18 May

Volunteers Needed For Triathlon – Saturday, July 5th

2008-05-18SCMARG is looking for volunteers to help with the Patriot Triathlon 2008.   This event is scheduled for Saturday, July 5th and is based out of Cathedral Camp in Freetown, MA.  Amateur radio operators are needed to monitor racers along a 1.2 mile swim, 58 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run.  The event lasts a large portion of the day from about 7am until 5pm.  All volunteers will receive a race tee-shirt and a free catered meal.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Antone D. Duarte, Jr., N1XRS.  Both SCMARG and the Acushnet EMA were contacted by Eric Averill (director of the event) and will be jointly participating.  Whether you are interested in volunteering for a portion of the day or full the full event, your participation is appreciated.

  • Find out more about this event by visiting the official Patriot Triathlon web site.
09 May

FCC Looks to Raise Vanity Call Sign Fees

2008-05-09The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM) on May 8 seeking to raise fees for Amateur Radio vanity call signs.  Currently, a vanity call sign costs $11.70 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $12.30 for 10 years, an increase of $.60.  The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program.  The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new term.

30 Oct

Hollingsworth to Stay Put at FCC

2007-10-30The ARRL reports that Riley Hollingsworth, Special Counsel for the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, has decided not to retire; he had announced last week that he would leave the FCC in January 2008.  “After spending the entire weekend thinking about the decision [to retire], it became more and more clear to me that it just isn’t the right decision for me right now.  There are several issues on the table that I want to continue to work through with the amateur community.”

The Enforcement Bureau is the primary organizational unit within the Federal Communications Commission that is responsible for enforcement of provisions of the Communications Act, the Commission’s rules, Commission orders and terms and conditions of station authorizations, as well as enforcement of Amateur Radio rules (Part 97).

24 Oct

FCC’s Riley Hollingsworth to Retire

2007-10-24Riley Hollingsworth, Special Counsel in the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, announced his retirement this week, effective Friday, January 3, 2008.  While his successor has not been named, Hollingsworth was quick to point out that the FCC’s Amateur Radio enforcement program will continue.

Hollingsworth told the ARRL: “After about a year of thinking about the ‘if not now, when?’ question, I decided to retire January 3.  I love working for the FCC and I’ve always had great jobs, but this one involving the Amateur Radio Service has been the most fun and I have enjoyed every day of it.”

01 Oct

October SCMARG Dinner Meet

2007-10-01SCMARG schedules informal monthly gatherings called Dinner Meets.  These meets are at a different restaurant each month as determined by the members present at the prior meet.  Our next SCMARG dinner meet will be held on Friday, October 12th, 2007, 7:00pm at Davy’s Locker, 1480 East Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, MA.  No formal agenda is planned.  Both members and guests are welcome to attend.  We hope to see you there!

10 Sep

Rest In Peace 443.800

2007-09-10For the past several months, the ARRL has been working closely with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to mitigate interference caused by amateur repeaters to the PAVE PAWS radar system at Otis AFB on Cape Cod.  Dan Henderson, N1ND of the ARRL sent notifications to several 440 MHz repeater owners (including SCMARG) on Wednesday, September 5th informing each owner how much signal reduction needed to be seen in order to eliminate the interference.

For SCMARG’s 443.800 Dartmouth Repeater, it meant running the repeater with less than one watt.  Due to this finding, SCMARG has made the a decision not to return the repeater to the air.  Richard J. Cabral, W1RJC, primary trustee of the former repeater, will be selling the system.

30 Aug

September SCMARG Dinner Meet

2007-08-30SCMARG schedules informal monthly gatherings called Dinner Meets.  These meets are at a different restaurant each month as determined by the members present at the prior meet.  Our next SCMARG dinner meet will be held on Friday, September 14th, 2007, 7:00pm at Friendly’s, 307 State Road, Dartmouth, MA.  No formal agenda is planned.  Both members and guests are welcome to attend.  We hope to see you there!

07 Aug

Volunteers Needed For Triathlon – Sunday, August 26th

2007-08-07SCMARG is looking for volunteers to help with the Cranberry County Triathlon 2007.  This event is scheduled for Sunday, August 26st and is based out of Ted Williams Camp on MA Route 18 in Lakeville, MA.  Amateur radio operators are needed to monitor racers along a 24.9 mile bike course and a 6.2 mile run.  After the event, there will be a fabulous barbecue, plus a DJ and live music.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Antone D. Duarte, N1XRS by email or by calling him at (508) 889-1174.  Both SCMARG and the Acushnet EMA were contacted by Eric Averill (director of the event) and will be jointly participating.

25 Jul

August SCMARG Dinner Meet

2007-07-25SCMARG schedules informal monthly gatherings called Dinner Meets.  These meets are at a different restaurant each month as determined by the members present at the prior meet.  Our next SCMARG dinner meet will be held on Friday, August 10th, 7:00pm at Mike’s Restaurant, 390 Huttleston Avenue, Fairhaven, MA.  They specialize in Italian, seafood and prime rib.  Both members and guests are welcome to attend.  We hope to see you there!

05 Jul

July SCMARG Dinner Meet

2007-07-05SCMARG schedules informal monthly gatherings called Dinner Meets.  These meets are at a different restaurant each month as determined by the members present at the prior meet.  Our next SCMARG dinner meet will be held on Friday, July 13th, 2007, 7:00pm at Friendly Pizza & Seafood, 216 Russells Mills Road, Dartmouth, MA.  No formal agenda is planned.  Both members and guests are welcome to attend.  We hope to see you there!