Author: Nancy Austin

https://ri-arrl.org/ri-section-newsletter-2024-01-31 

Welcome to your RI Section Newsletter for January 31, 2024  

Upcoming DX talk by Charlie Morrison, N1RR open to RI hams at W1AQ clubhouse in Rumford 

W1AQ-Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England (an ARRL affiliated club since 1931) invites you: 

(SPACE LIMITED) Have you ever wondered “how do I reach this or that country so I can get my award?”  Or have you turned on the radio and wondered what might be the best band for dx, or domestic contacts?

Well, here’s what you need to know. Charlie, N1RR, an avid DX’er and contester, will be giving a presentation at the W1AQ club house on Thursday Feb-22 at 8pm to tell you all about how to use on-line, real-time data to figure out what bands are best for where you want to work. His presentation will cover:

• Introduction to NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
• Basics of Sun’s effects on H.F. communications
• Using NOAA SWPC indicators for your H.F. operating?
• What to do when conditions are good?
• What to do when conditions are bad?
• Get on the air, apply what you’ve learned, share your experiences.

The presentation will be at the W1AQ clubhouse, 54 Kelley Ave, Rumford, RI on 22-FEB-24 at 8PM. I hope to see you there.

Please RSVP for more information about joining in person at the W1AQ clubhouse or getting the link to the recording: 

RSVP TO:  Doug Troughton, N2RDF at [email protected]

Club Officer, W1AQ-Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England

See also: https://ri-arrl.org/providence-area-amateur-radio-license-exam-options-continue-at-historic-1920s-club-house-walk-ins-welcome/

ARRL School Roundup February 12-16, 2024

Lots of opportunities coming together to support youth and young adult outreach across RI.

The ARRL Letter for January 25, 2024 announced the Board has authorized a new, free ARRL membership for students. “For decades, ARRL has offered a reduced dues rate for young hams  [Under age 26], currently priced at $30 per year. At this meeting, the Board established a new option for a no-cost Associate membership for full-time students aged 21 and younger.”

The RI Section Newsletter (December 31, 2023) included this 2024 priority: 

• Another recommended priority program focus is on revitalizing now-inactive clubs at Rhode Island superb colleges and universities. The ARRL’s Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, Director of Marketing and Innovation, is doing remarkable things in this space, and we welcome opportunities to collaborate (- And we have the teams identified and ready to take action.) Future postings will share more about the ARRL’s CARP initiative. “Since the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP) was established in 2017, we’ve been growing our community of participating students and ham radio clubs at colleges and universities. CARP holds monthly Zoom meetups and makes connections through our CARP Facebook group and Discord.” See for example: https://www.hamcation.com/forums-speaker-info?event=71 and https://www.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radio 

Brown University undergraduate and new ham Jose Sandoval, KC1TWM, is all about outreach to bring together a team of Brown students, alum, faculty and staff motivated to take action revitalizing the Brown Amateur Radio Club and (sooner or later) get the historic K1AD call sign back active on the air. 

Jose KC1TWM and the Brown Amateur Radio Club revitalization team will participate in the upcoming ARRL School Roundup February 12-16, with details to follow. The team’s February goal is to spread awareness about the club relaunch and build a membership base ready to be recognized (again) as an active Official Brown student club in Fall 2024. Jose’s mission is to have enough identified student talent as the core of a competitive Brown team ready to show up for the October 2024 ARRL School Roundup. 

It will be great to see our RI Section hams step up to help with outreach and mentoring across Rhode Island’s many colleges and Middle/High Schools. You do not need to be an official school club to participate in the School Roundup. Go for it! Help others Get On the Air.

For example, Mike Cullen, K1NPT has been actively supporting Middle School students curious about amateur radio at All Saints Academy in Middletown, RI for over a decade. Recently his after school club launched a weather balloon and has participated in the ARRL School Roundup often, especially before the pandemic. See: https://contests.arrl.org/scrscoredetails.php?rid=610192

Will Mike, K1NPT be helping the Middle School students at All Saints Academy again this year? Yes! He wrote: 

• • Yep —  I’m planning to be on air 13-15 Feb (Tues, Wed, Thurs)  … 3 days ….  each day in the 3PM to 4:30 PM window.  
  • Our main ops will likely be SSB on 40M and 20M. 

• Can you please get the word out to RI hams that each day Feb 13, 14, 15  at 4PM, the students will call CQ on 146.55 simplex and I’ll have students track the RI towns contacted. 

Are you interested in helping revitalize other college clubs? Mentor at a local Middle School? 

Please reach out to John Brewer, N1SXB – our RI Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) and/or Mike Cullen, K1NPT – active Middle School after-school mentor

Winter Field Day across RI Clubs

https://ri-arrl.org/2024-winter-field-day-ri-club-success/

• W1MB, Fidelity Amateur Radio Club  – operated with great camaraderie out of the New England Wireless & Steam Museum.  They helped get one new Tech get on the air, and held a VE session Saturday morning to welcome another General and Extra license holder to RI.
• W1SYE, Newport County Radio Club – operated from a field location at the Glen in Portsmouth.  WFD Lead and contesting guru Dave Neal, W2DAN mentored new General-license class hams on how to set up and just go!
• W1DD, Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club, participated from a field location in Woonsocket.
• KK1PMA, Providence Emergency Management Agency Races participated Sunday.  WFD Lead Barry Noel, W1BSN and team helped a new Tech get on the air.  
• W1OP, Providence  Radio Association participated indoors from their club house in Johnston.
• W1AQ,  Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England is looking to join next year from their club house in Rumford.  
• Meanwhile, many RI licensed amateurs participated solo from their home station operating as 1-Home-Rhode Island. 

Thank you to all who helped their Rhode Island clubs get on the air last weekend to participate and mentor across our small state. 

New Technician Michelle Dupuis, KC1TJH (licensed 2023-08-29) was mentored by the PEMA RACES ARRL Affiliated Club team during Winter Field Day, January 2024.

Welcome (it’s ELEVEN) New RI Technician-licensed hams! 

If you hear a KC1 2×3 call sign with a suffix starting with a “T”, ask if the caller is a newly licensed ham and send congrats. 

[1Feb update – correct sum is 11: ELEVEN = NINE reported Jan 10, 2024 + TWO reported Dec 5, 2023]

From the ARRL “New License Report” for 2024-01-10 & 2023-12-05

• John Macvittie, KC1TVX – Coventry
• David Walker, KC1TVM – East Greenwich
• Richard Tucker, AC1QR – Lincoln
• John Flanders, KC1TVQ – Saunderstown
• Edward Dufresne, KC1TVR – Warren
• Michael O’Neil, KC1TUR – Warwick
• Darrell Wood, KC1TXB – Woonsocket
• Jose Sandoval, KC1TWM – Providence
• Frank Saccoccio, KC1TWB – Johnston
• Scott Vigneau, KC1TTH – Warwick
• Aaron Sucov, KC1TRG – Cranston

Congrats to THREE RI License Upgrades

From the ARRL “New License Report” for 2024-01-10 & 2023-12-05

• Dennis Hobert, KC1OYW – Harrisville
• Matthew Sarasin, KB1HEG – Warren
• Alfred J Watterson, KC1TGV – Warwick

Get licensed! Upgrade? Upcoming RI In-person VE Sessions 

Many thanks to these 3 RI Clubs for consistently offering publicly-announced, in-person VE sessions. Here’s what they are offering Jan-March 2024.Q1. https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session

• W1AQ (Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England) on Saturdays at 9:30am on February 3, 2024, March 2, 2024 (Rumford, RI)  (walk-ins allowed)
• Blackstone Valley ARC (BVARC) on Saturdays at 9am March 9, 2024 (Woonsocket, RI) Location: Our Saviour’s Parish (Pre-registration via email preferred; Walk-ins allowed)
• Newport County Radio Club (NCRC | W1SYE.org) on Saturday at 10AM March 9,2024 in Middletown, RI at the (No Walk-ins / Register or Call ahead)

License Exam Prep via HamStudy.org. License prep has never been easier than with this transformational learning platform offering self-paced study and practice tests. Available on demand, for free. 

Prefer to study with a class? Check out the ARRL listing for classes here, and check back often as 2024 classes get posted: https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

OR: check out the respected WEEKEND ZOOM License Class boot camps being offered all-remote this winter/spring by The Nashua Area Radio Society (N1FD) https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

Upcoming Regional Remote Amateur Radio License Class Weekend Bootcamps

• Technician License Class –  February 17th and 18th, 2024
• General License Class – March 16th and 17th, 2024
• Extra License Class – April 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2024

For more information see: https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

RI ARES February Calendar

Curious about Regional Collaboration?

This Saturday February 3, 2024 from 10AM-Noon, our Eastern Massachusetts ARES neighbors will be conducting a Simulated Emergency Test EXERCISE to demonstrate gaps in how amateur radio operators can effectively collaborate to pass the structured information a served agency might request in a timely fashion over the air or via Winlink. This is a PRACTICE drill and you are welcome to listen in or participate if you feel prepared. Exercise objectives include passing a Radiogram over the National Traffic System (NTS):

• • Conduct an NTS voice net on 2m VHF FM
  • Conduct an NTS voice net on 75m and pass traffic
  • Attempt operations with the RI section on VHF and/or HF

This Simulated Emergency Test  will offer hams the opportunity to pass and receive basic Health and Welfare Radiograms over the National Traffic System net. An exercise such as this is a great time to learn more about NTS: 

•  https://ri-arrl.org/national-traffic-system/ 

You can download the Radiogram form at  the ARRL website here:

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/RADIOGRAM-2011.pdf

Daily NTS Nets in Rhode Island – follow up action. As we rebuild Rhode Island Traffic Handling skills, please take advantage of the collaboration offered through the MA-RI-Phone (CW & Digital) Nets held 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

• Mass Rhode Island Phone Net – 3.978 MHz at 5PM Local Time Monday thru Sunday.

Saturday Feb 3, 2024 NTS (National Traffic System) Mass Rhode Island Phone PRACTICE EXERCISE NET planned – 

NTS HF Phone Operations

The MA/RI NTS phone net will be operational for the duration of the exercise period,operating on 3978 khz LSB.

NTS VHF 2m operations – NTS will have a voice 2m net (EM2MTN) on the Boston 145.23- (PL88.5) repeater. 

Participants are welcome to join either net and try their hand at copying and sending a Radiogram as well. 

Here is a link to the basic ARRL Numbered Radiogram Health & Welfare messages that a licensed ham might be asked to send during an emergency if there was no internet and the primary public safety agencies are at capacity doing other things. Be the ham that is prepared and ready to offer public service help sending a Radiogram so that, for example, someone would get the message that a loved one is ok. https://nts2.arrl.org/numbered-texts/

RI ARES NETS

An updated RI ARES Practice and Training Net Schedule can be found here: https://riares.org/nets

ARES Practice and Training Nets are normally held at 19:30 local time and are open to all licensed operators. These are Directed Nets, the Net Control Station will control all communication on the net.

• 1st Tuesday of the month – Repeater Net
• 2nd Tuesday of the month – Simplex Net
• 3rd Tuesday of the month – Repeater Net
• 4th Tuesday of the month – Repeater & Digital Net
• Every Wednesday – SKYWARN

RI ARES Monthly Members’ Zoom – February 7, 2024 8-9:45pm

For more information, please see: https://riares.org/membership

This month’s meeting will review the basics of a repeater and how to get comfortable deciphering Form ICS-205 – The INCIDENT RADIO COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.

For example, the deadline to sign-up as a Boston Marathon Public Service Amateur Radio Volunteer is Friday February 2, 2024 at 5pm. https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/44002497536-2024-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide

Part of being prepared to show up as an operator for this Boston Marathon event will be the ability to take the event’s provided ICS-205 and program your HT with the dozens of Simplex and Repeater frequencies you don’t usually ever use. This is an important skill that needs to be practiced often. 

The February RI-ARES Zoom session will help you better understand the various ways that input/output repeater frequencies are referred to, and how to read the ICS-205. Of course, you still have to be able to program your own HT. Start by understanding the basics behind what the ICS-205 Form is asking for.

Learning Platforms in 2024

It’s 2024 and remote meetings over video streaming platforms are common.

People have come to expect being able to learn almost anything on demand, on their own schedule, and as their own learning interest path unfolds in sometimes unpredictable ways. 

I’m a lifelong reader, with more books than most. But I also have moved my household twice in the last few years, and it was a wrenching, expensive, time-consuming ordeal to pack up all my books and belongings and venture on. At this time, I still do buy books on occasion, but I understand the merits of having more things “paperless” than I might have once thought I could ever get used to.  

This might be one reason I found it easier than some ARRL members to appreciate the new ARRL magazine app that allows me instant access to all four ARRL magazines, and in a searchable format.  Really a whole digital bookcase full of magazines to read as I choose – and I never have to physically move them.  

But here’s the thing. I like to read, and the many many hams who highly recommend I start learning via You-Tube videos just didn’t convince me. But I decided to be more open-minded and check out the On The Air companion You-Tube short videos that Becky, W1BXY bravely started offering to broaden the audience for On The Air. 

And you know what? Big kudos to the ARRL HQ You-Tube channel. 

Looking for a short, 3 minute video introduction to explain ham radio? I might start recommending this:

https://youtu.be/wDn-6SDxyD4?feature=shared

73, Nancy Austin, KC1NEK – RI Section Manager

Exploring a data-driven approach to discover opportunities and help set priorities for the RI Section in 2024

The Rhode Island Section within the New England Division

I wrongly assumed Rhode Island was the smallest of the six states that make up the ARRL New England Division in terms of these three categories: geographic size, population, and also number of licensed amateur radio operators. 

Yes, Rhode Island geographically is the smallest state in the United States, covering an area of 1,214 square miles, with distances North to South at 48 miles and East to West 37 miles. 

Yes, Rhode Island has the fewest number of FCC licensed amateurs in New England. But no, Vermont’s population is smaller. Who knew?

Surprisingly, Rhode Island is both the most densely populated New England state, and yet has among the fewest per capita hams in not only New England, but also in the United States. Rhode Island’s ham per capita ranking is down there with Puerto Rico and Louisiana – places where one might expect the value of hard lessons learnt about resilient communication to inspire folks to join our community. What is that about? 

On the other hand, it was a delightful surprise to discover that the Rhode Island Section currently ranks second in the New England Division for ARRL membership per licensed amateurs.  Congrats on that! 

So, Rhode Island may have far fewer hams per capita than its neighbors, but these hams are more likely to belong to the ARRL. 

Add this in: only a fraction of Rhode Island radio amateurs belong to a club. Despite the strong club options at hand. Why is this? Are they mostly inactive hams who got licensed but lost interest? That explanation only gets us so far.

Surprisingly (to me), Rhode Island’s almost 1900 licensed hams include many many loyal and dedicated ARRL members who do not participate in RI club life at all. Many more Rhode Island hams belong to ARRL than belong to a club. (Although, by definition, ARRL-affiliated clubs have more than half their voting membership belonging to ARRL.)  Is this about raising awareness of what the strong existing clubs are doing and have to offer, each in their own way? Perhaps it involves promoting how most RI clubs now have established remote/hybrid options for club meetings? 

Maybe this means getting better at identifying Section-wide opportunities to meet other RI hams informally and get involved. From Parks on the Air Meet & Greets to a revitalized ARES hub of connecting to RI SME talks, tours or profiles on say advanced topics in emerging radio technologies. How can the Section better meet this group’s needs and celebrate their enthusiasm and contributions? 

In the September RI Section Newsletter I shared the six-month data on new RI hams and upgrades. Here’s an update: from April 5, 2023 to December 5, 2023 the Rhode Island amateur radio community welcomed 37 new hams and congratulated 37 license upgrades. Congrats again, and welcome! Thank you to everyone involved in mentoring to make this happen and keep the journey going forward. (See below for aligned January calendar events.) 

How might this data dive help inform our Rhode Island Section radio amateur strategy in 2024 and help strengthen our state? Are we communicating the right message about why amateur radio? Why both join and join in? It seems ever clearer to me that participating locally, regionally and nationally in support of the ARRL is foundational for the continued success of amateur radio, now and into the future of our endlessly fascinating gateway hobby of a lifetime. 

Here’s the data

FCC licensed amateurs in the six New England Division states as of December 30, 2023:

MA 13,300 | CT 7176 | NH 5695 | Maine 4467 |VT 2095 | RI 1896 source: https://www.arrl.org/fcc-license-counts

New England population census data as of July 1, 2023: MA 7,001,399 | CT 3,617,176 | NH 1,402,054 | Maine 1,395,722 | RI 1,095,962 | VT 647,464 source: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/VT,RI,NH,ME,MA,CT/PST045222

estimate of Hams per Capita as of Dec 30, 2023: NH .406% | VT .324% | ME .320% | CT .198%  | MA .190% | RI .173%

This might suggest that in each of the six New England states, population has increased faster than licensing new amateurs per this 2021 comparison of US States and territories hams/capita: #6: NH  0.416% | #11: ME  0.342% | #12: VT 0.335% | #32: CT 0.211% | #38: MA 0.196% | #45: RI 0.181%  source for 2021 data – hams per capita: https://k8vsy.radio/2021/09/ham-radio-licenses-us-states-per-capita.html

But wait: population decreased in RI and MA. So either hams relocated, dropped away or became Silent Keys. In any event, there remains an elusive replacement benchmark everyone seems to be trying different tactics to achieve. Note that the RI population over 65 is roughly equal to that 18 and under. (18.9% to 18.6%, leaving 62.5% of the RI population ages 19-64. And, yes, almost 51% are female.) So, lots of opportunities to connect with the right message and messenger at the right time. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/VT,RI,NH,ME,MA,CT/PST045222

Insights for 2024

How to scale engagement? We definitely have a capacity issue and a top priority remains to identify and recruit new talent and empower them with inclusive leadership opportunities to take on a project and see it through to benefit the whole Section. Great to see unfolding plans happening with ARES, Skywarn, NTS, POTA, and the New England mesh infrastructure collaboration. 

Another recommended priority program focus is on revitalizing now-inactive clubs at Rhode Island superb colleges and universities. The ARRL’s Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, Director of Marketing and Innovation, is doing remarkable things in this space, and we welcome opportunities to collaborate (- And we have the teams identified and ready to take action.) Future postings will share more about the ARRL’s CARP initiative. “Since the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP) was established in 2017, we’ve been growing our community of participating students and ham radio clubs at colleges and universities. CARP holds monthly Zoom meetups and makes connections through our CARP Facebook group and Discord.” See for example: https://www.hamcation.com/forums-speaker-info?event=71 and https://www.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radio 

Another plan for reaching more hams is to revisit RI’s many companies in the electronics, wireless, tech, defense contractors, and now blue economy sector that might have once hosted small ham clubs on site, but have not made this a thing post-pandemic. Company “Ham Communities of Interest” or small clubs are not a new idea, but maybe it’s time to explore what this might look like in 2024. What do people think? It would further validate radio literacy as part of a successful career path and reach/support the young 20s-50s professional demographic during a busy time of work/life. 

Yes, 2024 will be a time of challenge, opportunity, and change. I would like to thank the Rhode Island Section for the support I’ve received in my first six-months as your new Section Manager. Let’s make the most of the year ahead, and look back in twelve months and know we did the best we could to come together as a growing, vital amateur radio community. 

January 2024 Section Calendar Invites to GOTA, Skill Build, and/or Meet & Greet other RI hams

January 1-7: POTA national New Year’s Week GOTA https://parksontheair.com/  Click on POTA Spots and then sort by Region to contact RI operators

January 3: Join our RI ARES Zoom call, 7:30-8:30pm and get involved as RI SEC Jeremy Taylor, K1JST offers another skill building challenge.

• Details on the RI ARES website calendar https://riares.org/
• Learn more about participating in a FEMA Region 1 Winlink test to be conducted in January without announcement.

January 8: The Consortium –  “All About Vertical Antennas” 

• 7-9pm in person at 250 High St., Manville RI. Check the BVARC website for details. 
• All are welcome. 

January 20-21: RI POTA Meet & Greet NW & SE & maybe even in-between?  

• Yes, its POTA – Support Your Parks weekend and a great chance to welcome all
• RI POTA mapping representative Jim Garman, KC1QDZ is bringing the community together for a Meet & Greet. Stay tuned for location details. All are welcome. Likely Southern location Sunday at new Gull Cove Park k-19541 with its wild dx possibilities. https://pota.app/#/park/K-10541
• Dave, W3DRE of the Providence Radio Association has already announced plans for a PRA club activation up North on Saturday, Jan 20, 2024, 9am-Noon, at K-7508, Pulaski Park, West Glocester, RI. Great opportunity for new connecting and mentoring. Stay tuned!
• Are you or your club interested in spreading the POTA spirit this weekend? Share your plans with Jim, KC1QDZ via email at KC1QDZ at gmail.com

January 27-28: Winter Field Day 2024 https://winterfieldday.org/

• Please register your planned WFD activation location to the WFD map and let people know if you are open for visitors: https://winterfieldday.org/register-location.php
• WFD Simplex Option for Solo or Field Operators: Using my own call sign, my plan is to again offer to operate from my QTH as a 2m/70cm Simplex for anyone interested in using WFD as even a basic chance to test their local HT Simplex capabilities. I and hopefully others will be monitoring the RI-ARES Simplex frequency for set periods, likely Saturday 2-4pm and Sunday Noon-2pm.  
  • RI-ARES VHF Simplex frequency: 147.420 MHz. 
  • Get a band multiplier by also making a UFH contact on or near the 70 cm National Calling frequency of 446 (+/-25kHz). [ie. 446.025, 446.050, 446.075 but likely 446.1] Confirm you can program your HT for Simplex? 
• Take on a right-size radio challenge for you this January 2024. 

Get licensed! Upgrade? Upcoming RI In-person VE Sessions 

Many thanks to these RI Clubs offering in-person VE sessions during Q1 2024 (walk-ins welcome). https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session

• W1AQ (Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England) on Saturdays at 9:30am on January 6, 2024,  February 3, 2024, March 2, 2024 (Rumford, RI)
• Blackstone Valley ARC (BVARC) on Saturdays at 9am January 13, 2024 and March 9, 2024 (Woonsocket, RI)

License Exam Prep via HamStudy.org. License prep has never been easier than with this transformational learning platform offering self-paced study and practice tests. Available on demand, for free. 

Prefer to study with a class? Check out the ARRL listing for classes here, and check back often as 2024 classes get posted: https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

Clubs & Upcoming Club Anniversaries in 2024 

TWO of the Rhode Island Section’s eleven ARRL Affiliated Clubs have anniversaries in 2024. NCRC celebrates its 75th and NB1RI celebrates its 20th!

Let’s help them celebrate and support all our Section clubs. (Don’t forget the ARRL Club Foundation major Club Revitalization Funding opportunity that will be open for application in Spring 2024.) 

For your review, here are the 11 RI Section clubs (and club call sign) by date of ARRL affiliation

1. THE PROVIDENCE RADIO ASSN, INC. (W1OP) Affiliation Date: 1921 > 103 yrs!!!
2. ARA OF S NEW ENGLAND (W1AQ) Affiliation Date: 1931 > 93 yrs
3. NEWPORT COUNTY Radio Club (W1SYE)  Affiliation Date: 1949-07-18 =75 yrs in 2024! Congrats!
4. Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (W1DDD) Affiliation Date: 1956 > 68 yrs
5. Fidelity Amateur Radio Club (K1NQG) Affiliation Date: 1966 > 58 yrs
6. Brown Univ Radio Club (K1AD) 1975-05-14 = 49 in 2024 UPCOMING 50th in 2025!
7. Ocean State AR Group Inc (K1OS) Affiliation Date: 1988 > 36 yrs
8. Connecticut Rhode Island Contest Group (KE1S) Affiliation Date: 1996 > 28 yrs
9. Narragansett Bay Amateur Radio Club (NB1RI) Affiliation Date: 2004-07-30 = 20 yrs in 2024! Congrats
10. PEMA RACES (KK1PMA) Affiliation Date: 2015-02-13 =9 yrs in 2024 UPCOMING 10th in 2025!
11. RICOMU (WA1USA) Affiliation Date: 2022  > 2 yrs

VOTA wraps

Many thanks to Mike Corey, KI1U for leading the VOTA RI effort for 2023!

Special thanks to all the clubs and operators who participated in this team contest. Stay tuned for the final results.  

Currently W1AW/1 is in 7th place OVERALL on the Leaderboard.

https://vota.arrl.org/leaderboard.php

Congrats also to these top 20 RI VOTA Leaders as of December 31, 2023 shown below.
source: https://vota.arrl.org/leaderboard.php?state=RI&submit=Filter+by+State

Experimental Radio News 10: HF Trading updates, Crypto & new satellite experiments, the Rockettes embrace drones

Highly recommend the latest issue of Experimental Radio News.  Check this out here. (Free to subscribe.) https://www.experimentalradio.news/experimental-radio-news-10/?ref=experimental-radio-news-newsletter

Here’s to embracing change: “New York City’s famous Rockettes dancers received WW9XDQ for sophisticated drones used in shows at Radio City Music Hall.”

Who knew?

https://gizmodo.com/how-a-swarm-of-blinking-drones-ended-up-in-the-rockette-1830738603

“If you haven’t seen the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, you can probably picture the iconic line of dancers kicking in unison, like a salute to American entertainment from a century ago. Well, this year the show got a surprising update: drones.

Dozens of tiny autonomous quadcopters built by Intel float over the Rockettes during the finale of the new show, and the effect is almost magical. Each little drone is essentially an airborne LED light that, from the audience’s perspective, seems to blend in with the set before bursting out over the dancers. In the final minutes of the near century-old show in Radio City Music Hall, the stage seems to come alive with flying robots. 

This sort of thing would have melted the brains of the folks who saw the first holiday show with the Rockettes back in 1933. 

Yet, here we are.”

BEST WISHES & HAPPY 2024 NEW YEAR

73, Nancy Austin KC1NEK – RI Section Manager 

 https://ri-arrl.org/2023-12-ri-section-newsletter/ ‎