DXCC/Contest Dinnner
Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA
Adrian will recap his recent DXPedition and IARU Contest activities/activations from the Market Reef and Aland Islands.
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Room: Salon A & B
Tech In A Day
Bill Poulin, WZ1L
Bill Poulin, WZ1L, and members of the Cape Ann ARA will once again offer “Tech in a Day” at HamXposition. This program has served the local community in getting newly excited people to become licensed amateurs. The program will conclude with a dedicated Volunteer Exam session. Prospective candidates should purchase the ARRL Technician Class License Manual and read the manual before attending the class. The book can be purchased at Ham Radio Outlet or the ARRL. For questions, contact Bill at (978) 504-9112 (Cell) or email techinaday@caara.net.
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:15 PM
Room: Sudbury Room
Convention Keynote Address: Growing Amateur Radio
Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Bob will begin the opening ceremony with a brief 9/11 memorial. He will then follow with his keynote address.
There is no shortage of new ham radio licensees each year--approximately 30,000. But only a fraction ever become active. Bob will share stories, perspective, and ARRL initiatives intended to develop more active, involved, and engaged radio amateurs.
Time: 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Room: Salon A
New England QRP Forum
Schedule T.B.D.
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:50 PM
Room: Marlborough Room
VE Testing
Bruce Anderson, W1LUS
(No appointment necessary)
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:50 PM
Room: Westborough Room
SKYWARN Refresher
New England ARES Academy
Rob Macedo, KD1CY
For those with Skywarn training, but in need of an update and refresher, Rob will present an overview of the SKYWARN program including a severe weather recap video. He will also discuss the Voice-Over-IP Hurricane Net and its role with WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center.
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Boxborough Room
ARES Bootcamp
New England ARES Academy
Peter Stohrer, K1PJS
Pete will give you all the essential information you need to get started in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®). Pete is a broadcast engineer, NH Section Manager and ASEC, and a former EC.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Southborough Room
Getting Started in Winlink RMS Express
New England ARES Academy
Marcia Forde, KW1U
Winlink Express is a versatile digital messaging tool in most ARES member's "toolboxes." It allows email to be sent and received via HF and VHF radio, but also for digital text messages to be sent between stations directly, and much more.
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Wayland Room
An ISS Crew Contact: Planning, Execution & Learnings Along the Way
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Prepare to blast off for an Amateur Radio experience of a lifetime! The ARISS program provides a way that Amateur Radio operators can work with schools and youth groups to talk to an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) using Amateur Radio. Fred will share all the steps needed to secure, prepare for and perform an ISS contact along with a school or youth group. Topics covered include proposal development to secure a contact, education planning around Amateur Radio and other STEM activities, and preparing and testing an Amateur Radio Ground Station to communicate with the ISS. The talk includes video from actual ISS contacts made between schools and astronauts on the ISS.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Salon A
Fox Hunting
Alan Hicks, KD1D
Alan will present on locating hidden transmitters for hams. He’ll discuss "fox" transmitters and radiolocation methods for fun, radiosport and practical applications. RF fox hunting is fun, provides us with physical and mental exercise and teaches us how to locate sources of interference like repeater trolls, stuck transmitters and unlicensed operation on our ham bands.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Salon B
Emergency Field Power
New England ARES Academy
Scott McCoy, KC1LDI
Electrical engineer Alan Bradford, AE1H will help you make good decisions about how to power your station in the field, or without access to mains power. He will cover batteries, generators, distribution, safety, and more.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Sterling Room
High Altitude Ballooning: Going to the Edge of Space
Max Kendall, W0MXX
Max will introduce high altitude balloons and then describe his experiences in building, launching, and recovering them. (Max is a youth member of the New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society.)
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Duchess Room
AMSAT and Satellite Status
Burns Fisher, WB1FJ
Burns’ presentation will talk about what is currently going on with AMSAT, including the new on-line membership portal and on-line distribution of The AMSAT Journal, as well as the current state of AMSAT satellites and new satellites that we are working on.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Princess Room
JS8Call for EMCOM and QSOs
Aaron Addison, KF1G
Aaron will introduce you to JS8Call--a weak signal mode that leverages the power of FT8 to pull data from below the noise floor and combines it with the ability to have keyboard to keyboard QSOs, powerful directed and stored messages.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Seminar Room
Growing Your Club Through Elmering & New Ham Development
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Fred will share some success stories showing how a focus on Elmering and skills development for experience and new hams can bring new energy and new members to your club. He’ll share programs that have proven successful and use this forum as a place to exchange ideas on Elmering and ham development projects and activities that are working.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Salon A
HF Propagation for EmComm
New England ARES Academy
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB
Anita will present a simplified, non-technical approach to high frequency propagation for emcomm, as well as discussing some practical antennas.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Southborough Room
DMR Without Code Plugs and Hotspots
Bob Greenberg, W2CYK
Bob will share the latest developments from RFinder labs.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Salon B
DXing with DXLab
Dave Bernstein, AA6YQ
Dave will describe the freeware DXLab Suite and its support for DXing.
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:50 PM
Room: Seminar Room
Youth Forum
New England Sci-Tech ARS
What do today’s amateur radio youth care about? Come and find out what’s on the minds of nine youths in this captivating panel discussion.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Duchess Room
Getting Started With Amateur Satellites
Robert Hayes, KB1SWZ
Bob will share tips for the beginner to get started with the “easy” FM satellites.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Princess Room
Right-Sizing ARES
New England ARES Academy
Dave Colter, WA1ZCN
Dave, former NH SEC and original editor for ARRL's ARES training courses, will talk about significant challenges ARES faces in providing communications for our served agencies, and present some ideas on how we can improve.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Sterling Room
ARRL Forum
Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Phil Temples, K9HI
New England Division Director Fred Hopengarten and Vice Director Phil Temples will discuss current affairs at the League’s board followed by a Q&A session. Bring your questions!
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Salon A
Can You Hear Me Now? Update
Joe Reisert, W1JR
Joe will describe how hearing affects ham radio communication, how our hearing works and how to fix it if it needs repair.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Salon B
Practical Portable Radio Operation
Mindy Hull, KM1NDY
With the availability of lightweight lithium batteries, portable operations is an increasingly mainstream and accessible pursuit of the amateur radio hobbyist. The excitement of radio field operations no longer needs to be relegated to official Field Days, with structured "On-the-Air" programs such as the Summits On The Air (SOTA) and Parks On The Air (POTA) providing endless and timeless remote communication opportunities. Portable radio is also where the outdoorist meets the amateur operator, requiring a complementary but different skill set from its participants than that acquired in the home station. Mindy will provide you with the information you need to enjoy this aspect of the hobby.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Duchess Room
Introduction to NanoVNA
Derek Rowell, AK1WI
Derek will explain how the NanoVNA works, what's inside, and how to use it for Amateur Radio applications.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
ARRL Section Manager & Affiliated Club Coordinator Forum
Mike Walters, W8ZY
Mike, W8ZY invites SMs and ACCs to brainstorm on ideas. Mike is the new Manager of Field Services at ARRL Hq.
Time: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Room: Salon A
A Brief History of Amateur Radio and the Women Who Contributed
Jules Hojnowski, KD2FOU
Though fewer in number than the men, women have contributed a great deal to Amateur Radio since the beginning. In this talk, Jules will highlight some of the notable women who found their place in the hobby.
Time: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Room: Salon B
FCC RF Exposure Rules & Compliance
Dan Brown, W1DAN
Dan will discuss the FCC's RF exposure rules, how you check and achieve compliance painlessly.
Time: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
Ten Meters for Technicians
James Surprenant, AB1DQ
With Solar Cycle 25 starting to pick up, the 10 meter band is expected to become a hotspot of DX activity over the next few years. Technicians may be surprised to learn how easy and affordable it is to construct a 10 meter-only HF station to take advantage of their 28.3-28.5 MHz allocation and take part in the DX fun!
Time: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Room: Duchess Room
Introduction to NBEMS
New England ARES Academy
Don Rolph, AB1PH
Don will present the basics you need to get started with NBEMS, the Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System--a staple in every ARES member's "toolbox."
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Wayland Room
YCCC Forum
Ken Caruso, WO1N and Charlie Morrison, N1RR
Following a introduction and club business, some mini-presentations will follow, including:
Tactical Message Handling
New England ARES Academy
Dave Colter, WA1ZCN
Dave will show you how to be an effective verbal communicator. Surveys have shown that nearly all disaster traffic on ham radio is verbal, not written, so it pays to be as proficient as possible.
Time: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Room: Southborough Room
VE Session
Bruce Anderson, W1LUS
(No appointment necessary)
Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Room: Westborough Room
The History and Current Values of Telegraph Keys
Tom Perera, W1TP
The invention of the Electric Telegraph revolutionized communication and led to the development of all forms of digital technology and the internet. Messages that would have taken days or months to deliver could be sent in a fraction of a second. As with all revolutionary technological advances, controversies arose about who was the first to invent this technology. Manufacturing companies competed with each other for the lucrative telegraph key market and military customers demanded specialized technology.
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Salon A
New England Spectrum Management Council Meeting
Bob Demattia, K1IW
New England Spectrum Management is the VHF-UHF frequency coordinator for Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Members and non-members are welcome to attend this annual meeting.
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Salon B
Go Kit Strategies
New England ARES Academy
Steve Davidson, NA1T
Steve will get you started an effective kitting philosophy that gives you the ability to respond with exactly what you need for any given deployment - and not forget any key items! Steve has deep experience and knows the gear (he's a former HRO store manager!)
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Southborough Room
ARESMAT - An Essential ARES Tool
New England ARES Academy
Dave Colter, WA1ZCN
Dave will talk about ARESMAT, ARRL's basic tool for mutual aid responses. In an era with increasing storm hazards and a shrining and aging ARES membership, ARESMAT will become more than an option. Learn how to make it work for your group, and for all the other groups around you.
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Sterling Room
NTS Meet & Greet
Marcia Forde, KW1U
Hosted by Marcia, KW1U, this forum provides an opportunity for NTS folks and anyone interested in message handling to get together, meet face-to-face and exchange information on activities, thoughts and ideas regarding traffic nets and message handling in general.
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Duchess Room
CW Academy
Bruce Blain, K1BG
CW Academy has trained an estimated 5,000 students in the past few years in the art of CW and telegraphy. If you want to learn Morse code, or improving your Morse skills is of interest, this talk is for you!
Time: 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
YL Gathering Sponsored by YLRL & WRONE
Anne Manna, WB1ARU and Barb Irby, KC1KGS
This presentation will be an opportunity for women who are hams, interested in becoming hams, or curious about what women hams do, to learn more and meet one another.
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:50 PM
Room: Duchess Room
Introduction to Spy Radios
Mike Crestohl, W1RC & Tom Perera, W1TP
Join Tom and “Mister Mike” as they present some of the covert “spy radio” equipment used during the Second World War. Actual equipment from their collections will be demonstrated and on display.
Time: 3:00 PM - 3:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
New England ARES Update Forum
ARES leadership from around the New England Division will talk about what's going on in their areas, challenges they face, and solutions they're implementing. The new two-hour format will allow everyone plenty of time for meaningful discussion.
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:50 PM
Room: Southborough Room
Amplitude Modulation
Tim Smith, WA1HLR
A traditional forum at Boxborough/HamXposition for 23 years, Tim will discuss using the AM mode in the hobby today. A lively and entertaining presentation by the dean of AM operation.
Time: 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
ARRL Director Election Candidate Debate
Donald Arthur, K1DCA
Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Room: Seminar Room
Grand Banquet
Phil Erickson, W1PJE
Dr. Erickson will discuss HamSCI’s latest ionospheric science investigations and will also highlight research in his group at MIT’s Haystack Observatory.
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Room: Salon A & B
The World's Greatest Coastal Station
Ed Moxon, K1GGI
A century ago, the early 1920s were a pivotal era in radio as the technology that pioneered wireless communication prior to WW1 gave way to a wave of American inventiveness. Riding the crest of developments, in 1921 the Radio Corporation of America launched ship-to-shore station WCC in Chatham Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. This program recaps the early advances that led RCA to boast that WCC was "The World's Greatest Coastal Station".
Time: 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Room: Princess Room
Around the World with Pico Balloons
Mike Hojnowski, KD2EAT
Pico balloons are designed to reach float altitude in the jet stream, and ideally circumnavigate the globe. The can be aloft for months at a time and can be tracked with either APRS or WSPR. Mike will talk about Pico balloons--how to build and track them.
Time: 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Room: Seminar Room
VE Session
Bruce Anderson, W1LUS
(No appointment necessary)
Time: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Room: Westborough Room
Kite-Launched Antennas for Field Operations
Mike Pittaro, KJ6VCP
Kites are excellent portable antenna supports when paired with the right antenna. Mike will talk about kites, antennas, and how to put them together for QRP and field operations, including practical guidelines for real world situations.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Princess Room
Communications Support for the Department of Defense: How You Can Make a Difference
Tom Kinahan, N1CPE
Tom will introduce the Army and Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio Service (MARS) programs. He'll explain how they are different from the past, and focus on what MARS is today.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Marlborough Room
Modeling with TLW, YW & HFTA
Larry Banks, W1DYJ
Larry has always been interested in understanding antennas. He'll cover the use of three applications: TLW, YW, and HFTA, from the ARRL Antenna Book. Larry will help you to start modeling your own antenna systems.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Seminar Room
Adventures in Home-Brew SDR Design
Derek Rowell, AK1WI
Derek will describe his multi-year project to develop the hardware and software for a stand-alone SDR system using the "Teensy" family of microcontrollers from PJRC. In particular, it uses the Teensy Audio Library structure, hence its name "AudioSDR." The software is now freely available from GitHub.
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Room: Duchess Room
Linux in Your Hamshack
Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ
Learn about the "Andy's Ham Radio Linux" software collection, based on Ubuntu Linux.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Salon A
MARS Members Meeting
Tom Kinahan, N1CPE
Military Auxiliary Radio System meeting for Army and Air Force MARS members only.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Marlborough Room
Eyesight and the Aging Ham or Tinkerer
Adrian Zeffert, AB2IX
As we age our eyesight changes. But there's no need to think you are ready for the rubbish heap, or cannot build an electronics kit, or continue stamp collecting, work on model trains, or see the dials on your HF rig. Adrian will address the natural aging of our eyes and how to correct them with glasses, lenses, magnifiers, eye drops, corrective surgery and lighting.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Seminar Room
JS8Call for EMCOM and QSOs
Aaron Addison, KF1G
Aaron will introduce you to JS8Call--a weak signal mode that leverages the power of FT8 to pull data from below the noise floor and combines it with the ability to have keyboard to keyboard QSOs, powerful directed and stored messages.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Duchess Room
Giant Antennas of the Navy
George Allison, K1IG
George will introduce us to the U.S. Navy's specialized communications systems requiring enormous antennas for receiving and transmitting. The dimensions of these antennas are measured in miles, not meters, and transmitter power is measured in megawatts. Although these antennas are huge, hams will recognize their designs. If you have a few thousand acres of available land, maybe you'd like to build one!
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Princess Room
Cybersecurity for the Radio Amateur
John Tarbox, WA1KLI
With many hams now setting their stations up for remote operation via the internet it is important to take measures to ensure that they are not accessed by unauthorized users or otherwise hacked. John will explore security steps that hams can take.
Time: 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Room: Salon A
APRS Golden Packet
Tim D'Apice, KA1YBS
Tim describes a group of dedicated amateurs who meet up every third Saturday of July along the Appalachian Trail for some ad-hoc portable repeater fun, as they demonstrate the ability of data traveling thousands of miles without the aid of cell phones or even a power grid. Hang on for the ride!
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Salon A
Introduction to the Minuteman Repeater Association
Jason Peardon, W1HFP
Jason will introduce one of New England's largest linked repeater networks, followed by a raffle drawing.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Salon B
Software Defined Radio
Charles Miller, KC1JUO
Ham radio and Software Defined Radios are fundamentally similar and complementary. Charles will present an overview of his ham radio "journey" and include a demonstration using software defined hardware.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Duchess Room
EDUCOMM: Education Through Communication
Joe Fairclough, WB2JKJ
Joe has been involved with the JHC "22 Crew" for forty-one years. He describes how you use Amateur Radio as a teaching tool at a school near you.
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Room: Princess Room
Prize Drawing & Convention Wrap-up
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Room: Salon A