There are FT8 activity nights on the VHF & UHF bands every Wednesday evening in Europe for the 4th quarter of 2024.
The European activity evening which uses both FT8 and FT4 rotates through the 2m, 70cm, and 23cm bands each week. Activity is from 17:00 to 21:00 UTC.
This might be an opportunity not only to try FT8 on the higher bands but also just to have a listen and feed the reception reports up the the PSKReporter website.
Contest Period: 1200 UTC Saturday September 28, 2024 to 1200 UTC Sunday September 29, 2024.
Bands and Modes: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10, CW, and phone (SSB, FM, AM).
Exchange: Stations in Maine send signal report and county. Stations outside of Maine, but within either the United States or Canada, send signal report and state/province. DX stations send signal report and βDX.β
Contest Period: 1200 UTC Saturday September 28, 2024 to 1200 UTC Sunday September 29, 2024.
Bands and Modes: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10, CW, and phone (SSB, FM, AM).
Exchange: Stations in Maine send signal report and county. Stations outside of Maine, but within either the United States or Canada, send signal report and state/province. DX stations send signal report and βDX.β
Please join us this evening at 7:00PM on the 147.090 repeater, for our monthly Meeting-on-the-Air!
On the agenda, weβll be covering minutes from last weekβs meeting, share some updates, and talk about some upcoming activities, such as the Maine QSO Party and Simulated Emergency Test (SET).
As always, if you have HF capabilities, youβre welcome to join us on 28.455 USB for the After Net, immediately following our net on the repeater.
Please join us this evening at 7:00PM on the 147.090 repeater, for our monthly Meeting-on-the-Air!
On the agenda, weβll be covering minutes from last weekβs meeting, share some updates, and talk about some upcoming activities, such as the Maine QSO Party and Simulated Emergency Test (SET).
As always, if you have HF capabilities, youβre welcome to join us on 28.455 USB for the After Net, immediately following our net on the repeater.
Β Not scary, frightful, just frightful activity wise.
I got soaked coming home on Friday. I was following the weather and radar all day and was expecting thunderstorms here at work when I left for the day. It was bone dry, but the skies were darkening. All the way on the drive home, I could "feel" that darkness behind me, rather then see it in the rear view mirror. As luck would have it, as dark as it was, it didn't rain and I thought I would beat the storm home. As I got out of car in front of the house (I park on the street), there was a cloudburst. It began raining at a rate of over an inch an hour, with huge, heavy drops that actually hurt when they landed on my arms. I got drenched enough that I had to change clothes once I got inside.
That set the tone for the weekend's weather. It was so humid that the lawn didn't dry out all of Saturday, so we couldn't mow. And that was actually a good thing as the temperature/humidity index made it feel like it was over 100F. We probably would have ended p with heat exhaustion. I told my son that if worse comes to worse, we'll buy a sheep. HI! We ended up getting hit with more thunderstorms and about 0.69 inches of rain later in the afternoon. I was going to grill burgers for dinner, but had to resort to indoor cooking instead.
On Sunday, I got on HF for a little bit around 1:00 PM (17:00 UTC). The bands were a mess. I did not hear anyone on any band except for 20 Meters, where I heard a solitary station, NM8GS around 14.038 MHz.Β
It was the light ship Huron that was on the air for Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. They was calling CQ and I worked them easily on the first try.Β That was when I looked up at HamClock and saw that the K Index was at 6.3. Argh! The bands were pretty much a wasteland. Speaking of which, I just recently downloaded the SpaceWeatherLive app onto my phone.
It's a freebie and you can find it in Google Play and the iTunes store. You can set it up so that you will be alerted whenever there's a solar flare or a CME. A good tool for those of us who are denizens of the HF bands. It was not difficult to understand why the bands were so noisy and dead at my QTH as I was getting alerts for M Class flares almost continuously!Β One approached M7.2 on Saturday afternoon - almost X Class! I was also getting alerts that there were "minor" radio blackouts. Ha! They appeared to be a bit more than minor at my QTH!
I ended up using the time to fabricate my "new" drive on mast holder. I wanted to take pictures of it "in action" so to speak, but due to even more thunderstorms yesterday afternoon and early evening, that became an impossibility. Today is supposed to be dry all day, so maybe tonight I'll get the chance to get a few quick photos. I did something a little different this time and it's easier to explain with photos as a visual aid.
We ended up getting an additional 0.72 inches of rain yesterday, so we got over an inch and a half for the weekend. Up until recently, it's been a very dry Summer in South Plainfield. Whenever a heat wave broke with thunderstorms, it seemed they always skirted to either the north or south of us. We're making up for that now. Tomorrow evening there is a 605 chance of showers and thunderstorms, which I hope does not pan out. Tomorrow evening is National Night Out, and SPARC will be at the event, handing out literature promoting Amateur Radio to the community. I'd hate for rain to spoil the event.
Also, I've been keeping an eye on Hurricane Debby. It looks like as she winds up the East Coast, she'll be downgraded to a tropical storm, but there is potential for major flooding either Thursday or Friday.Β Hurricane Ida is still fresh in my mind when we got 9" of rain in one day, just a few years back. We lost Marianne's car when the parking lot where she works became a lake that night. I don't want to go through that again!
WINDHAM, ME β The Wireless Society of Southern Maine will participate in the American Radio Relay Leagueβs Summer Field Day activities during Windhamβs Summerfest event on June 22nd. Once Summerfest activities end on Saturday evening, ham radio operations will continue through the night and end on Sunday at 2 pm. The public is welcome to visit each operating station to learn more about ham radio.
ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.
Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest, and, most of all, FUN!
It is a time when many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, other groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities. It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to the organizations that Amateur Radio might serve in an emergency, as well as the general public. For many clubs, ARRL Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar.
The contest is simply to contact as many other stations as possible and learn to operate our radio gear in abnormal situations and less-than-optimal conditions.
Ham operators use these same skills when they help with events such as marathons and bike-a-thons; fund-raisers such as walk-a-thons; celebrations such as parades; and exhibits at fairs, malls, and museums β these are all large, preplanned, non-emergency activities.
But despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems β or maybe because they ARE so complex β ham radio has been called into action repeatedly to provide communications in crises when it matters. Amateur Radio people (also called βhamsβ) are well known for our communications support in real disasters and post-disasters.
What is Amateur Radio?
Often called βham radio,β the Amateur Radio Service has been around for a century. In that time, itβs grown into a worldwide community of licensed operators using the airwaves with every conceivable means of communications technology. Its people range in age from youngsters to grandparents. Even rocket scientists and a rock star or two are in the ham ranks. Most, however, are just normal folks like you and me who enjoy learning and being able to transmit voice, data, and pictures through the air to unusual places, both near and far, without depending on commercial systems.
The Amateur Radio frequencies are the last remaining place in the usable radio spectrum where you as an individual can develop and experiment with wireless communications. Hams not only can make and modify their equipment but can create whole new ways to do things.
Look for them on the athletic field next to the Windham Primary School. They will have signs throughout the facility to point to the location. Actual ham radio operations will begin on Saturday @ 2 pm and end on Sunday @ 2 pm.
To find out more about Amateur Radio locally, and how to get involved in this rewarding pastime, please visit the Wireless Society of Southern Maineβs website at: www.mainehamradio.com
WINDHAM, ME β The Wireless Society of Southern Maine will participate in the American Radio Relay Leagueβs Summer Field Day activities during Windhamβs Summerfest event on June 22nd. Once Summerfest activities end on Saturday evening, ham radio operations will continue through the night and end on Sunday at 2 pm. The public is welcome to visit each operating station to learn more about ham radio.
ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.
Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest, and, most of all, FUN!
It is a time when many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, other groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities. It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to the organizations that Amateur Radio might serve in an emergency, as well as the general public. For many clubs, ARRL Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar.
The contest is simply to contact as many other stations as possible and learn to operate our radio gear in abnormal situations and less-than-optimal conditions.
Ham operators use these same skills when they help with events such as marathons and bike-a-thons; fund-raisers such as walk-a-thons; celebrations such as parades; and exhibits at fairs, malls, and museums β these are all large, preplanned, non-emergency activities.
But despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems β or maybe because they ARE so complex β ham radio has been called into action repeatedly to provide communications in crises when it matters. Amateur Radio people (also called βhamsβ) are well known for our communications support in real disasters and post-disasters.
What is Amateur Radio?
Often called βham radio,β the Amateur Radio Service has been around for a century. In that time, itβs grown into a worldwide community of licensed operators using the airwaves with every conceivable means of communications technology. Its people range in age from youngsters to grandparents. Even rocket scientists and a rock star or two are in the ham ranks. Most, however, are just normal folks like you and me who enjoy learning and being able to transmit voice, data, and pictures through the air to unusual places, both near and far, without depending on commercial systems.
The Amateur Radio frequencies are the last remaining place in the usable radio spectrum where you as an individual can develop and experiment with wireless communications. Hams not only can make and modify their equipment but can create whole new ways to do things.
Look for them on the athletic field next to the Windham Primary School. They will have signs throughout the facility to point to the location. Actual ham radio operations will begin on Saturday @ 2 pm and end on Sunday @ 2 pm.
To find out more about Amateur Radio locally, and how to get involved in this rewarding pastime, please visit the Wireless Society of Southern Maineβs website at: www.mainehamradio.com
The 14th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 16th, from 12PM β 4PM!
Contacts are limited to FM Simplex on the 2 meter band.
Participants may be entered as eitherΒ fixed or mobile, (but not as both).
ExchangeΒ β Exchange items include yourΒ call sign,Β the name of theΒ city, village, town, or townshipΒ you are operating from, and yourΒ power level. Rovers and mobiles must be within the city limits of whatever city they claim to be operating from. If you are operating from a served agency station, you should also include this with your exchange. Specify which agency you serve, for example, βSKYWARN,β βEOC,β or βRed Cross.β On the log sheets, however, there will only be a place to notate whether or not the station is operating from a served agency.
City or TownΒ β This is simply the name of the city or town you are operating from. If you do not live within the city limits, use the name of the town or municipality to which mail or a package would be addressed. For mobile entries, use the name of the city or town you are in, or the closest city or town.
Power levels are defined as follows: β’Β QRPΒ β 5 watts or less β’Β Medium PowerΒ β greater than 5 watts, but less than 100 β’Β High PowerΒ β 100 watts or more
Enter as either Fixed (either at home or portable) or Mobile (roving).
Click hereΒ for complete rules and details, including Entry Forms and Log Sheets, for the 2024 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.
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