Maine Island Activations Underway

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The NCRC Activation crew (Pete W1LAB, John K1JSM, Willy W1LY, and Jim KA1ZOU) was at it again, this time in Maine.  They activated three never before on the air islands on Wednesday Oct 3 and Thursday October 4.

Pete W1LAB supplied many of the photos below and is the boat operator (RIB Goblin).  He hosted the crew in Cundy’s Harbor.  Willy W1LY supplied the stunning photo below:

 

Update Oct 5:  Bad weather is preventing any additional activations on this trip.  Thanks to all that participated on Wed & Thu and helped to complete three new island activations.

Update: Oct 4 15:56Z  The Crew has changed to 14.283 MHz, still on Snow Island – Bad weather is moving in so this may be the only activation today.

Update: Oct 4 15:16Z The activation crew is setting up on Snow Island in Quahog Bay and should be on the air shortly. They are currently on 7.266 and later near 14.252.

Operators on Snow Island: Willy W1LY, Jim KA1ZOU, and John K1JSM (left to right)

Jim KA1ZOU logging and Pete W1LAB on the air. Sonw Island is the home of around the world sailor Dodge Morgan

Antenna can be seen by the dock at Snow Island

A closer view of the antenna.

Update:  Oct 3 As of 18:50Z Flash Island has been qualified and the crew is packing to return to home base (Cundy’s Harbor) for a debriefing.

Update: As of 18:15Z Flash Island is being qualified. On 14.252 (Note the US Islands # has not been allocated for this island yet)

John and Willy at the operating desk on Flash Island Maine

A view from the North on Flash Island.  Antenna and Goblin Support boat in view

 

Update: As of 23:45Z Bush Island was qualified and the crew packing the station up for today.

UPDATE: As of 23:00Z they are at Bush Island on 14.251 MHz (Note the US Islands # has not been allocated for this island yet).  They were on 40 meters prior to that, and had no luck making contacts.

Islands are often privately owned and require special permission. This is Nat Pulsifer, the owner of Bush Island

Here is the “shack” in the woods just to the right of the dock. The antenna can be seen to the right

What the operators see looking out from Bush island — Note antenna to the left

A close up of the “Shack”. John K1JSM logging and Willy W1LY on the air

Pell Space Chat A Success!

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RI’s Third Space Chat, the first for a public elementary school, was completed successfully today, October 2nd, at about 1:55 PM.

The live stream has completed. You can watch the entire 30+ minute program here (the kid’s questions begin at the 26 minute mark):

 

WLNE News Story on Pell Space Chat Oct 2 at 6 PM

WPRI News Story on Pell Space Chat Oct 2 at 6 PM

 

NCRC member Mike Cullen, K1NPT, is the moderator of this his third ARISS event.  Paul Fredette K1YBE, is handling the telebridge audio details.

The contact was handled on the ground by Jan ON4ISS in Belgium.  Fifteen questions were successfully asked/answered, including two by Governor Gina Raimondo.

Congratulations to Mike and all those that worked for 11 months on this successful contact.

Are you interested in a General/Extra Seminar?

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Paul Fredette, K1YBE, is planning to hold a seminar intended to help folks who are studying for the General or Extra exam.  He will cover subjects like AC Circuit analysis, antennas, propagation, etc. which tend to be challenging.  Rules&regulations, band plans, and other memorization items will mostly be left to the student.

The seminar is scheduled to begin this coming TUESDAY September 18, at 5:30 PM at St Lucy’s Church, 909 West Main ST in Middletown.  If you are interested, please let Paul know ASAP. You can contact Paul directly, or call him via phone:
Paul’s email:    k1ybe@yahoo.com
Paul’s phone:  401-339-3024

An excellent study tool can be found at https://hamstudy.org/  If you register at the site, it will keep track of your progress over time.  There is no fee to register.  You should probably begin by using “Flash Cards” and move to “Practice Exams” as you become more comfortable with the material.  Students can find study books at amazon.com written by either Gordon West or the ARRL.  The ARRL books are far more technical.

W1SYE.ORG Website now SECURE

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We are happy to report that the changes to the W1SYE.ORG website that enables secure https: access have been completed.  This will avoid modern browsers complaining that the site is “not safe” or “not secure”.  So when you see the Green Secure icon you know you all interactions are encrypted and that the website hasn’t been hijacked.

W1SYE Repeater Back On-the-Air

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Thanks to Paul K1YBE, and Willy W1LY, for stopping by the repeater site and getting W1SYE back on the air.  We aren’t 100% certain, but it looks like the non GE controller may have failed.

The club is monitoring the situation and may have to take additional steps in the future if the repeater hardware has become unreliable (it also went off-line about a month ago).