Franklin County Amateur Radio Club Current club news is on this page. For older items see the News Archive. The Communicator newsletter index is here. We also have an FCARC Facebook Group (Facebook login required), and an FCARC Facebook Page (accessible by anyone). What's new here? See the Website Change Notes

The February FCARC Communicator newsletter is now available on the website at http://www.fcarc.org/communicator/feb21.pdf. It has been sent to e-mailboxes.

February 8th at 7pm, we will be having Section Traffic Manager Marcia Forde KW1U talk about the national traffic system and digital nets, this meeting would be great for anyone interested in emergency communications or the national traffic system.

Please see the newsletter for connection information.

As mentioned in the January newsletter, this will be my last update as website manager. I took this on a few months after I joined the club fourteen years ago. Until I participated in FCARC's 2006 Field Day I had been an outsider, living in Amherst. I had been frustrated to learn that I had missed some club events I would have liked to have attended because I had not learned about them ahead of time. I volunteered when I learned that the club was looking for someone to take over the website. My goals were to make sure that new and timely information that might attract new people to the club was always the first thing that would appear when someone looked at the website, and that readers could expect to see new information if they looked at the site at least once or twice a month.

I believe I succeeded in my goals, but I know much more can be done with a website that allows multiple people to contribute. I hope the website with new management will evolve in that direction.

- Al, N1AW

The January FCARC Communicator newsletter is now available on the website at http://www.fcarc.org/communicator/comm202101.pdf. It has been sent to e-mailboxes and will go out soon to those who get hard copy via US Mail.

• Jan 9 Sat 8:30 am "Virtual Denny's" Breakfast! See January Newsletter for Zoom access info
• Jan 11 Mon 7:00 pm General Meeting See January Newsletter for Zoom access info

Posted: schedule of net control operators for the January, February, and March 2021 nets on the Leyden repeater. On the website here.

Addditional NCOs are welcome. It's good practice for skills that you will want when an emergency occurs. On the same page you can find info on how you can join the net control roster.

The Members list has been updated. If you don't see yourself on this list, please verify you have paid dues for the 2020-2021 club year. To become a member go to the Membership Info page.

Because of the covid19 pandemic, in June 2020 the usual Field Day did not take place. A rule change allowed for individual club operators to have their scores aggregated to a score for the club. FCARC had five participants for a total club score of 3278. Particpants were Anne and Keith operating as N1YL, Jeanne KC1DCQ, Bob WA1QKT, Silas KC1BTV, and Al N1AW.

FCARC Field Day results since 2006 are here.

The FCARC club is not the only group struggling to find ways to keep in touch in these days of social distancing. The Hampden County Radio Association, like our group, does not have a venue for holding meetings. Like FCARC they are conducting meetings online.

FCARC members are welcome to access the HCRA's ZeroBeat newsletter to find out what is happening south of Franklin County. The November issue is now available at http://www.hcra.org/zb/download.php?file=Nov2020.pdf

The FCARC store is live again now. Please check it out: https://cart.silverscreendesign.com/fcarc/shop/home. Place your order online whenever you wish. The online store is available on demand and apparel will be delivered directly to your home. No in store pick up is available. Don't forget that you have the option to display your name and call sign on your new FCARC shirts and sweatshirts. Call sign is available on hats. Email Anne at N1YL@arrl.net if you have any questions.

Oops, this should have been in the November Newsletter - it's a repeat of info published in the September newsletter:

FCARC Membership Reminder: It is that time of year again to renew your annual membership with the Franklin County Amateur Radio Club. To maintain full membership, annual dues are due as of the 1st of September with a grace period to the end of the year. Dues may be mailed directly to the FCARC Treasurer, Howard Field, at 7 Laurel St. Shelburne Falls, MA 01370, or catch Howard at one of the monthly breakfasts at Denny’s or at a regular club meeting. Dues are $15.00 for an adult membership or $18.00 for a family membership. Checks should be made payable to Franklin County Amateur Radio Club (FCARC).

Dues pay for ordinary expenses, such as the newsletter and the website, as well as extraordinary expenses that come up from time to time, such as maintenance or replacement of our repeater hardware and antennas. Dues-paid members may ask to have the monthly newsletter delivered by US Mail (but, of course, we appreciate your willingness to get it by e-mail, as printing and mailing are not only expensive, it is a lot of work).

Jeff Bail has provided a PDF of his talk on SDR & Flex Radio presented at the November meeting. It is available on this website, at http://www.fcarc.org/Files/PDF_SDR_and_Flex.pdf.

Info from Ron Niswander, K8HSF: We will again this year provide communication assistance for The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts fund raising event on September 29 th . At a meeting that I had with the Food Bank Event Coordinator, she requested our assistance in areas that have poor or non-existent cell phone coverage. The routes are unchanged from last year which will require us to cover the area in Vermont, extending through Leyden, Colrain and Shelburne. In addition there is a small area in Whately and Williamsburg which includes the water stop in Williamsburg. Net Control will set up at the event HQ located at the Lion’s Club Pavilion in Hatfield same as last year.

The 100 mile route begins at 7am, but will not arrive in the Vermont area that we cover until sometime after 9am. The Whately area will not need coverage until later in the morning, possible 10am or 11am. These times will be better determined in the next couple weeks. We will need volunteers to cover the above route areas and net control. We may also have riders with the Food Bank volunteer route monitors and at the Guilford water stop.

Please contact Ron Niswander K8HSF directly to sign up or if you are interested in working a specific location.

Webmaster's note: this information should have been in the September newsletter but was accidentally left out.

Our Club Year runs from September 1st until August 31st. The Club Officers page on our website ( http://www.fcarc.org/clubofficers.htm) has been updated with contact info for officers elected or re-elected at our June election.

The new Club Year also means $15 membership dues are due! We allow a grace period until December 31st, but early payment is appreciated. More info on the website Membership page ( http://www.fcarc.org/membership.htm).

FCARC officers are elected at the June meeting for two year terms that begin on the following September 1st. Positions of Vice President, Treasurer, and one Director were decided at the June 10, 2019 meeting. All nominations were unopposed. Dick Merriott KC1JQJ was elected Vice-President, to take effect immediately as Joe Henefield asked to be relieved immediately. Howard Field N1LUP was re-elected as Treasurer, and Jeanne Dodge KC1DCQ will succeed Ron Niswander as a Director.

Officers with contact information are listed on the website at www.fcarc.org/clubofficers.htm.

Funeral Services for Richard Burnham, who died on May 10, 2019 at age 97, will be held on Monday (June 24th) at 11:00 a.m. at Walker Funeral Home, 14 High Street, Greenfield, officiated by Jeffrey Galbraith of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church. There will be a one-hour time of visitation before the service, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Burial with military honors will follow in Green River Cemetery.

FCARC's June meeting is the annual official business meeting, which includes election of officers. This year, two-year terms of Vice President, Treasurer, and one Director are up. Keith Rowley KU1N keithtr@comcast.net is serving as nomination committee, contact him if you would like to nominate someone or learn the current status of nominations. Nominations can also be made from the floor at the meeting, but the nominee must be present to accept the nomination.

Current officers with contact information and term information can be seen on the Club Officers page of the website.

Rebecca K1BKY posted this on the new Positively Greenfield Facebook Group.

Interested in ham radio/amateur radio? On June 22nd and June 23rd the Franklin County Amateur Radio club will participate in ARRL Field Day at Poet's Seat tower. We will have a GOTA Station- Get On The Air- where a licensed amateur radio operator will help you get on the air and talk to other operators. No license required. This is your chance to see what amateur radio is all about. We will have other stations set up as well. Come see what it's all about. Our Facebook Group is Franklin County MA Amateur Radio Club. Our website is www.fcarc.org.

We plan for a Saturday picnic instead of a Monday evening meeting in May. The location this year will be the same as the last several years, the Leyden Pavilion behind the Pearl Rhodes Elementary School in Leyden. Save the date: Saturday, May 25th.

As in the past this will be a partial pot-luck - soft drinks, hot dogs, burgers, etc., will be provided, but other items - deserts, salads, whatever you feel like bringing will be welcome. When we get closer to the date a food coordinator who can offer suggestions will be announced, but uncoordinated pot-luck is OK.

Activities may include a mini flea market, local fox hunt, a demo portable HF station. Want to sell or trade something, show off a mobile rig, or test a handheld or a kit you built? Bring it along.

See the directions page for directions to the Pearl Rhodes School and locations of other FCARC events.

Tom Frenaye, K1KI, sent this message to all New England radio clubs:

The NEQP is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries. You'll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations...

Oh yes, the NEQP is also lots of fun when mobile. Every time you cross a county line the action starts over again. It's amazing what a 100w radio and mobile whip can do. The QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep Saturday night. It goes from 4 pm Saturday until 1 am Sunday, then 9 am Sunday until 8 pm Sunday. Operate on CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters. For each QSO you'll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state. Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who makes 25 QSOs and sends in a log will get a certificate.

The full NEQP rules are at http://www.neqp.org/rules.html. The 2018 results are posted (and the results since 2002 are also available) at http://www.neqp.org/results.html

Update: The organizers of the event would like to see every county in New England active. You can operate from home or mobile. Operators planning to be active, even if only for short time, are asked to send a note to info@neqp.org . As of April 26, Franklin County had not been heard from. You could be very popular in this contest.

The Pioneer Valley VE Team will conduct the license exam session on the last day of the General Class License Class. PVVET exams are always open to the public and free. Exams are offered for all amateur license levels (Technician, General, and Extra). As with any PVVET examination session, candidates are asked to obtain an FCC Registration Number (FRN) and pre-register. If you have not been participating in the class but wish to attend the exam session please check out the PVVET website (https://pvvet.org/) for more information about PVVET and these requests.

Monday March 11th 7:15pm, GCC East Building Room 110: Mitch Stern (W1SJ) from the Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont (RANV) club will speak via Skype about ARRL Field Day. The RANV club has ranked first in the 2A class for Field Day, once or twice (IE in: 1986, 1987, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018).

Recently our 146.985 MHz Leyden repeater had been acting erratically, unpredictably being difficult to receive in some locations. An on-site measurement of output power indicated that power output was often much lower than it ought to have been.

On Thursday March 7th the repeater transmitter was replaced with a spare unit, and power output was adjusted. Several hours later all seems to be working OK but N1AW would appreciate receiving reports from users, particularly from anyone who previously had difficulties.

Some documents about our repeaters that have been updated recently are available on the website. The Leyden repeater has several features that can be accessed using DTMF (Touch-Tone) codes available on keypads of many handheld radios: PublicRepeaterCodes.txt. Also, an updated document originally intended for use in teaching Technician license classes is available: Repeater Talk PowerPoint.

Three candidates came to our February 26th VE License Exam session at GCC and all of them passed the Technician test. One week later we know their callsigns. If you hear these people on the air please say hello:

• Nicholas, KC1LCD
• Matthew, KC1LCE
• Kerry, KC1LCF

The Amateur Radio General Class license course will meet twice a week, Monday and Wednesday at 6 pm, for three weeks beginning March 25th. It is being taught as part of the Workforce Development & Community Education program of Greenfield Community College. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register go to the GCC website: http://greenfieldcc.3dcartstores.com/Radio-General-Class-License-NEW_p_1597.html

We plan to continue our traditional quarterly schedule of Volunteer Examiner (VE) Amateur Radio License Exams on the fourth Monday of the months of February, May, August, and November. But the location will be different. The next session will be at 7 p.m. on Monday November 26th, at GCC East Building Room 110. Like all facilities at GCC this location is accessible to all.

Please see the VE License Exams page on the website for more information.

Our Greenfield 2 meter repeater was taken off line in August to be sent back to Yaesu for an upgrade to give us the same control options we have on the newer 448.875 MHz repeater at the same location. On October 1st the upgraded repeater was reinstalled and tested.

See the Repeaters page for more info about all of the FCARC repeaters.

The FCARC sponsors two weekly nets on the Leyden 146.985 MHz repeater. On Tuesdays at 9 p.m. the Emergency Net is a time for practicing formal net procedures and sharing information about emergency readiness. On Thursdays at 8 p.m. the Information Net is a less formal occasion for chatting about news and activities, just about anything of interest. For details, including schedules of net control operators, see the Net Listings page on the website.

On Sunday mornings the weekly Western Massachusetts Emergency Net meets on the Mt Tom 146.940 MHz repeater at 8:45 a.m. FCARC members are encouraged to check in. You can also check into a similar net on the Mt Greylock 146.910 repeater at 9:00 a.m.

Are you interested in practicing Morse Code? The Snail Net is a slow speed CW practice net which meets on the 80 meter band on or near 3.532 MHz on Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. - more info can be found on the Snail Net page. Even if you have a Technician license you can operate CW on this part of the 80 meter band.

Club members with licenses allowing voice operation on the 75 meter band are also encouraged to check into the Sunday morning 75 meter net at 8:30 a.m.on 3.944 MHz. Checking into nets like this is a good way to become familiar with net procedures and to be assured that if an emergency occurs your equipment will be adequate.

The Franklin County Amateur Radio Club now has a Facebook Page!

N1AW says: I suggested this to the club a few times without getting an enthusiastic response. But Facebook is a good medium for many people who are used to being connected electronically at all times. The website and the Communicator will remain the main channels for club information. It is easy to communicate on Facebook. And any member who has information to share can post. Other ham clubs in our area, HCRA and MTARA, have both found it useful.

Thanks to Chet, N1XPT, who took the initiative to get the Facebook page started.

Local broadcast of the NPR "Only A Game" program on WFCR comes on Saturdays from 7 to 8 a.m. Last week near the end of the program there was a 9 minute segment about WRTC, the World Radiosport Team Competition, the "Olympics of Amateur Radio." At that very time many FCARC members were busy getting ready for the Bridge of Flowers 10K in Shelburne Falls. If you missed it you can still catch it on line at http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2014/08/09/wrtc-radiosport-ham-radio.

You can listen to the audio, download it as an MP3 file, or read the transcript. This has got to be one of the best programs about amateur radio ever presented on national media.

I'm hearing voices
They're all so soft and distant
but logged as five nine.
  -- Scott Andersen, NE1RD

(We don't normally steal items from the newsletter for the web page, but this one was irrestible.)