“On or around May 12, 2024, ARRL was the victim of a sophisticated network attack by a malicious international cyber group. ARRL immediately involved the FBI and engaged with third party experts to investigate.
This serious incident was extensive and categorized by the FBI as “unique,” compromising network devices, servers, cloud-based systems, and PCs.
ARRL management quickly established an incident response team. This has led to an extensive effort to contain and remediate the networks, restore servers, and staff are beginning the testing of applications and interfaces to ensure proper operation.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as our staff continue to work through this with an outstanding team of experts to restore full functionality to our systems and services.
We will continue to update members as advised and to the extent we are able.
This story will be updated with new developments.”
Please know I will be attending the monthly ARRL all Section Managers meeting later tonight, and I look forward to sharing any relevant updates on when LoTW and the Learning Center will be available. Clearly, these are resources important to many of us.
Sincerely, Nancy Austin, KC1NEK – RI Section Manager
Update: Tonight Mike Walter, W8ZY – Field Services Manager concluded the monthly Section Managers meeting attended by about 50 of the 71 Section Managers across the 15 ARRL Divisions and 4-5 US time zones. Among the topics discussed, Mike, W8ZY confirmed that ARRL is busy focused on resolving a serious IT issue. He asks everyone to be patient and know that updates will be posted to the link provided above. Section and Division emails are not available at this time. Again, calling ARRL HQ is not likely to be fruitful as the team there is very busy. Please check this link for updates: https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-systems-service-disruption
We have a shared goal of having this resolved in a speedy manner. Stay tuned.
Naldy Medina, KP4AMC: “I got my job because of ham radio.”
He was 24, and his hiring manager confirmed his applied electromagnetic spectrum experience as a ham helped seal the deal.
Naldy, KP4AMC, now 29, credits his Dad for first sparking his interest and expresses gratitude to the many mentors who continue to help and inspire.
Today, Naldy gives back as an active member of the Newport County [RI] Radio Club (NCRC), while also pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and working full-time as an engineer in NUWC Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare Electromagnetic Systems Department.
The proven impact of ham radio on Naldy’s growth-mindset career pathway is not unique.
I often ask licensed radio amateurs: how did ham radio shape your career path? For many, like Naldy KP4AMC or Chris Lirakis, AA9AL, the connections are crystal clear. Yet almost every ham can point out transferable job skills and technical or team competencies supported by the volunteer, civic-minded, cross-generational learning community that is amateur radio. This defining, catalyzing track record is something all of us, at every age can contribute to as both learners and mentors. As they say, it takes a village.
How can we better amplify this message? Especially now as the spectrum privileges we too-often take for granted are becoming ever more crowded critical infrastructure. And yet, amateur radio offers proven entry pathways into timely 21st c. wireless and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) careers. Let’s get the message out.
Another active Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) member, Greg, WA1VUG agrees that “Ham Radio: Pathway to Career/Employment” is definitely a topic to discuss: “It certainly has offered this path to many people (myself included).” And the mentoring and networking matters. After connecting with the ARRL Technical Lab early in his career, Greg Bonaguide is now the National Application Engineer, RF & Microwave Components, at Rohde & Schwarz Inc. In his spare time, Greg joined the NCRC in part to participate in the NCRC’s successful $8K 2023 ARRL Club Foundation grant advancing an experimental ARTEN mesh microwave and sensor project. Giving back as a mentor, and in-person networking among hams still matter, amidst all the benefits of remote communication. So, I was not surprised to see Greg WA1VUG again offering a Super Test Lab up to 122 GHz for hams gathering at the April 2024 Microwave Conference.
I often ask licensed radio amateurs: how did ham radio shape your career path? For many, like Naldy KP4AMC or Chris Lirakis, AA9AL, the connections are crystal clear. Yet almost every ham can point out transferable job skills and technical or team competencies supported by the volunteer, civic-minded, cross-generational learning community that is amateur radio. This defining, catalyzing track record is something all of us, at every age can contribute to as both learners and mentors. As they say, it takes a village.
How can we better amplify this message? Especially now as the spectrum privileges we too-often take for granted are becoming ever more crowded critical infrastructure. And yet, amateur radio offers proven entry pathways into timely 21st c. wireless and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) careers. Let’s get the message out.
Another active Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) member, Greg, WA1VUG agrees that “Ham Radio: Pathway to Career/Employment” is definitely a topic to discuss: “It certainly has offered this path to many people (myself included).” And the mentoring and networking matters. After connecting with the ARRL Technical Lab early in his career, Greg Bonaguide is now the National Application Engineer, RF & Microwave Components, at Rohde & Schwarz Inc. In his spare time, Greg joined the NCRC in part to participate in the NCRC’s successful $8K 2023 ARRL Club Foundation grant advancing an experimental ARTEN mesh microwave and sensor project. Giving back as a mentor, and in-person networking among hams still matter, amidst all the benefits of remote communication. So, I was not surprised to see Greg WA1VUG again offering a Super Test Lab up to 122 GHz for hams gathering at the April 2024 Microwave Conference.
NCRC member and professional RF engineer Greg, WA1VUG offered a Super Test Lab up to 122 GHz for hams at the recent April 2024 Microwave Conference in CT, near the ARRL HQ.
Again, how do hiring managers see a ham radio license?
Other experienced hiring managers I discussed this with include respected hams in their 30s-50s with ties to RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic) whom I met at the recent 47th Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference. All were eloquent about the qualities they consistently find in job candidates, interns, and new hires who present with ham radio among their skillset.
These tech professionals look to hire someone with a growth mindset and a demonstrated ability to show up and be energized applying what they’ve learned (persisting through set-backs and challenges). They consistently find amateur radio offers curious learners the chance to showcase their problem-solving skills, persistence, and talent for coming up with creative solutions for solving a challenge. Hiring managers and supervisors take note of how candidates or interns balance self-initiative and yet are self-aware enough to turn to more experienced mentors to get the answers they need to get over the next speedbump. Equally important are the so-called “soft” or “power skills”: Do they listen? How do they manage through conflict resolution? Team building? Budget and resource constraints? Do they bring inclusive leadership skills to the table to support the digital transformation every business is facing?
One hiring manager mentioned he is always open to offer internships to those with no degrees – or to hiring smart engineering school dropouts who didn’t do well as students. He finds this motivated pool of applicants often show remarkable bias for action when challenged on the job with real-world problems.
Of course, some hams want to bypass school and the hiring manager altogether and prioritize being self-employed entrepreneurs. During this same recent Microwave Conference, papers were presented by innovators – regardless of academic credentials. For example, check out the SDR Radio talk given by N4EME of SDR Switch. As a learning community, ham radio has been ahead of the curve offering to grow talent in distributed local clubs where anyone can jump in, get mentored and in turn, get a seat at the table to explore, find where they belong, and contribute personally and professionally. To degree or not to degree, we are all here to inspire together.
One repeated throughline is the opportunity amateur radio offers for hands-on experiential learning in a growth-mindset community of diverse thinkers. Where do you want to start exploring? Don’t attempt to boil the ocean, but do be comfortable exploring the breadth of the hobby, as you eventually dig deeper in a few areas of your choice.
After observing the noticeable number of young diverse professionals from RPI, along with their alumni RPI mentors – all of whom took the time to gather at this Microwave Conference – our discussion pivoted to the ARRL School Club Roundup. The RPI alums were delighted to brag and let me know that RPI’s W2SZ Radio Club is one of the oldest continuously active radio clubs in the country. https://w2sz.org/about/ It is well-funded, and serves as another indicator of how this engineering school understands the sense of lifelong community and professional connecting that the ham radio community builds.
ARRL School Club Roundup K-Grads + Alumni > Winter Field Day & JOTA
I look forward to helping promote this kind of ham radio investment in Rhode Island and among the over 250 institutions of higher education in the New England Division. (Stay tuned for more info on how to get involved, with updates and a talk planned for the August 2024 New England Division HamXposition.) https://hamxposition.org/
“ARRL School Club Roundup – an untapped New England Division Youth Force Multiplier“
Presenters: Nancy Austin, KC1NEK – Rhode Island Section Manage; Career Coach and Collegiate Educator
Description: Rhode Island’s participation in the February 2024 ARRL School Club Roundup (SCR) was a great demonstration of why this long-standing twice a year event should be on more club calendars. It’s simple, easy, and fun. With minimal effort, we can all reach out and make QSOs across the country encouraging new young operators, as we support K-12 amateur radio educator outreach, and mentor the revitalization of Amateur Radio collegiate clubs in the New England Division – home to more than 250 colleges and universities. These are important initiatives for so many reasons, from joining a growth-mindset mentoring community, to workforce development skill building in wireless technologies, radio spectrum engineering, and adjacent team careers, to raising awareness of the many radio amateur related college scholarships available: https://www.arrl.org/scholarship-descriptions
You do NOT need to be an official student-run school club to participate. Join in with your club mentoring a K-12 after-school bootcamp for the week; help pilot the revitalization of a K-12 or collegiate club with a School Roundup special-event call sign; or make QSOs as an individual operator. Leverage the timing to have the Fall School Club Roundup be a natural followup to the Scouting community excitement that is Jamboree on the Air (JOTA).
Join us at HamXpo as we share Rhode Island’s experience, and how you can get started this October 21-25, 2024 following JOTA (October 18-20, 2024) and February 12-16, 2025 following Winter Field Day.
You Can Get There From Here
In my experience as an educator and talent development career coach, the Amateur Radio community offers so much that the L&D (Learning and Development) field can learn from when it comes to transforming learning and talent retention.
Naldy Medina, KP4AMC at the 2024 NCRC Winter Field Day being mentored by the ARRL RI Technical Coordinator, Dave Neal, W2DAN – himself an avid contestor, tireless mentor, veteran, and by day – a Motorola radio professional. Shown also with fairly new ham Nolan Byrnes, K1PRU who prioritized being there to watch and learn more.
We are radio amateur’s – Let’s keep connecting silos.
For example – here’s an opportunity. Did you know?
I continue to see Ham Radio as an under-appreciated on-ramp into a career in cybersecurity – building a portfolio of skills so you can actually get from here to there.
For some time I have participated in NIST NICE working groups tasked with finding better ways to transform cybersecurity learning pathways and retain diverse cyber talent once in the workforce. At an April 2024 NIST NICE monthly working group meeting, Josh Reiter, Department of the Navy, called out a few things I’d like to share here and amplify for the radio amateur community as we strategize best ways to explain why ham radio is more relevant than ever in 2024.
The consensus is growing that degrees matter for some roles, but what employer partners are really looking for in candidates is never the degree. It’s the demonstrated willingness to learn. Along with communication skills and the ability to work productively with a diverse team.
He then called out the Cisco CISO’s June 2023: NICE Conference Keynote called: Working Together to Widen Cyber Security Career Path Through Experiential Learning
From about minutes 12-27 in her talk, she accurately offers the reality-check gap analysis that adjacent skill building will get you to the 90 yard line, but will not get you hired. We need to be honest here about this gap. It is not about a credential but a different ability:
Can you take the theory, recognize the reality of the problem in front of you. and do the translation?
Even then – plan on the following timeline as you build proof of competency and discover where you can best contribute:
Years 1-3: Generalist Apprentice, Rotating for Breadth
Years 3-5: Specialist Traveler
Years 6-10: Generalist Expert
None of this is going to happen overnight, and it is disingenuous to claim otherwise. Her ideal job description would have these parts:
Know a technical area well
Demonstrate the ability to apply classroom learning to the applied context at hand
Don’t be horrible to work with, ie. the hard Soft or Power Skills
Have access to diverse talent; walk the talk of inclusive leadership
The distributed ham radio community is already set up to mentor and coach at scale in a welcoming community that is all about applied experiential learning and right-size challenges. Everyone has a role to play.
As we face an uncertain and changing world, the ham community is ideally suited to be one of the best feeder pathways for in-demand careers requiring spectrum aware candidates. There’s even a major grant to consider for future collaboration: (Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) cybersecurity education and workforce development:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNIST/bulletins/399a44a
It’s an exciting time to be in ham radio, helping shape the future.
Thank you for all you are already doing. Thank you for supporting the ARRL mission.
I look forward to seeing you at the Skywarn Training tonight, during this weekend’s NE-QSO party, and at Field Day.
And if you are in Newport, RI this Saturday, I’m supporting Jane’s Walk Newport to share some of the ways ham radio helps build community:
Mike Umbricht, W9GYR, Curator of the Ladd Observatory at Brown University, spoke March 26, 2024 at the Providence Radio Club (W1OP)
Spider Webs, Telescopes and Time Standards
Did you know telescope cross-hairs (as shown above from the 1880s) were made out of spider web silk, raised at scale? Get hams talking and you will always learn something new and unexpected like this. It’s a community interested in technology, standards, and yet also able to find welcoming storylines for new stakeholders seeking a seat at the table.
Thank you to PRA President David Tessitore, K1DT for inviting me to this truly fascinating and wide-ranging presentation. Links were provided to explore more of the topics covered:
“Starting in 1893, Ladd Observatory at Brown University began transmitting time signals from precision pendulum clocks that were synchronized to observations of stars. A “time signal” was then sent to a central station in Providence and distributed via telegraph wire to clocks in the area. The signals were used by local businesses such as jewelers, factories, railroad operations, and for navigation. The signals were also transmitted to the fire stations throughout Providence, which sounded signals at exactly noon and 8:30 p.m. daily for the public to set their clocks.
Of particular interest to amateur radio enthusiasts is the Ham SCI project. The eclipse will cause changes in the Earth’s ionosphere.
Reception reports of ham radio communication will help scientists understand these changes. https://hamsci.org/
More ambitious is Radio JOVE. It uses a software defined radio to measure radio emissions from Jupiter and the Earth’s ionosphere. It can also be used for Solar observations. This is esp. important during an eclipse.
For more information on the Providence Radio Association, see their impressive new website: https://w1op.com/
Club News – Stay Tuned
BVARC – April 6, 2024
In conjunction with National Library Week, Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC) is again offering its popular Get on the Air demo at the nearby EMA Bellingham (MA) Public Library, https://www.bellinghamma.org/library
“The Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC) will conduct an amateur radio demonstration Sat., April 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bellingham Public Library, 100 Blackstone St.The club will operate two radio stations outside the library as an introduction to ham radio. An indoor display will feature the history of ham radio, its purpose, the benefits of the ham radio hobby and the public service hams render during national emergencies and natural disasters. Some vintage radio equipment will be displayed as well as a continuous Morse code demonstration. Experienced hams will be present to welcome visitors, explain the day’s proceedings and answer questions regarding their hobby.”
Questions may be directed to Mickey Callahan, K1WMC, at [email protected] or Teri DiIorio, W1PUP, ARRL RI-ASEC.
Stay tuned for more information about the strategic alliances the new club president has forged to connect amateur radio skills and workforce development opportunities for disabled RI veterans in Kent County. A permanent ham shack in West Warwick is in the works – if I got this right. https://k1nqg.wordpress.com/
Thank you to the two clubs who have already posted their plans to ARRL. Lots of planning underway for this major annual Amateur Radio showcase now less than 3 months away.
NEQP Contesting & Clubs – May 4-5, 2024
It’s the New England QSO Party! Plan now to be part of this congenial regional warm-up to Field Day. https://neqp.org
If you hear a “KC1″x3 call sign with a suffix starting with a “T” or “U”, ask if the caller is a newly licensed ham and send CONGRATS! WELCOME!!!
From the ARRL “New License Report” for 2024-02-05
Ricardo Ferrer, KC1UEZ – Cumberland – Great to hear you on an ARES net. Welcome!
Continuing Kudos to these 16 new RI hams from the ARRL “New License Report” previously posted 2024 and 2023-12-05. Need help getting started? Please reach out!
Herbert Peterson, KC1TZK – Barrington
Patrick Foster, KC1TYM – Newport
Ruben Morawicki, KC1UBS – Warwick
Geovanny Maldonado, KC1UBF – Warwick
Shana Saunders, KC1UBA – Westerly
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 the FOUR LATEST RI License Upgrades
From the ARRL “New License Upgrade Report” for 2024-02-05
Maggie Heaney, KC1TOQ – Chepachet
Jeremy S Taylor, K1JST – Extra, Coventry
Douglas E Pierini, N1DZS Pawtucket
Jack W Cole, K1JWC – Warwick
Continuing Kudos to these 6 RI hams from the ARRL “New License Upgrade Report” previously posted for 2024 & 2023-12-05.
Mark W Beezer, W1NZR – Jamestown
Stephen Crawford, AI1IA – Westerly
Michael Vincent, KB1EVH – Chepachet
Dennis Hobert, KC1OYW – Harrisville
Matthew Sarasin, KB1HEG – Warren
Alfred J Watterson, KC1TGV – Warwick
Get licensed! Upgrade? Upcoming RI In-person VE Sessions
Blackstone Valley ARC (BVARC) on Saturday at 9am May 11, 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 June 8, 2024 in Middletown, RI at the Middletown Police Station (No Walk-ins / Register ahead, info here: https://w1sye.org/?page_id=151)
Online via Zoom Classes on six consecutive Tuesday nights, followed by a review session, then the exam on the following Saturday. Please Register Here: https://forms.gle/yyBU7DWSxvLhBnLGA
General/Extra Class – APRIL 26 – May 31, 2024 (6 weekly sessions via Zoom; VE session follows) Times: 7-9 PM. Free! Instructor – Paul Fredette, K1YBE
License Exam Prep via HamStudy.org. License prep and/or review has never been easier than with this transformational learning platform offering self-paced study and practice tests. Available on demand, for free.
See also the new post by John Brewer, N1SXB – the RI Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) and new Extra Class license holder:
“How the ARRL website helped me pass the Extra exam” (March 15, 2024) by N1SXB
The recent 2024 National Hurricane Conference in Orlando revealed the endless ways ham radio operators provide critical ground truth situational awareness “when all else fails”. See especially tales told by Julio Ripoll, WD4R in the YouTube video link in the blog post. See especially 1:25-1:33. (And shout out to the wire antenna!)
Thank you to the 8 RI amateur radio operators that responded to the March FEMA R1 Winlink preparedness test:
AA1VV Jason, K1JST Jeremy, K1NPT Mike Cullen, KC1NEJ Mike Rousseau, KC1NEK Nancy, KE1AK Corry, N1SXB John, W1PUP Teri.
Shout out also to new ham KC1TJG, Steve who continues to work to get this capability in his toolkit.
Individual initiative matters. It was a good learning curve for me. Let’s keep working to improve our operating skills and ease at completing a given Winlink task. Thank you again for participating, despite any challenges you might have had to work through.
There is much to learn starting out with the Winlink Android app, WoAD, available on the Google Play Store with all served agency templates ready to explore. See also: https://woad.sumusltd.com/download/.
Let’s move the RI participation rate up to double digits as we continue to build blue-sky collaborative relationships across the state and region.
Its a data-driven world
As an external professional coach for mostly tech companies, I’m here to confirm that the competitive, data-driven need to demonstrate business value is unlikely to go away anytime soon. It’s an epoch-defining time of continued digital transformation. Our FCC-granted personal amateur radio license spectrum privileges exist as part of this real world context – whether we like it or not.
Let’s support the efforts of Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, Director of Emergency Management, ARRL HQ as he continues to use data to advocate for all of us during times of tight resource constraints. How to do this?
Join RI ARESand, among many other things, help RI Section Emergency Coordinator, Jeremy Taylor, K1JST capture and report as much of our RI radio activity as possible to report up to Josh. Jeremy has put together reporting forms to make this as easy as possible. Please be part of our shared goal.
Reporting your Public Service initiatives as part of RI ARES is being part of the solution for all of us as we collectively justify spectrum allocation for amateur radio.
For example, there are 71 ARRL geographic Sections in the US and its territories, and 15 ARRL Divisions. With only about half the sections still getting up to speed on this new data-gathering, Josh Johnston, KE5MHV can already report that amateur radio volunteers have delivered at least $2,622,479 in short order. This kind of data will matter as ARRL continues to make the case for why our hobby matters and deserves to preserve its incredibly valuable spectrum privileges.
Thank you to our volunteer RI SEC, Jeremy K1JST for raising awareness about this initiative, providing training to RI leaders, and for giving us incredibly simple to use Google forms for reporting after each relevant activity. This accounting aspect is only going to get more important, so thank you, K1JST, for humanizing this and explaining why it matters so much.
Rhode Island is now actively reporting significant hours to this national effort. For more information on how to participate at the RI level, please reach out via email to [email protected] or [email protected].
Please help and be part of the solution. ARES is an ARRL program and reporting your Public Service initiatives up to ARRL HQ this way matters and will have outsize impact.
Amateur Radio – Strategic Context to help set priorities (in process)
Here’s the thing: our community is a living body that ebbs and flows. We honor Silent Keys with a last call; VEs license and clubs warmly welcome and mentor new hams. People move in and out of state. Contesting or POTA or ARES or rag chewing may be the shore we explore most. We join clubs; we drift away; we refocus, as do clubs. The shifting responsibilities of an adult life might mean there are years or even decades when the passion to play radio has to be set aside – temporarily, until another time, but always ready to be picked up again after the pause.
As we head deeper into Spring 2024, strategic parameters continue to get clearer to me, your still-new Rhode Island Section Manager. I’m listening. Looking at data. Diving into the history of standards and the still evolving spectrum policy too. The technology matters, but so do the people who collaborated and negotiated the context we operate in.
Here are some of the things I’m taking in:
Riveting commentary by Dan Henderson, N1ND in “FCC Rules and Regulations for the Amateur Radio Service, 4th Edition”
Available from the ARRL online shop for $7.95. Written by the former ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, who retired in June 2021 after nearly 23 years on the ARRL staff.
How does he introduce the Amateur Radio Spectrum?
“The electromagnetic spectrum is a limited resource. Every kilohertz of the radio spectrum represents precious turf that is blood sport to those who lay claim to it…Every minute of every hour of every day, we have a fresh chance to use the spectrum intelligently.”
“Although the radio spectrum has been used in a certain way in the past, changes are possible.”
“Amateur radio is richly endowed with a wide range of bands starting at 1.8 MHz [160m] and extending above 300 GHz.”
Where do the rules come from? – International Regulation of the Spectrum: “Amateur radio frequency band allocations don’t just happen.”
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
“The origins of the ITU trace back to the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. To establish an international telegraph network, it was necessary to reach agreement on uniform message handling and technical compatibility….”
As a result of the 1865 Conference, the International Telegraph Union, the predecessor to the modern ITU, was founded as the first international standards organization. The Union was tasked with implementing basic principles for international telegraphy.
This included: the use of the Morse code as the international telegraph alphabet, … and the right of everybody to use the international telegraphy
The name was changed to Telecommunications c. 1932 to to reflect its expanded responsibilities over radio and the telephone.
Global Governance: The ITU is one of the oldest international organizations still in operation,… since post WW2 (1947/49) it is a specialized agency within the United Nations system.
This ITU history reminded me:
of an unusual talk given at Harvard during the April 2016 New England Security Day (NESD) Conference. Amidst the cutting-edge technology talks, she presented the ITU founding as an example of the possibility for people to come together to negotiate and agree upon global governance standards. Despite great skepticism and odds. The problem was not the technology; the challenge was people agreeing to a negotiated standard. She offered the formation of the ITU an example of a time when it did happen.
The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) … is a licensed amateur radio operator. Doreen Bogdan-Martin KD2JTX took office on 1 January 2023. https://www.arrl.org/news/doreen-bogdan-martin-kd2jtx-is-elected-as-next-itu-secretary-general
The standard language they use has changed from IT to ICT = Information & Communication Technology
“Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information.
This has important workforce development implications. Especially if one goal of a sustainable Amateur Radio community is to be understood as a vital partner of the STEM pathway for a changing workforce. For example, see the upcoming sponsored ITU – Girls in ICT to be held 25 April 2024. This year’s theme is on the critical role of mentoring and leadership to make progress on inclusive workforce development goals. https://www.itu.int/women-and-girls/girls-in-ict/
Workforce development opportunities are growing out of each of the 3 ITU Sectors: Standards, Radiocommunications,Development.
Development (ITU-D).This sector was established in 1992, and helps spread equitable, sustainable and affordable access to information and communication technologies (ICT). It is concerned with technology and culture problems like digital divide and equitable broadband access. (KD2JTX came from this career pathway. Amateur radio could be an inspiration for any number of cross-functional STEM career pathways, broadly conceived.)
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications. Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources and to develop standards for radiocommunication systems with the objective of ensuring the effective use of the spectrum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU-R
ITU Standardizationencompasses Interoperability and the interworking of Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities and Communities (SC&C) applications and services. There is much more to say about this another time.
Where do the rules come from? – the United States Regulation of the Spectrum:
After laying out how the ITU governs international spectrum standards and policies, Dan Henderson, N1ND then reviews the three main Federal bodies responsible for some area of telecommunication policy in the United States, and how this policy is enacted as law in the Code of Federal Regulations. Again, the Amateur Radio service is governed by the FCC, but the FCC is only one of three players here. It was helpful for me to better understand how the NTIA governs Federal Spectrum Use, among other things.
NTIA
For example, the NTIA is busily concerned about where the future RF engineering workforce is going to come from.
The recent NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium (September 19, 2022) and the Aspen Institute’s Toward A National Spectrum Strategy (September 2022) position spectrum as a national asset “foundational to meeting our national goals of economic growth and leadership in the information economy”.
IMO, the Amateu Radio community has much to contribute here, and I look forward to continuing to learn and assess how to communicate everything our community is already doing well and might contribute as best practices.
I have been following the education and workforce implications of SpectrumX as we brainstorm what are the compelling stories about why Amateur Radio for the new generations I hear everywhere we must connect with: https://www.spectrumx.org/research-and-education/education/
Chapter 1: Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Subchapter D: Safety and Special Radio Services
Part 97: Amateur Radio Service
Subpart A—General Provisions
97.1 Basis and purpose.
The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:
(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service,particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.
97.3 Definitions.
a) The definitions of terms used in part 97 are:
(1) Amateur operator. A person named in an amateur operator/primary license station grant on the ULS consolidated licensee database to be the control operator of an amateur station.
(2) Amateur radio services.The amateur service, the amateur-satellite service and the radio amateur civil emergency service
(4) Amateur service. A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. ….
(37) Radio Regulations. The latest ITU Radio Regulations to which the United States is a party.
(38) RACES (radio amateur civil emergency service). A radio service using amateur stations for civil defense communications during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies.emergency service.
I found it interesting to compare this with a look at the current FCC organizational chart. Amateur Radio is under Wireless Telecommunications – a place with lots of opportunities IMO.
But then you get to this contemporary language about Wireless > Mobility > Amateur Radio
Amateur Radio:
“The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. These services present an opportunity for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations. Twenty-nine small frequency bands throughout the spectrum are allocated to this service internationally. Some 1,300 digital, analog, pulse, and spread-spectrum emission types may be transmitted.
Millions of amateur operators in all areas of the world communicate with each other directly or through ad hoc relay systems and amateur-satellites. They exchange messages by voice, teleprinting, telegraphy, facsimile, and television.In areas where the FCC regulates the services, an amateur operator must have an FCC or Canadian license. FCC-issued Reciprocal Permits for Alien Amateur Licensee are no longer needed. Reciprocal operation in the U.S. is now authorized by Section 47 C.F.R. § 97.107.
All frequencies are shared. No frequency is assigned for the exclusive use of any amateur station. Station control operators cooperate in selecting transmitting channels to make the most effective use of the frequencies. They design, construct, modify, and repair their stations. The FCC equipment authorization program does not generally apply to amateur station transmitters. …”
This is an opportunity. It’s the context we need to understand to set our priorities and be effective. Even here in the smallest state. Among other things, I am more convinced than ever that the ARRL’s advocacy mission deserves our support as we band together our Personal Spectrum Licenses to be heard and work together to shape the future.
Communicating how amateur radio mentoring has a proven track record and stands ready to deliver both the technical skills and inclusive leadership people skills seems like something we could achieve. Step by step.
On February 22, 2024 the W1AQ-Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England (an ARRL affiliated club since 1931 with their own clubhouse in Rumford, RI) gathered hams from across RI clubs to hear avid DXer and contester Charlie Morrison, N1RR to hear his deep dive on the NOAA Space Weather Enthusiasts Dashboard. N1RR walked us through this free on-line tool, introducing how to use on-line, real-time data to figure out what bands are best for where you want to work. From the Solar Lasco C3 panel to the Solar Wind panel, on to the Aurora forecast and the Ionosphere panel’s D-region absorption prediction tool to leverage real-time information as you become a better operator. Charlie Morrison, N1RR reminded us of the ancient awareness of sunspots, as well as reviewing the scientific understanding of sunspots after Galileo’s telescope experiments began in 1609 (with public demonstration from the Janiculum in Rome, 1611). https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/sciences/sunspots1.asp
Reach out too W1AQ Club Officer for more information: Doug Troughton, N2RDF, via [email protected]
Reach out to Bob, WB4SON with questions or comments: WB4SON at gmail.com
Please also know Bob WB4SON will be running a free Zoom Technician class series from April 23 until June, with the opportunity to take your exam June 8th, 2024. I recommend his class highly!
Please sign up as soon as possible for either here:
Bob’s Technician classes begin April 23, 2024 at 6 PM.
Rhode Island’s participation in the February 2024 ARRL School Club Roundup (SCR) was a great demonstration of why these twice a year SCR weeks should be on more ham calendars. FYI – the next ARRL School Roundup is scheduled for M-F October 21-25, 2024. You do NOT need to be an official school club to participate. Join in as a School or make QSOs as an individual operator. Find out more about Special Event Callsigns here: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/special-event-call-signs
For backstory on this unfolding story in Rhode Island, please see:
In 2023, only 1 New England university participated (Northeastern) and only 1 New England individual operator (from NH) turned in logs. As the ham community seeks to engage next gen hams, this SCR seems like a ready-made solution to leverage and support.
Rhode Island is now well-positioned to have this winter’s SCR be a marker for revitalizing both the URI and Brown Amateur Radio Clubs. This is important for many reasons, especially as we continue to prioritize communicating why the ham radio community can deliver value building RI’s next gen workforce skills.
With minimal effort, we can all reach out and make QSOs across the country with young operators, as we support K-12 amateur radio educator outreach, and mentor the revitalization of Amateur Radio collegiate clubs in Rhode Island. These are important initiatives for so many reasons, from joining a growth-mindset mentoring community, to future workforce development skill building, to raising awareness of the many radio amateur related college scholarships available: https://www.arrl.org/scholarship-descriptions
N1ASA – STEM Charter School
Mike Cullen’s middle school students had a blast and reported this: 25 QSOs to 12 States and 10 Schools for a score of 1,600. Time operating: about 40 min a day for 3 days, after school 3-4:30. Success was clear hearing the student’s enthusiasm.
Brown University 2024 pilot participation as K1D
School QSOs getting started: KC1NEK operating as Brown, K1D only on Th, Fri. With Digital QSOs from results thanks to team Jose, Jeremy, Adam. (They had some tech challenges and both Jeremy and Adam were sick and/or out of work with sick children.
Brown University K1D first entry score for Feb 2024: 4,972
School to School QSOs: 18, including Purdue (W9YB); U of North Dakota (K0UND); (WA4AUG) in Augusta (GA) University.
W1KMV, University of Rhode Island (URI) Amateur Radio Club
Thanks again to URI Faculty Brian Maynard, K1NW, for helping launch the W1KMV URI ARC revitalization project during this recent ARRL School Roundup. I can’t wait to see the impact of this momentum by next October’s School Roundup. His 75 minutes of dedicated operating put the URI club on the map this year with a respectable score of 3,131. I look forward to seeing how many other New England Universities participated in Feb 2024 because in 2023 the only one was Northeastern. In any case, this first mission-driven effort was amazing with proof that even a little more than an hour of operating as a URI School call was noted far and wide. Huge thanks to all who helped get this revitalization campaign started.
Individuals can also log in support of the ARRL School Roundup.
KC1NEK was a first time Individual operator M-W operating for only about an hour over 3 days M-W. max time per session about 30 min. (Not a big ask.): Individual score 1,184
16 QSOS, all with Schools (13 unique across 4 bands 2m Simplex, 20m, 40m, 15m PH)
9 US States: CO, GA, IN, MI, OK, RI, SC, TX, WI
13 unique schools: 4 University clubs – URI (W1KMV), Purdue (W9YB), Michigan State (W8SH), U of Wisconsin (W9YT)
3 High Schools in CO, OK, IN and six Middle Schools in RI, SC, GA, TX
Standby: RI Collegiate Clubs Joint Technical Talks & the upcoming local Citizen Science Eclipse projects
Meanwhile, hope to see the Brown and URI Collegiate Clubs doing well, with hams stepping up to help. Stay tuned for planned SME technical talks in the works for Spring 2024, and open to all.
(RWU) Roger Williams University’s Adria Updike, KC1LOK & Physics Dept plans for the Solar Eclipse Monday April 8th
Adria Updike KC1LOK, Physics has enthusiastically agreed to do what she can to promote an Amateur Radio Club at RWU. (Possibly joining the Astronomy Club, for now.) Adria, KC1LOK previously had her students build and launch a weather balloon. One idea is to do outreach for an RWU Amateur Radio Club on Monday April 8th 1-5pm when she is already set for a campus demo around during the solar eclipse. Her teaching/outreach includes workshops on: build your own sensors, APRS tracking for gathering balloon data, Arduinos, SDR, electronics, etc. Let’s see how we can collaborate to help build out a robust RWU amateur radio club. Want to get involved? Reach out to Dr. Updike, KC1LOK.
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)
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.
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
General License Class – March 16th and 17th, 2024
Extra License Class – April 19th, 20th, and 21st, 202
For more information see: https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/
Get on the Air!
Showcase your GOTA station at Field Day, June 22-23, 2024
THANK YOU! TO W1OP for sponsoring the GOTA station at the upcoming New England Division HamXpositionAugust 22-25, 2024 in nearby Marlborough, MA
The new RI ARES Net Control Manager is Jim Ferrantes, N1ZJI. Reach out if you are interested in joining the Net Control Training via Zoom that he has rescheduled for this Monday, March 4, 2024 at 7pm.
ARES Net Schedule
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
5th Tuesday of the month (when there is one) – TBA
Every Wednesday at 7:30pm – RI ARES SKYWARN Training Net
Winlink & the Local Weather Template EXERCISES
The February 27, 2024 RI ARES net included a rapid test exercise where members were asked to fill out the Local Weather Template with the requested information and send it to the RI EMA, with the flag EXERCISE. This was a successful small scale test exercise as the RI SEC, Jeremy Taylor, K1JST continues positive collaborations with the RI EMA and WA1USA to plan a Spring Simulated Emergency Test for RI ARES members. Great to see the people making time to participate here and on the Wednesday night Skywarn nets as we develop best practices and mutual support
FEMA Region One continues to send out an unannounced monthly Winlink test that interested hams must self-monitor. The February exercise required the time sensitive Winlink Local Weather template to be filled out and sent as requested. Across New England, 50 Amateurs responded, with only 5 from RI this month. (CT reponse 25 and MA 19). Many thanks to these NCRC radio amateurs who responded: John Brewer N1SXB; Corry Thibault KE1AK; Mike Rousseau KC1NEJ; Mike Cullen K1NPT; and myself, Nancy Austin KC1NEK. The next unannounced test will occur sometime in March 2024.
Andrew Staub, KC1OKI appointed ARRL Rhode Island Section Government Liaison (SGL)
I am thrilled to announce attorney Andrew Staub KC1OKI is now available to serve in this role. Further, Andrew’s RI Section Government Liaison team will include the remarkable North Kingstown High school student and blind ham, Ryan Lukowicz, KC1KUF. Ryan previously served in the RI State House as the youngest Page ever. https://ri-arrl.org/youth/
Andrew Staub, KC1OKI of Barrington, is a results-driven litigation attorney with a strong background in managing complex cases and a passion for applied technology, particularly unmanned aerial systems involving first person view and analog radio transmission.
He is a skilled communicator adept at distilling concepts and unifying people around practical concepts. At the present time he is transitioning from a successful career in civil litigation and pursuing opportunities in developing technology advocacy by leveraging knowledge in both legal and technological domains.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Rhode Island State Bar
Andrew is a drone advocate who builds and flies his own drones. He became a ham to comply with the Technician-class requirements of flying FPV drones. His public service includes presentations on drones to the Newport County Radio Club, and discussing drone technical capabilities with Ray Perry, KC1IPC and the Portsmouth, RI EMA Communications team.
At this week’s New England Division Mesh Networking group, Andrew was right at home discussing open-source software with John Jobin McAuliffe, KD2ZWN, the new Digital RF Engineer at the ARRL. Conversation with Andrew is always dynamic as he raises awareness about the many ways a Technician Amateur Radio license is a key to understanding emerging aspects of the microwave bands and wireless communications. There is an urgent need for informed conversation as we shape viable regulation and legislation to leverage future business and education opportunities in this rapidly developing technology space.
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:
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
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
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)
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.
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:
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
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.
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:
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:
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.
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
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
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.
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
THE PROVIDENCE RADIO ASSN, INC. (W1OP) Affiliation Date: 1921 > 103 yrs!!!
ARA OF S NEW ENGLAND (W1AQ) Affiliation Date: 1931 > 93 yrs
NEWPORT COUNTY Radio Club (W1SYE) Affiliation Date: 1949-07-18 =75 yrs in 2024! Congrats!
Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (W1DDD) Affiliation Date: 1956 > 68 yrs
Fidelity Amateur Radio Club (K1NQG) Affiliation Date: 1966 > 58 yrs
Brown Univ Radio Club (K1AD) 1975-05-14 = 49 in 2024 UPCOMING 50th in 2025!
Ocean State AR Group Inc (K1OS) Affiliation Date: 1988 > 36 yrs
Connecticut Rhode Island Contest Group (KE1S) Affiliation Date: 1996 > 28 yrs
Narragansett Bay Amateur Radio Club (NB1RI) Affiliation Date: 2004-07-30 = 20 yrs in 2024! Congrats
PEMA RACES (KK1PMA) Affiliation Date: 2015-02-13 =9 yrs in 2024 UPCOMING 10th in 2025!
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.
“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.
Here’s my riffs and rabbit hole research over the month on the sound byte going around about the average ham being aged 75.
It’s an arresting data point, but what do we really know when we know that? Are we asking the right questions to get to our shared goal?
Let’s look first at the six generations alive today:
“The Silent Generation”, born 1925-1945 and in 2023 ages 98-78;
“Boomers”, born 1946-1964 and in 2023 ages 77-59;
“Gen X”, born 1965-1980 and in 2023 ages 58-43;
“Millennials / Gen Y”, born 1981-1996 and in 2023 ages 42-27;
“Gen Z” – digital natives, born 1997-2012 and in 2023 ages 26-11;
“Alphas” – all born in the 21st c to (mostly) Millennial parents and will be the largest generation in human history, born 2013-c.2025. Tech-savvy, diverse, screen-age natives.
So, for context, this means a 75-year old ham is an older “Baby Boomer”.
The math means there is a gap of three generations, or over 50 years (a half-century) between our average 75-year old ham and a High School student, aged 14-18.
The good news is that if a general goal is to bring young people into the hobby, then the audience is vast. …Although we might want to clarify: younger than who?
The request could be said to cover all generations.
Notably including:
families of digital-native Alphas & Gen Zs, and their tech-savvy Millennial parents;
the 30% of American households now headed by solo adults, aged 20s to 90s;
hobbyist social identity groupings untethered to age
As a call to action, “young people” feels incredibly imprecise. What is the problem we are trying to solve? Who is the “we”? Should each generation be tasked with mentoring the next one?
Interestingly, I think I heard that the average age of a newly licensed ham was now 50!?
If true, this would suggest that Boomers are indeed mentoring the next generation, as requested. Just as the Silent Generation mentored them.
Or maybe we should just all be coaching everyone we can, regardless of age? Co-creating that give & take space of risk and slow but steady learning? How would you say the amateur radio community is doing to invite everyone to jump in, give learning something new a try, and keep at it until they can contribute and eventually lead?
Right now, I’m listening in on how to become an NTS Traffic handler on the nightly MA-RI phone net. It’s a great daily reminder of what’s involved to put yourself out there doing something you know very little about. Starting and stumbling with hands-on practice to get better in another one of radio’s many many skill building challenges. As they say, every journey starts with an intention and the first tentative steps. I want to send a huge thank you to the net controls for letting me learn in my own way and pace. A year ago, I sent a one-off Radiogram for an EMA SET. Now, a year later, I’m taking the measure of what it would mean to really get better at traffic handling, and the commitment I would need to make. Radio is such a big tent, and the opportunities are there for hams to give things a trial run before you set your priorities. Beta test if the mentoring safety net you will likely need is there for you. But again, the first steps you risk in just showing up to try can ofen be the hardest. I encourage you: give it a try, anyhow. (And, FYI, the age of the net participants never comes up.)
Reddit is an online discussion forum with 130K members in the r/amateurradio community. LOTS of candid perspectives are posted there on the “younger people” question. For example, there was an informative thread on the question the community posed:
[Headline: From 2020? Nope, this is the June 1927 issue of QST, when old-timers were already saying amateur radio was doomed and this new-fangled “rag-chewing” was destroying the hobby.]
Another reddit comment shared:
“For many years, 12-18k new licenses were issued each year, except in 2007 when 24k new licenses were issued.
In 2020, thirty three thousand new licenses were issued.
In 2021, it was thirty five thousand.
2022 is on track to meet or exceed 2021.”
So: maybe the data point about the average age of a ham being 75 is meant to drive home a change-is-coming message that is driven by the financial realities of a changing market? If so, then what is the time frame to relaunch a new message? And who is the intended audience capable of funding this in the timeline given? We are all here to help reach the shared goal of a vital Amateur Radio community thriving into the next century. Let’s talk with one another.
As your new RI Section Manager, I have heard A LOT of push-back about messaging that many felt focused too exclusively on “young people”.
Here’s my suggestion towards a shared definition of an inclusive, age-blind ham community culture. Definitely an ongoing conversation with lots of listening needed all around.
An amateur radio operator walks the talk of a growth-mindset spirit that transcends age. Mentoring is a given. There is a bias toward being a Maker / Hacker, curious and experimental. (Are you surprised to hear that many pioneers of AI neural networks began as radio tinkerers?)
Amateur radio is the hobby of a lifetime because it is a big tent with endless areas to explore. Priorities and perspectives mentioned on tech-oriented discussion forums include:
“Do NOT lead with “you can talk all over the world”. No one cares about that. The internet is the penultimate wide reaching network to anyone born after 1980. It’s the tech that they want. SDR’s, coding, IP, digital modes, bridging the internet to ham radio…” “computer hobbyists – local robotics, long range drone, linux user groups, things like that.”
“Focus on competitive and field elements of the hobby like SOTA & POTA, especially travel light modes like FT8 and CW.”
“POTA, because it feels like an EmCom drill every time, hike out to a remote location, set up antennas and power, try to make contacts. It’s been fun, learning and experimenting..”
“ham radio is a wireless technology and radio science sandbox that is not only a really fun ultra-multifaceted hobby, but it’s also a prime extracurricular opportunity for young people (relative to the average amateur radio operator – a 55 year old white American).” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28803690
Getting started can be hard. Ideally, Amateur Radio offers right-size challenges for hands-on experiential learning in a welcoming community that wants every ham to succeed. The right attitude helps here, all around. With best intentions hoped for.
Please welcome our SIX new RI Hams & License Class Upgrades Oct 6- Nov 6, 2023
NEW Technicians
Maggie Heaney, KC1TOQ – Chepachet
Nicholas Rodrigues, N1RRW – Lincoln
NEW + Upgrade (1 General, 1 Extra)
Sean M Foley, KC1TNA – Woonsocket (Technician 10-3-2023 > General 10-24-2023)
Mark S Barabas, N2IRY – Saunderstown (Technician 10-2023 > Extra 11-2023)
Upgrade
George R Archambault, WA1IWJ – North Smithfield (Technician > General )
Luis M Lopes, AJ1NL – Riverside (General > Extra )
Volunteers on the Air: W1AW/1
Do you want to get on the air and operate the iconic call sign W1AW/1?
Rhode Island is the host state operating the call sign for Volunteers on the Air from November 29th to December 6th. For information on how to sign up as a RI operator, please email Mike Corey, KI1U at [email protected]
Congrats to all, with a special shout out to the Providence Radio Association, W1OP, for ongoing strong club commitment to VOTA 2023. Thank you!
Mesh Networking Infrastructure Collaboration Across New England
Please consider joining the [email protected] and attending the lively, technically informative monthly gatherings of SMEs across New England (and the US) currently collaborating on building out an interconnected mesh network across New England.
Use cases include:
NTS traffic and EmComm with multi-media and work tool integration.
Use of mobile mesh nodes to supplement coverage needed regardless of location.
Remote video and spectral monitoring of repeater and network node sites including fire towers.
Better integration with Government and Served Agency internet and office work tool partner processes.
Independence from commercial power-dependent internet connectivity (with nodes equipped for extended operation following commercial power interruption.)
For more information, contact Rob Leiden, K1UI – the ARRL Assistant Director for Spectrum Protection & Utilization. https://nediv.arrl.org/spectrum-protection-utilization/
Slow Scan TV apps at next RI ARES meeting, December 6th at 7:30pm
Jeremy Taylor, K1JST (RI-SEC) will convene the next monthly RI ARES meeting on December 6, 2023 via Zoom to talk about Slow Scan TV apps and why he considers this a basic ham skill to add to your toolkit.
If you are interested in learning more about RI ARES, please fill out this form:
Welcome to your October 2023 RI Section Newsletter
Announcing two RI Section Cabinet appointments
Rhode Island Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC)
Jeremy Taylor, K1JST was appointed Rhode Island Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) on October 25, 2023. Most recently Jeremy did an outstanding job leading RI’s official Section Emergency Test (SET) exercise, done in collaboration with MARS. Jeremy’s inspired momentum rebuilding RI ARES continues in November with a Winlink training scheduled for Wednesday November 1st at 7:30pm via Zoom; training on getting started with SSTV digital image messaging is planned for December. Links are available on the RIARES.org website calendar. All are welcome to join.
A 41-year old Rhode Island native, Jeremy Taylor, K1JST brings 20 years of experience as a Technology and Management professional in a wide range of roles in Education, Broadcast, Public Safety, and Retail industries. He enjoys building and maintaining repeaters and other amateur radio infrastructure, and many will know Jeremy K1JST from his work supporting the state-wide NB1RI repeater network. Jeremy is Treasurer and Control Operator for the Narragansett Bay Amateur Radio Club (NB1RI), Managing Director of the RI AREC Foundation, Secretary for the NE Spectrum Management Council, and serves on the boards of several other local non-profits. Jeremy enjoys mentoring new hams and founded a radio club at Exeter-West Greenwich Regional School District. He is a member of several local radio clubs, and first licensed in 2017.
Jeremy looks forward to meeting old and new hams ready to jump in and help collectively rebuild RI ARES as a reinvigorated state-wide team network of well-trained radio amateurs prepared to deliver on our Public Service mission.
Jeremy Taylor, K1JST – Rhode Island’s new Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC)
Rhode Island Section ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC)
John Brewer, N1SXB was appointed Rhode Island Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) on October 18, 2023. A recently retired IT executive who has moved back to Rhode Island, John N1SXB is a current or former member of each of the state’s three largest radio clubs. An active ham, John has stepped up to be the ACC, as well as our Section representative reaching out to welcome and orient new hams to the various ways they might get involved, find mentors, and join the club or clubs that fit their interests. John will also be a liaison between the local clubs and the statewide skills training opportunities supported by RI ARES. We are a small state, and fostering this kind of information sharing and collaboration will help our entire RI amateur radio ecosystem.
John Brewer, N1SXB – Rhode Island’s new ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC)
Congrats to last month’s 2 new FCC licensed Rhode Island Radio Amateurs and 1 new FCC Extra License.
(September 5 – October 5, 2023 report of 2 new RI hams and 1 license upgrade.)
Kevin McCarthy, KC1TLP – Pawtucket > New Technician
Robert Yates, KC1TJR – Cumberland > New Technician
Let’s welcome these 2 new RI hams and help them get active on the air in 2023-2024.
Robert Hart, KC1NAB – Cranston > Upgrade to Extra
Congrats to Robert, KC1NAB for earning your new Extra license!
RECAP: In the seven months, April 7 – October 5, 2023 >
31 new FCC licensed RI Radio Amateurs
30 FCC License Upgrades
Don’t forget the new ARRL First Contact Certificate you can download here:
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.
NEW RI POTA parks c. November 11th
Watch for the pile-ups this November 2023 when about six or seven new Rhode Island POTA parks are officially added to the list of POTA parks available to hunt and activate. (There are currently 53 POTA parks across RI, so the new total of RI POTA parks will be around 60.)
In October 2023, POTA HQ lifted its hiatus on adding new US (domestic) parks and invited each state’s POTA Mapping Representative to designate new parks to add.
Jim Garman, KC1QDZ is our POTA Mapping Representative for RI.
As of late October, Jim KC1QDZ is wrapping up the democratic process he used to solicit suggestions from the POTA community on what parks to add. (Subject to the POTA constraints about what was an eligible park.) After gathering the responses into a long list, Jim KC1QDZ worked with a team to test the conditions at each potential location and report back. This helped get the list shortened to about six or seven parks that will be announced around November 11th.
POTA Hunters may have already noticed the recent pile-ups around the new 5-digit POTA parks just opened for activation in some other states. So, heads-up that these brand new RI POTA parks will likely prompt similar interest by mid-November.
Jim Garman, KC1QDZ would like to thank the following activator team that helped in this vetting process: Briann Swann N1BS, Fran Kelly K1NDQ, Scott Toner N1SWT, Willy Maclean W1LY, and Jonathan W. Winokur KY1K.
The new RI POTA sites are spread across our state, so plan a portable op road trip this November before the snow falls.
Jim Garman, KC1QDZ – the POTA Mapping Representative for Rhode island
ALSO: Don’t forget to check out the ARRL’s own new book on POTA for beginners:
Dave Neal, W2DAN – AVID contester and RI’s Representative for YCCC shares this write-up on Contesting Season:
“Well, we have been waiting for the CQ Worldwide DX SSB Contest, October 28, 0000Z to October 29, 2359Z. This is why they call this time of year Contesting Season!
The CQ Worldwide DX Contest is the largest amateur radio contest in the world with over 35,000 participants. The challenge is to make as many contacts with as many DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible, while competing against the world’s elite contesters. Not into SSB? The CW portion of the contest is next month from November 25 – 26.
3830scores.com is a great place to see how well you did and check out the results of your fellow contesters. Personally I did not get to spend full time in the contest but did spend about 16 hours and worked 864 QSO’s, 82 Zones and 305 Countries working on 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters. This is just my submitted scores, but others did much better. Contesting is a great way to add DX contacts to your log.” Go for it!
“As always, the New England Division of the ARRL will help to bring interested hams together to promote mesh network expansion. The nemesh group (nemesh @ groups.io) meets every other month via zoom and you are invited to join and contribute to the discussion.”
Rob Leiden KI1U writes in a pending Beacon article:
“Last October, we noted that the Maine and Rhode Island sections had received grants to expand their mesh networks. Since then, New Hampshire has also received a grant to expand its mesh network including sites that position the network to grow into Massachusetts. In particular, the partnership between the New England Digital Emergency Communications Network (NEDECN) has proven especially productive, providing both high sites for long haul mesh network backbones as an emergency facility but also providing a link between repeater sites independent of the commercial internet. Rhode Island is also making use of mesh networks to link repeaters located on fire towers to enhance their emergency services utility. Mesh networks can provide radio amateurs with our own “intranet,“ should the commercial internet become unavailable due to natural or man-made disasters. These networks offer served agencies tools that they already depend on using the commercial internet operated by hams that understand how best to use them.
The New England Division has made the growth of mesh networking a priority, both for these reasons and to make productive use of the frequencies to strengthen amateur radio’s position against encroachment by commercial interests.
We note that the progress made thus far is largely due to the efforts of a few dedicated individuals who have obtained grant funding and established partnerships to deploy new network nodes. As the transition from building these networks to operating and maintaining them occurs, we need to answer some questions: …. “
On October 19, 2023 Rob KI1U shared:
The Merrimack Valley Amateur Radio Association has received a grant award of $46,125 from Amateur Radio Digital Communication, a California-based foundation, to expand its current 7-node microwave network in southern New Hampshire. The project includes extending the New Hampshire network into northeastern Massachusetts and southwestern Maine as a bridge between states towards the larger goal of a New England-wide network.
The project is a collaboration with the New England Digital Emergency Communications Network to provide microwave radio backup to DMR repeaters in New Hampshire that rely on the internet for primary connectivity between sites. Collaborating on DMR sites also increases MVARA’s capability to support local emergency management organizations with amateur radio operators and equipment. …
Jay, K1EHZ is available to answer any questions about the expansion plan and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to support further expansion of mesh networking in New England.”
See also the funded RI mesh experimentation by NCRC’s Paul Fredette K1YBE: “RI is experimenting with mesh network technology using backbones as high as 10 GHz.”
RI Microwave Skill Building Opportunities
Don’t miss the ARTEN Microwave Grant’s upcoming build night at the Fab Newport [RI] Maker Space this November 3, 2023 from 5-8pm.
For more information contact Paul Fredette, K1YBE at [email protected]
For more on the ARTEN experimental microwave mesh project see:
Steve Day N3VHI, Rob White KB1ZZU, Sean Baker K1SDB with Paul Fredette K1YBE (right) at the NCRC’s May 15, 2023 Fab Newport Maker Space Microwave hands-on build event.ARTEN (grant-funded) mesh demo at the recent 2023 HamXPO.
RI ARES SET & Situational Awareness
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) framework includes three major components relevant to amateur radio:
Resource Management
Command and Coordination > Incident Command System (ICS)
Communications and Information Management
Situational Awareness – maintained through the flow of information
Hams are getting new attention for their skilled ability to accurately report real time, ground truth situational awareness information when other forms of communication may not be available.
Partnering with the community to provide additional situational awareness underpins the National Weather System’s Skywarn program. It is central to FEMA’s new Community Lifelines. On October 19, 2023 at 10:19am, over 57 million people worldwide participated in the Great Earthquake Shakeout Drill; and this year’s drill included new ways for hams to contribute via Winlink in this global situational awareness exercise.
This August, Tom Kinehan, the US Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) Region One Director, reached out to New England ARRL Section leaders to see if any Section might be interested in working together with MARS on an Airport Weather situational awareness SET, or Simulated Emergency Test, scheduled for October. MARS recognizes that experienced, motivated radio amateurs could be a “force multiplier” passing structured traffic. Let’s see what’s possible in post-pandemic 2023.
Under Jeremy Taylor’s leadership as then Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, RI ARES stepped up to the challenge. Within days of discussing this with the new and pre-occupied Section Manager and getting the green light, K1JST had completed the necessary administrative documentation and met with key stakeholders. Early communication was sent out here:
Jeremy K1JST then planned and led the RI ARES team and anyone interested in a practice exercise over the weekend of October 7-8, 2023. He followed up promptly to implement changes based on some of the challenges reported. Some lessons learned were posted here:
The final SET net closed Sunday at 10pm. The first October 2023 RI-ARES & MARS SET was a resounding success.
50 net check-ins
35 reports for 8 unique airports
2 airports out of state in CT and Worcester, supporting regional situational awareness
Team building success
Among RI hams across the state.
New and old connections fostered
RI ARES – MARS relationships renewed or begun. Many thanks to Tom Kinehan N1CPE, Matt Hackman KB1FUP and John E. Miller N1UMJ.
Opportunity to assess RI ARES’ baseline capabilities as of October 2023 to provide situational awareness to a served agency – and how to set a path forward.
Outreach and communication will take time. RI ARES is a statewide organization where hams can connect on the mission, get a certain kind of training, and bring this all back to help support their local community.
Counties are not an ideal organizational unit for RI ARES.
The final SET participation by RI County looks like this (not counting MARS members):
Kent County: 39%
Newport County: 28%
Providence County: 17%
Washington County: 17%
Bristol County: 0%
Jeremy Taylor, K1JST – our new RI SEC – has proposed other RI ARES organizational structures, and welcomes your suggestions.
How can we come together to support a state-wide, relevant RI ARES training program that will deliver value to our communities in 2023, no matter where in RI we live? No matter how many different radio clubs or radio interests we also care about?
What would you prioritize?
Please join the conversation. Step up and get involved. Take action and help us all succeed.
Rhode Island’s amateur radio community makes a difference. And we can do more.
From FEMA IS-0700.b – An Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Nationwide, ARES members are introduced to situational awareness, ICS and other fundamentals in the course sequence: FEMA IS-100, 200, 700, 800. These courses are available for free, on-line, on-demand. See, for example: https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=is-700.b&lang=en
Avid Rhode Island contesters who are more often competing against one another than collaborating, teamed up recently to conquer together the CQ World Wide WPX Contest – chasing “thousands of unique callsign prefixes from hundreds of DX entities in the world’s largest everyone-works-everyone radio contests.”
The collaborating team results were impressive: FIRST in the US, SECOND in North America, and THIRD in the World during the recent “immensely popular” global CQ World Wide WPX Contest.
Congrats to the RI Section Technical Coordinator and YCCC RI organizer, Dave Neal, W2DAN who combined forces with Don Rosinha, WA1BXY – using his club call sign NC1CC. Along with RI operators Melissa Rosinha, KC1BXY and Amanda Carr, KB1OHC and nearby MA contester, Charles Morrison, N1RR from Seekonk.
Way to go, NC1CC – Newport County Contest Club!
Parks on the Air (POTA) – Activate All RI 2023
Over the five days of Wednesday to Sunday September 6 – 10, 2023 every one of Rhode Island’s 53 POTA parks was activated at least 4 times for a total of at least 262 POTA activations; at least 11,000 QSOs were made by at least 35 radio amateur activators exploring every part of our state during splendid New England fall weather.
Over 50% of these POTA activations happened because of the generous outpouring of support by nationally-known POTA operators in solidarity with Jim Garman, KC1QDZ and his vision of all that the first-ever Activate All RI could be. Adding in the regional POTA community networking Jim, KC1QDZ had built as he grew from POTA newbie to a passionate POTA leader, and the outcome stands as an unforgettable reminder of what’s possible when we reach out and come together to flexibly deliver on a shared mission led by a next-generation leader.
Read more: POTA – Activate All RI wildly successful
The Providence Radio Association’s 102nd Annual Awards Dinner
This annual PRA tradition began in 1921 to recognize the club’s new affiliation with the ARRL. The Providence Radio Association (W1OP) remains one of the oldest amateur radio clubs in the United States. http://w1op.com/
Under the leadership of Dave Tessitore, K1DT, the club has embarked on a remarkable revitalization mission – welcoming 30 new members to join long standing ones. His recent 2023 HamXpo talk on Club Revitalization is one that I often hear about from hams across the region who found it particularly timely and memorable.
Here are some of the delightful Awards from the PRA’s 102nd Awards dinner held September 16, 2023 in Johnston, RI:
The following Awards were handed out by PRA President, Dave Tessitore, K1DT:
Jim Meltzer – K1TNX: “Mobile Antenna Award”, Limited Space DXing
Bob Hart – KC1NAB: “Volunteer of the Year”, Always There to Help
Dave Smith – WA1UWU: “FBOM Award”, Unwavering Dedication
Ron Cameron – WA1FOS: “I Got That Award”, Most Helpful Member
John Good – W1GS, “Old Buzzard Award,” 67 Years of Contribution
Frank DePetrillo – W1EYH: “Godfather Award”, Longest Continuous Member – since 1955!
Fidelity Amateur Radio Club and area team Fox Hunting
Newly-elected Fidelity ARC Officer Jim Ferranti, N1ZJI, encourages area hams to participate in the follow-up Fox Hunt offered by the Bristol County Repeater Association and scheduled for November 18th, 2023 from 10:00am to 1:00pm.
Jim, N1ZJI writes:
On Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, the Bristol County Repeater Association held a Fox Hunt from 10:00am to 1:00pm EST within a 5 mile radius of 120 President Avenue, Fall River, MA. To make the challenge more exciting, the hunt consisted of two foxes to be found within the allotted time frame. Both foxes operated with a 5-watt signal and transmitted 1 minute of tone followed by Morse Code ID and 4 minutes of silence.
Fox 1 activated at 10:00am on 146.565 MHz FM, manned by Sheldon, K1KOS, located in a Jeep Gladiator Pickup Truck.
Fox 2 activated at 10:02:30 am on 146.430 MHz FM, unmanned, located in Kevin’s, N1KJS, blue Toyota Pickup Truck. Once found, a picture of the truck, with the sign in the window, was to be sent to Kevin for verification.
The event, which is open to anyone who wishes to participate, proved to be very challenging despite its five mile radius. There were a total of six teams who participated in this event and despite the weather, everyone seemed to have had a good time, utilizing their fox hunting skills to locate these foxes. We look forward to the next fox hunt, which will be on November 18th, 2023 from 10:00am to 1:00pm EST. All are welcome to take part in this Fox Hunting event.
Would you like to take your VE session license exam this fall near Providence, RI at W1AQ’s historic 1920s radio club house? The address is 54 Kelley Ave, Rumford 02916 and the building is hard to miss with its 50′ railroad signal tower mast out front. The ARASNE club’s scheduled VE Session dates are this SaturdaySeptember 9, and also October 7, November 11, and December 2, 2023 at 9:30am. Walk-ins are welcome, too.
For more, please see: VE Session near Providence this Saturday September 9, 2023
These photos capture some of my favorite moments sharing the excitement of amateur radio at the Big E in Springfield, MA this September 2023.
New Section Manager Training at ARRL HQ & operating the historic W1AW station
The ARRL HQ staff did a phenomenal job orienting new Section Managers from across the country. We gathered in Newington, CT for a recent Friday-Sunday training and retreat, with presentations by leadership across all ARRL departments, tours of the buildings, operating from W1AW, and important opportunities to compares notes about ARES, club vitality, and prioritizing as volunteer new Section Managers on a mission to serve, and with lots to do.
Here’s a humorous note: some Section Managers had to travel 5-7 hours to visit every club in their Section and foster collaboration. And that, of course, is a totally different scale of travel than what we face in RI – despite our state’s cultural resistance to drive an hour without, you know, needing to pack a suitcase! On-air connecting plus remote meetings make ongoing collaboration easier than ever, but there is still no substitute for opportunities to get together in person.
As new Section Managers, we were given tours of the Technical Lab, QRT editorial offices, and a comparison of the Ham Shack of the past and cord-free future. It was a valuable orientation and I look forward to leveraging this opportunity for the benefit of the RI Section. (I might note that I was the only Section Manager who came to the role through an election.)
Providence EOC tour offered by the Providence Radio Association (PRA)
Barry Noel, W1BSM, the RI-ARES Providence-County District Emergency Coordinator (DEC), PRA Club Member, and Sunday night RACES net control, arranged an insightful presentation and tour today of the Providence EMA.
It was a pleasure to meet with PEMA Director DeCerbo and others critical to our state’s resilient communication readiness requirements.
This is another example of positive, productive networking and outreach across clubs (PRA – plus also Brown University’s Michael Umbricht, W9GYR), ARRL RI-Section leadership (SM Nancy Austin, KC1NEK), and served agencies as we all work together for the shared goal of becoming better operators prepared to provide situational awareness. Or, for some, commit to more advanced training available via CERT, RACES, MARS, and/or ARES. Thank you to all for an important opportunity to build bridges and plan enhanced collaboration.
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.
OR: Do you know someone who would prefer to set a goal and achieve their first Tech license studying with a weekly instructor-led class?
Interested NYAH (Not Yet a Ham) folks can sign up now for the excellent Zoom Technician course led by long-time NCRC educator Bob Beatty, WB4SON. It will begin Tuesday October 17th at 6pm and wrap up with an exam session December 9th. For more information, please see:
Thank you for letting me share some of my thoughts from HamXpo, along with other things that stand out for me after two months as your new RI Section Manager.
Ham Competencies & Platform Capabilities
There have never been more ways to “reach out and talk to the world“. In such a changed world, what does amateur radio bring to the table?
One of my surprise takeaways from last weekend’s HamExpo 2023 was how often speakers highlighted radio’s platform capabilities and the keenly-relevant competencies skilled amateur radio operators deliver.
This shift toward emphasizing ham radio’s unique and relevant “platform capability” was called out in the ARRL President’s Keynote address. Ham competencies provided context for the DX/Contest dinner speaker, Don Greenbaum, N1DG and his riveting talk on DXpeditioning with a “Rig in a Box” given contemporary constraints (including cost, environmental concerns, permission timelines) and new opportunities (including Starlink satellites and drones). https://www.dx-world.net/vp6a-ducie-island/
Rob Macedo, KD1CY from our nearby regional National Weather Service (NWS) station emphasized:
What distinguishes a licensed amateur radio operator is their proven discipline in structured voice and digital communications, technical skills, and awareness of the importance of maintained infrastructure.
Hams can “augment the situational awareness mission when communications don’t fail”, using their capabilities and skills to accurately operate and report as part of a team.
During Macedo’s talk on how hams can contribute on the Hurricane Net, KD1CY stated: “Amateur radio operators provide the discipline in structuring both voice and data communications in an organized format…” Ham competencies and the platform capabilities of amateur radio are more relevant than ever. (He spoke as Hurricane Idalia gathered force, and Ocean State hams pondered our own community preparedness during another hurricane season. (Screenshot below from one of Rob Macedo’s many presentations at the 2023 HamXpo.)
Like a rainy day bank account, now is the time for skill development and the professional relationship building of mutual trust and practiced respectful collaboration.
It provides context for the upcoming regional MARS exercise where hams will be asked to see if they can hear the weather reports at local airports and accurately transmit that to another station. This only requires the basic radio operator skills that any licensed radio amateur can practice daily by joining nets and contesting – from entry-level POTA on up to EME.
Communicating why these seemingly basic skills matter is important. Strengthening these skills is only one part of an overall ham competency portfolio however. Collaborative teamwork and professionalism matter too, more than ever.
The amateur radio community is a cross generational, growth mindset, force-multiplier that excels in mentoring technical capabilities via experiential learning. All of this aligns to the FCC’s mission statement for Amateur Radio. HamXpo presenters went back to basics referencing Part 97, and I read it again in a new light:
The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:
(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.
RI Section priorities
About 45% of RI’s licensed radio amateurs hold a Technician license. Nationally the figure apparently is 51%. As many as 75% of new Technicians never become active hams in that critical first year. Why is that? What can we in RI do better?
Over the last six months, RI welcomed about 28 new Technician licensees and 22 license class upgrades. Other hams became Silent Keys, moved or otherwise changed their QTH. Many hams joined or renewed their ARRL membership; a far fewer number let their membership lapse – and this group includes Silent Keys. I’m still trying to sift through the available data on RI to find that most helpful kernel and how it might influence RI Section conversations on priorities. The average age of a ham is 75, and the dynamic of the seesaw is something to be mindful of. IMO it’s good news that a situational awareness public service mission is well suited for older hams who have deep experience and can provide tremendous value reliably operating from their home stations. But there is still a lot to learn about what opportunities and challenges are coming down the way. Regardless, it’s never too soon to build positive relationships across our small state on sunny days like today.
Tonight on the nightly W1SYE 2m repeater net, one of these new Technicians tried to check in, but hadn’t yet solved everything about programming his new handheld. One of us reached out to let him know he was heard, if weak-readable. Within 15 minutes, five hams who belong to multiple clubs stepped up to help this new ham making his first QSOs feel heard, and to offer mentoring follow-up. It was heartening to see this kind of welcoming collaboration across the state. I had already drafted this newsletter before this happened tonight. It reminded me again that troubleshooting technology may be part of the skills package, but gathering people who care enough to selflessly step up, work together, and follow up to help someone else succeed is a leadership competency that really matters.
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.
Getting Active with 2m nets & POTA – Activate All RI
Helping Technicians and new General licensees bridge that initial gap from book learning to experiential learning feels like something many RI hams would support. I’ll be continuing to get the word out about how to join 2m nets and get comfortable talking on the air and asking for mentoring. There are also Simplex, ARES, and other club nets to add in. It also helps to understand the available RI radio repeater infrastructure at a beginner level: the NB1RI repeater network and at this point, the W1SYE 6 days/week 2m net, plus the Quahog repeater network and the significant radio infrastructure at W1OP. I look forward to researching this further to put together a resource on the RI Section website that will be useful for every RI ham. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, POTA is a great opportunity for new General radio amateurs AND experienced hams who want to be active but for various reasons can’t have an antenna where they live. For more on the upcoming POTA – Activate All RI and companion resources useful at any time…
Please check out the new POTA tab on the RI Section website:
