Police Amateur Radio Team
of Westford, Massachusetts
An ARRL Special Service Club
WB1GOF
Our diverse membership has interests ranging from public service support and community outreach, to radio contesting, equipment construction, radio fox hunting, and more. In fact, it is the diversity of our interests that has kept the club strong and vibrant throughout its 45+ year run.
If you have an interest in ham radio but don't know how to get started, please join us at one of our club meetings. To get on the invitation list for our video-conference club meetings, just join our email group (instructions at the bottom of this page).
Click on the menu tabs at the top of this page to learn more about us.
Club News
At the April club meeting, the membership voted to give free PART membership to full-time students under the age of 25 and newly licensed hams until the end of the year in which they are first licensed. See the Articles of Organization for details.
Congratulations to PART members Bob, W1IS, and Bob, KC1DSQ, for winning the QST Cover Plaque award for March, 2022! Their article “Portable 20-Meter Phased Dipole Beam” was voted the best article by the ARRL membership. This is the second time in less than a year that the two Bobs have won the award; the last time was June 2021 for their article on a 40-6 meter off-center fed dipole. We look forward to seeing these antennas in action at Field Day in June!
The slides for "20 Meter Phased Dipole Wire Beam" given by Bob, W1IS, and Bob, KC1DSQ, at the March club meeting is now in the Club Presentations tab.
Weekly club breakfasts at the Owl Diner in Lowell have returned! The meeting time is now Wednesday morning at 8:00 A.M. Contact Terry, KA8SCP, for details.
Monthly breakfast at Paul's Diner in Westford has resumed! Masks and social distancing are not required. See sidebar to the right for details. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Congratulations to PART member Andy, KB1OIQ, for receiving an award from the SourceForge website. His software collection "Andy's Ham Radio Linux" that he has maintained for ten years has been downloaded 100,000 times! SourceForge has recognized his projects in the areas of Community Leader, Community Choice, Open Source Excellence, and SourceForge Favorite.
Congratulations to PART member Wayne, AG1A, on achieving DXCC on 160 meters (serial # 3,781) and 9-Band DXCC! This is even more remarkable because he made the 160 meter contacts with just 100 watts to an inverted-L antenna.
Annual dues are now being collected. See the information at the bottom this page about payment.
PART has again been recognized by ARRL as a Special Service Club for a term of two years. Designation as a Special Service Club means that PART meets the highest standards of Amateur Radio in areas such as: new ham development and training, public relations, emergency communications, school club support, technical advancement, operating activities, and annual reports. Well done to all PART members!
In anticipation of activating a PART DMR repeater in the next few months, a PART DMR users group has started. You can join it here.
Club Meetings
Every Sunday 8 PM
146.955 (-) pl 74.4
Echolink: WB1GOF-R
Topic: New England Division Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, will present the March 2022 QST Cover Plaque award to Bob, W1IS, and Bob, KC1DSQ, and will give an update on ARRL activities, including the club grant program.
WB1GOF Repeater Status
All repeaters are operational
Echolink is up
Join the WB1GOF D-Star users group here.
Join the WB1GOF DMR users group here.
Please send signal reports to repeater@wb1gof.org
Heavy Weather and Emergencies
For information on SkyWarn, click here.
Upcoming Events
Project Big E is a 17-day amateur radio exhibit to be held at the 2022 Big E from September 16-October 3, 2022 in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Western Massachusetts ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator and Hampden County Radio Association president Larry Krainson, W1AST, is the Project Big E General Chairman.
The Big E, formerly known as The Eastern States Exposition, is billed as “New England’s Great State fair.” It is the largest agricultural event on the eastern seaboard and the sixth-largest fair in the nation. In 2021, the Big E had 1.5 million visitors, and over 1.6 million visitors in 2019. [Wikipedia.org]
Planning for Project Big E is underway. An impressive ham radio booth will showcase the many aspects of modern ham radio, and provide an avenue for people to sign up for information and courses in their local area.
Features proposed for Project Big E will include:
- an EmComm display
- DMR and/or other digital mobile mode demo
- Digital HF modes on a big screen
- A special event station (N1E) with unique QSL cards
- SSB, CW and digital modes
- Demonstrations of portable stations for field operation (i.e., Parks On The Air, Summits On The Air)
- A live ARISS contact
The Northeast HamXposition (a.k.a. ARRL New England Division Convention) organizing committee has confirmed the dates for the 2022 convention: August 26-28, 2022. This year, the New England and Hudson divisions are having a combined convention in Marlborough… it should be a really big show! Tickets are on sale now.
Online License Training & Testing
Several organizations now offer online testing for Amateur Radio license exams. Click on the links to these websites for details:
- New England Sci-Tech
- HamStudy has a listing of sites around America
- MIT Radio Society
- Billerica Amateur Radio Society
Join PART
Annual Dues
Full member: $25.00
Family membership: $30.00
Full-time Student member under 25: Free
Senior member (over 64): $15.00.
Associate member (non-Hams only): $10.00
Subscribe to PART Email
PART Supports These Organizations
The Westford Food Pantry provides services for individuals and families in the local community and surrounding towns with emergency, short and long-term needs for quality fresh and dry foods along with personal care and household items. You can donate food at five drop-box locations in Westford and at the Food Pantry itself. For a location list, go here.
PO BOX 503
Westford, MA 01886
Follow us on social media
