Program

Come to the NTS Meet and Greet, hosted by veteran traffic handler Marcia Forde, KW1U, and meet with traffic handlers throughout New England and beyond at 2 PM in Northborough/W7 on Saturday, August 23, 2025.

“We welcome seasoned traffic handlers and those just curious what it is all about,” writes Marcia. “Get questions answered here, exchange information, share stories, and perhaps pick up a tip or two. Questions about NTS 2.0? We’ll try to have answers for that, too.”

Marcia Forde KW1U, is Section Traffic Manager for Eastern and Western Mass and Rhode Island. She’sheld various leadership positions in NTS over the past 40+ years, including section CW net manager, Eastern Area net manager, TCC Director and Eastern Area Staff Chair. 

Doug Grant, K1DG, writes on the YCCC list:

Attention W1/2/3 and VE1/2/3 contesters!

David Ring, Jr., N1EA, will talk will be about being a radio officer in the United States Merchant Marine and about commercial radiotelegraphy. He’ll describe the famous SOS in which he was involved in 1980—the fire and abandoning of passenger cruise ship MS Prinsendam. The Prinsendam was on fire and burning out of control when James N. Pfister, NS1L, and David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA, both Radio Officers on the USA flagged ‘super-tanker’ Williamsburgh (Call Sign WGOA), picked up her SOS.

David Ring was first licensed in 1965 as WA1DRS, upgraded to Amateur Extra in 1967 to avoid the necessity of relearning all the subdivisions, obtained secondary call N1EA in 1978, and when the FCC dropped secondary call sign assignments, kept N1EA. He holds FCC First Class Radiotelegraph, and First Class Radio Telephone Licenses and worked in broadcast and at Marine Coast Stations. He also holds a U.S. Coast Guard license as Radio Officer, and sailed from 1980 until 1993 as a Merchant Marine Radio Officer. He also worked at maritime coast station WSC in West Creek, NJ and at various broadcast stations in the Boston, MA area.  In 1988, Jim Pfister and David Ring were awarded the VWOA “Marconi Gold Medal” for their work during this rescue. 

Interested in 3D printing? This presentation will go over some of the history, different types of 3D printing, typical process, applications for the radio amateur radio, and suggestions to start from. (Saturday, August 23 at 11 AM) 

Jeff Bail, NT1K, has been involved in amateur radio for 30 years and has a background in engineering and CNC machine operations. He has been involved in the 3D printing hobby for over 10 years and has helped many others get started. 

Join Brian Horne, N1BAM, a self-proclaimed POTA “addict,” as he discusses steps to have a successful (and fun) first activation—signing up with the website, finding parks, different setups, and logging options. There are a lot of ways to Parks On The Air, from quick hit mobile to group setups. Brian will talk about multifunction scalable setups and how to carry only what you need when you need it. 

Blockchain is a relatively recent technology. In addition to cryptocurrency, it can be used for timestamping, distributed data logging, cybersecurity, EW and communication proliferation. Join John Schwarz, KE2EAQ, as he presents on this fascinating technology at the Northeast HamXposition, 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 23, 2025.

John “Randy” Schwarz ,KE2EAQ, is a computer scientist and electronic hobbyist whose interest in blockchain technology led him into being a community leader running multiple technical meetups and classes over the past decade in New York City and worldwide. His current role is leading the New York City Bitcoin Association where the focus has been on using this technology to create verifiable chains of redundant data that is incorruptible and provable. He has made proof of concept systems for sensors, iot and other data streams.

He also organizes the Space DAO which is a community group of scientists and futurists working on drone defense, launch technologies and electronic warfare.  

Attend the “CW Academy” presentation by Bruce Blain, K1BG, about “CW Academy” on August 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM at HamX.

Sponsored by CW Ops, this highly successful program has trained thousands of students in the art of CW and telegraphy. If learning Morse code or improving your Morse skills is of interest, this talk is for you! 

We are excited once again to have organizations from around New England bringing their EmComm trailers and vans to the 2025 HamXposition parking lot to display and provide tours:

Convention attendees will have the opportunity to tour the trailers and bring home ideas for their own trailer build outs!

What inspires today’s youth in the amateur radio hobby? Find out what’s on the minds of our youngest hams in this captivating round-table discussion on Saturday, August 23 at 4 P.M. Moderated by Bob Phinney, K5TEC, this is a great learning opportunity for teachers, scout leaders, or clubs wanting to attract more youth to their local radio clubs.