HCRA Clublog Challenge 2016 Winners Are In

HCRA like to encourage on air activity from our members. We compete in a few contests and challenges every year. This year HCRA participated in the “Clublog Challenge”. The goal was to make as many contacts with as many countries or entities throughout the year. At the end of the year, we would tally up the results and hand out certificates to everyone involved. We used a service called Clublog. Approved HCRA members would periodically upload their log files to clublog where DXCC contacts are sorted and by each band, overall unique DXCC contacts and the sum of unique DXCC contacts on each band. It proved to be very successful in 2015 so we did it again in 2016. We now have 25 HCRA members participating in the year long event.

This

Category	1st	2nd	3rd
DXCC	NU1O (248)	NF1G (229)	NV1Q (199)
SLOTS	NU1O (882)	NF1G (737)	KK1W (720)

Congrats to Christopher Scibelli (NU1O), Paul Kelliher (NF1G), Juegren Malner (NV1Q) and James Mullen (KK1W)

Band Winners Are

Category	1st	2nd	3rd
160	KK1W (80)	K1NZ (26)	WD1S (15)
80	KK1W (87)	NV1Q (71)	K1NZ (67)
60	K1NZ (21)	NU1O (4)	KK1W (2)
40	NU1O (190)	KK1W (120)	W1MSW (109)
30	NF1G (102)	NU1O (84)	KK1W (37)
20	NU1O (211)	NV1Q (134)	N1FTP (127)
17	NF1G (186)	NU1O (93)	AB1WT (71)
15	NU1O (127)	KK1W (121)	NF1G (119)
12	NF1G (88)	W1MJB (26)	NU1O (24)
10	KK1W (92)	NU1O (75)	NV1Q (73)
6	NU1O (2)	W1AST (2)

Thank you to those who participated. Certificates are available to all those who participated in 2016 at the next meeting. Hopefully we can do this again in 2017 and put some incentives to get members on the air.

If you’re an HCRA member and you are interested in participating in the Clublog challenge, We’ve setup a step-by-step guide in how to become a clublog member.

Overall Results

Rank	Callsign	160	80	60	40	30	20	17	15	12	10	6	DXCC	Slots	Range
1	NU1O	5	67	4	190	84	211	93	127	24	75	2	248	882	29 yrs
2	NF1G	0	18	0	75	102	110	186	119	88	39	0	229	737	2 yrs
3	NV1Q	9	71	0	86	24	134	54	118	19	73	0	199	588	38 yrs
4	KK1W	80	87	2	120	37	126	38	121	16	92	1	185	720	41 yrs
5	N1FTP	0	4	0	40	0	127	12	79	0	30	1	150	293	8 yrs
6	W1MSW	0	51	0	109	5	114	18	108	1	47	0	149	453	6 yrs
8	W1AST	0	16	0	43	1	93	51	51	3	37	2	131	297	8 yrs
7	K1VOI	0	11	0	42	14	96	34	84	8	32	0	131	321	16 yrs
9	AB1WT	0	18	0	33	0	76	71	49	13	22	1	125	283	3 yrs
10	N1HM	1	4	0	25	0	92	26	45	4	10	0	124	207	2 yrs
11	KX1X	1	30	0	59	4	66	10	86	0	57	0	115	313	19 yrs
12	K1NZ	26	67	21	86	6	52	11	48	1	11	0	113	329	6 yrs
13	N1AW	0	12	0	25	5	70	9	22	1	6	1	101	151	3 yrs
14	W1MJB	0	11	0	10	13	39	50	34	26	8	1	97	192	14 yrs
15	WD1S	15	34	0	57	4	74	2	36	0	23	1	95	246	5 yrs
16	AB1XW	0	5	0	44	0	84	0	68	0	9	0	95	210	4 yrs
17	WN1E1	0	4	0	44	24	59	7	68	2	16	0	92	224	26 yrs
18	KB1VWQ	1	2	0	14	1	37	3	5	1	2	1	46	67	6 yrs
19	KC1BDF	0	0	0	5	0	37	0	0	0	1	0	37	43	2 yrs
20	WA1MOW	0	0	0	2	0	11	7	0	3	4	0	24	27	1 yrs
21	KB1VSX	0	1	0	2	0	19	2	0	0	2	0	20	26	0 yrs
22	KC1PUG	0	2	0	11	0	12	0	0	0	0	0	18	25	0 yrs
23	KC1BTA	0	0	0	1	0	7	0	3	0	3	0	11	14	2 yrs
24	NT1K	0	1	0	2	0	5	0	2	0	1	0	9	11	7 yrs
25	N1MFL	0	1	0	2	0	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	4 yrs

Thanks for reading! Stay On The Air
– Jeff

HCRA’s 250 Raffle – Win A Kenwood TS-590SG

Win A Kenwood TS-590SG

Tickets Just $10 EA

It’s that time for the Hampden County Radio Associations (HCRA) annual raffle. This year the board of directors wanted to raffle off a 100w base station transceiver. The Kenwood TS-590SG ($1700 Retail) was the perfect choice because it’s a very excellent radio packed with features that rival radios that cost much more. It’s an HF-6M 100W with 32bit DSP that has excellent receiver according to sherwood engineering. Some of the features include

Auto Tuner
On Screen CW decoding
HF and 6M Antenna Jacks
Programmable Functions
500hz / 2.7kHz Roofing Filters
DSP AGC
USB Port
Noise Reduction
Down Conversion

HCRA has printed 250 tickets. Due to the price of the item, HCRA has put a limit on the minimum amount of tickets that can be sold before the raffle is allowed to take place. If the minimum amount has been reached, the item will be raffled at the Mount Tom Amateur Repeater Association’s Ham Fest in 2016. We’re asking $10 for each ticket.

Tickets will be available at HCRA meetings, VE Sessions at Holyoke Medical Center, Field Day, Selected area Hamfest/Fleamarkets and through the board of directors.

HCRA Is Now On Club Log

HCRA is now listed as a club on ClubLog.org. This allows HCRA members who use clublog to see how they rank against other HCRA members in DXCC standings. HCRA could also compete with other clubs. This could create friendly competition within the club as well as with other clubs. It can also benefit knowing that if your fellow club member made contact with a certain DX entity, that it could be possible for you as well.

If you are a HCRA who uses electronic QSL services such as LoTW, QRZ.com and eQSL.cc then it would be stongly suggest that you create an account at clublog.org, upload your logs and join the HCRA club on ClubLog to see where you stand.

If you are a ClubLog member and would like to Join the HCRA League, please do the following

1: Go to Clublog.Org and Sign In.

If you do not have an account, you can sign up for free and upload a log. Please follow the instructions on ClubLog.org

2: Once you’re signed in, Click Settings

Located on top of the page, Click on the Setting Link

3: Click on the “Clubs” Link/Button located near the top of the page

4: Look for “HCRA – Hampden County Amateur Radio Association”: in the list, Highlight it and click the “Join Club(s)” button under the list

Please note that members have to be manually added to the club to prevent random people from joining in. Once approved you should be able to view your standings.

On the left side of the page, please click “DXCC Leagues” then choose HCRA from the dropdown list and then click “Generate DXCC League” button. You should now be able to see standings from all HCRA members that are participating on ClubLog. Please note that if you don’t see your callsign right away, don’t worry. Sometimes it takes a day for the lists to repopulate on the server which we have no control over.

Thanks for Participating!

Homeland Security’s 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan Incorporates Amateur Radio

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communications (DHS-OEC) has released the first updated National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) since the original publication in 2008. According to the Department, the DHS-OEC developed the NECP in cooperation with more than 150 public and private sector emergency communications officials.

Of interest to Amateur Radio Operators, is that in this 2014 updated NECP, the DHS has incorporated Amateur Radio in its mix of media that could support and sustain communications in a disaster or emergency. The publication is titled the “2014 National Emergency Communications Plan“, and a PDF of this plan may be obtained by clicking here.

HCRA Badges Still Available

Badges are no longer available through HCRA. Please check out
http://www.hamstuff.com/Badges_html/Badges.html

Win A MFJ-266B Antenna Analyzer!

Win A MFJ-266B Antenna Analyzer From HCRA

All you have to do is join or renew your membership before the end of Octobers meeting (10/3/2014) and it’s possible that you can walk away with an MFJ-266B Antenna Analyzer.

Specs on The MFJ-266B can be found HERE. It’s similar to the 266C but does not support 220Mhz area measurements. If you don’t have an analyzer or the one you have doesn’t cover UHF, this would be an excellent addition to your shack. It can be yours just by supporting the club!

You have 3 options to renew. You can show up to the October meeting and renew, you can renew right now using our on-line renewal system or you can print and fill out the application and send it VIA post office. All mail applications must be received by October 2nd 2014 for it to qualify for this raffle.

Drawing will be held Friday, October 3rd, 2014 at the end of the meeting. Meeting starts approx 7:30pm at the Holyoke Hospital Auxiliary Conference Center in Holyoke MA.
Click Here for directions to the meeting

Thank you for your support!

Welcome to the 2014 – 2015 Year

OK, here we go. It the first meeting of the year tomorrow night at the Holyoke Medical Center at 7:30.

There will be the usual camaraderie, 3 that’s right 3 guest speakers. KK1W, W1MSW, and W1MOR. All have short presentations on these summers’ activities that the club participated in in one way or another, They will be talking about Field Days and WRTC.

There will be chances for you to buy your HCRA 250 Raffle tickets for a nice KX3.

Renew you membership and get entered for a MFJ 266B antenna analyzer.

World Amateur Radio Day 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.”

Election Slate for 2014/2015 Announced!

All HCRA board members would like to extend a big “Thank You” to everyone that turned out for last night’s meeting and volunteered your skills and time to keep HCRA rolling along both now and in the future.

It was refreshing to see long time and new members willing to add their skills to the mix and fill the open slots to produce a strong board of directors for the upcoming 2014/2015 season.

Here’s our Election Slate:

OFFICERS

President: Ed/KB1NWH – Ed’s been VP for years, it’s a natural, right?
Vice President: Eric/W1MOR – thanks for stepping forward Eric!
Secretary: Dave/WM1B – Dave also volunteered to fill in this year too!
Treasurer: Dave/AA1YW – Dave’s staying with us ‘one more year, thanks!

DIRECTORS

Zero Beat: Gary/WA1MOW – Thanks Gary, I’m sure you’ll do well!
Program: Larry/W1AST – Back from the past an in his old position!
Technical: Bob/K1YO – Bob’s the guy for tech and everything else too.
Membership: Rich/N1KXR – Master of social media, raffles and more
At Large: Jeff/NT1K – Our Webmaster joins the ranks adding a fresh view.

There you have it, a great assemblage of energetic,engaged and forward thinking hams in place to keep HCRA strong. If you’ve ever wondered how HCRA has been around for over 50 years, this is a fine example why.

’73…
Jim/KK1W

Donations wanted for the HCRA table at the MTARA Hamfest!

HCRA will have a club table at this Saturday’s MTARA Hamfest in Chicopee, MA

If you have an item or two you would like to donate please contact Jim/KK1W to make arrangements. Just like our old auction there are a few simple rules.

1. These are ‘donations’ – if you want to sell stuff you should get your own table 🙂
2. Please put your callsign on the items (tape, label) so we can return them to you if they don’t sell (no, we are not a disposal company)

At the close of the hamfest we will return any unsold items to you. Thanks as always for your support of HCRA and we hope to see you at the MTARA Hamfest

Don’t forget to stop by and say “hello” while you’re browsing the aisles!

See you Saturday,

Jim/KK1W