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Most
Wireless Society of Southern Maine meetings include a rountable
dicussion period about the "topic of the night." These can range
from planning a field operation to ham radio basics such as
antenna modelling, dx'ing, operating QRP, digital modes, or even kit
building. As this page gets updated, you'll be able to keep up to date
with the latest topics, and some of the useful info that rises out of
our research, activities, and presentations.
To
learn more about upcoming meeting topics and events, click
here or on the calendar icon in the left column.
April
25th
SKYWARN® Training - 7PM-9PM at the Gorham Recreation Department
The
concept of SKYWARN® was developed in the 1960's as a way to promote a
cooperative effort between the National Weather Service and local
communities. It’s a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained
severe weather spotters across the country. These volunteers help keep
their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports
of severe weather to the National Weather Service.
To
ensure a network of knowledgeable volunteers
and accurate reporting,
those who are interested in becoming spotters are asked to attend a
training session provided by a local office of the National Weather
Service. SKYWARN® training is provided free of charge and
typically covers these areas: -
Basics
of thunderstorm development
-
Fundamentals
of storm structure
-
Identifying
potential severe weather features
-
Information
to report
-
How
to report information
-
Basic
severe weather safety
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April
28th
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The WS1SM
team is planning a Summits on the Air
(SOTA) expedition to Mt. Agamenticus, in York, ME, on April 28th. We'll
be active on VHF and HF. Check the SOTA Watch and DX Summit websites
for frequencies and spots during the event. Operating times are
expected to be between 1200-2100 UTC.
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May
2nd
Join us the evening of Thursday, May 2nd, from
6-9PM as WSSM members teach an Introduction to Ham Radio class at the
Old Orchard Beach High School. The course is designed to introduce
various aspects of the hobby, as well as basic radio theory, and how
students can persue earning their first Amateur Radio License. Preregistration is required. Click here to sign up.
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June
22nd-23rd
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The WS1SM team will participate in their 3rd ARRL
Field Day at Wassamki Springs Campground, on the weekend of June 22-23.
Since 1933, Field Day has been a friendly competition that encourages
hams to operate "in the field," as a way to practice and demonstrate
their ability to provide effective communications without the need of
commercial power or well-equipped home stations.
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| May's
Topic: Using an Oscilloscope in the Ham Shack |
Join
us Thursday, May 9th, as we take a look at how an oscilloscope can
be used in the ham shack. The oscilloscope is a type of electronic test
equipment that allows observation of constantly changing wave forms,
displaying these on a two-dimensional x-y axis. Oscilloscopes are
commonly used to display signal wave forms during trouble shooting
proceedures, and among other things, can help to determine if the
amplifier stages in your rig are operating in a linear manner. Frank
Allen, KA1QW, will talk about his experiences using oscilloscopes in
the shack.
This month's meeting will be held in the "Fish
Bowl" room at the
Gorham Recreation Department, beginning at 7PM.
| April's
Topic: HF Contest Rules |
Join
us Thursday, April 11th, as we'll take a closer look at and revise
rules for a proposed HF contest to be held in the fall. The basic
premise of the contest is to promote amateur activity on the HF bands,
and encourage stations outside of Maine to work as many ham stations as
they can in each of the 16 Maine counties. Multipliers would be
determined by the number of counties worked on each band.
This month's meeting will be held in the "Fish
Bowl" room at the
Gorham Recreation Department, beginning at 7PM.
| March's
Topic: Movie Night |
Join
us Thursday, March 14th, as we'll be watching a film about the famous
FO0AAA DXpedition to Clipperton Island, which took place in the spring
of 2000. Filmed by James Brooks, 9V1YC, it tells the story of the
DXpedition to one of the world's most remote and mysterious islands,
with a chilling history of shipwreck and intrigue.
This movie is
also timely, as it comes while a current Dxpedition to Clipperton
Island is taking place, (the TX5K DXpedition).
The effort that the FO0AAA story chronicles
is similar in many respects.
This month's meeting will be held in the "Fish
Bowl" room at the
Gorham Recreation Department, beginning at 7PM.
| February's
Topic: Project Night |
Join
us Thursday, February 14th, as we'll discuss what we learned during the
2 Meter FM
Simplex Challenge and continue work on our projects, including the CW
oscillators that we began last month. If you've completed yours, then
use this tme to show off what you've made or work on something new. The
meeting will be held in the "Fish Bowl" room at the
Gorham Recreation Department, beginning at 7PM.
| January's
Topic: CW with your HT |
Join
us Thursday, January 10th, as we'll discuss the upcoming 2 Meter FM
Simplex Challenge and begin our next project, which is a simple device
that can be used with any handheld tranceiver to send modulated CW.
It's basically an audio oscillator and keying circuit which acts as an
interface between a cw key and a handheld radio. Click
here to view
detailed instructions. If you're interested in building one,
please contact Tim
Watson
KB1HNZ. A limited number of kits will
be available for $25 - so reserve yours now. The meeting will be held
in the "Fish Bowl" room at the
Gorham Recreation Department, beginning at 7PM.
| December's
Topic: Anderson Power Pole Connectors |
Join us at December's meeting as we'll take a look
at Anderson Powerpole connectors, which have become the standard
quick-disconnect system for many applications, including the medical,
environmental, electronics and telecommunications industries. The lure
of Powerpoles is their ease of use, and their ability to handle high
amperage in a safe and efficient manner. We'll take a look at the tools
required, and the different types available for the radio amateur.
The
meeting will be held at the
Gorham Recreation Department, which is most easily accessed from
Ballpark Road, beginning at 7PM.
There
are literally hundreds
of resources online for the radio amateur, but we've made an effort to
collect links to some
of the best websites in the radio community. Please keep checking,
as we will continue to update this page as new sites are
brought
to our attention.
Download
this FREE e-book: "Understanding LF and HF Propagation"
Wireless
Society of Southern
Maine P.O. Box 174, Scarborough, ME 04074
Contact Us
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