Category Archives: Announcements

New England QSO Party May 6 & 7

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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.

We’re working to make sure that all of the New England counties are active again this year and would appreciate your help.  Get on for at least an hour or two and join in on the fun.  Please let me know if you can put in any time at all so we can work on activity from the rarest counties.   Will you be QRV?   Let us know which county you’ll be on from with a message to info@neqp.org

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 4pm Saturday until 1am Sunday, then 9am Sunday until 8pm 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.

Last year we had logs from 179 New England stations and 300 more from around the country and world.

The full rules are here ->  http://www.neqp.org/rules.html

You can now order a new style membership ID Badge

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NOTE:  The below does NOT apply to new members who joined in late 2016 or after, who automatically receive a new style badge.

A PayPal Button has been added to the “Pay Dues or Donate” tab.  If you want a new-style member ID Badge (new logo clip on name badge) for $9.00.

NOTE:  The images below are just photographs for illustrative buttons.  Please read the instructions and follow them to place your order.

Please select the”Pay Dues or Donate” tab illustrated below then find the Order New Badge section (about half-way down the page — also illustrated below).  Fill in your Call and Nickname and press “Buy Now”.  We will deliver the badge at a meeting when it is available or mail it if needed.

The Passing of Charlie Greene’s Wife

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We regret to inform club members that Charlie Greene’s wife, Joan, passed away after a prolonged illness on Thursday Feb. 16.  She is survived by Charlie, her son Jonathan, and daughter Erica Medley.

Her funeral will be held Wednesday Feb. 22, 2017 at 8:30am from the Smith Funeral and Memorial Services, 8 Schoolhouse Road , Warren, followed by a mass of Christian Burial at 10:00am in St. Mary of the Bay Church, 645 Main Street, Warren.  Calling hours are Wednesday Morning from 8:30-9:30 AM.

You can see her obituary here.

 

Pixie Nights Begin – Monday Feb 13 @ 7 PM

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Just a reminder that our monthly meeting will be Monday February 13 at 7:00 PM at KVH Manufacturing: 75 Enterprise Drive, Middletown, RI

PLEASE check the website before you leave for the meeting — there is a small chance that we might get hammered with more snow Monday morning.   We always post the meeting status in the news section of the website.

So what are Pixie Nights?

For the next three club meetings, in addition to a very short business meeting, we will be working on a Club Build project — A “Pixie”, which is a small, inexpensive, low power transceiver kit that can be used by anyone holding an Amateur Radio License.

For February’s meeting we will be holding a hands-on tutorial in soldering skills (and desoldering skills too).  KVH has been nice enough to setup a large number of solder stations with tools for us to use.  This is a unique opportunity, especially for those who have never done any electronic kit building.  Mentors will be on hand to guide you through the process.

In addition, John, WA1ABI, will be giving an introduction to the Pixie hardware to give you a good understanding of how the circuitry works.

Subsequent meetings will cover assembly of the Pixie, as well as Debug and Test.

For $10, you can’t go wrong, and will be able to point to the tiny Pixie radio, knowing you built it with your own hands, and have a low power transceiver that members have been using to make contacts hundreds of miles away.

If you would like to purchase a Pixie kit and join the fun, we have them in stock. This is really a very fun assembly project, and we will be working with you hand-in-hand to teach you how to solder, how the kit goes together, and help get it on the air.  To purchase your Pixie, please use the Paypal button on our website at this URL:

https://w1sye.org/?page_id=3054