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Special Event Station TM80DDAY
MassJam and the 2023 Head of the Charles Regatta
Note: This was supposed to be published in the November issue of The SPARC, the Boston Amateur Radio Club newsletter, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, it was never published, so here it is for the first time in print!Β
It was a busy public service month for me. First off was MassJam 2023, the multi-state scout jamboree that is held every five years at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth.While the communication staff was made up of entirely of hams, the event did not use amateur radio for its operation as obviously, while there are hams in Scouting, not everyone is a ham and therefore, commercial band radio was a must for the event. Using radios provided by DC Rentals (who seem to provide the commercial radios for practically every large event in Boston) MassJam got underway. Net control was a 24/7 operation with shifts scheduled in blocks and food for the net controllers was cooked on site. Despite some hiccups, the event itself was mostly successful, including exodus from the campground was went really well and finished practically on schedule.
After a week and a half off, it was time for the next major public service event, the 2023 Head of the Charles Regatta. I was stationed all 3 days at the Attager (which is Regatta spelled backwards) Row First Aid tent. A hamβs job at the regatta is to be the primary link for the first aid tents to net control and from there to the eventβs roving bike teams on commercial radio (again, provided by DC Rentals) and if needed to our public safety partners such as the Massachusetts State Police (who provide their command post for the weekend where a ham is stationed as a link between net control and them), Boston EMS and Cambridge Fire. Joined by a rotating motley crew of hams, including our very own public service chair, Ethan KC1OIP, we made the best of it despite pouring rain on Saturday and cold winds on Sunday.All in all, a good month of public service. I recommend the Regatta as a good place to start if youβre interested in the public service side of this great hobby. Now to look forward to next yearβs public service season with the Boston Marathon!
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KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
- Amateur radio in the news: Hackable ham radio, ham radio at the museum, club hosts Scouts
Amateur radio in the news: Hackable ham radio, ham radio at the museum, club hosts Scouts
The Most Hackable Handheld Ham Radio Yet
The [Quansheng] UV-K5, released last year, might be the most hackable handheld ever, with a small army of dedicated hams adding a raft of software-based improvements and new features. I had to have one, and $30 later, I did.
Like Baofengβs 5R, Quanshengβs K5 as a radio transceiver is fine. (Iβm using K5 here to refer to both the original K5 and the new K5(8) model.) The key technical distinction between the 5R and K5 is a seemingly minor design choice. With Baofengβs 5R, the firmware resides in read-only memory. But Quansheng stores the K5βs firmware in flash memory and made it possible to rewrite that memory with the same USB programming cable used to assign frequencies to preset channels.
ICHMS collaborates with IRARC
CASPIAN, MI β The Iron County Historical & Museum Society (ICHMS) will have two new exhibits this summer thanks to a collaboration with the Iron Range Amateur Radio Club (IRARC) and a grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. βWe couldnβt be any more excited about this collaboration and the exhibits that will come from itβ, states museum director Kathlene Long. The club members are in here helping build the exhibits and are bringing their expertise along with their own artifacts to build these exhibits in time for this coming summer season.
![Railroad depot building](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
The Club is building a working ham radio station in the museum. It will be fully functional. Museum visitors will be able to see the exhibit and signs will help visitors understand the importance ham radios β and amateur operators β have played in our countyβs, and our countryβs history. They will also learn why they continue to be so important. In addition, the Club is recreating a display of a vintage WIKB studio from pieces they have collected over the years. All of this is being paid for, in part, from a $500 grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. βAll in all, this is a lot of moving parts finally coming together to make this happen.β Long explains.
SIERA hosts Scout amateur radio merit badge day
METROPOLIS, IL β Boy Scouts talked to amateur radio operators as far away as Puerto Rico and Arizona during a radio merit badge class hosted by the Southernmost Illinois Emergency Radio Association (SIERA). Five scouts from Troop 2007, out of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Paducah, attended the class on Saturday, March 23, at Trinity Church in Metropolis.
Scouts experimented with tuning forks and a wave generator and had the opportunity to talk on both handy-talkie and high-frequency base radios during the class. They also learned about the science and mechanics of radio as well as important safety measures.
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