Fun Impromtu Winter Field Day in Jonesboro. More than 50 contacts made.
MHRS Wreaths Special Event Featured in ARRL Club News!
Boat Anchor Hamfest Huge Success!
More than 300 people attended the Boat Anchor Hamfest in Augusta this month, DOUBLE from last year's turnout! Bravo Zulu to hamfest coordinators, helpers, vendors and attendees! Nancy W1GRG was crowned Miss Seagull Net at the hamfest. Many hams noted how much fun socializing that they had and getting to have an "eyeball" meetup with other hams they hear on the air.
MHRS Elections Results
The Maine Ham Radio Society held annual elections during the Jan 6 meeting in Milbridge. Phil Duggan N1EP was re-elected president/secretary. Bob Ustruck was relected vice president. Brenda Duggan N1ZPV was elected treasurer, replacing Brian Carlton KC1FXF who stepped down. We thank Brian for his many years of service to the club as treasurer! Other items discussed during the meeting included:
A Wreaths Across America special event review was conducted and W1A operators relayed how rewarding the event was and how receptive others on the bands were of the event. MHRS has received about 40 qsl cards so far and some of these were passed around for members to see.
Coming hamfests were noted. The Boat Anchor Hamfest is Saturday, Feb 10 from 8am until noon at the Club Calumet in Augusta. The Hermon Hamfest is Saturday June 1 at the Hermon High School. The Maine ARRL Convention wil be Saturday June 15 at the Civic Center in Augusta.
The HamSci Solar Eclipse QSO Party was discussed. In preparation for the April 8 event, N1EP said he would give a tutorial of the free N1MM logging software during the March 16 meeting, as computer logging will be required. But first, he needs to teach himself as he uses a different commericial program. W1FWS said he uses N1MM so perhaps Maurry can help out as well.
Members discussed conducting several events in 2024, including giving a ham radio demo at a school, doing a Parks-On-The-Air during the Maine-wide POTA on May 18, perhaps doing a ham radio demo during Milbridge Days, and, of course, conducting the 2024 Wreaths Across America ops in December.
Wreaths Event Fun & Rewarding
Second Annual MHRS On-Air Event
*UPDATE: All QSL cards with SASEs received so far have been filled out and will me mailed Monday Jan 8.*
The Maine Ham Radio Society conducted a Wreaths Across America on-air event using the W1A special call sign, for the second year in a row. Members piled up 348 contacts from stations throughout America as well as some overseas. MHRS operators included N1ZPV, W1FWS, KF5CFU, and N1EP. Modes included phone and FT8. (No CW this year, this will be rectified in 2024!)
Many stations contacted indicated that they were participating in a Wreaths Across America ceremony at their local veterans cemetery. Some also mentioned that they had friends or family buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One ham said that he had lost a fellow soldier in war and that he would request a QSL card and give it to his friend’s Gold Star mother.
QSL cards are already pouring in. N1EP will go through them after Christmas and start mailing out W1A cards. Thank you to all who participated, as a W1A op and those with whom we had a QSO. And special thanks to Wreaths Across America staff and volunteers. What an amazing and worthy thing they do!
Stations making contact with W1A December 15 - 18, 2023 may request a special QSL card by sending a SASE to the address listed on qrz.com for W1A or just send it to Phil Duggan, N1EP, 195 Kansas RD, Milbridge, ME 04658.
MHRS RadioActive Youtube Videos
This video features N1EP, AC1BS, and KA1DBE demonstrating and discussing Morse code, straight keys, and portable events. Click here: Morse Code Fun an More!
The Maine Seagull Net features Jerry Burns, K1GUP talking about the rich history of the Seagull Net and more...
Here is a link to the channel where you can see all the Maine Ham Radio Society videos: Mainely Ham Radio
NBEMS & Message Forms
The Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) suite of programs are perfectly adapted to emergency communications, but are also great digital fun for DXing, ragchewing, and other activities.
FLDIGI is the main component and you can communicate using psk-31, olivia, rtty, and many more modes. N1EP gave an FLDIGI demo during the Feb 5 club Zoom meeting and highlighted FLDIGI and FLMSG. The FLMSG allows you to send and receive multiple message forms, such as radiograms, digitally via the amateur radio airwaves. It is a faster and more accurate way of relaying message traffic than doing so by voice.
You can get more information on the entire NBEMS suite at www.w1hkj.com
