Hospital $300.00

    Stamps $10.00

    HCRA Mic Postage $3.75

    Donuts $50.00

    ——————————

    Total:  $2,415.41

    Expenses for Field Day 2018:

    2 X uBITX radio kit $238.00   (May Statement)

    K1YO                      $500.59

    W1AST                   $109.28

    NV1Q                     $9.99

    W1LGU                  $23.97    (Donation)

    —————————–

    Total:  $932.89

    Membership Report:

    – Nothing more to add.

    Technical Director:

    – Not present

    Zero Beat Editor:

    – (Open)

    Old Business

    New Business

    – After reviewing some newsletters from other hamradio clubs, other clubs are doing a lot more

    for their membership and community. In future meetings there will be discussions on what we

    add to our roster. Dave (Wm1B) indicated that we need to do more to become visible to the

    community. He is looking for suggestions.

    Open Floor Discussion: (GOO – Good of the Order)

    Next Board of Director’s meeting will be on 03-October-2018.

    Our next club meeting is 05-October-2018.

    ——————————— Meeting Closed at 8:45pm ———————

  • Thanks to all who helped make Field Day possible

    Hello Everyone !

    I just wanted to take this opportunity to send a sincere THANK YOU! To
    all of you who participated in the HCRA Field Day 2018 exercise a short
    time ago … whether operating or helping with setup and/or any of the
    other dozens of tasks required to make it happen.

    While we don’t have any scores tabulated just yet, those that know about
    those things tell me that it looks like we had a great FD this year ….
    And credit for that certainly goes to all of you !

    Let me give a special shoutout to Rockwell (WW1X) and  Chris (W1TRK) for
    overseeing the antenna and tower setups and to Mike (N1TA) for his
    assistance with the networking along with Rockwell and for helping with
    the logging files. Jeff (NT1K), thanks for your help with the
    documentation and setup suggestions based on last year. Vanessa (KC1IRL)
    and Nadine (KB1VSX), thank you for your many varied contributions too
    numerous to mention also.

    … and how about a round of applause for Faye’s cooking, Renata and
    Juergen (NV1Q) for providing some delicious food treats. And special
    thanks to Gary (AA1UE) for his efforts to contact our orbiting brethren !!

    Last, but not least, my hat’s off to Larry (W1AST) for the three
    thousand things that would not have got done had he not offered his help
    on an almost daily basis !!

    I may have missed some of you for sure and for that I apologize but you
    can be certain I really appreciate the efforts from each and every one
    of you that helped in any way.

    With that, I declare FD2018 formally closed! Now let’s see what we can
    do to make it even better for 2019.

    Ultimate 73’s
    Bob – K1YO

  • HCRA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes – 13-June-2018

    HCRA Board of Directors meeting 13-Jun-2018

    Attendees:

    President – WM1B (Dave)

    Vice President – W1AST (Larry)

    Secretary – N1FTP (Harold)

    Technical Dir – K1YO (Bob)

    Program Dir. – Najm (AB1ZA)

    At Large – Ron (AB1ZJ)

    Absent

    Treasurer – NV1Q (Juergen)

    Zero Beat Ed. – Open

    Membership – K1VOI (John)

    Guest:

    Paul – NF1G

    ——————————— Meeting Open at 7:00pm ———————

    President Report:

    • Dave is still looking into QSL card designs and will have the W1NY reassigned to himself.
    • Introduced Paul (NF1G) to the group who talked about: An original idea proposed by member Nick Maslon (K1NZ). Paul had put together a proposal as to how the club could sponsor a “pooling” procedure for member’s Outgoing QSL cards through the ARRL’s Outgoing QSL Service. Paul will bring full details to the membership at the September meeting.

             There was a motion to the approve the proposal: Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes

    Vice President Report:

    • A motion was made to release the HCRA 10 meter net and assumed Monday night slot to Dan, K1VWQ.

             Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes

    Secretary Report:

    • Last months BOD minutes for approval: Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes

    Treasurers Report:

           – End of May Statement: (Please see below)

    Program Director Report:

    • Jun, Field Day
    • Sep, John Ellsworth, Vintage Radio Museum
    • Oct, DX Engineering
    • Nov, ARRL Section Manager, Ray, KB1LRL

    At Large Report:

    • Nothing to report.

    HCRA Financial Statement May 2018

    Beginning Balance: $9,936.29

    Ending Balance $8,693.89

    Income:

    Dues $66.30

    Table $ 6.00

    Donuts $23.25

    KK1W $50.00 (630m Challenge)

    ———–

    $145.55

    Expense:

    uBitX Radio Kit $ 119.00

    uBitX Radio Kit $ 119.00

    IC-7300 $1.099.95

    Donuts $ 50.00

    ————–

    $1,387.95

    Membership Report:

    – John, K1VOI and the Board are working on ways to tighten membership enrollment as well as expiration times and cross-checks of the membership database.

    – John and Dave will also be working on a redesign of the membership renewal form. Upon completion, Najm will receive the information of what the membership likes and are interested in so he can coordinate new topics and guests with what he has observed from the membership.

    Technical Director:

    – All is going very well for Field Day. Bob and Larry have done an exemplary job in coordinating  everything there is involved in Field Day. Weather and propagation is what is left for a great  Field Day.

    Zero Beat Editor:

    – (Open)

    Old Business

    – The Board is looking into individual job descriptions to further each ones responsibilities and enhance the positions in bringing in and welcoming new members. To broaden the scope and widen perspectives in order to keep the Association in good standing for future growth and knowledge.

    A 2nd draft has been presented at the meeting. More discussions will be made at future meetings.

    New Business

    – A motion was made and accepted to remove the Facebook page that we are not using.

    Specifically, the Read-Only HCRA Facebook page. Only approved individuals to our Facebook

    page will be able to post and add comments.

    Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes

    Next Board of Director’s meeting will be on 29-August-2018.

    Our next club meeting is 07-September-2018.

    ——————————— Meeting Closed at 8:30pm ———————

  • HCRA Board of Directors meeting minutes – 23-May-2018

    HCRA Board of Directors meeting 23-May-2018
    Attendees:
    President – WM1B (Dave)
    Vice President – OPEN
    Secretary – N1FTP (Harold)
    Treasurer – NV1Q (Juergen)
    Tech. Dir – K1YO (Bob)
    Program Dir. – W1AST (Larry)

    Absent:
    Zero Beat Ed. – W1MOW (Gary)
    At Large – KB1RXO (Karl)
    Membership – K1VOI (John)

    ——————————— Meeting Open at 7:00pm ———————
    President Report:
    – Donation checks should be sent to both Holyoke Hospital and Agawam Parks Rec. both will receive a check for $300 for allowing us to use their facilities.
    – Dave will be looking into diferent pictures for the W1NY/WB1Z QSL card.
    – The IC7300 has been ordered and Dave will start the raffle ticket printing.

    Vice President Report:
    – OPEN

    Secretary Report:
    – Last months BOD minutes for approval: Motion: √ 2nd: √ Carried: Yes

    Treasurers Report:
    – End of March Statement: (Please see below)

    Program Director Report:
    – Jun, Field Day
    – Sep, Open
    – Oct, DX Engineering
    – Nov, ARRL Secton Manager, Ray, KB1LRL

    At Large Report:
    – Nothing to report.

    Membership Report:
    – John, K1VOI and the Board are working on ways to tighten membership enrollment as well as expiration times and cross-checks of the membership database.
    – Currently we have 65 paid members, 6 families, 4 Life members and 15 prospects.

    HCRA Financial Statement April 2018

    Beginning Balance: $10,080.21
    Ending Balance: $9,936.29

    Income:
    Dues                                          $157.00
    Table Book Action                      $65.00
    Donuts                                        $43.75
    Penny Arcade Class Acton         $2.34
    Total    $268.13
    Expenses
    Membership kit                            $142.05
    P.O.Box                                        $120.00
    630m prizes                                 $100.00 ($50.00)
    Donuts                                         $50.00
    Total   $413.05

    Technical Director:
    – All is going very well for Field Day. Bob could use some more ARRL hand-outs, Al (KB1XG) will be using solar power, Dave (WM1B) has a Dell with N1MM on it that we can use, and Bob will be purchasing some extension cords, power strips, and antenna switches.

    Zero Beat Editor:
    – Nothing to report.

    Old Business
    – Elections: The candidates are as follows:

    President Dave WM1B                                       Technical Director Bob K1YO
    Vice President Larry W1AST                              Membership John K1VOI
    Secretary Harold N1FTP                                    Program Director Najm AB1ZA
    Treasurer Juergen NV1Q                                   At Large Ron AB1ZJ
    Zero Beat Gary W1MOW (Name Withdrawn)

    New Business
    – The Board is looking into individual job descriptions to further each ones responsibilities and enhance the positions in bringing in and welcoming new members. To broaden the scope and widen perspectives in order to keep the Association in good standing for future growth and knowledge.

    A 2nd draft has been presented at the meeting. More discussions will be made at future
    meetings.

    Open Floor Discussion: (GOO – Good of the Order)

    Larry will be filling in for Dave who will not be present at our next meeting.

    Next Board of Director’s meeting will be 13-June-2018.
    Our next club meeting is 07-September-2018.
    ——————————— Meeting Closed at 8:40pm ———————

  • HCRA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes – 18-April-2018

    HCRA Board of Directors meeting 18-April-2018
    Attendees:
    President – WM1B (Dave)
    Vice President – OPEN
    Secretary – N1FTP (Harold)
    Treasurer – NV1Q (Juergen)
    Tech. Dir – K1YO (Bob)
    Program Dir. – W1AST (Larry)
    Membership – K1VOI (John)

    Absent:
    Zero Beat Ed. – W1MOW (Gary)
    At Large – KB1RXO (Karl)

    ——————————— Meeting Open at 7:10pm ———————
    President Report:
    • New keys are needed for the Field Day trailer, Bob will procure. BOB, K1YO to obtain
    • NEQP is May 5 and 6. Will talk this up again and the new rules at Friday’s meeting.
    • Progress has been made to fulfill elected positions. These include Vice President, Program Director, and Member at large. Names will be placed on the ballot.

    Vice President Report:
    • OPEN

    Secretary Report:
    • Nothing to report.

    Treasurers Report:
    – End of March Statement: (Please see below)

    Program Director Report:
    • May, ARRL, QST editor, Steve Ford, will talk about Ham radio and Solar Activity…
    • Jun, Field Day
    • Sep, Open
    • Oct, DX Engineering
    • Nov, ARRL Section Manager, Ray, KB1LRL

    At Large Report:
    • Nothing to report.

    Membership Report:
    – John, K1VOI and the Board are working on ways to tighten membership enrollment as well as expiration times and cross-checks of the membership database.
    – Currently we have 67 paid members, 6 families, and 12 prospects.

    Technical Director:
    • For Field Day, Bob reported that there is an urgent need for help in obtaining equipment (radios, generators), a GOTA station, trailer transport, an alternate power station, activities for youths, and the need for a greeting table.
    • Additional help is needed for tear down, band captains, operators, and equipment pre-test.

    Zero Beat Editor:
    • Nothing to report.

    Old Business Postponed to MAY meeting

    New Business
    – The Board is looking into individual job descriptions to further each ones responsibilities and enhance the positions in bringing in and welcoming new members. To broaden the scope and widen perspectives in order to keep the Association in good standing for future growth and knowledge.
    A First draft of Job descriptions was distributed for individuals to review and submit comments. A 2nd draft will be presented at the next mwwting.

    Open Floor Discussion: (GOO – Good of the Order)
    – For our next meeting, some topics of discussion will be:
    o Field day results and issues
    o More on job descriptions
    o New positions
    o Elections
    o Improvements

    Next Board of Director’s meeting will be on 23-May-2018.

    ——————————— Meeting Closed at 9:00pm ———————

  • HCRA/SOTA Jerks – 630 meter Challenge Results

    The15 States worked by the winner, Bob/WA1OJN

    Last fall HCRA and SOTA Jerks put forth a 630 meter challenge to our members. The idea and rules were simple. Get people interested in operating on the new band and offer a $100 prize for achieving the longest confirmed QSO. Yes, there were other rules but lets keep it simple. We’re all about simple!

    Staying with simple we’ll let the operators tell their own story.

    The WINNER!

    Bob/WA1OJN – First Place and wins the $100 prize!

    “It’s been a Hell of a ride, and I really enjoyed it!  Thanks for the motivation, got me back to the basics on Ham Radio and I learned a lot! Met some great people and had a lot of fun.”

     

    “My longest confirmed QSO ( and the longest in general) was W7UIV in WA state at 2296.96 miles by the link you provided.”

     


    “My longest WSPR that was received by another station was LA2XPA in Norway at 3383.5 miles.  See attached PDF.  I know this doesn’t count as a QSO, but pretty amazing. Total of 54 QSOs: JT9(51), FT8(2) and CW(1).”

    “All done with a Kenwood TS-440 feeding a WA3ETD 25W converter. Antenna is converted 80M dipole 136 horizontal, 25 feet vertical with home made variometer.”

    Thanks for the great effort Bob and glad to see you had fun. As an added bonus Bob will be showing off parts of his 630m station at HCRA’s April 6th Show & Tell meeting – don’t miss it!

     

    Jim/KK1W

    “First off, a big congratulations to Bob for his outstanding efforts into 630 meters. 54 QSO’s are indeed impressive, there’s not a lot of unique stations to work (yet) on the MF bands. I was quite surprised with the distances possible with low power and small antennas. Some said, “will you even be able to make a QSO across town?”. I guess the answer is YES!”

    “I ended up with 29 QSO’s, JT9(25, CW (3) and FT8 (1). I could hear a lot farther than I could work with only 20 watts going into an inverted L antenna. The vertical portion of the antenna is 80′, horizontal about 175′, fed through a fixed tuned loading coil and a half dozen ‘on ground’ radials.  My farthest QSO was with ZF1EJ in the Cayman Islands, a distance of 1668 miles. That means Bob only whipped me by 628 miles! Oh well….”

    “My station consists of an Elecraft K3s, MFSolutions down converter modified to be a simple 20W amplifier and an Inverted L antenna. Most receiving was done on a 650′ reversible beverage.”

    Nick/K1NZ

    Nick modified his IC-735 to work on 630 meters. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get a viable antenna built before winter arrived. He ended up making one CW QSO with Jim, KK1W, confirmed on LotW for a distance of 7 miles. Hopefully Nick will be up and running on 630 next fall and making lots of digital QSO’s

     


    The SWL’s

    Al/N1AW

    Al didn’t have time to put together a transmit station but received a QSL from AA1A for a beacon reception: Here’s the details:

    “Hi,
    I am hearing your AA1A beacon on 473.9 KHz. I’m listening with an old IC-706, antenna is a 160m inverted L. The signal does not  indicate on my S-meter, and is pretty close to the noise level, but I don’t expect this rig to be much good at receiving at this frequency. According to QRZ.com I am 105 miles from you in FN32qq. This  is my first go at doing anything on this band.  I have a few other projects to finish before I try to make a transmitter. I wonder what you are using for transmitter and antenna?”
    “Maybe you have already heard, one of the clubs I belong to is sponsoring a VLF contest. The info is on their website: https://hcra.org/wordpress/

    73,
    Al,   N1AW

    “Hi Al, QSL 474 cw and that was a rare CW beacon try,  am usually on WSPR for automatic unattended operation. The TX is a IC718 feeding a home brew transverter then in to a PA amp then directly in to the wire vertical loop, forget radials and variometers!!… That is interesting hcra page, let’s get going and show them how its done, eh?? You will need a few dozen watts minus antenna efficiency to come out @ 5W radiated, also you are in the side null of my loop so that’s pretty good receiving…”

    N1AW DE AA1A  TNX Al

    Frandy/N1FJ

    Frandy listened with his K3 for KK1W’s CW signal on 630m and was able to copy it, a distance of 27 miles. KK1W, being lazy, didn’t send a SWL card.

    James/WD1S

    James did a lot of listening on 630 meters with his Kenwood TS-590. Unfortunately the 590, like the K3s, only generates about 0.5 milliwatts on 630 meters. That’s just not enough power to run barefoot on 630. I’m not sure if James was able to copy signals from either me or Bob, but I think he did. If so the distances would be 37 and 8 miles respectively.

    WRAP-UP

    That about wraps it up for our first 630 meter challenge. Thanks to HCRA and the SOTA Jerks for contributing $50 from each club towards the prize and allowing us the opportunity to run the challenge. Everyone learned from their efforts: building and tuning antennas for 630m, designing and building loading coils, modifying radios and amplifiers, learning new digital modes, understanding MF propagation…  the list goes on.  Our entrants elected not to ‘sit on the sidelines’ but get active and try new things. Not everything worked as planned but, in the end they were successful and had fun. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

    Good luck with your amateur radio adventures in 2018!

    ’73…
    Jim/KK1W

     

  • HCRA Board of Directors Meeting 29-March-2018

    HCRA Board of Directors meeting 29-Mar-2018

    Attendees:

    President – WM1B (Dave)

    Vice President – OPEN

    Secretary – N1FTP (Harold)

    Tech. Dir – K1YO (Bob)

    Program Dir. – W1AST (Larry)

    Membership – K1VOI (John)

    Absent:

    Treasurer – NV1Q (Juergen)

    Zero Beat Ed. – W1MOW (Gary)

    At Large – KB1RXO (Karl)

    ——————————— Meeting Open at 7:00pm ———————

    President Report:

    • For NEQP, (New England QSO Party), the Hampden County rules and award Plaque will change to “Low Power” to make it more attainable for others.
    • At our next meeting, we will ask the membership for a volunteer to be the HCRA QSL Manager.
    • The Post Office box issue has been resolved by WM1B and N1FTP going to the Agawam Post Office to renew, make document changes, and receive new keys. The PO Box number remains the same.

    Vice President Report:

    • OPEN

    Secretary Report:

    • Approval of previous Board of Director’s meeting minutes. Motion: K1YO, 2nd: K1VOI, Approved: YES
    • Fifty more copies of the membership welcome package have been made and given to WM1B for distribution.

    Treasurers Report:

    • The Treasurers report is available on request.

    Program Director Report:

    • Apr, Show & Tell
    • May, ARRL representative
    • Jun, Field Day
    • Sep, Open
    • Oct, DX Engineering
    • Nov, ARRL Section Manager, Ray, KB1LRL

    At Large Report:

    • Nothing to report.

    Membership Report:

    • 77members so far for 2018 John will put a reminder in Zero Beat for membership renewals.

    Technical Director:

    • K1YO informed the BOD that the classes are ready and that he will present the class information at the next member meeting. The classes will be for 2-3 people at a time.
    • K1YO has also received a request for help from N1TA.
    • An article on RFI tracking was found and will be mentioned at the next member meeting as well.

    Zero Beat Editor:

    • Nothing to report.

    Old Business:

    – K1VOI is working on W1NY/WB1Z qsl cards. The design has already been chosen.

    New Business:

    • Work is being done on Membership dues vs payment tracking. Membership dues needs to be reconciled with the Treasurer.
    • An offer will be made to the membership that if they did not pay their 2018 dues by now and they do at the time of the meeting, they will be good until the end of 2019. Do we need to change when dues are paid to coincide with our Fiscal Calendar as well?
    • More representation is needed at the VE sessions. Hand out welcome pamphlets, help with membership forms, determine interests, offer to bring or meet at the next meeting.
    • The Rookie Round-up is coming and the rules have changed quite a bit to encourage more rookie operators. Bring changes to member meeting and offer help and guidance to potential participants.
    • Greenfield College is offering extended indepth training for the Technicians Class License. WM1B and K1YO are looking into local sites for a Tech Class cram session.
    • WM1B made a very useful “Calendar of Events” document for the BOD to keep track of financial obligations, tax times, insurance renewals, etc.

    Open Floor Discussion: (GOO – Good of the Order)

    • Field Day 2018 if fast approaching.
    • K1YO has made an extensive list of what he needs to have done:
    • Need help with the site/equipment setup on Friday June 22.
    • Need help for the tear-down on June 24.
    • Band captains for each station established are needed… list to follow when it is determined how many stations we will operate this year.
    • Assistance is needed for the pre-FD equipment testing in early June. Antenna hardware checks, testing the cable runs, and filter/splitter testing.
    • Food preparation will be handled my Mr and Mrs W1AST.
    • Publicity/Public Relations help is needed.
    • Transportation of the club equipment trailer to/from storage on Friday and Sunday.
    • Station operators and loggers needed during the actual event.
    • Odds and ends like small quiet generators and loaner equipment will likely be needed again.

      All this will be brought up at the next members meeting.

    – W1AST has made a great Field Day Proposal for those that help out at the Field Day event. It is the purchase of a uBitz transceiver kit that will be raffled off to only those that help out during the field day event. Details will be brought to the next member meeting. A motion was made and approved for the purchase of the uBitz transceiver. Motion: K1YO, 2nd: K1VOI, Approved: YES.

    Next Board of Director’s meeting will be on 19-April-2018.

    ——————————— Meeting Closed at 9:00pm ———————

  • From the Shack – Special April 2018 Edition

    Dave Fant / WM1B

    This special Edition; is a supplement to the April Zero Beat which you will be receiving shortly from our Editor, Gary who is under the weather right now – so. I wanted to get this information out to you right away.

    I am really excited to be back in Hampden County! While Florida was nice, it is great to be at my home QTH where I can crank up the 590 and use the home shack! Thanks to the Board members (especially Larry/W1AST) who handled the meetings while I was gone.

    Activities
    We have some exciting items coming up with Spring upon us, NEQP – our party on the air (More on this later); Rookie Roundup with some new rules that will allow more to qualify as Rookies, Field Day which is our chance as the Premier Radio Club in Western Mass to show off to the communities, and of course our election of officers (More on that later also). So, we have lots going on in the next 3 months. Be sure to come to our April 6th meeting for additional information. We have a lot planned for a really stuffed full night!

    April Meeting
    At the April Meeting we will have our SHOW N TELL session where you can bring the items that you have been working on over the past cold winter. Where has the SWAP N SELL gone? Well it is coming back! Before the meeting the SWAP N SELL will be present! Bring those odd items from your shack that have been cluttering up you space and pick up a few coins (so you can buy stuff to fill the vacant space!)

    Mail Service
    Upon my return I was hit with a problem with our mail service. It seemed that many of you had mail sent to HCRA returned as undeliverable. After meeting with the Agawam PO, we determined that the Box had been closed. We were able to get the Box reopened and back in operation. You may have received mail returned to you listed “Non-Deliverable”. This may have included your dues check, applications, or other mail. It turns out that this may have gone as far back as October of last year. This was strictly the result of miscommunication between individuals who were authorized to pick up the
    mail. The mail had not been picked up for some time and when the renewal notice was placed in the box, it was not handled and the box subsequently locked and all mail in the box was returned to sender. While this caused some serious problems, it has been resolved with new procedures established to ensure this does not happen again. I personally along with the entire Board, apologize for this mix-up and ask that if you have any questions you contact us. We assure you that all is now operating correctly.
    PO Box 562 Agawam, is now open for business!

    FIELD DAY
    Field day is only three months away – that is less than 90 days! This is one of the most exciting events we have. A chance for the whole club to get together and have a fun weekend. It was the first club event I participated in as a new HAM. Time for all operators, Rookie and Old Time alike to work together and have some fun. Not operating? enjoy a donut or a cup of coffee with others under the Shelter. Once again it will be at the School Street park in Agawam, same place as the last few years. Come on out and become involved, whether it is for a few minutes, a few hours, or the entire weekend. Plenty of different type of activities available, from setting up to operating, to eating, to taking down and packing up. The more that come the less work for a few. Come on and join the fun! Some big  surprises ahead as the time gets closer.

    New England QSO Party
    May 5-6, 2018
    http://neqp.org/index.html
    It’s been six years since we had an April “Special Edition” of Zero Beat. The New England QSO Party is just around the corner and we felt we had to ‘do it again’ and get the word out. As it works out the dates are exactly the same as they were in 2012! Go figure.

    There’s been a slight change in the HCRA sponsored plaque for NEQP.
    Starting this year (2018) the winner of the plaque will be the operator with: High Score, Low Power, and Hampden County. Moving to the low power category (less than 150 watts) will level the playing field and offer greater opportunity for smaller stations to be competitive in this great event.

    Last year there were 21 different stations operating in Hampden County completing 538 QSO’s. I’ll bet, with just a little effort, we could do maybe 50% better than 2017 – but we need your help. We need you to get into your ham radio shack and have some fun! Let’s shoot for 30 stations and 750 QSO’s in 2018. With your help I’ll bet we might do even better.

    What’s the New England QSO Party you ask?
    HCRA has many new members so maybe it’s worth reviewing exactly what a QSO  party is? It’s not like a  regular party. You don’t have to dress up (but you could), get up early or stay up late. What you do have to do is get on the air! In this case amateur radio operators in the six New England states are throwing the party. Hams everywhere outside of New England are invited to contact us and all our friends in the New England states. They won’t be looking for somebody from Ohio or Texas, only people New England states.

    Yes, it is a contest, but it’s fun at the same time. There’s competition to work all 67 counties in New England as well as to get the highest score. The winner (outside of New England) will get a lobster dinner for their effort. New England operators get the opportunity to make contacts, hand out counties/states and, if you want to, accumulate points for certificates and awards. The exchange is simple (the exchange is the info you give to the person contacting you) and consists of signal report, county and
    state. On phone you would (if you’re in Hampden County) give a signal report, Hampden County, Massachusetts. On CW that would be signal report, HMDMA. The website referenced in the title has all the three letter county abbreviations.

    You get one point for each phone contact and two for CW or digital. I wonder how many operators will try the new FT8 digital mode this year? If you think you’ll make a lot of contacts you may want to use a logging program. The free N1MM logger plus supports NEQP and is downloadable at www.n1mm.hamdocs.com/tiki-index.php.

    The contest starts at 4:00 PM (EDT) Saturday, May 5th and ends Sunday, May 6th at 8:00 PM. Unlike most contests, you MUST take a break, from 1:00 AM until 9:00 AM Sunday morning. Yes sir, you can even get some sleep with this contest! NEQP is an HF only contest (80/40/20/15/10 meters) on voice, CW and digital.

    What, you don’t have a ‘shack’?
    Not a problem, why not go mobile! Even better, if you don’t want to battle for the HCRA award, drive to a rare county and operate from there. You’d be surprised how they will hunt you down and put you in their logs on the way to ‘hopefully’ winning that lobster dinner. See the NEQP web page for mobile details.

    Awards

    High score in various categories will earn you certificates or a beautiful plaque. But even if you don’t win anything every time you get an answer to your CQ you will be helping another operator get a few points closer to a lobster dinner.

    As noted above, HCRA sponsors a beautiful plaque for the station operating in
    Hampden County that has the highest score while running low power. These are gorgeous plaques and will add beauty to any shack.

    Fun Facts
    Looking for your Worked All States award? That hard to find Wyoming station will be looking for YOU for a change.

    There are three other QSO parties running this weekend also: The Delaware QSO Party, Indiana QSO party and 7th Call Area QSO Party (7QP). If you want to participate in those contests N1MM (and other logging programs) will track your QSO’s automatically. At the end of the contest you end up submitting logs for all four. How cool is that!

    The first NEQP was held in 2002. That year two mobile teams from HCRA did a mobile operation roving between counties. N1SR/AA1TE severely trounced KK1W/WB1Z with 17,105 points to 403

    In 2005 another HCRA mobile team, this time comprised of N1SR and KK1W using our club call W1NY making QSO’s from 39 New England counties, a record that still stands.

    This is a work everyone/everywhere contest. You get points for every contact made  whether inside or outside of New England or outside the United States. That’s pretty cool!
    It’s just plain FUN!

    HCRA Competition
    Although there isn’t a club category in this contest we can still have a little home grown competition.  I’m sure someone will start a Facebook thread posting their successes and scores, then the rest of us can pile on!

    Looking for even more fun? Why not open up your station for a multi-operator effort? With all the new amateurs coming on board this is a nice way to welcome them into the hobby and give them a taste of HF operating. Not only will you have fun it’s also a good way to get the shack cleaned up too! There’s nothing like inviting folks over to make you notice all that ‘stuff’ you’ve been meaning to put away, right?

    If you’ve never tried HF, contesting or don’t have a station QRV (on the air) yet let us know at the April meeting. We’ll try to get you ‘hooked up’ with someone willing to spend a little time getting you on theair. By the end of the contest you’ll have relegated those ‘training wheels’ in the closet and be operating like a pro!

    So mark your calendar for the first weekend in May and plan on some ham radio fun! The rest of the country will be looking for YOU!

    ELECTIONS
    It is not to early to begin to think about the upcoming elections. Again the more who become involved, the less the work is for a few. We have many available positions so Think about what you would like to do for your club. We hope to have a list of those who are running for the April meeting. We have some important positions to be filled, Zero Beat Editor and Program Director. Larry Krainson has prepared a summary of the Program Director to show what it entails.

    Planning A HCRA Meeting, It’s Easier Than You Think!
    I hear the comment often “Program Director” is the hardest job on the HCRA board. No, it’s not. It’s really very easy if you know these key steps.
    1. You are a ham and have an interest in all things radio and more
    2. You go to meetings, flea markets, conventions and are always looking around
    3. You look at displays and think, “I’d like to learn more about that”
    Those are the main things. Having an interest in ham and electronics and often think you’d like to learn more about an advertisement, subject, radio, nearly anything.

    So how do I turn that into a meeting?
    1. While reading or being out and about, make a note to yourself to investigate that idea/item, subject/person/whatever further.
    2. Possibly approach said person and ask if they would like to come speak to the HCRA and get their email or best contact info.
    3. Send them an email asking if they’d be interested in coming and speaking to the HCRA and  if they are, check the schedule and offer some dates.
    4. Record the speaker info and confirmation date on your calendar and speaker list with contact info.
    5. Send an email with that info to the ZB editor and President.
    6. About a week or two before the meeting, contact the guest speaker again to remind them and provide meeting location and time
    7. A few days before reach out again and provide your phone number and remind when the doors open (7pm) and what time the meeting starts (7:30pm)
    8. Save all email correspondence with the speaker for future reference.

    All guest speakers have access to the PA system plus the projector and wifi and mention that to them.

    The day of the meeting, bring a mug to hand to them as thanks for speaking to us.

    Still don’t have any ideas? Then troll other clubs in New England for some interesting ones and speaker contacts. You can google each New England state ham clubs and read back thru maybe 6 months of their newsletter if it’s on line. Usually there are some very good speakers to be had this way. I think I did this once during the past 4-5 years when I briefly ran out of ideas.

    Anything that you’re interested in, others most likely are too. Plan a meeting and everyone will learn more.

    I look forward to attending future meetings that you have planned.

    73, Larry, W1AST

  • 630 Meter Contest ends tonight at 6:59 PM (2359Z)!

    Who will claim the $100 distance prize? Please submit your entry as follows:

    WSPR stations received at KK1W on a typical evening

    Submit your longest confirmed QSO to Jim Mullen via email or USPS by March 15th 2018
    Email: kk1w.jim@gmail.com or USPS to 144 Tower Hill Rd, Brimfield, MA 01010
    Enclose an SASE for return of any submitted cards

    No need to submit cards unless you can’t copy or scan them. Use the tools linked in the original article to calculate your longest distance confirmation.

    To keep things interesting it would be great if everyone who participated, whether or not you confirmed contacts or simply listened on the band, sends me the following:

    1. Number of QSO’s made and if possible broken down by mode.
    2. Longest QSO (unconfirmed or confirmed).
    3. Brief station description (if I don’t already have it).
    4. If SWL a brief overview of activity and mode.

    Going forward prospective MF operators (630m & 2200m) can make use of this information an an indication of what to expect when they are QRV on Medium Frequency.

    The prize will be awarded along with a quick overview of activity at our April 6th meeting. This is also our Show & Tell meeting. Why not enter something you built for 630m? Maybe you can go home with multiple prizes 

    Many thanks to everyone participating. You folks are pioneers on a new amateur band. Exciting stuff our hobby and our club, keep up the good work!