   
July / August
2014
Volume 4, Issue 4
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Seguin Island Expedition
2014 RSGB IOTA
Contest
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
SEGUIN ISLAND,
ME - The
Wireless Society of Southern Maine ventured to Seguin Island, on July
26th, to take part in the RSBG IOTA Contest. The 16 member team, which
included 11-year-old Willie KC1AKU, and Stefania YO9GJY, who visited
from Romania, operated from multiple stations that were setup near the lighthouse.
Join
us for the 2014 Maine QSO Party!
September 27-28
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
The 2014
edition of the Maine QSO Party takes place
September 27, from 1200 UTC and continues for 24 hours. Maine stations
are encouraged to take part and, if possible, consider going mobile or
activating a rare county. Last year we had worldwide participation and
awarded national winners from as far away as Australia, Germany, and
Romania. Join the fun! For more info, and complete rules, click here.
QSL
Corner
Here's
a QSL
card received recently by YO9GJY, for QSOs on 10m, 15m, and 17m. The
special call sign commemorates Latvia's capital city of Riga as being
named the European Capital of
Culture for 2014.
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WS1SM
Team Activates West Quoddy Head Light for ILLW
Lubec, ME
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
LUBEC,
ME - On August 16-17, WSSM members ventured to Lubec, Maine to activate
West Quoddy Head Light for this year's International Lighthouse and
Lightship Weekend. This year's ILLW saw more than 500 lighthouses in
almost 90 counties participate.
VE9/WS1SM Activates Head Harbor Lighthouse
Campobello Island, NB
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
WILSON BEACH,
NB - During the afternoon of August 17th, members of the WS1SM team
crossed the border into Canada to activate East Quoddy Head Light, on
the northern most point of Campobello Island. Despite fending off a few
rain showers, we were able to operate HF and VHF as VE9/WS1SM, to
become the first to activate this popular lighthouse.
Celebrating the Dawn of Mass Global
Communication
RSGB Press Release - Used by
Permission
LONDON, U.K. - After some false starts, on October 18, 1924, two-way
radio communication was finally established between Frank Bell, call
sign 4AA, a sheep farmer in South Island, New Zealand, and Cecil
Goyder, call sign 2SZ, operating
from Mill Hill School in North London.
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September
11th - from
7PM-9PM at Wassamki Springs Campground
October
9th - from
7PM-9PM at Wassamki Springs Campground
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Check
out the ads on page 2 to view items for sale, upcoming hamfests,
announcements, and wanted items.
The Wireless Society of Southern Maine would like to welcome the following new members: Carlos DeLima KC1CJH, and Orion DeLima KC1CJG of Saco, Jordan Tebbs KC1CJI of Cumberland Center, and Ryan Blankenship KC1BUN, of North Waterboro!
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From the Editor's Desk
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Short Waves and Summer Fun
Its
hard to believe that August is almost over, and our summer expeditions
are behind us. But looking back, we made some great memories over the
last few weeks!
Our
first outing since Field Day brought us to Seguin Island, where we
setup to operate during the RSGB IOTA contest. We packed up all our
gear aboard a boat which left from Fort Popham, and unloaded by way of
an inflatable dinghy on a small beach on the island. From here, we
packed our things on a tram that carried it by rail up the steep
incline to the lighthouse, as we hiked along a trail to meet it
at the top. Once there, we spread out and setup a pair of HF stations
and one for 2 meters. The 2 meter contacts wouldn't count for points in
the contest, but it gave lots of local hams the opportunity to work us
and collect the special QSL.
Despite
fighthing poor conditions on HF, we made a respectable number of QSOs
and to make it even more special, we were joined by YO9GJY, who's first
impressions of Maine included a boat ride, amateur radio, and an
up-close encounter with a lighthouse! We were also joined by our
youngest member, Willie KC1AKU, who had fun operating radio and hiking
the various island trails with his dad, Bill NG1P.
This
past weekend, the WS1SM team was at it again - this time activating one
of the most famous lighthouses in Maine - West Quoddy Head Light, for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW). Our special event was in high demand, and we made close to 200 QSOs during the weekend!
Before
leaving for home, 3 team members, including Ryan Michaelson KB1YTR,
Thom Watson W1WMG, and myself, drove to the northernmost point of
Campobello in New Brunswick, Canada, to become the first to activate
East Quoddy Head Light for ILLW. We operated as VE9/WS1SM until heavy rain
forced us to breakdown late in the afternoon.
Before
I close, I'd like to congratulate everyone who earned or upgraded their
licenses at our most recent VE session, on July 31st. New licensees
include: Carlos DeLima KC1CJH and his son, Orion KC1CJG, of Saco, as
well as Jordan Tebbs KC1CJI, of Cumberland Center, who all earned their
Technician licenses. Stefania Chiruta KC1CJJ, earned her Technician and
passed her General exam! - and Ronello Vaughn, KC1AOT, of Denmark, passed his General and Extra exams! Best of luck in your future amateur radio endeavors, and hope to meet you all on the air soon!
Wishing you
happy contesting, good DX, and lots of late summer fun!
73,
Tim Watson
KB1HNZ
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