Youth

Members of the Algonquin Amateur Radio Club in Marlborough took time from their busy lives to chat with students at the Hudson High School over AARC’s 440 MHz repeater. The Hudson High School ARC is under new leadership: Lynda Chilton, KC1RWC, the HUD-TV Cable Access TV Director, and Troy Lefebvre, KC1RUC, of the school’s Business and Technology Department.

Outgoing club leader and W1HUD trustee Reed Prior, W1TF, is still involved supporting the new instructors through the transition.

“We had to store the equipment away as we work through the logistics of reconnecting the antenna to new location in the building. We hope to set it back up in the future but we have to discuss it at a later date,” says Lefebvre.

The students use a handheld Baofeng radio to make the contacts with the Algonquin ARC members.

Ken Horton, KA1GFN, the Algonquin ARC’s treasurer and newsletter editor, spoke to three or four students on Friday, December 9, 2022.

“They wanted to know how long I had been in Amateur Radio and how I become interested.”

Ken says one student also asked if he had any suggestions on the best way to learn Morse code.

“Not being a  Morse code person, I couldn’t offer much as far as suggestions other than to practice.”

The students’ questions were not limited strictly to Amateur Radio,” reports KA1GFN.

“They also asked some questions on sports which I came up with the best answers that I could for not being a sports person. They asked which sport I liked watching the most; I don’t really watch sports but if were to watch any, it would be baseball. They asked what baseball team I like watching the best. Being from New England, it would be the Red Sox. I guess, though, the idea was to get them to talk.”

“We run a program that we call ‘Enrichment,'” says Troy Lefebvre. “Each day there is time allocated for academic support or enrichment which are fun topics for students to learn more about. We currently have ham radio enrichment  on Fridays.”

KC1RUC says the ham enrichment topics have included:

• Amateur Radio – Define it, types, licensing, AARC, resources, local events
• Repeaters – Define, local groups, resources, how to set up your transceiver for a repeater (Baofeng), net events
• Echolink – Define it, its uses, demonstration
• Connecting /Conversation- Mainly with members of AARC or Reed  Prior (W1TF)

“It is out hope, based on what we know now and our set up, to continue with the information listed above and expand as Lynda and I learn more. This coming summer, we hope get our General class licenses, revisit the equipment and antenna set up and expand the offering in the fall of 2023.”

Troy says the biggest challenge they face is “continuing to get good numbers for enrichment. They have been going down as of late, but of those that do come they are really interested. I would like to have a solid foundation throughout the year and ideally, have it in place for the fall.”

Hudson High School is a public school enrolling about 950 students in grades 8-12.  It is located in the New England town of Hudson, MA, about 27 miles (43 km) west of Boston.  We offer a broad general education curriculum, including about 155 elective courses to meet widely varying student interests. 

Rusty Moore, K1FVK, writes on the stars-radio list:

The Blue Hill Observatory Wireless Society hosted a successful Jamboree On The Air event at Camp Sayer in the Blue Hills Reservation on Saturday. Club President Steve Hillson, Tom Ulrich, Rusty Moore, Joe Fitzgerald, and John, Bree, Rhys and Tate Aldridge were all present to help. Also present were various law enforcement and security agencies (including MEMA) for a Scouting Explorer career day event.

We had full run of the covered pavilion overlooking the parking lot, and operated three stations: Steve and Rusty on SSB phone, and Tate running FT8. Tom handed out information packets and delivered a terrific introduction to the radio hobby to every group of Scouts as they arrived at the pavilion.

One of the most popular activities among the Scouts was our Morse code set-up consisting of a straight key with practice oscillator, and two wire-connected keys separated by 20 feet so that two Scouts could send code back and forth. John Aldridge and Joe Fitzgerald assisted with their code. The kids loved it.

Rusty kept tabs on the International Space Station and used a handheld Yagi to track the Station on three consecutive passes. Tate guided the antenna on the third pass.

The most memorable contact of the day was made between a young girl named Emily, who was visiting with her family, and PE1OAD/MM aboard a Dutch cargo ship out in the Atlantic! 

George Allison, K1IG, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:

Tom Ulrich, KC1OCY, writes on the Boston Amateur Radio Club mailing list:

I’m working with the Blue Hill Observatory Wireless Society and the local Scout council to organize a JOTA event on October 15 at their base camp in Milton; more info to come soon. I’m hearing word that local troops may be planning their own JOTA events that day as well.

Nico Bezzerides, KC1PNP, writes on the STARS-radio mailing list:

I just saw this (https://public.nrao.edu/news/nrao-receives-ardc-ham-radio-grant/) and I thought this was really cool. There may even be an opportunity for us to partner with this project in order to fulfill their “connection with amateur radio clubs” requirement.

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“Following a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), the National Science Foundation‘s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) will soon launch a two-year project to engage BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ students in learning about the electromagnetic spectrum and the excitement of amateur— also called ham— radio. The new project, Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS), is expected to offer its first student-facing trainings in January 2023.

ARDC selected EMS because of NRAO’s proven track record in supporting underrepresented minority students in the sciences by combining mentoring and instruction from content experts with best practices in equity.

As a part of NRAO’s broader impacts-focused SuperKnova learning platform, EMS will combine the expertise of NRAO staff, amateur radio enthusiasts, and other subject matter experts to develop a scalable and shareable curriculum, introduce students to EMS and radio technologies through hands-on activities, and support students in attaining technical and general class licenses in amateur radio.

Amateur radio provides a hands-on entry point to understanding the radio spectrum and its practical uses, including communications, astronomy, and community emergency infrastructure and response. Early support and engagement with amateur radio has the potential to create pathways for students to a future career or lifelong hobby in the sciences. The $315,123 ARDC grant will allow NRAO to develop and execute the program for two cohorts of students. It will also result in the development of a nine-month EMS curriculum that will be freely available to school groups, community clubs, and educational institutions.

NRAO Director Tony Beasley said, “Amateur radio continues to be incredibly important to the nation and global communications, and NRAO is excited to be working with ARDC to bring a new generation and diverse communities to the field.”

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Nico, KC1PNP