Just a reminder that we will have our regular NCRC meeting Monday night at 7 PM at KVH.
Our business this night will be very short, but will include a recap of Field Day, the Newport County Communication Test in late June, and the Beach Island Activation.
Following the meeting, there will be a presentation entitled “What every grandparent needs to know about the night sky”
The Newport Fire Department held a communication exercise on Saturday June 29th. The objective was to see if it was possible to gather condition reports from citizens in several different locations and relay them back to the Fire Department using Amateur Radio.
Several NCRC members, in addition to other groups such as the Boys Scouts, participated. There was a nice write-up about the event in the Newport Daily News, You can read the article here
Chief Dugan stated that “the exercise went well”. Congratulations and thanks to all involved!
Since this Thursday is July 4th, the first Thursday of the month, there will be NO breakfast at Rome Point. Enjoy the holiday!
*** UPDATE ***
The activation was successful, but it was hard going as band conditions were awful.
On Beach Island – John K1JSM in the background, Willy W1LY on Left, Jim KA1ZOU on right. Photo by Pete W1LAB
A good friend of Island Activations, who we lovingly call Lighthouse Jim (KA3UNQ — a club member too) calls the NCRC Island Activators “The Boys in the boat”.
Well, activation season is underway, and today, June 30th, will be the first for this summer season. They are on Beach island, USIslands RI-015, which has never been activated. They just got on the air, at 14.265 MHz, and will move to 7.265 a bit later on (plus/minus QRM).
Weather is always a challenge, and today is keeping with that trend. Severe thunderstorms are in the forecast, so they may have to get off the air quickly.
Thanks to all that support these efforts!
Willy W1LY and Paul AC1DW gathered material for the event early, avoiding the rain on Thursday, and setup mostly avoided rain on Friday afternoon. By late Saturday morning generators were humming quietly (very quietly, the birds were louder), tents were up, and people were making RF to stake out their spots before the 2 PM starting bell.
That starting bell was short-lived as a Thunder/Lightning/Hail storm passed over Glen Park at 2:30, followed by two more storms (another with hail). Operation resumed around 5:30 PM . So it was a slow start for sure. Nevertheless things got rolling after an excellent early meal supplied by Ed and Brian, and cheers were often heard coming from the GOTA tent as visitors made their first HF contacts.
Weather was much nicer after the storms passed early Saturday evening, bringing cool temps and low humidity overnight. By 2 PM Sunday, when the final bell rang, it was up to the mid-80s with gentle breezes and low humidity — perfect take down weather. By 4:30 the final tower (VHF/UHF) was coming down, and all the others had been loaded on top of Willy’s van. Expectation is it will be a ghost town (the park) by 5 PM.
CW Beam on left with Moxon and the GOTA beam on the right
Left tower supports GOTA 80/40 dipole and moxon to the middle tower with SSB beam. Rightmost tower is VHF/UHF station (6m/2m beam)
Satellite station (Icom 910H for RF, SatPC32 controlling Doppler and Az/El rotor)
Satellite Antenna after setup at 11 — Note clear skies
Same view out onto the field as first storm hail storm approaches about 2:30 PM on Saturday
Hand model Rob KA1ZZU shows melting hail from first hail storm.
Newly licensed ham Ryan KC1KUF, doing great in the GOTA tent (3 Qs a minute rate). Can’t wait for Ryan to get his General. (John K1JSM logging to his right, and Paul, K1YBE coaching to his left)