Sturdy Radio Club

04/17/2025

The New England QSO Party on May 3rd and 4th is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries. You'll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.

Our goal is to get every one of the counties in New England on the air so we hope you will encourage your members to join in the fun! Even if you can join the fun for a couple of hours, we'd appreciate it! Will you be QRV? Let us know with a message to [email protected]

The New England QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep on Saturday night. It runs from 4 pm Saturday until 1 am Sunday, then 9 am Sunday until 8 pm Sunday. Operate on CW, SSB and/or digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters. For each QSO you'll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state. Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who sends in a log with 25 QSOs or more will get a certificate. The goal is to work stations anywhere in the world - and their goal is to work New England stations, so you'll be very popular!

Last year we had logs from 212 New England stations and 516 more logs from around the country and world.

The full rules are here -> https://neqp.org/rules/

The 2024 results were posted last weekend -> https://neqp.org/2024-new-england-qso-party/

It's just under three weeks until the 2024 NEQP. Please make some QSOs even if you don't want to send in a log!

Thanks!

73 Tom/K1KI





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www.neqp.org May 3-4, 2025

Tom Frenaye, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093. c: 860-597-4539 h: 860-668-5444





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Tom Frenaye, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093. c: 860-597-4539 h: 860-668-5444



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10/04/2024

has proved to be critical in areas hit hard by , especially in North and South Carolina, portions of Tennessee, and beyond

For several days, radio communications were the only means of passing information. Ham radio continues to play a significant role in this situation.

📸: Pictured is a visualization of Winlink traffic showing an unusually high amount of activity due to the emergency

READ MORE about how is serving Southeast US recovery efforts➡️ tinyurl.com/cefkce7n

09/22/2024

I accumulated another 700’ of used tower sections and my wife is starting to ask questions! Should I tell her? 😂

09/20/2024

DXE Heavy duty rotor.

09/19/2024

Not a commercial but a reality check

Building Your Dream Station: Why I Recommend Rohn Towers

If you're looking to build your station, I highly recommend using Rohn 55 or 45 towers. I work directly with top distributors like DXE, Green Heron, GXP Antennas, and Flex Radio for remote operations, so I can get whatever you need—and relatively quickly—to start your build.

Here’s something I’ve learned over the years, and others in the installation business can confirm: most hams who put up a crank-up tower do it for two main reasons—lack of space and the intention to work on it themselves. But the truth is, that second reason usually falls through. I’m working on crank-up towers now where the pull cables are 10 years overdue for replacement!

If you’re thinking about building a remote station or upgrading your setup, I highly recommend using Rohn materials. Here’s how it works: you tell me your aspirations, I put together a plan, send you a material list, and we get everything ordered. It’s a smooth, straightforward process, but I understand it might seem overwhelming for the average ham. That’s where we come in.

Here’s what sets us apart from others in this field: we do it differently. Once the antennas are shipped to us, we assemble everything at our office in New York. Then, we transport it to your QTH using our trailer, ensuring everything is ready onsite with all parts accounted for. This way, there's no scrambling for missing pieces on installation day.

With 100's of Radio Echo clients, I’ve seen firsthand how effective this process is—we make sure your dream station, whether remote or in your backyard, becomes a reality.

And just to be clear, this isn’t a sales pitch—I’m not trying to sell you anything! I’m simply giving you a solid option for when the time comes to buy your tower. With the SFI growing, 10M smiling on us, and solar cycles being short-lived, this might be the last great cycle some of us see! So if you're thinking about it, now's the time to act.

Oh, and here's a screenshot showing what a 10' section of Rohn 55 costs these days. Fortunately, we work directly with DX Engineering to get the best possible shipping costs delivered. We buy all of our Rohn products from DXE, and we’ve been doing this for well over a decade. We’re lucky as hams to have them supplying us with top-quality material.

09/13/2024

Excitement Brews as the DX Season Kicks Off!

As the cooler September air rolls in, there’s a special energy in the ham radio community. The temperatures may be dropping, but the bands are heating up with incoming DX signals on HF. This time of year is always my favorite, as hams across the globe scramble to complete last-minute installs and repairs before the winter sets in.

For those of us in the hobby, this is truly an exciting season, made even better by the solar flux index (SFI) reaching levels we haven’t seen in over two decades. This boost in solar activity promises exciting opportunities on the bands, especially with the F2 layer lighting up on 6 meters this winter. From our stack arrays near the ocean, I can already promise that we’ll see some fantastic openings.

Over on 10 meters, the activity is booming, with robust signals on SSB, CW, and the ever-popular FT8 and FT4 modes well before sunrise. It's refreshing to see the activity spread across different modes, thanks to the stellar propagation conditions.

Getting QRV, No Matter the Challenges
If you’re without a station or struggling with restrictions (looking at you, HOA communities), that’s where we come in! With our cutting-edge remote technology, powered by state-of-the-art software and world-class locations, we can get you QRV (On the air) today—assuming you’ve got that FCC license in hand.

For those looking to install a tower or needing help getting QRV, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ve solved one of the biggest challenges in ham radio— the dreaded (HOA) or tower construction with our expertise.

Living the Dream in Summit, NY
I’ve been living the dream since 2010 —waking up with a hot cup of coffee, sitting by my station at sunrise from anywhere, and hearing those booming signals through the speakers on my PC, tablet and my iPhone. Since building my competitive remote contest station at my QTH in Summit, NY, back in 2010, I’ve poured my heart and soul into this passion. What started as a dream has evolved into something much bigger—RHR (Remote Ham Radio), which today is like the Airbnb or Uber of ham radio, allowing operators across the world to access premium stations remotely.

Although I’ll be spending most of the season building more mega stations for others to enjoy, I’m excited for all the DX and contest activity ahead. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make, knowing that these stations will help so many operators experience this incredible propagation.

So here’s to a fantastic DX and contest season! Whether you’re working the bands from your own station or tapping into one of ours, I wish you the best of luck—and great propagation!

Happy DX’ing from Summit, NY!





Me and my granddaughter Ella on our recent visit to W1/Jonesport!

09/07/2024

Another new scam!! I just got a text message from Mass. EZDRIVE saying I owed an electronic toll of $4.89 if I didn't pay it the late fee would be $48.99. It gave a link to click on to pay the bill. Knowing that my car that doesnt have EZPass in it would never go that far on a Toll road in Ma. I used my PC to check the website which turned out to be non existant. TRUST BUT VERIFY!!!