The science field trip to COGNEX Corporation in Natick was well attended and enjoyed by 34 students and 17 adults. We are grateful to the Cognex engineers who gave us tours, arranged demonstrations, and treated us to pizza, ice cream, and a warm welcome!

ONLINE and IN-PERSON Meeting: Tuesdays, 7:00 pm. Come meet at NEST! We often have pizza!

3:00-7:00 - Radio room open; GET CHECKED OUT for the radio room. (Email Bruce and Rusty on GroupsIO first to arrange a time.)

7:00 pm: “NVIS Antennas” by Cory Gibson, W3JL, from DX Engineering.

8:00 pm: RADIO SHOP TALK – Each Tuesday after the regular meeting, join us for Technical Topics and Ham Radio Shop Talk. Hang out and ask any technical questions for discussion.

8:30 pm: ADJOURN

To join the STARS Meeting at 7:00 pm link your computer to https://zoom.us/j/231170127 Pw: STARS, or phone in: +1 929 205 6099, Meeting ID: 231 170 127, Pw: 192621

Opt out? Please don't leave us! Just "Update Profile" at the bottom of this page or send a note to info@nescitech.org. You are currently enrolled for Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS) mailings.

There are families and youth who regularly come to NEST on Friday evenings. Some of them have been interested in amateur radio and have gotten on the air with the help of Bruce N9JBT. Would we be able to sustain a regular "GOTA Fridays" activity with a few volunteers? See Bruce if you can help occasionally.

NEWBS Report and invitation to help put a repeater to the edge of space!

HabGab -- Are you interested in discussing technical planning for the high altitude repeater project? You can either post here, email us (newbsballoons@gmail.com), or post in the NEWBS discord (https://discord.gg/J32g7QBYGT) in the in-person channel. -Seth KC1PZY and Max W0MXX

STARS RADIO LECTURE SERIES

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Tue, Dec 13: “NVIS Antennas” by Cory Gibson, W3JL, from DX Engineering.

Tue, Dec 20: "A Low Power, Single Polarization, 144 MHz, Earth-Moon-Earth Amateur Radio Station" by Dr. William E. Keicher, KC1HTT.

Tue, Jan 3: "Making Ferrite Toroid Baluns" by John Portune, W6NBC.

Tue, Jan 17: “Beyond the Gas Generator – Backup Power Strategy for Amateur Radio in the 21^st Century” by Ria Jairam, N2RJ.

Wed, Jan 18: The "New" FCC RF Exposure Rules: A Practical Methodology by Larry Banks, W1DYJ for MMRA meeting at NEST, 7:30 pm. All members of STARS and WARS are invited to attend. (Hybrid - email Bob just before meeting for the Zoom link)

Tue, Feb 7: “Simple Digital Communication and Other Fun Projects with Handheld Transceivers” by Zhemin "Hisen" Zhang, KD2TAI.

Feb 21, 2023: “All Bands in an HOA: Stealthy Backyard Broadband Delta Loop Antenna” by Corey Ruth, KD3CR.

Tue, March 7: “High Power Magnetic Loop Antennas - Physics, Design, Construction” by Ted Robinson, K1QAR.

License Upgrade Classes! Free for members!

Sun, Jan 8: Start of new round of AE classes, 8 Sundays 6-9 pm, FREE for members of STARS and WARS.

Without our Volunteer Examiners Team, Kayden would not have gotten his perfect score at New England SciTech. We need your help. Join the NE1AR VE Team today!

Tue, December 20: “A Low Power, Single Polarization, 144 MHz, Earth-Moon-Earth Amateur Radio Station: Physics, Engineering, and Operations” by Dr. William E. Keicher, KC1HTT. 

Description: Successful amateur Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communications is the most challenging project that an amateur radio operator can attempt. The goal of this presentation is to give the amateur radio enthusiast an idea of what is required to successfully model, build, and operate a QRP EME station. The KC1HTT 2 meter, QRP EME amateur radio station is described in detail. Included in this presentation are the physics of EME communications, communication system analysis, design, and hardware implementation. In addition, the JT65B communication mode, waveforms, and signal processing are described. Finally, EME operations are reported, including QSO planning, safety considerations, EME support web sites, six successful QSOs, and a signal-to-noise analysis of the QSOs. Plans are discussed for the next generation KC1HTT EME radio station.

Bio: Dr. William E. Keicher, KC1HTT, is a retired research electrical engineer. He worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory from 1975 to 2012 and CBS Laboratories from 1973 to 1975. He served as an officer in the US Army Signal Corps from 1969 to 1977. His research specialties include laser and millimeter wave communications, laser, microwave and millimeter wave radar systems, and infrared and visible imaging systems. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Electrical Engineering Department BSEE (1969), MSEE (1970), Ph.D. EE (1974). Dr. Keicher’s amateur radio interests include HF DX chasing, VHF/UHF satellite communications, and VHF Earth-Moon-Earth communications.

Tue, Jan 3: "Making Ferrite Toroid Baluns" by John Portune, W6NBC.

Description: Few hams have a clue of how to select a toroid and wind it to make a 1:1, 4:1 or 9:1 balun and the well-known radio books can be confusing. This presentation shows the three very easy steps to successful ferrite toroid design with very little math and a free on-line calculator.

Bio: John is a native of Los Angeles, CA and was first licensed in 1965.  He has a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Oregon State University and, before he retired, was a broadcast television engineer and instructor.  John is a ham magazine author and has published more than 25 articles to date in QST.  He is active on HF, VHF, UHF – SSB, FM, digital modes, ham satellites and his other hobbies include steam railroading and pipe organs. John is married to KF6OEB and has three children and 12 grandchildren.  John’s website is www.w6nbc.com

Tue, Feb 7: “Simple Digital Communication and Other Fun Projects with Handheld Transceivers” by Zhemin "Hisen" Zhang, KD2TAI.

Description: Is it possible to send text and images by just dialing on your HT keypads? Have you ever wondered how dial tones work? In this talk, Hisen will discuss a simple protocol to transfer data using your HTs by encoding information, including text, images, or arbitrary files into DTMF tones.  This minimal yet functioning setup serves as an introduction to modern digital communication systems.

Bio: Hisen, officially known as Zhemin Zhang, is the president of W2SZ Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Amateur Radio Club. He is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science dual Computer and Systems Engineering, focusing on digital communication, artificial intelligence, and wireless/IoT security. Learn more about his research and projects at https://www.qrz.com/db/KD2TAI

Volunteer registration for the 2023 Boston Marathon has opened

If you haven't previously volunteered, or have a friend who would like to volunteer, please go directly to the Volunteer Registration page and follow the instructions for new volunteers.

Step by Step Sign Up Guide: 

https://hamradioboston.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002389087-2023-volunteer-registration-step-by-step-guide

• Almost all amateur radio positions are single person assignments. We are not able to group people on a single assignment, but we will try to accommodate which segment you are assigned to in order to allow for similar start/end times.

Don’t delay! Volunteer registration closes on Friday, February 10 at 5:00 PM EST. It would help our planning processes if you could please complete your registration by Friday, January 27.

RADIO ROOM CHECKOUTS AND OPEN HOURS

Do you want to use the radio room during open hours? Get checked out by either Rusty K1FVK or Bruce N9JBT so you can operate unsupervised. Checkouts can be Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat afternoons and certain Sundays by appointment. Email info@nescitech.org.

Radio Room Open Hours generally are Tu-Fr-Sat 3-9 pm, Sat 9am-noon, alternate Sundays 12-5 pm. Late nights by appointment only.

W1STR Worked All States (WAS) Club Effort

The STARS WAS activity is progressing well! Join us as we try to earn a mixed band, mixed mode Worked All States Certificate. We are using the club callsign, W1STR. We are confirming our contacts with QSL cards. Details and QSL cards are in the radio room. All contacts logged in the W1STR station log after 7/5/22 are eligible. Green dots on the laminated US map on the bulletin board signify a contact has been logged, a blue dot is added when a QSL card for that state has been received.

• TECHNICIAN - GENERAL - AMATEUR EXTRA - Morse Code - and more.

GROUPS.IO COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR STARS ACTIVITIES

• You can chose to receive direct emails, or daily/weekly digests.
• Subscribe to the NEST Main group first: main+subscribe@nescitech.groups.io
• Subscribe to STARS group second: stars-radio+subscribe@nescitech.groups.io
• You can send emails to stars-radio@nescitech.groups.io to talk to the group.

Club Repeaters

Please get on the air! Try any time of day. IRLP and ECHOLink enabled - W1STR-R.

Natick UHF: 446.325 PL 146.2 at New England Sci-Tech (linked)

Milton UHF: 449.125 PL 146.2 at Blue Hill Science Center (linked)

Milton VHF: 146.985 PL 88.5 at Blue Hill Science Center (linked)

South Natick UHF: 447.025 PL 146.2 (portable, on air, not linked, can be used for events)

Hopkinton UHF: 448.025 PL 88.5 (off air, newly acquired, needs new location)

Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society

16 Tech Circle, Natick MA 01760

508-720-4179 -- info@STARS.radio