HomeSci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS)

Amateur Radio Club for All Ages

(Quicklink: https://nescitech.org/stars)

The Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS) welcomes radio enthusiasts of all ages from New England and beyond. We meet both in Natick and on-line.

Members include students, parents, mentors, and supportive individuals of all ages.

Tue, Dec 16: "Mapping the Ocean Floor with Multi-beam Sonar in Alaska.” (in-person talk)

Nolan Palmer, KC1IEO, past president of STARS, NOAA Commissioned Officer aboard the NOAA ship Fairweather, currently stationed in waters off the coast of Alaska. Nolan is a resident of Natick and a founding member of NEST and STARS.

Assisting Nolan will be Shannon Fitzgerald, a hydrographic survey technician aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson in the Atlantic Ocean. Shannon is a resident of Boston and daughter of Joe Fitzgerald KM1P.

Please join us at NEST to welcome Nolan and Shannon.

STARS is supported by New England Sci-Tech (NEST) in Natick
and is an affiliated club of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).

STARS NEWS

Join us for Amateur Radio Winter Field Day, Saturday, January 24, 2026
Volunteer for the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026. Registration opens mid-December, closes in February.
Get On The Air (GOTA) at the 2026 ARRL Radio Field Day, June 27-28, 2026
Join us at the Northeast HamXposition in Marlborough, Aug 13-16, 2026.
Read a recent newsletter: April 29, 2025, or Jul 22, 2025, and subscribe!
More Events listed at the bottom of this page...

STARS RESOURCES

Other Amateur Radio Resources here

Amateur Radio FAQ for Parents (downloadable PDF)

Membership – Why Join STARS?

STARS Net Control Script

Document of Organization (downloadable PDF)

STARS Leadership Positions (rev 2024) (downloadable PDF)

Where We Meet

STARS is based at a high-tech STEM education center called New England Sci-Tech (NE SciTech), located at 16 Tech Circle, Natick, MA. The STARS radio room and the maker labs are set up with HF, VHF, and UHF rigs as well as electronics test equipment such as soldering benches, oscilloscopes, antenna analyzer, and spectrum analyzer. NESciTech has a conference room with a kitchenette for meetings and classes, a space science lab for astronomy and space science projects, a multi-purpose classroom, a wood/metal shop with machines for project fabrication, multiple soldering stations, 3D printers, and LASER cutter. NESciTech also has a 4-meter dome inflatable planetarium for astronomy shows on-site and a 5-meter travel planetarium for off-site locations. NE SciTech owns a communications trailer, useful for Field Day and ham conventions. STARS hosts a Metrowest UHF repeater on 446.325 MHz (- offset) PL 146.2Hz with NETS on second Tuesdays of the month, 7:00-7:45 pm. The NETS are also linked through the Minuteman Repeater Association (MMRA) network, so you may be able to find a repeater closer to your home. See our other radio repeaters in the next panel.

Callsign	Location	Output	Input	PL in	PL out	Link	Comment
W1STR	Natick	446.325	441.325	146.2	146.2	NEAR	NE Sci-Tech
NE1AR	Milton	449.125	444.125	146.2	146.2	NEAR	Blue Hills
NE1AR	Milton	146.985	146.385	88.5	88.5	NEAR	Blue Hills
NE1AR	S. Natick	447.025	442.025	146.2	146.2	none	Portable
W1STR	Hopkinton	448.025	443.025	88.5	88.5	none	NE Sci-Tech
EchoLink:	Natick					4942	W1CLA-R
IRLP:	Natick					4942

Meeting Times

STARS meets most Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM both on Zoom and in person at 16 Tech Circle, Natick, MA. Members may come in as early as 3:00 PM to use the radio room. We usually have at least two guest speakers per month on a wide range of topics in radio or other sciences. When we don't have a speaker, we may hold a general meeting, shop talk meeting, or work on projects like communications trailer.

STARS also hosts the Wireless Technology Club (WTC) that gets hands-on with wireless tech, electronics, and radio communications. For paid members only, "WiTech" meets approximately twice a month on Saturday mornings, 10-11:30 AM. We work on antenna builds, soldering kits, RF robotics, competitive fox hunts, long range communication (DX) contests, Morse code, high altitude balloon tracking, encoding and decoding data signals, and more. Both youth (grades 4+) and adults are welcome.

ARRL Affiliated Club

STARS is an affiliated club of the national American Radio Relay League (ARRL). As such, we need at least 50% of STARS members to be ARRL members as well. Please read about all the benefits of an ARRL membership and join ARRL today!

How To Join STARS (two ways)

Just join any New England Sci-Tech membership category, then select Amateur Radio on the Interests Category and you become an active member, or
Sign up just for the yearly STARS membership on the New England Sci-Tech membership page.

Active Membership privileges include use of the amateur radio portion of NE SciTech, attendance at all STARS meetings on Tuesdays, 7:00-8:00 pm, e-mailed newsletters and invitations to club events and activities, and ability to vote and run for STARS offices at the annual meeting. Although there are no age restrictions, it is recommended that children be at least age 10 and that a parent also enroll as a supporting member for youth.

ARRL — One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio

Join or Renew Today! All members will access digital editions of all four ARRL magazines: QST, On the Air, QEX, and NCJ.

The radio room at New England Sci-Tech is shared by STARS, NEAR, and NE SciTech. The radio room and nearby electronics lab are equipped with HF, VHF, and UHF radios, electronics work bench, test equipment, oscilloscope, and antenna analyzer. The room can be used by anyone with a STARS or NEAR membership, or anyone who is a member of New England Sci-Tech.