Technician License Class for Public Safety Personnel

Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA) recently conducted a Technician level amateur radio license class for Public Safety personnel.  The class was held in the training room at Falmouth Fire Headquarters from February 28th through March 2nd. There were 7 students in attendance. 

FARA instructors were Ralph Swenson (N1YHS) and Charlie Bresnahan (K1CB). Five of the students earned their Technician license.  Two students will be retested at a later date.  

License testing was done by members of the FARA VE Team, led by Lee Thomas, NQ1L.  

FARA's VE Team conducts amateur radio license testing on the 2nd Saturday of each month.  See https://www.falara.org/exams-classes/license-exams for complete details.

Congratulations to the new hams!

FARA First Day Breakfast 2025

A good crowd attended the annual FARA First Day Breakfast, which was held at Persey's in Falmouth.  Photo's courtesy of Charlie, K1CB.

Put it on your calendar for next year and join the fun.

FARA Winter Field Day 2025

 

Winter Field Day, https://winterfieldday.org/index.php, was on January 25 and 26, 2025. FARA once again participated using the FARA communications trailer. The trailer was located at the Falmouth Band Shell located in Marina Park, which is next to Falmouth Harbor.

There were two operating positions available. Ralph-N1YHS, Mel-K1ELB, Jeremy-KB1SFS, Henry-K1WCC, and Steve-KC1TMJ operated on Saturday, January 25, for a total of about 5 hours. 98 contacts were made across 3 bands--10, 20, and 40 meters using two end-fed wire antennas. Several FARA members helped with the setup/teardown or visited the site.

Cape Cod Marathon 2024 Comm Support

Cape Cod Marathon Weekend includes a Marathon, a Marathon Relay, a Half Marathon, and a 5km. The Clam Chowdah Challenge is for runners who would like to run both the Marathon and the Half Marathon in the same weekend, for a total of 39.3 miles. The courses run along Vineyard Sound and beautiful coastal roads on the Upper Cape.
Communications support for the races was organized by Barry, KB1TLR.  The FARA Communications Trailer was used as the radio net control point.  On Saturday and Sunday, local amateur radio volunteers operated from 33 positions along the courses, to provide communication support. The wind off the water was brisk at the positions along the water.

A total of 951 runners took part in the full marathon. Another 1,570 runners took part in Saturday’s half-marathon.

Tired runners were assisted, as well as people in serious medical need. On Saturday, one runner suffered a possible heart attack. 911 was called in to assist.  Hopefully, everything turned out well for him. There were also other runners with less serious medical situations that were aided. Sunday was busier, both with tired runner assists and medical assists.
The organizing committee, the runners, their families / friends, and everyone involved with the marathon sends their thanks to the amateur radio volunteers. Once again, amateur radio successfully provided an important public service to the local community. 
List of amateur radio volunteers:  
Barry-KB1TLR, Gerald-KB1NNH, Charlie-KB1CB, Frank-WQ1O, Ralph-N1YHS, Phil-KB1DOS, Henry-K1WCC, Jim-KB1ZJO, Matt-KB1MLP, Gene-KX1C, Scott-KE1CN, Paul-NM1Z, Harold-N1ZTV, Tim-W1TCD, Andy-K7ADA, Mel-K1ELB, Al-N1MF, Randy-K1RCO, Chris-WA1CMR, Irish-KC1TNX, Djjc, Don-KT1OK, hatobet1340, John-KC1SAT, Will-KB1WLY, Steve-KC1TMJ, Doug-N1OEI, Dan-KC1GOQ 

Photos courtesy: John-KC1SAT, Frank-WQ1O, Chris-WA1CMR, CC Marathon FB group, Falmouth Enterprise

FARA FEST 2024 - November 2

 The annual FARA Fest is scheduled for November 2, 2024, 9AM to Noon, at the Upper Cape Regional Vocational Technical School.   

See the FARA Fest Flyer for details:

2024 Falmouth Road Race Support

The 52nd running of the Falmouth Road Race was run under cloudy skies with a light drizzle.   Each year the race draws an international field of Olympians, elite, and recreational runners out to enjoy the iconic 7-mile seaside course.   In 2024, there were more than 11,000 runners in the race.  The Falmouth Road Race was established in 1973 and has become one of the premier running events of the summer season. 

Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA) once again provided communication support for the race.  Barry, KB1TLR coordinated a team of 28 amateur radio operators.  Our mission was to provide communications between the 4 medical facilities, "along the course" operators for situational awareness, and Net Control. We were be co-located with Fire/Rescue and police supervisors for the Race via the S-39 van at Mariner's Point, allowing serious incidents will be immediately reported. This year, we "shadowed" three Race officials to keep them aware of things happening in our sphere.

FARA's communication trailer, with four net control operators, served as net control. The trailer was stationed at the band shell in Falmouth's Marina Park.

Chris Troyanos, Medical Director, said that our radio team did a super job. To quote: "You and your team did a great job this weekend".

The Falmouth Road Race is one of many public events supported by FARA volunteers throughout the year.  The Cape Cod Marathon in early October is next on the schedule.

Thanks to all of the volunteers: Joan-KC1KZ, Charlie-K1CB, Helen-N1HVB, Frank-WQ1O, Marinna-W1FX, Harold-N1ZTV, Paul-K1COD, Al-WW1RF, Doug-N1OEI, Will-KB1WLY, Barbara-N1BOG, Mark-WA1EXA, Henry-K1WCC, Randy-K1CRO, Andy-K7ADA, Don-K1DCA, Richard-KC1TCA, Tim-W1TCD, Brian-N1RHM, Steve-KC1TMJ, Ralph-N1YHS, Jim-KB1ZJO. John-KC1SAT, Rob-K1UI, Chris-WA1CMR, Dave-KC1RZU, Barry-KB1TLR, Gerry-NB1NNH

(Photos courtesy of Chris-WA1CMR, Frank-WQ1O, Harold-N1ZTV, John-KC1SAT, Will-KB1WLY)

Net Control at Band Shell	Finish Line Medical	Finish Line
Chris-WA1CMR & Chris-Medical Director	Net Control	Trailer Operator Station
FARA Communications Trailer	Water Stop 1	Heights Ball Field

Sandwich Fire Disaster Exercise

The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA) communication trailer, along with Chris Ranney-WA1CMR, Jeremy Cadrin-WA1JRC, and Ralph Swenson-N1YHS, participated in an exercise for the Sandwich Fire Department on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. Amateur radio operators from the area also participated. The exercise was designed to simulate an earthquake that damaged the public safety radio infrastructure, causing a communication outage within the town and the surrounding area.

Amateur radio equipment was deployed, using simplex channels in both the 2M and 440 bands.  Communication was tested between the HQ Fire Station on Cotuit Road, and designated areas throughout the town. A Command Center was established, consisting of an operations tent with a portable station and the FARA communication trailer.  A radio equipped vehicle traveled to designated locations, and tested communication with the Command Center. Communication quality was tested on both bands. Where terrain or distance restricted communication, an mobile amateur radio operator, parked at one of the high points in town, relayed the message traffic.  Jeremy-WA1JRC and Dennis-N1RDN manned the mobile vehicles. 

Reliable communication was achieved either directly, or through relays, without the use of repeaters or large towers.  The exercise provided an effective demonstration of amateur radio's capability to be quickly deployed in an emergency, in support of public safety operations within a community. Many of the people present at the exercise were impressed with the professionalism and capabilities of the local amateur radio community..

The FARA communication trailer was showcased to all those present at the exercise, as part of the capabilities that FARA and other local amateur operators can offer for support when requested. 

(Exercise report supplied by Ralph, N1YHS)

(photos courtesy of Chris-WA1CMR and Ralph-N1YHS)

Jerry-N1RXZ, Chris-WA1CMR, Mike-Director of Sandwich CERT	Command Center-tent and FARA trailer	Command Center-tent and FARA trailer