The Island Activators of NCRC will be qualifying our first new island of this year, Hen Island, under the US Islands Awards Program tomorrow, Saturday May 12th.  We expect to be on the air around 12:00 PM through 4:00 PM local time.

The Island Activator team is well experienced, this being our 18th island activation.  Hen Island is an island within an island and lies in a cove inside the north end of Aquidneck Island.  In keeping with the NCRC emphasis on providing members with new experiences, first timers are welcome to come along.  There will be control operators/coaches to help you get your feet wet in a low stress operating environment.  Unfortunately the current wx forecast is terrible, but may improve.  Never the less, be prepared for rain with appropriate rain gear and warm layers.  The station will be under festival tents, so it won’t be that bad in a worst case scenario.   Bring your lunch and anything else that you might need on Hen.  The run from your pickup point is short and in protected waters, so there will not be rough water for the 15-minute voyage.  Contact john Mills (401-258-8604) to arrange a pickup around noon.  We expect to be returning between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

Operators enjoying the easy life at home are encouraged to work the Activator station on 40, then 20, meters.  You’ll find us near 7.265 MHz and 14.265 MHz.

For more information about the US Islands program see http://usislands.org/  If you go to the Island Directory/Island Directory by State tab and click on Rhode Island in the US map, you’ll see that W1SYE (Our club call) is the major player in Rhode Island.  If you’re listening, you may hear club member Jim KA3UNQ, who now lives in Maryland.  He put many of the first Rhode Island Activations on the State page.