The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
St. Extension, Dalton, died Saturday, March
24, at Berkshire Medical Center. Born in
Freeport, NY on April 9, 1956, son of
Charlotte Rich, he graduated from Bay
Shore High school and obtained his
associates degree from Suffolk College in
New York. He was employed as a computer
programmer for Link to Life for the past 20
years. Previously, he was employed from
Grumman Associates in Long Island, NY.
Mr. Ertl enjoyed computers, electronics and
was an avid ham radio operator. Survivors
besides his mother of Scranton, PA include
two sons Christopher Ertl and John Ertl both
of Dalton, and a daughter April Tarbox of
Dalton. He also leaves a brother Robin Ertl
of Scranton, PA and three grandchildren.
FUNERAL NOTICE: Calling hours will be
at the DWYER FUNERAL HOME, 776
North Street, Pittsfield, today, Tuesday
March 27 from 4 to 7. Burial will be in the
Wellsboro Cemetery in Wellsboro, PA on
Saturday March 31. Calling hours will be on
Saturday March 31 from 12 noon until 2:00
pm at the Tussey Mosher Funeral, Home,
139 Main St. Wellsboro, PA. Please visit
www.dwyerfuneral.com to leave
condolences and remembrances.
KE3HT/ SK
Timothy P. Ertl KE3HT
NoBARC Member Timothy P. Ertl 1956 2012
DALTON Timothy P. Ertl. 55, of 128 Hale
Published in the Berkshire Eagle on March
27, 2012
More Static
I guess that in our daily routines, we never
really stop to think about how much
influence someone we know has on our
lives. In the past few weeks, I’ve reflected
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
back on the time that I knew Tim KE3HT
and the time he spent with us as a Club.
Tim juggled more tasks, professionally,
personally and socially, than anyone I’ve
ever known. He would step up and help in
just about any situation he encountered. He
also managed to do this very well and in a
genuinely enthusiastic way. During a
discussion we were having about him, Betsy
mentioned to me that the times he would
stop by our house, no matter how much he
had on his plate (which was usually full), he
never complained. I explained to her that I
had received multiple suggestions from
people on how we might honor or
memorialize Tim. She turned to me and
said, “I think that the best way you could
honor Tim, is to try to be a little more like
him”. We now have a large void in our lives
and some very big shoes to fill. The Club
has a lot of work ahead of us this year with
Field Day, our Ham Fest and our various
Public Service commitments. I am taking
Betsy’s suggestion as a personal challenge
and encourage all of you to do the same.
Imagine what we and the Club, as a whole,
could accomplish.
73
Rick N1SYN
Issue IV
April 2012
Next Meeting:
April 22nd, 2012 7:00 pm at the
Masonic Hall 116 South St.,
Pittsfield, MA
See http://www.nobarc.org for a map and
directions.
Hamfests
4,5 May Deerfield NH Nearfest XI @FG
Mike K1TWF 978 250 1235
12 May E Greenbush NY EGARA @FD
$6@8 +$6/sp@6
Glenn W2BK 518 482
5584
19 May Goshen CT SoBARC @FG $4@8
Lee K1LEE 860 435 0051 W
20 May Cambridge MA
FLEA at
MIT
Nick 617 253 3776 F
Third Sunday April thru October
2 June Windsor CT VR+C Mus 115 Pierson
LN @8AM Outdoor John 860 673 0518
3 June Bethpage NY LIMARC $6@9
$10/Sp@7
Richard K2KNB 516 694
4937 T+
10 June Queens NY HoSARC @HoS
Stephen WB2KDG 718 898 5599 A
16 June Newington CT NARL @StMarySch
Steve WV1X 860 594 0265
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
16 June Brookline NH
NEAntqRC@EvntCtr$10@7:30$4@8:30$0
@10 Bruce 603 772 7516 W+
17 June Cambridge MA
FLEA at
MIT
Nick 617 253 3776 F
15 July Cambridge MA
FLEA at
MIT
Nick 617 253 3776 F
11 Aug St Albans VT STARC @VFW
$5@8
Arn N1ARN 802 309
0666 F+
12 Aug Adams MA NoBARC @Bowe
Field $5@9 $10/T Rick N1SYN 413684-3398
See http://web.mit.edu/w1gsl/Public/ne-fleas
for more listings.
NoBARC Store
Don’t forget to shop at the NoBARC store. All
items are at cost. There is a huge selection of
things. Here are just a few samples.
Http://www.cafepress/nobarcarc
NoBARC Hamfest 2012
August 12th 2012 is the date for the 41st
annual NoBARC Hamfest. The is thinking we
should do a special event station! What do
you think? Do we have any volunteers? The
news is that he has purchased 4 of the new
Baofeng dual band 2m/440 radios on behalf
of the club! The
first place radios, Wouxun Dual Band radios
will also be purchased this week. 2 are 2m
& 222 and 2 are 2m & 440.
8 Winners! Still only 400 tickets will be sold!
One person in 50 will win! Tickets will
cost$4 each or 3 for $10. Tickets will be
available this month.
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
More info: [email protected]
Samuel F. B. Morse Trivia
Born: April 27, 1791 in Charlestown, MA
Died: April 2, 1872 in New York City
Graduated from Yale
Married twice
7 children
Talented artist
While in Washington he got a message hand
delivered that his wife was ill. By the time
he returned to New Haven, she had died. He
left the art world to pursue the development
of the telegraph.
In 1847 Morse patented the telegraph.
First message: "What hath God wrought"
Statue in Central Park in Manhattan
Photos from Wickipedia.com
1940 postage stamp
Birth place of Morse
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
You can advertise here FREE!
Email the Squelch Tale editor:
[email protected]
Do you have anything to share? Email it to
the NoBARC snail mail address on the back
cover.
If you wish to opt out please email me at the
same email address and do not forget to give
me the email address you are concerned
with.
“Dying Hercules” an early Morse
masterpiece
You can write for the Squelch
Tale
Submissions of ham related articles will be
considered for future issues. If you have a
idea you want to share with the club, write
an article for the newsletter. Send your
submission to [email protected] . Keep
deadlines in mind. I try to get issues out
during the first week of each month so make
your submissions by the 1st of the month.
VE Session
Original Morse Telegraph
Photos from Wickipedia.com
Hello everyone:
Please be advised that we have an exam
session scheduled for this coming Saturday,
April 14th. We will be at the Salvation
Army in Pittsfield.
8:45am for registration.
Exams are at 9:00am.
Please mark on your schedules that there
will have a session on Wednesday, May 9th
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
at 6pm. This session will be at the Great
Barrington Fire Station. It's being held to
test the Technician Level Class that Joel
AB1MH is now running at Fairview
Hospital in Great Barrington, MA.
Please QSL
73
Tom WA1MJE
New England QSO Party
Greetings!
The New England QSO Party is coming in
just one month - the weekend of May 5-6 and we'd sure appreciate it if you would
spread the word within your club through
your newsletter or at the next meeting and
help us to encourage activity from Western
Massachusetts. Last year we had 74
different stations from all Western
Massachusetts counties on the air, and we'd
like to have more activity this year.
The NEQP is a great way to test your
antennas on 80-10 meters and to be the
focus of a lot of activity as stations from
around the world look for Western
Massachusetts stations.
Here is a summary of the New England
QSO Party rules:
Object: To contact as many New
England stations (Connecticut,
Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
in as many New England counties as
Issue IV
April 2012
possible on 80-40-20-15-10m. (New
England stations work anyone)
Date: First full weekend of May.
(May 5-6 in 2012)
Contest Period: 2000Z Saturday
until 0500Z Sunday (4pm EDT
Saturday until 1am EDT Sunday)
and 1300Z Sunday until 2400Z
Sunday (9am EDT Sunday until 8pm
EDT Sunday).
Categories: Single-operator high
power, low power(150w or less) and
QRP(5w or less) categories, plus
multi-operator, single transmitter.
Same four categories for mobiles.
Single-operator stations using
assistance during the contest (packet
or Internet spotting nets, etc.) will
compete in the multi-single category.
Contest Exchange: Send signal
report and state/province (DX
stations send signal report and
"DX"). New England stations send
signal report, county and state.
QSO Points: Count one point per
phone QSO, two points per CW
(includes digital modes)QSO.
Multiplier: Stations outside of New
England use counties as multipliers
for a total of 67 (CT/8 MA/14
ME/16 NH/10 RI/5 VT/14). New
England stations use
states(50)(Count DC as MD),
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
Canadian provinces(14) and
DXCC countries as multipliers.
Scoring: Total score is QSO points
times the multiplier. Mobiles count
QSO points per county and
multipliers from all counties
(counted once).
Massachusetts clubs are challenging each
other for the best club score.
Suggested frequencies: CW - 3540
7035 14040 21040 28040, SSB 3850 7280 14280 21380 28380. **
Now that the broadcast stations are
mostly out of 7125-7200, try 7180
on 40m SSB.**
If you think you might be on for at least a
short time in the NEQP, let us know with a
brief message to us at [email protected]
Reporting: Logs should indicate
times in UTC, bands, modes, calls
and required contest exchange. All
stations include your club's name in
the log header or summary. Entries
must be submitted within 30 days
and sent to NEQP, P.O.Box J, West
Suffield CT 06093 or via e-mail to
[email protected] (Cabrillo format
preferred).
Awards: Certificates will be
awarded to the top scorers (25 QSO
minimum) in each New England
county, U.S. state, Canadian
province and DXCC country. A
number of special plaques will also
be awarded to top scorers.
Additional details can be found on the
NEQP web site at http://www.neqp.org
We're especially looking for mobile stations
to put the rarest counties on the air. In
Western Massachusetts, that's Franklin and
Hampshire.
Thanks!
-- Tom/K1KI for the NEQP Committee
New England QSO Party http://www.neqp.org - May 5-6, 2012
SKYWARN™ Spotter
Training Session
April 25th 1900 - 2100
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
375 Church St., North Adams, MA
MURDOCK HALL ROOM 218
Register Here
See if you can have a competition within
your club for the top scorer. Several
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The Squelch Tale
Northern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club’s Newsletter
Volume XLII
Issue IV
April 2012
Emergency Planning
From time to time Will K1WMB will be
sharing emergency planning information
with the membership. Will is the
Emergency Manager for many of the towns
in southern Berkshire County. Many
documents are large so only the titles and
links will be listed is some cases. Here are a
few good FEMA files to check out.
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyo
uready_full.pdf
http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit
DUES are DUE!
Help support the repeaters and the club!
Send them to:
NoBARC Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 2097
Pittsfield, Ma 01202-2097
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