Welcome!
See below for the latest blog posts and news about our activites and events. You can also follow the links above for more information about specific aspects of the club. If you’re brand-new at all this, here’s an introduction to what the Hampden County Radio Association is all about.


Latest Blog Posts
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Visit the HCRA Table at the MTARA Hamfest this Saturday.
MTARA Hamfest this Saturday, March 2nd – Visit us at the HCRA club table! The hamfest/fleamarket season is just getting underway. What better way to break out of the winter blues than to spend a few hours with your local friends, wander aisles of tables full of ham radio bargains, eat food you probably shouldn’t, and overall have…
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From the Shack – March 2013
Next Meeting March 1st – Our annual Show & Tell night! It is March Madness again at HCRA with our annual Show & Tell event. I’ve heard a lot of members are putting the finishing touches on their projects and expect we will see a grand assortment of ham radio, or not so ham radio, contraptions…
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Can you help your fellow members? – Yes you can!
Did you know YOU can increase the value of HCRA to all its members? How can you do this you may ask? The answer is simple. Sharing of knowledge, especially local knowledge, is how we all learn and expand our appreciation of amateur radio. If you’ve done something, built something, installed some software, raised an…
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SOTA Jerks “Introduction to SOTA” Presentation
Here is the presentation the SOTA Jerks present to local clubs (or anyone else willing to listen to us). Besides an introduction to SOTA the most important part could be the resource links at the end of the presentation. Feel free to download and use at your club meeting or event. Modification is fine, please…
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Get ready for HCRA ‘Show and Tell’ Friday, March 1st
It’s time to finish up that project you’ve been working on over the last year and bring it to the annual HCRA Show & Tell meeting in March. No project is too small or too big (but it does have to fit through the door). Do you have something that’s not finished, but close enough…
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Foxhunting Meeting Follow-up
Hey folks, Thanks to everyone that braved the cold and turned out for February’s Foxhunting and Build-A-Beam meeting. Jeff did a fine job organizing the beam building and with help from George/KC1V and Doug/KB1ZGL fifteen people went home with a cool, 3 element two meter beam. Up front the Foxhunting presentation excited over a dozen…
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NEWS FLASH: New Hams In Western Mass
NEWS FLASH: New calls and upgrades hot off the FCC website Eric LaCombe KB1ZGJ Thomas Isham KB1ZGK Douglas McLean KB1ZGL Cynthia Forbes KB1ZGM Official Upgrades Diane Shipee KB1KST Extra Ralph Gedney KB1LEW General Eric LaCombe KB1ZGJ General Congrats, KUDOs, and all the bells and whistles to all
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Foxhunting meeting tomorrow night – don’t miss it!
February first is indeed tomorrow – also the date of our next HCRA meeting. We’re putting on an ‘all about foxhunting’ presentation by a few of our members. If you’ve never heard of foxhunting this will be the time to learn. If you have foxhunted in the past that’s OK, we’re going to cover some…
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From the Shack – February 2013
Next Meeting February 1st Foxhunting presentation and ‘Build a Beam’ Workshop Meeting number two of the year is another ‘double header’ thanks to the efforts of Jeff/NT1K and Rich/N1KXR. Read on and see what we have in store for you this February. We will be running two concurrent activities Friday night. At the front of…
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VHF 3EL Tape Measure Yagi Workshop – February 1st
A part of next month’s meeting will consist of a “Build A Beam” workshop where you can build a 3 element VHF Yagi that is made from PVC and measuring tape. It’s a great antenna for portable operations such as foxhunting (RDF), SOTA, camping or anything else that you need an improved antenna over…