NCRC News & Events

Posted on by

Greetings Members

Here is a consolidated report of things happening around the Newport County Radio Club.

Summer Field Day 2025 Results – In December 2025 QST magazine look on page 67.  The NCRC participated in the most competitive 2A category and placed third behind the Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont. W1NVT, and the Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society, K4MN. (Almost tied for second place). Congratulations to all members who pitched in to make it a successful and fun Field Day!

2026 NCRC Annual Dues – At the November club meeting, after some healthy discussion, members agreed, voted on, and approved raising the annual dues from $25 to $40 beginning in 2026.  This move was driven by inflation factors (dues have been $25 for over 20 years), and the club’s desire to continue providing members with quality services such as a substantially upgraded W1SYE repeater system.

J-Pole Antenna Build Night – On Monday evening, December 1st, we will be hosting a build night at St. Barnabas Church starting at 7:00pm. You can build yourself a functioning J-Pole antenna that you can use with your 2-meter radio. Please click the link to let us know that you are coming and what style of antenna you wish to build.  REGISTRATION   There will be a nominal cost for parts. Questions, please call or write Chris Lirakis 401-683-8700 or, Jim Sendrak (860) 985-8558.  clirakis@gmail.com  jimsendrak@comcast.net

NCRC Year-End Dinner Party – Please join us on Monday, December 8th for our annual party. We will be at the Hometown Tavern in Warren, RI.  Click her for all the information, registration and ticket purchasing.  PARTY

2026 Winter Field Day – We are beginning to prepare for Winter Field Day, January 24th & 25th at the Glen in Portsmouth.  We will send out a survey to all members shortly.  In the meantime, if you are interested in participating in the event in any capacity, please call or write to Jim Sendrak.

Member Roster – We need to make corrections and update our member roster. This has not been done for quite some time. We will be sending an email to all members soon to help facilitate this.

W1SYE 2-Meter Repeater – Our current repeater system is sorely in need of replacement. This is being acted upon as we speak. You can look forward to top-notch, clear performance once again. We’d like to see more members using the repeater for friendly conversations not just during the nightly nets, but all through the day.

That’s it for now.  73s

Jim Sendrak – KC1LYG  (860) 985-8558

Clubs Encouraged to Participate in ARRL 2026 Year of the Club

Posted on by

The ARRL has declared 2026 “The Year Of The Club” and has several activities meant to recognize the importance of Amateur Radio Clubs to our hobby.

One of the events is going to be a Worked All States program where users will contacts a W1AW portable station in every state (much like they did during the 100th anniversary of the ARRL back in 2014).

Information on the event can be found here

2026 WAS-250 W1AW-Portable Operator Guidelines (002)

NCRC Hosts Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA)

Posted on by

This past Saturday (October 18, 2025) the NCRC hosted a JOTA event at Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown.  Scout Troop 1, Rotary Club of Jamestown spent an afternoon of fun and amateur radio operating. The weather was perfect!

8 Scouts and 2 Troop Leaders joined NCRC’s Willy Maclean, Bill Bagwill and Jim Sendrak.

Scouts Matt, Alex and Logan made contacts in Canada, West Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia!

The boys were impressed by the radio technology. They all got to make several contacts around the country.

What? No cell phones or internet necessary??

Nope!

Still in Peak Hurricane Season for New England

Posted on by

After a couple days of drenching rain, it is always nice to kick back and enjoy the clear blue skies.  But this is also a perfect time to check all your emergency gear!

Get those generators humming, batteries charging, and drag out those unused HTs to make sure they still work (or more likely that their owner remembers how to use them).

Now that it is fall, we might think things are calming down weather-wise, but that isn’t the case in New England.  Our peak hurricane season runs from mid-August thru mid-October.  And it isn’t unusual to get storms all the way to the end of hurricane season at the end of November.  Anyone remember Hurricane Sandy (October 29th)?

An interesting situation is brewing in the Caribbean, which might have impacts on the East Coast next week, as seen below.  Hurricane Humberto (lower right) is expected to track a bit further to the NW then swing to the NE, and out to the ocean.

The area in the lower center is Area of Interest 94L, which has high odds of developing into a tropical storm and hurricane (Imelda) in the next few days.  There is a low pressure system developing over the southeastern states, coupling with the influence of Hurricane Humberto, that makes the path of what may become Imelda somewhat uncertain.  Yet another weather system, a large Canadian high may well protect New England and cause the storms to pass off shore.

Nevertheless, given all the forecast uncertainty, keep a weather eye out and be prepared.

License Upgrade Classes

Posted on by

Are you ready to upgrade your amateur radio license? Jump from Technician to General or, jump from General to Amateur Extra? In order to prepare for your license exam, many of you have asked for educational assistance. To serve that need, we are happy to announce the NCRC’s partnership program with Ham Radio Prep.

Ham Radio Prep is an inexpensive program of classes that get you ready for your license exam. If you follow their program, your success is guaranteed or your money back. We already have a NCRC member who passed both General and Amateur Extra exam on the same day!

As a bonus, because you are a member of the Newport County Radio Club, you’ll receive a 10% discount on any and all purchases you make from Ham Radio Prep (or, World Radio League logbook). See below.

Please look the program over and consider using it when your ready to make you upgrade move! Just click it!

Newport County Radio Club – HRP – Light