As part of our 2026 Summer Series, on Thursday, July 16th at 7:30 PM at the Pepperell Community Center, NVARC will hold a workshop – “’First Station’ Design Workshop”. The goal is to get new hams comfortable with defining their needs and deciding on equipment for their “first” station.

We will talk about general needs and then break into groups – several new (or newer) hams combined with one or more with experienced radio amateurs – and have each group work on a solution to their general need. Mobile station? HF Base Station? You decide! We’ll then circle back and compare notes. And equipment selections.

If you have a laptop or iPad/tablet available, please bring it.

Like our usual meetings, we’ll start meeting at 7 PM, and kick things off at 7:30. We’ll go for as long as people want to ask questions, contribute, and talk. If the more experience hams have a radio that they would like to bring and talk about (as an example), please do!

We’d like to get an idea as to how many are coming (both new ham and mentor), so please reach out to Bruce, K1BG, at K1BG@ARRL.NET. But if you decide to attend at the last minute, that’s OK too! Nobody will be turned away.

See you on Thursday!

2026 ARRL Field Day is now finished, and everyone comes up to me and asks: “How did we do?” And my answer is always a variation of the same. “We did great!”

We started Field Day off this year the way we usually do – breakfast. This year, at our usual spot, Tiny’s Restaurant in Ayer. We had a surprisingly large turnout, and we enjoyed breakfast. Then off to Pepperell’s Heald Street Orchard – NVARC’s Field Day location.

Kudos to whoever placed the signs on Friday night – I’m not sure who did this but thank you! Early arrivals had to contend with the traffic closure for the Pepperell 4th of July parade scheduled later Saturday morning. Floats for the parade were staged at the lower end of Heald Street, hence the closure. But with the signs in place, finding our Field Day location from the Townsend end of town was a snap.

The site was beautifully mowed by Chris Razzaboni (Pepperell Conservation, who maintains the orchard). He did an extraordinary job. It really enabled us to enjoy the site to its fullest. If you run into Chris (particularly if you are a Pepperell resident), please thank Chris.

We quickly set up the site, with a lot of volunteers helping. Two HF stations (one focused on Phone, one focused on CW), a VHF/UHF station, and a GOTA station – GOTA stands for “Get On-The Air”. It’s a station dedicated to unlicensed or newly licensed operators. Power and internet followed – like clockwork. We relaxed a little at lunch, sharing pizza and cold drinks.

At the crack of 2 PM, we were off and running! OK, there were some minor issues to work out, but in general we were making contacts and having fun!

Our “Educational Activity” (which earned us bonus points) was a balloon launch by Don, N1NWE, and Jim, AB1WQ. The balloon was beautifully prepared, loaded with Helium gas, and launched! It was last seen rising quickly over the orchard. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about this elsewhere in the Signal. I must confess, I’m at a loss to tell you more because I was demonstrating one of the stations with some unlicensed visitors and was unaware it was taking place until it was over!

John, KK1X, stepped up and prepared a great chicken dinner to keep everyone fed, and there was an assortment of baked goods, snacks, drinks, etc., to keep everyone fed and well hydrated for the weekend.
Someone was operating throughout the night, and stations were active pretty much all of the 24 hours.

Some statistics –
We had a total of 48 people who signed the guestbook. I know there were more, but a few either didn’t want to sign in or we missed them. We made a total of 893 contacts, with 33 of those made on the GOTA station. 29 people in total made contacts, and 5 made contacts on the GOTA station. We welcomed 10 unlicensed people who made contacts, and another 9 operators who have been licensed for less than a year. Those people made a total of 90 contacts! I would say we had a terrific Field Day.

So how did we really do? While our final score still needs to be tabulated and submitted to the ARRL (I’ll report on that next month), NVARC generally doesn’t pay attention to the score. We setup working stations, showed what we can do to the public, got unlicensed and newly licensed people “on-the-air”, and had a great time. What else is there?

I’ve recognized some people already, but I’ll attempt to recognize everyone who contributed. I apologize if I leave anyone out.
Zack, KC1VUY, Field Day Chairman / Porta Potty Steward
John, KK1X, and Bruce, K1BG – HF Station Captains
Les, N1SV, VHF/UHF Station Captain
John, K1JEB, GOTA Captain
Ed, KA6PNL, Satellite Station
Jim, N8VIM, Generator, Power, and Networking
Don, N1NWE, and Jim, AB1WQ, Educational Activity
John, KK1X, Chicken Dinner, Cold Drinks, etc.
Leo, K1LK, Public Gathering Area – Special thanks to Leo.
And whoever contributed baked goods, donuts, coffee, etc.
Volunteers! People who helped set-up and take-down. Antennas, tents, electrical cabling and outlets, CAT-5 for internet, etc., etc.

Paula Terrasi and Chris Razzaboni from Pepperell Conservation, who helped with permits and mowing.

Thank you everyone.   See you for Field Day 2027!

here

Interesting article about ChatGPT, Field Day report, and revisiting the 49:1 unun.

Please accept my apologies for the late notice.

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club’s June meeting is TONIGHT, Thursday, June 18th, at the Pepperell Community Center. We’ll start socializing at 7:00 PM, with the main meeting kicking off at 7:30 PM.

At June’s meeting, we’ll talk about club plans for ARRL Field Day, which will take place on June 27 and 28. Bruce, K1BG, will talk introduce Field Day to the club’s new and newer hams with “What is Field Day” and he will discuss the HF CW station design and capabilities. Les, N1SV, will talk about the NVARC “Ugly Filters” and how they improve our field day efforts. We’ll talk about the Field Day site, stations, antennas, etc. And we’ll be there to answer any and all questions about Field Day and how YOU can participate, help and most of all, have a great time.

Field Day is NVARC’s largest activity of the year. We take the opportunity to gather, operate, mentor, enjoy each other’s company, and show the public what Amateur Radio and NVARC has to offer.

We look forward to having members and guests participate!

If you have any questions, contact Bruce, K1BG, at 978-772-2773 or bruce.blain@charter.net.

Join us June 27–28 at Heald Street Orchard in Pepperell MA for ARRL Field Day, amateur radio’s biggest annual event, a nationwide, off-the-grid communications exercise that brings together thousands of hams across the U.S. for 24 hours of radio, resilience, community, and FUN.

First held in 1933, Field Day is part emergency drill, part outdoor adventure, and part contest, testing our ability to deploy radios and antennas anywhere, anytime, using backup power when traditional systems go down.

Radio signals travel across the country and around the world, even when the internet and cell towers can’t.

This year, we’ll be operating from the high ground at Heald Street Orchard in Pepperell, MA, transforming an open meadow into a temporary, self-sufficient communications hub.

Whether you’re here to operate, learn, or just check out what ham radio is all about, you’ll find hands-on STEM demos, a GOTA tent for unlicensed visitors.

Stations you’ll find on-site:
1 Phone (voice) station
1 CW / Digital (Morse code and Digital Communications) station
1 VHF / UHF / Satellite station
1 GOTA station (Get On The Air – for guests and newcomers, no license required!)
STEM & Educational Activities

Throughout the weekend we’ll be offering hands-on demonstrations and informal talks on:

Radio frequency (RF) science – how we create and transmit signals
Signal propagation – how signals travel across terrain and around the world
Antenna design – the physics and strategy behind getting on the air
Digital modes & software – decoding, sending, and logging radio traffic
Emergency preparedness – how amateur radio keeps working when the grid goes down

Whether you’re into amateur radio, electronics, emergency planning, software, or just good old-fashioned tinkering, there’s something to learn (and try out!) at Field Day.
YOU are invited! Feel free to bring family members and friends!

When: June 27th and 28th. Radio operations from 2 PM Saturday through 2 PM Sunday.  Setup after 9 AM Saturday

Where:  Heald Street Orchard in Pepperell.  Entrance adjacent to 119 Heald Street.

For more information, contact Bruce Blain at K1BG.bruce@gmail.com