Scanning the Airwaves

Note: This was supposed to be published in the November issue of The SPARC, the Boston Amateur Radio Club newsletter, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, it was never published, so here it is for the first time in print!  It was a busy public service month for me. First off was MassJam 2023, the multi-state scout jamboree that is held every five years at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth. While the communication staff was made up of entirely of hams, the event did not use amateur radio for its operation as obviously, while there are hams in Scouting, not everyone is a ham and therefore, commercial band radio was a must for the event. Using radios provided by DC Rentals (who seem to provide the commercial radios for practically every large event in Boston) MassJam got underway. Net control was a 24/7 operation with shifts scheduled in blocks and food for the net controllers was cooked on site. Despite some hiccups, the event itself was mostly successful, including exodus ...

 Yes, I know. It's been a while since I posted, just under a year. Unfortunately, as we all know, 2020 is not a normal year.  Aside from attending the amateur radio training session for the 2020 Boston Marathon, the Marathon was delayed until September and ultimately cancelled and replaced with a virtual event. The same goes for the 2020 Head of the Charles Regatta.  I was planning on going to my first Hamvention , but that too was cancelled. As was the May and October editions of NEAR-Fest . My last hope for some ham action was the Northeast HamXposition , but alas, it was also cancelled. As have all the monthly MIT Fleas for the year. It's not all bad though, we've still had NSRA meetings via Zoom and continued them into summer, which usually is a break period for the club. Also, there have been virtual ham expos and fests online, such as the QSO Today Ham Expo and the HamXposition is going virtual too. I just recently got back from a 3 month work deployment on Na...

On Saturday, October 19th, 2019 and Sunday, October 20th, 2019, I participated as a volunteer in my first ever Head of the Charles Regatta, I visited the Regatta a few years prior to becoming a ham, but this was my first time being there long term. This was the fifty-fifth edition of the Head of the Charles, which first began in 1965. The Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) is the world's largest two day regatta. Outside of the major league team sports and the Boston Marathon, the Head of the Charles is probably one of the biggest sporting events in Boston. To quote rowing coach Susan Saint Sing: Regattas such as the Head of the Charles in Boston and the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia are to the rowing world what the New York Marathon and the Boston Marathon are to running. Myself and two volunteers on a walking team. The job of the amateur radio operators at the HOCR is to be the radio communications for the volunteer first aid teams on shore and on the saf...