ARRL Rhode Island Section News – February 2026
Rhode Island Section News February 2026
Click the link above for this month’s Section news. To sign up for the section news email list, click here.
A field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®

Rhode Island Section News February 2026
Click the link above for this month’s Section news. To sign up for the section news email list, click here.
First, I want to thank Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, for her leadership as Rhode Island Section Manager over the last couple of years. There is a lot going on in the Rhode Island Section – great clubs, top notch contest stations, new ARES leadership, active SKYWARN participation, just to name a few. The Section Manager role can be challenging and demanding. Thank you, Nancy, for all your work on behalf of Rhode Island radio amateurs.
I’m not going to go into great detail with a bio, you are welcome to look me up on QRZ or on my webpage to learn more about me. I’d rather focus on what I bring to the Rhode Island Section as the newly appointed Section Manager.
To start, I have a good understanding of the ARRL Field Organization. Over the course of my Amateur Radio career, I’ve served as an Emergency Coordinator, Volunteer Examiner, award checker for DXCC and WAS, Public Information Coordinator, and Assistant Section Manager. I spent about nine years working at ARRL HQ as the Emergency Preparedness Manager and contributed to the Section Manager workshops. I’ve also written for QST, the ARES E-Letter, was lead author on Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio, editor for The Public Service Communications Handbook, and contributor to the ARRL Operators Manual.
My approach to Amateur Radio focuses on three areas:
We enjoy a hobby that provides us a tremendous amount of spectrum. If we don’t use it, we lose it; we sink or swim together regardless of our individual pursuits in Amateur Radio. “What are we doing to bring new blood into the hobby”, well this starts with you. Share your knowledge, experience and passion for radio with others. Amateur Radio constantly challenges us to learn and grow, which is good! Make the most of it.
Finally, I firmly believe if we have folks in the Rhode Island Section who are doing good work – in clubs, with ARES, with contests, POTA, or any other pursuit – we need to encourage them to keep going! It’s easy to be an arm chair quarterback, it’s also pointless. Go for the extra effort and support the many ways we do Amateur Radio in the Ocean State.
So, what’s next? What are my first steps as Rhode Island Section Manager? Well, here’s what I have in mind:
It is an honor to be appointed to this position, and I look forward to working with you all in support of Amateur Radio in Rhode Island.
73,
Mike Corey, KI1U
ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager
Starting January 1, 2026 the Rhode Island Section will begin using a new email list for sending Section news and updates. Like RI ARES, we will use Google Groups. You can sign up for the email list through the sign up form.
Mike Corey, KI1U, has been appointed to be the ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager as of the New Year, January 1. Corey, of Coventry, has been serving as the Assistant Section Manager and Public Information Coordinator. Rhode Island Section Manager Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, has decided to step aside early from her term of office that continues through June 30, 2027. Austin has been SM since 2023.
In addition to her Section Manager duties, she has also served as an ARES Emergency Coordinator and District Emergency Coordinator. She has also served as a net control operator for the Rhode Island ARES net. Austin informed ARRL HQ and New England Division leadership she was stepping down because she didn’t feel she could devote the time necessary to the Section Manager role for the remainder of her term due to professional commitments.
In accepting the role of Section Manager, Corey said “First, I want to thank Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, for her leadership as Rhode Island Section Manager over the last couple of years. There is a lot going on in the Rhode Island Section – great clubs, top notch contest stations, new ARES leadership, active SKYWARN participation, just to name a few. The Section Manager role can be challenging and demanding. Thank you, Nancy, for all your work on behalf of Rhode Island radio amateurs.”
Rhode Island ARRL members should expect to hear more from Corey after the start of the new year.

Ken Carr, KE1RI congratulates ARRL-donated gift certificate winners at left, here as exhibitors from outside Worcester. Many thanks to Steve Ewald, WV1X for the generous ARRL donations to support our only RI officially-sanctioned Flea Market. Shown here are more NEWSM Museum supporters, including ARRL HQ Lab alum Bob Allison, WB1GCM . He is the author of the popular Amateur Radio Transceiver Performance Testing – Understanding HF Transceiver Data from QST Product Reviews. Great to meet so many who drove up from Connecticut.

Michael KC1VIO from the EMA Section helped mentor Ben del Rosario from Narragansett. Ben is not yet licensed but into shortwave listening & DIY electronics tinkering. Definitely a motivated learner, this was Ben’s second visit to a RI Radio Amateur public event welcome booth sponsored by Fidelity Amateur radio club. Once again, a big turnout at the Flea Market from Fidelity Club Members – including “Swap & Sell” Dan, KA1BNO.

RI Section Skywarn coordinator Wayne, KA1VRF with Bernie, WI1. Want to talk about tactics for successfully selling gear at this Flea Market? Talk to Wayne, KA1VRF who arrived with a trailer filled with ham radio equipment he was ready to sell, and left having sold almost everything. (Pretty good for a $5 table investment!)

RI Section Emergency Coordinator, Jeremy K1JST checks in with Will KA1YJG, visiting for the first time from CT.

Lots of stories here amidst the distinctive sound of a historic electro-mechanical teleprinter, field printing the unexpected history of The Teletype Corporation from 1902-1990, including:
Model 15 (1930)
The Teletype Model 15 is a Baudot code page printer; the mainstay of U.S. military communications in World War II. A reliable, heavy-duty machine with a cast frame. In 1930, Sterling Morton, Howard L. Krum, and Edward E. Kleinschmidt filed an application for a U.S. patent covering the commercial form of the Model 15 page printer. Approximately 200,000 Model 15 teleprinters were built. The Model 15 stands out as one of a few machines that remained in production for many years, remaining in production until 1963, a total of 33 years of continuous production. The production run was stretched somewhat by World War II — the Model 28 was scheduled to replace the Model 15 in the mid-1940s, but Teletype built so many factories to produce the Model 15 during World War II that it was more economical to continue mass production of the Model 15. The Model 15, especially in its “receive only” configuration with no keyboard, was the classic “news Teletype”, at least until the 1950s, when the news wire services began to move to TeleTypeSetter feeds, but also long after that in places. Some radio stations used a recording of the sound of one of these machines as background during news broadcasts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Corporation

Congrats again to Ken Carr and the New England Wireless and Steam Museum Team for another successful Radio Tune-Up Flea Market.
Missed the July Radio Tune-Up Flea Market? Visit this one-of-a-kind gem of a museum, centrally-located but off the beaten path.
Open Saturdays May 31 through October 25th 9am–3pm. For more information, see: https://newsm.org/visit/
Share this post: https://ri-arrl.org/blueskiesfleamarket2025
https://www.arrl.org/open-house

This will be another open house where members and the public will see what the Providence Radio Association is all about. Come see the clubhouse, our rooftop log-periodic antenna and get on the air. Hope to see you there! https://w1op.com/
Clubhouse GPS location: 30 Ludlow Street, Johnston RI 02919 – on top of historic Neutaconkanut Hill
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/
Contact: Martin Dean Chapman, Email: [email protected]
Remember: there is no Morse Code requirement for getting an Amateur Radio license.

The Virtual National Traffic Training Net (VNTN)
https://nts2.arrl.org/2025/03/15/virtual-nts-training-net/
VNTN Virtual NTS Training Net: 7pm in April; moving to 8pm in May
The RI Section is SHORT on traffic handlers! Learn the basics and help out once a week or month as you are able.
More on Radiograms and the National Traffic System:
Nearby Bridgewater State University in the Eastern MA Section is holding an Open House on World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2025. Paul Fredette, K1YBE from the Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) shared the following invitation. For more information and to RSVP, please contact him at [email protected]
We invite you to come on Friday April 18 and experience an Amateur Radio shack on the Bridgewater State (MA) campus in DMF room 290 from 1 pm to 3 pm. In addition to getting on the radio, you can compose a Radiogram for delivery to anyone worldwide and find out how to get your Amateur Radio License.
Historic 630m (472–479 kHz) RI activation planned for this Saturday to Monday by Eric NO3M, traveling from Pennsylvania to Burlingame Campground in Rhode Island. The goal is to complete “Worked All States – and help everyone that wants that coveted QSO from little Rhode Island. https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?attachments/630m-was-list-19aug24-pdf.1223859/
He will be operating “FST4 – a 4-GFSK extreme weak-signal amateur radio communications mode, designed especially for the MF and LF bands.” https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/FST4
Eric NO3M previously earned a distance award for 630m: New 630-Meter Distance Record Claimed
That 2019 contact “represented the culmination of 2 years of effort: “Hopes were wearing thin as we were moving away from the recent equinox on September 23,” he said. “Even when the path may have been open over the past 3 weeks, either end would be plagued with QRN.” He said that while the opening that facilitated the record-breaking contact was not comparably as strong as past openings, “something special was obviously at play.” The contact covered 9,307.5 miles (14,979 kilometers), topping the previous record of 8,351.9 miles set by Roger Crofts, VK4YB, and Kenneth Roberson, K5DNL, by nearly 1,000 miles.
“It’s a big win for the Amateur community and the ARRL,” ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, said. “We are excited by the FCC’s action to authorize Amateur Radio access for the first time on the MF and LF spectrum. As amateurs begin using these new allocations in the next few weeks, we encourage the entire Amateur Radio community, as secondary users, to be especially attentive to the rules.”
It has not been an easy win, however. ARRL has been trying since the 1970s to convince the FCC to allow amateur access to parts of the spectrum below the Standard Broadcast Band. Through the Utilities Telecoms Council (UTC), electric power utilities have opposed Amateur Radio use of the MF and LF spectrum, raising unsubstantiated fears of interference to unlicensed Part 15 power line carrier (PLC) systems used to manage the power grid. The FCC said the Amateur Radio service rules it has adopted for 630 meters and 2,200 meters allow for co-existence with PLC systems that use the two bands.
ARRL has teamed up with HamSCI — Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation — and the science community organization SciStarter to invite the public to participate in One Million Acts of Science during April, which is Citizen Science Month. By hosting a Ham Radio Open House at your group’s station in April, you’ll introduce individuals who might never otherwise find out about today’s amateur radio where science and technology intersect with fun and learning. Clubs are encouraged to showcase the latest weak-signal modes, such as FT8 using WSJT-X or other digital modes. This could be a great opportunity to explore new areas of amateur radio and demonstrate how the service is at the cutting edge of electrical engineering.
HamSCI and SciStarter Collaborations
HamSCI (hamsci.org) has built a community by connecting radio amateurs and citizen scientists in ionospheric research. The Solar Eclipse QSO Parties held during the 2023 annular eclipse and the 2024 total solar eclipse provided significant data for researchers studying the ionosphere’s response to the eclipses, wrapped into fun operating events. SciStarter is working to engage people from all walks of life in one million acts of science during Citizen Science Month in April (scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth), to promote public participation in scientific research. ARRL’s Ham Radio Open House provides a unique opportunity to help achieve that goal.

ARRL Field Day is ham radio’s annual open house showcase of what we’re about – and all are welcome.
It’s always held on the 4th full weekend in June.
https://www.arrl.org/field-day
Here’s the link to the ARRL flyer you can download and customize:
https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2025/2025%20ARRL%20Field%20Day%20Poster.pdf
Keep an eye on the RI clubs participating and where they’ll be setting up with this map link.
And clubs – please start adding your intended Field Day locations: https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
As of early March 2025, we have:
There’s still about four months to go, but why wait?
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/
W1AQ Clubhouse, Rumford, RI
Contact: Martin Dean Chapman, Email: [email protected]
March 14, 21, 28; April 4, 5, 11, 18
May 3, 9, 23, 30; June 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 27
Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC)
Woonsocket, Our Saviour’s Parish
Contact: Robert E. Jones, Email: [email protected]
March 8; May 19, 2025
Newport County Radio Club (NCRC)
Middletown Police Station
Contact: Contact: Michael Seil, Email: [email protected]
March 8; June 14, 2025
There are currently none listed in RI.
Consider this remote option led by NE Sci Tech experienced educators based in nearby Massachusetts.
Geared for adults, families, and students.
For questions, email [email protected] or call 508-720-4179.
https://www.nescitech.org/technician
Start/End Dates: 04/27/2025 – 05/18/2025
Times: Four Sundays @ 6-9pm Eastern, April 27 – May 18, 2025
# of Sessions: 4
https://www.nescitech.org/technician
Times: Four Sundays @ 6-9pm Eastern, March 30 – April 20, 2025
John Buckley, KC1WFP, West Greenwich
Robert Leblanc, KC1WFY, East Greenwich
Eric Brune, KC1WGW, Hope Valley
Howard Elliott, KC1WDW, Newport
Thomas Kaiser, KC1WFO, Portsmouth
Steve Martinez, KC1WDU Warwick
Kenneth Wilkinson, KC1WFX, Warwick
Wayne Dimbleby, KC1WEF, Cranston
David Gervais, KC1WBM, Coventry
Jack Gerrior, KC1WBJ, Cumberland
Sean Obert, KC1WDD, Portsmouth
Eric Harley, KC1WCJ, Wakefield
John Egan, KC1WAB, Woonsocket
John M Conte, KC1VXL, Barrington
Vina Macias, KC1VWL, Providence
Sarah Bessey, KC1VYB, Providence
Anna Murphy, KC1VWF, Providence
73, Nancy Austin, KC1NEK
RI Section Manager (two 2-year terms, 2023 – 2027)
Check it out!!! And welcome to the PRA new leadership team. Huge thanks to Dave Tessitore, K1DT and Team W1OP for so successfully mentoring next gen club leaders as this historic club plans for a vibrant and relevant future.



Mike Cullen, K1NPT wrote:
A tip of the hat to Newport County Radio Club volunteers Rowan WO1P, Jim KA1ZOU, and John KC1K00 for helping local middle school students deliver a record-breaking performance during last week’s ARRL School Club Roundup — a semi-annual, on-air contest that encourage students to talk to other schools.
Operating at All Saints STEAM Academy (Middletown) Monday through Friday from 3PM to 5PM each day, we had 10 incredibly focused middle school students sharing the microphone and managing several pile-ups that they created on 20M.
Results?
114 contacts (including NCRC’s Mike AA1XQ and Mike KC1NEJ)
25 states, 1 province
3 clubs
3 mobile stations
13 schools
all yielding a claimed score of 11,058 (a school record)
School principal Ann Villareal helped coach students each day and was very pleased with the week’s efforts.
We’re looking forward to doing it again in October and, in the interim, crafting ways to keep these students engaged in wireless communications.
73, Mike K1NPT – P.S. If you’d like to help us work with middle school students after school on radio-based activities, please let me know.

Wayne Burkett, KA1VRF wrote:
Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent RI ARES SKYWARN 24-hour Activation. Twelve nets were held on the NB1RI repeater network, with over one hundred hams offering situational awareness reports during and after the mid-February snowstorm. Net Control collected these timely reports and reported our local conditions up to the National Weather Service in Boston.
Want to learn more? Join Wayne’s Skywarn training nets every Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm local time on the linked NB1RI repeater and Quahog repeater network. All are welcome.
How Rhode Island Hams Help RICOMU Deliver Millions $$$ to RI Cities & Towns
More city and town Public Safety Emergency Management organizations are showing interest in becoming an ARRL-Affiliated club.
Please reach so we can help with the process.
Contact: RI Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC), John Brewer, N1SXB
n1sxb [@] earthlink [dot] net
Congratulations to new ham Jose Sandoval, KC1TWM for success revitalizing the Brown University Amateur Radio Club (BARC) as an official, funded school club. This has been a team effort across RI, with special thanks to Don Stanford, KV4DN; Chad Cavanaugh, KC1DOH ; Adam Paul, KC1KCC; and Rhode Island Section Youth Coordinator, Rowan Eggert, WO1P for mentoring next-gen collegiate hams.
Jose, KC1TWM wrote: “The Brown Radio Club has been officially reconstituted in 2025, anticipating its 50th anniversary on May 14, 2025. After operating as an Amateur Radio Community for the ARRL Collegiate Roundup last semester, we are excited to function as an official club in 2025.
In addition, as custodians of the Brown Space Engineering ground station, the Brown Amateur Radio Club (K1AD) is proud to announce its participation in the Fram2Ham satellite receiving competition. With support from the School of Engineering, the ARRL, the Providence Radio Association, and Brown Space Engineering, we look forward to a productive and vibrant semester. We encourage all interested hams to stay tuned for our upcoming activities!”
Rhode Island Section Youth Coordinator Rowan, W01P wrote:
“ARRL’s School Club Roundup is here!! This week, February 10-14, amateur radio operators can find schools and youth organizations activating across the country. Students kindergarten through college have the opportunity to get on the air, some for their very first time! This event is a fantastic introduction to amateur radio and provides a hands-on STEM learning opportunity before, during, and after school hours.
In Rhode Island, students at All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown will be getting on the air as a part of an after school program hosted by Mike K1NPT and the Newport County Radio Club. Volunteers will spend a few hours after school working HF and 2m bands with students asthey learn more about battery powered operations and the application of radio communications in their community.
Want to get involved? Take some time to work student stations on the air, you may even be their first contact! Being friendly and engaging with students. It’s one of the best parts of this hobby. Some of my first contacts came with QSL cards that I still keep on the wall. Your time is valuable for School Club Roundup, so please take the time to work schools on the air, especially this week.”
Leveraging the biannual ARRL School Roundup – an untapped youth force multiplier follow up to Winter Field Day and Scouting’s JOTA.
And did we mention ARRL scholarships awarded in 2024 – totaling over $700,000?


Calm confidence and experience matters. Many thanks to Wayne Burkett, KA1VRF for again stepping up to be overnight Net Control Station during last weekend’s early February Snowstorm. From 10pm Saturday night to Noon Sunday, any licensed radio amateur interested in contributing situational awareness about weather at their location could join his Skywarn nets, and report their snow totals. Or offer a heads-up about what might be an unexpected, evolving situation that deserves closer monitoring. In a “Unity of Effort”, Wayne gathers our reports and delivers them to Rob Macedo, KD1CY, our ham radio Skywarn liaison for our local National Weather Service office in Norton/Boston.
This is a team effort. Many thanks to longtime RI Skywarn lead Martin Mendelson, N1JMA, for distributing Rob’s NWS breaking updates and likely Skywarn Activation net schedule via [email protected]. It is fantastic to see Rhode Island and the NB1RI Repeater network now included among the regional reliable go-to Skywarn nets.
Wayne moved back to RI recently, and his depth of experience during severe weather events in Florida offers an opportunity for us all to learn more and prepare – whatever your level of experience might be. Do join in his weekly RI ARES Training and Skywarn Nets held every Wednesdays on the NB1RI repeater network at 7:30pm. No special equipment needed – just your eyes and ears and a public service mindset.
New England Wireless & Steam Museum will host an ARRL sanctioned hamfest at their better-than-ever Tune-Up event in East Greenwich, Rhode Island on July 12.
New England Wireless and Steam Museum (NEWSM): https://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar
More info: Ken Carr, KE1RI
AA7A: “Remote DXpeditioning” by Ned Stearns, AA7A, at the Aug 22, 2025 Friday night DX/Contest Banquet
W2NAF: “HamSCI: Space Weather We Can Do Together”, Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, from the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) at the Saturday night Grand Banquet, Aug 23, 2025