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Club Donates Books to Library

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The Great Falls Masonic Amateur Radio Club (GFMARC), KK7MR, in Great Falls, Montana, received a grant from the ARRL Foundation to purchase five library book kits to give to local and rural libraries in Montana. The library book kits contain 11 books dealing with amateur radio and testing guides for all three license classes. Two kits were given to the Great Falls Public Library for their shelves and bookmobile. One kit was given to the Wedsworth Memorial Library, the Fairfield Public Library, and the Arden G. Hill Memorial Library within the Malmstrom Air Force Base.

All the libraries lacked information about amateur radio, and providing the books will allow patrons throughout Montana access to the information. With many libraries in Montana being rural, it is another way to reach more patrons, inspire a small community about becoming licensed to help with emergency communications within their community, or even help a farmer or rancher while out in their fields tending to crops or cattle touch base with their home station or contact emergency services. The ARRL library book kits will provide information and start them on their journey to becoming licensed amateur radio operators.

By GFMARC Public Relations & Media Chair Char Ross, KK7KBM.

2025 Contesting Related Events Dayton Hamvention

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May 14th – Wednesday night
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Dayton Contest University 2025 Registration at the Hope Hotel
7:00 PM Contest Super Suite at the Hope Hotel opens hosted by the Mad River Radio Club (MRRC), Frankford Radio Club (FRC)  North Coast Contesters (NCC), and Kansas City DX Club (KCDXC).
10:00 PM Pizza Party at the Hope Hotel sponsored by Dayton Contest University 2025.   http://www.contestsupersuite.com.

May 15th – Thursday daytime
7:00 AM Dayton Contest University 2025 Registration opens at the Hope Hotel.  Must sign up in advance – http://www.contestuniversity.com.
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Dayton Contest University 2025 at the Hope Hotel.

May 15th – Thursday night
6:00 pm Digital Contest Dinner – at the Hope Hotel in the Mustang Room.  Speaker is Roger Hoffman, N4RR – RTTY Contesting as PJ4R.  Tickets from W0YK
7:00 PM Contest Super Suite at the Hope Hotel hosted by the Mad River Radio Club (MRRC), Frankford Radio Club (FRC) North Coast Contesters (NCC), and Kansas City DX Club (KCDXC).
10:00 PM Pizza Party at the Hope Hotel sponsored by the Society of Midwest Contesters (SMC). http://www.contestsupersuite.com

May 16th – Friday daytime
7:00 AM – First Bus Pickup from the Hope Hotel to the Fairgrounds.  (Bus runs on a continuous loop between the hotel and the fairgrounds).  Friday and Saturday only.
9:15 – 10:35 AM Digital Contest Forum at Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio, Room 4 Moderator:  Ed Muns, W0YK
“ RTTY and FT8 Contest Insights,, Tim Shoppa, N3QE
“Recent Advances in RigSelect Pro, Courtney Krehbiel, KD6X
“The New FT Challenge Contest, Ed Muns, W0YK
“Understanding Log Checking, Ed Muns, W0YK
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM Antenna Forum at Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio, Room 1 Moderator:  Tim Duffy, K3LR.
“Comparison of Short Vertical Arrays for Low Band Receiving” Joel Harrison, W5ZN
“Wideband Wire Antennas” Fred Lass, K2TR
“All Choked up! Feedline Choking Without Suffocating” Greg Ordy, W8WWV
“Solar Cycle 25 Lessons Learned for Amateur Radio” Dr. Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW
5:30 PM – Final Bus Pickup from the Fairgrounds to the Hope Hotel.

May 16th – Friday night
7:00 PM Contest Super Suite at the Hope Hotel hosted by the Mad River Radio Club (MRRC), Frankford Radio Club (FRC) North Coast Contesters (NCC), and Kansas City DX Club (KCDXC).
7:00 PM 34th Annual Top Band Dinner at the Hope Hotel.  Speaker John Crovelli, W2GD.  Tickets in advance from http://www.topbanddinner.com.
9:30 PM-11:00 PM – Spurious Emissions Band performing live at the Hope Hotel
11:00 PM Pizza Party at the Hope Hotel sponsored by the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC).  http://www.contestsupersuite.com

May 17th – Saturday daytime
7:00 AM – First Bus Pickup from the Hope Hotel to the Fairgrounds.  (Bus runs on a continuous loop between the hotel and the fairgrounds).  Friday and Saturday only.
1:35 PM – 3:50 PM Contest Forum at Hamvention in Xenia, OH, Room 1 Moderator:  Doug Grant, K1DG.
“Great Montana Sweepstakes Shootout of 2024” – Chris Hurlbut, KL9A/KM7W and Pat Barkey, N9RV
“Youth Contesting in Europe” – Jules Benkemoun, F4IEY
“QSO Party Roving in Style” – Chris Knox, KI1P
“Introducing Tina – the N3QE AI op” – Tim Shoppa, N3QE
“Real Time Contesting – HAMSCORE.com” – Victor Androsov, VA2WA and Craig Thompson, K9CT
5:30 PM – Final Bus Pickup from the Fairgrounds to the Hope Hotel.

May 17th – Saturday evening
6:30 PM 31st Annual Dayton Contest Dinner hosted by North Coast Contesters at the Hope Hotel.  Dinner speaker Chris Hurlbut, KL9A.  Space is limited.  Details and tickets in advance are available at http://www.contestdinner.com.
7:00 PM Contest Super Suite at the Hope Hotel hosted by The Mad River Radio Club (MRRC), Frankford Radio Club (FRC) North Coast Contesters (NCC), and Kansas City DX Club (KCDXC).
8:00 PM to 12:00 AM Kansas City DX Club CW Pileup Competition at the Hope Hotel.
10:30 PM Pizza Party at the Hope Hotel sponsored by the Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC).  http://www.contestsupersuite.com

North American SSB Sprint

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The North American SSB Sprint Contest, begins March 23 at 0000 UTC, and concludes at 0359 UTC. The 4-hour contest, on the 80-, 40-, and 20-meter bands, are short, intense competitions which challenge the best operators, while allowing others to sharpen their contesting skills. Operators who have never participated in the sprints before should take a look at the Tips & Tricks section of the website.

For complete rules, visit ssbsprint.com/rules.

ARISS Completes Successful FRAM2Ham Simulation Event Using ISS Radio

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The FRAM2Ham ISS Simulation event was a success, bringing together amateur radio enthusiasts and educators from around the world. Over five days, participants engaged in a simulated transmissions from the ISS Service Module Radio to mirror real-world conditions aboard a Dragon spacecraft, which will be used for the upcoming FRAM2 mission. This provided valuable practice for the FRAM2Ham competition. The event was organized and run by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the ISS). The ham radio community followed the request to withhold image postings until the official reveal date of February 20th. By the end of the event, 1,975 images had been submitted, with nearly half coming from students and educators, highlighting the educational impact of the initiative.

The FRAM2 mission will be the first human spaceflight in polar orbit, flying over the North and South poles. Named after the polar exploration ship Fram, the mission aims to highlight exploration, curiosity, and technological progress. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch four astronauts from Europe and Australia into orbit for 3-5 days, with a targeted launch in spring 2025. The crew consists of mission commander Chun Wang of Malta, vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany, and mission specialist Eric Philips of Australia.

As part of the mission, Rabea Rogge, LB9NJ/KD3AID, will operate the onboard amateur radio system, transmitting SSTV images for a high school and university student competition. These images will also be available to the general public. The FRAM2Ham competition is an experimental radio challenge open to high school and university students, where teams receive SSTV images of three geographical locations transmitted via the onboard ham radio. However, these images will be fragmented and scrambled, requiring participants to piece them together and determine their significance in polar history.

While anyone can receive the images, forming an international team may help solve the puzzle. Participants must correctly identify at least two of the three locations to qualify for prizes, which include QSL cards with space-flown FRAM2 mission stickers. The competition is open to members of educational institutions between the ages of 16-25 years from eligible countries, including Europe (CEPT), the US, Canada, and Australia. The ARISS International team has supported the event by organizing the FRAM2Ham ISS Simulation to help participants develop skills in acquiring images for the competition. For more information, visit the FRAM2HAM website at https://fram2ham.com and the ARISS website at https://ariss.org.

[ANS thanks ARISS and Fram2Ham for the above information]