Hi everybody!
Just a reminder that tomorrow is August 1st and a Thursday, so that means breakfast at Rome Point. We order around 8 AM, so plan accordingly.
Hope to see everybody there!
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Newly Licensed Club Member Flies High Altitude Balloon
Professor Adria Updike (Roger Williams University), newly licensed NCRC member KC1LOK, and her student Jenna Lowe, constructed a high altitude balloon and launched it near Pittsfield MA yesterday. The balloon included a APRS transmitter so that they could track it.
Path of Adria and Jenna’s Balloon from Pittsfield MA to Stonington CT
Adria said “We flew the balloon yesterday – launched it from Pittsfield MA, and it landed a bit further south than we anticipated, in the water just a few feet from land in Stonington CT. We managed to retrieve it from the last APRS position it sent out before landing in the water (upside down!”.
University members have a tradition of including their namesake Roger Williams in photographs taken in unusual locations, so the balloon flight would not be complete without a photo of Roger Williams taken at about 68,000 feet altitude!
Roger Williams admires the view from 68,000 feet up!
Fantastic application of Ham Radio — Congratulations to Adria and Jenna!
2-meter band under attack in Region 1
The upcoming WRC 2023 meeting has a proposal from a French company to allocate all the Region 1 2-meter band to aircraft use. The proposal had no justification as to why 2-meters was appropriate or why other frequencies would not be suitable. While this doesn’t impact us in Region 2, that low 2 MHz contains all the weak signal, DX and satellite bands.
The IARU says not to worry here: http://www.arrl.org/news/iaru-president-offers-assurances-regarding-french-144-146-mhz-allocation-proposal
This just points out that Amateur Bands are always under attack and we must defend our allocations. The ARRL is the only group that provides funding in our region for this effort.
Upcoming ARES Events
RI ARES will be activating Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown on July 20th… 10am till 4:30pm… setup will commence at 9am… teardown after 4:30… all are welcome, although we are calling this event a general membership event…
RI ARES will be offer the ARRL Intro to Emergency Communications Course EC-001 as a hybrid, with 2 sessions as live presentations by experienced Emergency communicators… these live sessions will be held on August 10th and 17th, from 10 AM until 2 PM at the Coventry EOC. Please confirm that you are planning on attending to info@riares.org
The online materials are available on the ARRL website and while it is not required that they be completed before the live sessions, it is recommended that they be begun soon, and the final exam will be required in order to get credit for the class. The course can be found at: https://www.arrl.org/
Paul Silverzweig, N1PSX
RI ARES
Section Emergency Coordinator
NCRC Meeting Monday July 8, 7 PM at KVH
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”