Acorns

Sitting here in Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam NH playing POTA. I am on a soft sked with a ham in AZ who is looking for New Hampshire. I’m readily available and always willing to play radio. Plus I was already in the area delivering bread to my sister.

Today I’m using my IC-7300 at 25 watts. My 10A fuses don’t support 50 watts. Ask me how I know…

If you sit in the forest long enough in September, you will get bonked with an acorn.

I’m terribly surprised at the very small difference between running 5 watts and 25 watts. I’m using a delta loop antenna today on 20 and the performance at 25 watts is barely better than 5 watts into a hamstick on my car’s roof. The littlest bit of scrutiny will disabuse anyone of the notion that this is a scientific opinion. But as the Elmers say, “Any antenna is better than no antenna”.

That said, above is the propagation pattern (20 m) over the past 15 minutes. The antenna is very close to the N-S plane.

 

 

Field Day 2025

Sorry I didn’t get this posted sooner. Right before things kicked off I got kind of busy and posting from my phone isn’t that much fun…

 

Field Day Cookies

Cookie production is in full swing as Field Day 2025 approaches.

The Newsletter Editor has a surprise article from the antipodes that will be appearing in the July Signal.

While NVARC does not hold club meetings in July and August, the newsletter remains in production. (Oh, and I’m always looking for content. Always.)

John, KK1X

Amateur Radio Classes – Update

NVARC’s recent classes have finished – and resulted in a number of new licensees, including –

KC1VSF – Thea
KC1VSQ – Mary
KC1VTD – John
KC1VUA – Neil
KC1VVX – Adam
KC1WNE – Frank
KC1WNU – Patrick

Thank you to Bruce – K1BG, Les – N1SV, and Bob – N1DVC for leading the classes.

More classes are planned for the fall.  Keep an eye out for future announcements.

—————————————————————————————

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club (NVARC) is offering a free amateur
radio licensing course beginning on March 10th. The course will prepare
students for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Technician
licensing exam that will be offered at the completion of the course. The
Technician level radio operator’s license is the first of three amateur
licenses offered by the FCC. Each license has increased levels of operator
privileges.

The course consists of twice weekly sessions, beginning on March 10th, and
meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays for four weeks. The course will be held at
the Grady Research building, 323 West Main St., in Ayer. Sessions will start
at 7PM and last for 2 hours. An FCC license exam will be scheduled for the
end of the sessions. The course is free, but there will be an FCC required
$15 testing fee if you take the exam. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 5th
edition, will be the study guide used for the class. A limited number of
study guides may be purchased from the instructor for $30 or online from the
American Radio Relay League (ARRL) or Amazon.

This course is open to all, there are no age limits. Pre-registration is
required, no walk-ins will be allowed. To register you must contact the
instructor, Bruce Blain at (508) 341-5124 or via email at
bruce.blain@charter.net.

The FCC Technician license exam covers basic regulations, operating
practices and electronic theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications.
The FCC exam consists of 35 multiple choice questions, chosen from a
published list. The FCC no longer requires Morse code proficiency for an
amateur radio license. This Technician licensing course is ideal for
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members to quickly get their radio
operator’s license.

The NVARC has resources available to help new hams with equipment selection,
set-up and getting on the air. There are handheld radios available for as
little as $30 that will economically get you on the air and talking to other
hams in your area.

Club meetings are currently being held at 7:30PM, on the third Thursday of
each month, see the club website or contact bruce.blain(at)charter.net for club
meeting details (on-line or in-person).

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club has been meeting in Pepperell MA for
30 years. It is an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) affiliated club that
provides amateur radio training, licensing, and community service to
communities surrounding Pepperell and Groton, MA.