The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will be holding an Amateur Radio flea market on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at the Pigeon Cove Circle Center. The Center is located at 6 Breakwater Avenue off of Route 127 North in Rockport Massachusetts, on the north side of the old tool and die factory.

The doors will open at 7:30 AM for sellers and 9:00 AM for everyone else. Vendors can reserve a table for $10.00 the day of the flea market or for $8.00 in advance. There will be a $3.00 admission fee for buyers. There will be door prizes and coffee and food will be available on-site.

Additionally there will be a club-run consignment table and donations will be negotiated.

Amateur Radio license testing will be available on-site during the flea market.

We ask that this flea market content be limited to Amateur Radio equipment and accesories only. We will not sell TV`s or orphan CRT monitors.

For contact information please e-mail Dick at dickc911@yahoo.com or call 1-508-269-4941. We will have talk-in on the CAARA repeater for the flea market on 145.13 MHz. There is no PL tone on the repeater.

Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL Field Organization Team Supervisor writes to all ARRL Section Managers:

In early December, the ARRL was contacted by Mr. George Dillon of the FCC and asked to aid in the DTV conversion program by providing technical education for communities.  We liked the idea and opportunities it presented.  But it has come to our attention that there is now some misunderstanding on the part of a few FCC field offices, state broadcaster's associations, and other broadcast industry representatives about the scope of the ARRL/FCC program to assist in the digital television conversion. The issue is whether or not individual radio amateurs should or will do actual DTV converter box installation and programming. The installation and programming of DTV converter boxes in people's homes is not, repeat not, part of the ARRL program.

As proposed to ARRL by FCC staff in Washington, the nature of the assistance to be provided by Amateur Radio clubs was that of information dissemination to individuals and groups. The FCC and ARRL believe that the well-known technical skill of radio amateurs is a valuable community resource that can help non-technical people get ready for the DTV conversion (the deadline for which is still not firm -it may be either February 17, 2009 or some time in June of 2009). When the FCC contacted ARRL about this program, they proposed that ham clubs might invite the public from their communities to their meetings, or sponsor a public gathering, to provide information about the program, answer questions, and perhaps offer a demonstration. ARRL views this program as beneficial in several respects. It helps the community; it introduces the public to the benefits of Amateur Radio; and it brings new people to Amateur club meetings who may wish to become licensed once they see what a great avocation we have. Finally, it provides a good topic for a program at a club meeting.

But no part of the program we agreed upon involves having hams going into people's homes to hook up converter boxes, and ARRL is not asking hams or clubs to do so.

Recently, based on an apparent misunderstanding about the scope of the program, some FCC district offices have asked ham clubs to do DTV converter box installations. So have state broadcaster's association representatives and some network or station affiliates. If an individual radio amateur wishes to volunteer to do a DTV converter box installation or program the device for a neighbor or friend, or for any member of their community, that is a decision that the individual radio amateur must make for himself or herself, but it is not part of the ARRL/FCC program.

Please also note, there are some state laws regulating low voltage electrical and electronic installations that might prohibit unlicensed individuals from doing this, even as a volunteer. There are also liability issues that should be considered. For that reason, the FCC in Washington specifically assured ARRL that no part of the ARRL’s assistance by radio amateurs in the DTV conversion process involves converter box installations or programming. The ARRL/FCC program is strictly in the nature of an educational effort in a public setting.

Meanwhile, many clubs and groups have been getting excellent publicity in their communities and on regional TV by discussing and showing information about the conversion.  >From community meetings to “information nights,” mall displays and daily spots on television (usually with the weather reports), the hams are being seen as technologically savvy and helpful people.

The Pilgrim Amateur Radio Club reported that a recent licensing class enrolled six youths and one adult.  According to  Dana Henrique, WA1KYU, "Three students passed the technician examination, and three students were scheduled to retake the exam at a later date. On the same date, two people plan to take the examination for the Amateur Extra class license." Henrique exhibited some pictures of the class to club members at the meeting.

The Pilgrim ARC was founded in 1976. An ARRL affiliated club, it is dedicated to the maintenance and upgrading of the Provincetown Emergency Management Office communications system. The club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Council on Aging (COA) building, 26 Alden Street, Provincetown, MA.

The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford will present a panel discussion on Emergency Power at its February Monthly Meeting. This panel discussion is a result of the numerous questions and comments that resulted from the ice storm in December and the extensive power outages (up to 5 days) that resulted. Many hams were well equipped to handle this power outage while some were not.

The panelists are: Ernie (N1AEW), Allison (KB1GMX), John (G3BVU) and Hugh (N1QGE). PART's Vice President Andy (KB1OIQ) will moderate this panel. The panelists will focus mainly on generator backup power for the home but will also include emergency battery backup power for rigs. They will relate their experiences in dealing with the loss of conventional power. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers.

This meeting will be held at the Westford Police Station on Tuesday, February 17th at 7:30 PM. Directions to this meeting can be found on the PART web page at: http://wb1gof.org.

Bo Budinger, WA1QYM
President: PART of Westford
Eastern MA ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator

The spirit of Kids Day is alive and well in Hanson, MA where John Murphy, KB1PHN operated Kids Day from his ham shack on January 4, 2009 with his 10-year-old nephew, Daniel Murphy.

According to John, Danny "checked for a clear frequency on 20 meters, then called 'CQ Kids Day.'" He was answerd by EI4GYB from Ireland. "Danny the SWL was hooked after that," reports KB1PHN. "He made a total of fifteen contacts in one hour before his voice gave out."

Murphy added, "Danny can't wait to get back on the air."

--Thanks, Whitman ARC "Spectrum, January 2009"

Bob Salow, WA1IDA writes:

On Saturday, 7 February, the Zola Center for Persons with Disabilities will hold an open house now that their facility has completed a major renovation.  Since [the Boston Amateur Radio Club] has supported the Center with a Technician course and will assist in setting up a permanent ham station, several of us have agreed to provide a demonstration station for the Open House.

The Open House is scheduled for 1200 to 1500; we will set up starting about 1100.  Planned is an HF station (wire antenna out the window) for listening only and full 2M/70cm station.

If you can spend an hour or more to promote ham radio and answer questions it will be very helpful to all visitors.  The Zola Center is located at 20 Hartford St in Newton Highlands - within two blocks of the Green Line T station.  Lunch will be provided.

So as to not overwhelm the staff and visitors, please contact Eric, K1NUN if you can attend.  Email: k1nun@netscape.net.

In today's Boston.com: Postcards From The Edge: "Long before the Internet, ham radio operators built a buzzing web of communication around the world. Artist Cindy Bernard's grandfather, Bill Adams, got his license to operate a ham radio in 1923 and kept in touch with operators in distant countries until his death in 1999. Each contact was confirmed with a postcard, called a QSL card - QSL is ham lingo for 'I hear you.'"

[See also: Ham Radio And The Arts: "Silent Key"]

Members of Cape Cod ARES^® led by District Emergency Coordinator Frank O'Laughlin, WQ1O conducted a very successful winter emergency communications exercise on January 24, 2009. "Operation Ice House" involved efforts on the part of ARES members in several locations across the Cape and Islands, including two hospitals.

According to O'Laughlin, "the exercise was designed to practice net operations, NTS traffic handling, liaison operations, as well as tactical messaging techniques." Voice modes as well as Winlink were utilized during the event.

The effort garnered great publicity, too: the Cape Wide News web site carried a feature article that included over a half-dozen photos of the staff and equipment.

Shown here: (left) Tom Wruk and Frank O'Laughlin at the Hyannis site setting up an antenna

Rich Zack, K1RJZ writes on GEMotoChat:

Subject: 6M and ch2...  take 2
From:    "Zach, Rick J"
Date:    Mon, January 26, 2009 3:13 pm
To:      "gemotochat"
Cc:      "Bryan W1BRI Cerqua"

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6M and ch2...  take 2

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Rockefeller (WV) and Ranking Member
Hutchison (TX) agreed on compromise language for Senate legislation to
extend the DTV hard date to June 12, 2009  (might be less??? -RZ) . Senate
Leadership attempted to hotline the proposal  last night to determine
whether the compromise language would pass under a unanimous consent
agreement. However, objections were raised to the bill’s advancement.
Both the House and the Senate were in recess on Friday, but will resume
legislative business on Monday, January 26, which will present the next
opportunity for congressional activity.

A key change is that stations will still have the option to turn off
analog on Feb-17th and will be required to turn off analog TX's in June.
If the Boston stations actually turn off all analog TX's on Feb 17th, WGBH
plans to keep ch2 analog on the air until March 3rd with "nightlight
service" to tell viewers where to go for more information and help.  Ch2
may or may not do this at reduced power.  Again all of this info has a lot
of if's, so only consider this as a potential "direction" towards your 6M
activity.

The text of the changes are attached.
.
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Rick Zach, Chief Engineer
WCVB-TV  WCVB-DT  ch-5 Boston