Are you looking for a practical way to use your amateur radio skills
while supporting the community?
At the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA), we provide amateur
radio support for half marathons in and around Cape Ann throughout the year
(roughly one/month, March through December). We are looking for volunteers to
join us in our race support activities. You do not need to be a member of CAARA
to participate!
Events are on Saturday or Sunday mornings, with a typical race start
time of either 8am or 9am. Radio operators are on site about 30 minutes
before the race starts, and are generally finished up around noon. For most
races we like to have six checkpoints on the course, plus a lead and
tail vehicle.
Volunteering for these activities is a great way to get started with
amateur radio public service. You get a chance to experiment with field
operation of your equipment, you get to interact with other radio
amateurs, and you get to support the runners participating in these
events. We can pair you with an experienced volunteer, and we can
provide you with a radio if you don't own one of your own. You can
volunteer for a single event or you can become a regular member of our
volunteer team.
We have available positions in all of our upcoming races. You can find
the schedule of events at https://sites.google.com/view/caararaces; take
a look, pick an unstaffed checkpoint location, and email Kevin Lyons
K1KL at kevinlyonsk1kl@gmail.com if you would like to participate.
Via https://ema.arrl.org/2026/03/29/volunteers-needed-2026-groton-road-race-may-3-2026/:
The Groton Road Race Committee has again requested the assistance of the
Amateur Radio community for the Race on May 3. The Amateur Radio community
have been providing situational awareness, health and safety communication
for this event for over three decades. The course circles Groton Hill,
starting and ending at the Groton Hill Music Center as in 2025. This will be
the fourth year the Race has followed this course.
The planned event schedule this year is similar to last year; the two main
races start shortly after 10am. The communications support that we provide
is expected to start around 9:00AM and we should be done shortly after
1:00PM.
The Groton Road Race continues to be a major event for Amateur Radio in North
Central Massachusetts. For those of you who have joined them in previous
years know that the runners sincerely appreciate the Ham presence; many say
so as they run past. This event is so large that Police Departments and
other public safety organizations from several communities come to assist the
Groton PD. Part of the volunteers role is to provide backup communications
from the Groton Police to these out-of-town officers who come to help with
this event.
Contributing to the public good is one of the reasons Amateur Radio exists.
Public service events are a key opportunity for us to show our colors,
volunteer our skills and equipment, and demonstrate why it is in the public’s
interest to continue to allocate precious RF spectrum to our the Amateur
Radio Service. The Groton Road Race is a low-stress event and a great way to
gain more experience with the public service aspect of amateur radio. If you
would like to join the event, please contact Ralph, KD1SM.
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. I'm hoping that over time that Bay State Radio can be become a useful source of information for members of the amateur radio community in and around Boston. Whereas many club web sites focus on the activities of the club, my goal is to try to act as a clearing house for information spanning clubs and other organizations, making it easier to find out about interesting events, nets you hadn't heard of before, and opportunities to get together with other radio amateurs.
