    Summer / Fall 2016
Volume
6, Issue 2
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EMA - SKYWARN Comm Tests
Windham,
ME
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
WINDHAM,
ME
- During August, the WS1EC and WX1GYX teams came together for
a
pair of communications exercises designed to familiarize volunteers
with the equipment at each station and introduce them to
some station upgrades, including DMR transceivers and digital
mode
capability.
WSSM Members Participate in Beach to Beacon
Cape Elizabeth, ME
by
Frank Krizan K5HS
CAPE
ELIZABETH,
ME - Amateur radio volunteers were drawn from several ham clubs in the
Southern Maine area, including the Wireless Society of Southern Maine,
Portland Amateur Wireless Association, Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club, and others.
Maine QSO
Party is September 24-25
Gorham,
ME
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
SACO,
ME - The 2016 Maine QSO Party is right around the corner! This year's
contest takes place September 24-25 for 24 hours, beginning at 1200 UTC
on the 24th. Be sure to mark your calendars and get your county on the
air!
QSL
Corner
We'll
explore some QSLs from some of this Spring's most popular DXPeditions,
as well as one from fellow club member Walaa Temraz, E41WT, from
Palestine. 
5 GHz - 10 GHz Lunar Transponder Mission
AMSAT North America
Press Release
AMSAT-NA plans 5 GHz - 10 GHz transponders on a spacecraft
expected to launch in September 2018 into lunar orbit. Heimdallr is a
3-axis stabilized 6U Cube Sat with a mass of approximately 8kg.
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2016 Field Day from Wassamki Springs
Scarborough,
ME
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
SCARBOROUGH,
ME - In late June, the WS1SM team participated in their sixth
Field Day from Wassamki Springs Campground, in Scarborough. For the
third consecutive year the team operated as 3A (which is a club
station, on battery power, using 3 transmitters).
Summer Highlights
NEARFest, K1T Special Event, RSGB IOTA Contest, and more!by
Tim
Watson, KB1HNZ
SACO, ME - It's
been a busy summer for all of us, sometimes involving ham radio
activities and sometimes not. Here's what some WSSM members have been
up to lately...
WS1SM Team Activates Portland
Head Light for ILLW
August
20-21, 2016
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
During
the weekend of August 20-21st, the WS1SM team activated Portland Head
Light for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
(ILLW).
ILLW is an annual on-air activity that involves more than 500
lighthouses worldwide.
WSSM Team Activates Acadia for NPOTA
Acadia National Park - NP01
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
On
Saturday, September 10th, WSSM members activated Acadia National
Park celebrating the 100th anniversary of the park's founding
and
the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) program.
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October
13th - from
7PM-9PM at the CCEMA Bunker, 22 High Street, Windham, ME. November
10th - from
7PM-9PM at the CCEMA Bunker, 22 High Street, Windham, ME. December
8th - from
7PM-9PM at the CCEMA Bunker, 22 High Street, Windham, ME.
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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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Myth or Reality?
One of the more interesting radios to be announced at this year's Dayton Hamvention is the DV4mobile,
brought to you by the same manufacturer as the popular DV4mini dongle.
The specs that have been published are impressive to say the least,
touting support for "all digital modes" and "programming from the
cloud," just for starters. Its also capable of operating on 3 bands,
including 2 meters, 220 MHz, and 70cm. Some of the modes that are
supported are C4FM, D-Star, DMRplus, dPMR, P25, NXDN (with a later
software update), voice over LTE, and of course, FM. DV4LTE is a new
voice over LTE mode that connects the radio to a reflector using an LTE
connection.
The LTE modem connects to the CCS7 reflector system, supplying codeplugs in the cloud,
meaning there's no need to program codeplugs anymore. Any changes in
the network, be it on the reflector, repeater, or user side are
instantly updated. Also, using this technology, when no repeaters are
in range, the radio can revert to DV4LTE for reflector connection
(between metropolitan areas). A GPS module provides location data for
APRS and automatic display of repeaters in range. Wireless
Holdings, LLC says the radio can be used as a dual band, dual mode
simplex repeater as well. The radio is fitted with an N connector
for the antenna, an RJ-45 ethernet connector, and an HDMI port to
connect an external display. Although
we've heard of similar radios that offer support for multiple digital
modes, none of them have actually made it to the marketplace, so I have
to be somewhat skeptical till I see one in person, or at least hear one
on the air. A demo model was on display at this year's Dayton
Hamvention, which makes it more promising than most of the others, but
so far its still not for sale yet. An announcement on their website
says it will be available in "the 4th quarter of 2016." We'll wait and
see. The other unknown is the price, although if the DV4mini is any indicator, it should be pretty reasonable. A
DV4mini containing a 70cm data transceiver sells for only $129.00,
while the most advanced, voice capable dongle sells for around $228.00.
That being said, the DV4mobile is a completely differentbeast. In
other news, around the club, its been a busy summer. We've made some
tremendous progress with the station at Cumberland County EMA, and have
tested out most of the new capabilities during a pair of comm tests
with NWS Gray. Our next challenge will be the upcoming SET, which we're
currently developing a plan for. If
the weather cooperates, it'll also be nice to get out for one more SOTA
outing before the end of Fall. If anyone has any ideas for locations,
bring it up at one of the upcoming meetings. Speaking of meetings,
we'll continue to meet at Wassamki Springs Campground until the end of
September, and then switch to the CCEMA bunker on the first Thursday of
October.
73,
Tim Watson
KB1HNZ
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