source: Twit.tv
The W1V Field Day station was shown on Ham Nation Episode 204
source: Martha's Vineyard Times
Amateur radio operators ham it up at annual Field Day in Aquinnah
A popular notion persists of “ham” or amateur radio operators as solitary souls sitting in their basements clicking away on a hit-or-miss homemade radio set, communicating with a similar person in Marrakesh or Manhattan.
That would be wrong, and certainly technologically outdated. Last weekend, two intrepid souls set up two transmitters near the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah as part of a worldwide event called American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day.
Noah Goldstein and Patrick Prescott are college students enamored by the range of possibilities within noncommercial radio communication, including public service and the freedom to investigate other cultures. They took part in the ARRL event largely out of fellowship with the amateur radio fraternity, and in hopes of drawing attention to their avocation.
The Times caught up with Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Prescott, both in somewhat soggy condition, after a rain- and windswept weekend by the Aquinnah cliffs. They are bright, engaging men who appear typical college students, tempered by a sense of the real world that has been emphasized for them by amateur radio operations.
“When cellphones and the Boston P.D. communication systems went down from overload during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, amateur radio operators set up, and helped coordinate transport of victims to area hospitals,” Mr. Goldstein, 21, said on Sunday. More recently, he said, amateur operators in the U.S. worked with search and rescue people on the ground in Nepal to help enable communication following the earthquake devastation.
Mr. Goldstein, an aviation science major at Bridgewater State University, is working at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional Airport this summer. Mr. Goldstein’s concentration is flight management. “I’m willing to trust my life to physics and a one-ton metal box,” he said with a laugh.
“The Field Relay event is essentially an ARRL emergency drill conducted across North America and some European countries. It simulates what amateur radio operators would do in an emergency of any sort in any part of the country. Really, it’s a test of how effective your station is, and how quickly you can put it together. We have 24 hours to complete the process, including setup of the station and contacting other operators. No commercial power may be used to operate the station. People use bicycles, solar power, hand cranking, or generators, which we used,” said Mr. Goldstein.
It doesn’t get much more real than that. Now this may be completely old school and generational, but frankly, it’s a relief to run into kids like this, as we so often observe the many selfie-obsessed millennials using smart phone screens for mindless sharing.
Something feels healthy about the techno-savviness of people who can adapt and repurpose old technology to fresh and important uses. Mr. Prescott, a computer science major entering his senior year at Pace University in New York, explained that the use of old AM radio station licenses and outdated television broadcast equipment now allows the nearly 2 million amateur radio operators worldwide to network emails, video, news, and information to one another.
What amateur radio operators cannot do, according to Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is use the airways for any commercial use, or be compensated in any way for their transmissions. What they can do, in their spare time, is to assist in public service projects. Both are part of the Boston Marathon communication team, and Mr. Goldstein slogged through feet of snow last winter, measuring snow depths and wind velocities for the National Weather Service in Taunton.
Despite a rainy blow that toppled an antenna and forced them to shelter in the Aquinnah public restrooms early Sunday (“Not optimum, but good shelter and very clean,” Mr. Prescott said), the hams were satisfied.
“We made about 37 confirmed contacts with other operators. Not a high total, but solar storms were occurring that limited communication for awhile,” Mr. Prescott said, noting that public awareness of amateur radio operation can be sketchy. “A lot of people confuse us with CB (citizens band) radio,” he said. Same concept, different capabilities. “Using a half-watt of power and Morse code, you can reach halfway around the world,” he said, noting that transmitters have been built inside Altoid breath mint containers.
On the local level, the Cape and Islands have a rich history in amateur radio, Mr. Prescott explained. In 1912, Guglielmo Marconi’s newfangled wireless station in Wellfleet on Cape Cod picked up a distress signal from the RMS Titanic off Nova Scotia. The transmissions were cited by an inquiry board as lifesaving for the surviving Titanic passengers and crew.
Last weekend was Mr. Prescott’s first visit here. “The Island has been so welcoming to us. People read about the event in your paper, and came by, asking about our station. Adam Wilson [Aquinnah town administrator] helped us get approval from the selectmen, and then came by and checked with us. The Aquinnah police provided shelter, and Jack Flynn at the airport lent us the generator we used. The Boy Scouts in Bellingham [Mr. Prescott’s hometown] lent us a tent, which, unfortunately, did not survive the weekend weather. But we’ll replace that, and we’ll do this again,” Mr. Prescott said.
To learn more about amateur radio and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day, visit arrl.org.
New EnglandScholarship Recipients
These wonderful hams listed below are our recipients for the FEMARA scholarships that your attendance at Boxboro helps make possible! When you donate to the fund and when you attend our convention the extra monies available help make people each year attend a college or trade school of their choice. The ARRL Foundation administers the perpetual fund. Each year the foundation scholarship committee meets to carefully review hundreds of applications received from remarkably talented young men and women. The foundation receives cash and stock donations from hams and their families worldwide which include bequests from living wills and trusts. Please consider helping this great undertaking.
For applications write the ARRL Foundation, Newington, CT 06111 - When you donate to the foundation, please specify the FEMARA New England Fund!
The New England FEMARA Scholarships
($1000 each)
($1000 each)
2014 Winners
Taylor M. Brock-Fisher, KB1NOW
Ryan Garbe, KB1ZAK
Alexander F. Jacobs, KB1QJJ
Patrick R. Prescott, KC1AJT
Katelyn N. VanderClute, KB1MGK
Nicholas R. Wattendorf, N1NRW
Ryan Garbe, KB1ZAK
Alexander F. Jacobs, KB1QJJ
Patrick R. Prescott, KC1AJT
Katelyn N. VanderClute, KB1MGK
Nicholas R. Wattendorf, N1NRW
Amateur Radio Disaster Response in Philippines Winds Down
12/05/2013Source: ARRL
After weeks of deployment the Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) HERO (Ham Emergency Radio Operations) Network stood down November 27, although some activity continues during the disaster cleanup. PARA Vice Chief Operating Officer Ramon Anquilan, DU1UGZ, said that four stations — DU1IVT, DU1VHY, DV1SMQ, and DU1EQ — remain in operation to monitor for any assistance from local HERO stations. Much remains to be done in the devastating aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which injured more than 26,000 people, displaced some four million residents, destroyed 1.2 million houses, and wreaked extensive damage and destruction to agriculture and to the Philippine infrastructure.
Anquilan said that while PARA and its HERO Network stations realize that rescue and relief agencies now are handling the bulk of vital emergency communication traffic, his organization still has plenty to do. He said this includes accurately documenting what the HERO Network was able to accomplish, gaining visibility by authorities and communities, and furthering HERO’s role in disaster preparedness. He said authorities already are taking greater notice of HERO, and PARA wants to make sure its role is not forgotten within the enormity of the disaster.
In the hard-hit Tacloban area and the rest of Eastern Visayas, an ACCESS-5 Amateur Radio team continues to be embedded with the Command Post National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Tacloban City. Three operators are on duty there. ACCESS-5 Tacloban is now augmented by some 35 ACCESS-5 members from Catbalogan, Samar, and Burauen, Leyte. PARA Secretary-General Butch Pacana, DU1RP, drove from Davao City to visit HERO stations in Borongan, Eastern Samar and Tacloban City. While in Borongan, he had the chance to act as courier for the situation report from Eastern Samar to Tacloban City — the first official situation report from Eastern Samar. This helped provincial officials find a suitable means of transport to Tacloban. He reported that HERO operators were coping well and up to the task. Don Bosco Technical College (DX1DBT) officials maintain their HF link between Borongan, Eastern Samar, Cebu and Mandaluyong in metropolitan Manila.
In the Central Visayas, Iver, DV6ILA, is still active from the Capiz Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Roxas City. The DV6ILA signal got a big boost through the donation of an HF transceiver by Bing Rodriguez, DU6RCR, and a microphone loaned by Bob Garcia, DU6BG. Arnel, DV6WAV, reports that power is back on at the Capiz State University where he’s a professor, and that he has activated another VHF/HF station.
Anquilan said that PARA now has a permit to import equipment, and its Board will meet on its placement and use. He acknowledged donations by Patrick Prescott, KC1AJT, who sent an HF transceiver, and Stanley Jungleib, WA6LVC, who sent an antenna tuner.
Media Hits
On November 17, Anquilan appeared on both the BBC World Service radio and National Public Radio, in interviews arranged with ARRL assistance. “We are just hobbyists, and we are converted into this public service role when there are emergencies,” he told the BBC, calling public service work on ham radio “uplifting and fulfilling.”
Anquilan told NPR’s Rachel Martin on “Weekend Edition Sunday” that the Secretary Defense was one of the first people to use the Amateur Radio link set up in Tacloban. He explained that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Interior had been dispatched to Tacloban before the storm, and after the hurricane hit, the central government in Manila did not know their whereabouts. “Even the president could not contact his cabinet on the ground in Tacloban,” Anquilan said. “So, one of the first messages for us to relay was the message of the Secretary Defense.”
Anquilan and Nathan Eamiguel, DU5AOK, were featured in radio interviews on November 23. “The program’s host, Francis ‘Kiko’ Flores, welcomed the participation of Amateur Radio in the emergency,” Anquilan said. “He recalled his own experiences in the 1991 Baguio earthquake, where he personally experienced the usefulness of Amateur Radio emergency communications.” — Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee
Getting It Right!
Source: ARRL Letter 12/12/13The article "Public Service: Amateur Radio Disaster Response in Philippines Winds Down," in The ARRL Letter, December 5, 2013, contained incorrect information regarding the donation of an HF transceiver to the Philippine Amateur Radio Association (PARA). Stanley Jungleib, WA6LVC, donated the HF transceiver and antenna tuner. Patrick Prescott, KC1AJT, who was mentioned in the article, told the ARRL that he has been coordinating shipments for anyone who wishes to donate. These include a hand-held transceiver and some clothing items from Karen Trask, N1VI. -- Thanks to Patrick Prescott, KC1AJT
