   
Field Day Edition
2014
Volume 4, Issue 3
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4th Annual Field Day at Wassamki Springs Campground
Scarborough, ME
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
SCARBOROUGH,
ME - The
Wireless Society of Southern Maine took part in their 4th ARRL Field
Day on the weekend of June 28-29, at Wassamki Springs Campground in
Scarborough. Operating battery power, the WS1SM team matched their
previous QSO record by the 8th hour, amassing more than 650 QSO's on CW
and another 380 on SSB.
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 W1WMG for a 14 MHz QSO on 6 December 2013.
The photo depicts a rocket on a launch pad at the European Space
Agency, in French Guiana, South America.
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WSSM
Visits National Weather Service in Gray
Weather Balloon
Launch
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
GRAY,
ME - WSSM members visited the Gray office of the National Weather
Service on June 24th for a tour of the facilities and an opportunity to
learn more about the techniques involved with launching a weather
balloon.
WS1SM Team to Operate IOTA from Seguin
Island
July 26, 2014
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
GORHAM,
ME - Join us July
26th as the WS1SM team ventures to Seguin Island to operate an
expedition station during this year's Islands on the Air (IOTA)
contest, sponsored by the RSGB. We'll be active on HF from about
10am-6pm on Saturday.
BARL celebrates FIFA World Cup with Special
Events and Award
2014 FIFA World Cup
- CONTINUES THROUGH JULY
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
 
The Brazilian Amateur Radio League celebrates the FIFA World Cup with
special event stations and the Brazil
Soccer Land Award, for QSOs that take place between 1 June - 30
July.
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August
14th - from
7PM-9PM at Wassamki Springs Campground
September
11th - 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.
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From the Editor's Desk
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Summer on the Air
The
summer season is off to a great start! In early May, we hiked up a
muddy trail to the summit of Pleasant Mountain to activate our first
SOTA of the year.
Despite some rather unpleasant weather, we logged almost 60 QSO's on
both VHF and HF before dodging sleet and heavy rain on the way back
down.
June
brought a field trip to the National Weather Service, in Gray, where we
were given a tour of the facilities and experienced about what goes
into collecting
data, developing a forecast, and launching a weather balloon. The
baloon part was facinating, and the techniques we learned will be
helpful when we launch our own later in the year.
Last
week we took part in our 4th annual Field Day at Wassamki Springs
Campground! We operated 3A, making over 1000 QSOs in total and captured
maximum bonus points! This was truly a team effort. Rick, K1OT spent
the winter outfitting a utility trailer, complete with 40' tower and a
yagi for 40 meters, and assembled a team of excellent CW operators.
Frank, KR1ZAN
setup a station with the sole purpose of contacting satellites, and the
rest of the team concentrated on 160, 20, and 15 meters SSB. To make it
even better, almost everyone who stopped by got a chance to get on the
air and make some QSOs - including some newly licensed and soon-to-be
licensed operators.
In
the coming weeks we'll be venturing to Seguin Island to operate an
expedition station during the IOTA contest, and in mid August we'll be
activating West Quoddy Head Light for International
Lighthouse and
Lightship Weekend. For anyone who's interested in joining us
during any
of our upcoming events, please send me an email, and we'll get you on
the list.
The
next event for many of us on our summer schedules is the IARU HF
Championships, (July 12-13), and the CQ World Wide VHF contest, which
goes off the following weekend (July 19-20). Many members are also
looking forward to the ARRL 100th Anniversary Convention, which is
coming up soon.
Wishing you
happy contesting, good DX, and lots of summer fun!
73,
Tim Watson
KB1HNZ
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