All posts by Daniel Pooler

I became interested in HAM radio after attending Teacher Space Camp in the summer of 2017. Since that experience I have worked with the Nashua Area Radio Society to bring the HAB to my school and to get an ARISS contact in the fall of 2018. I now hold an Amatuer Extra license and look forward to getting more into the hobby.
Featured, General, Newsletter, Space, Youth Activities

Hudson Memorial School ARISS Crew Contact Transcript

Transcript of Hudson Memorial School ARISS Contact

Hudson Memorial School held our ARISS Crew Contact with Astronaut Serena Aunon Chancellor on Friday, December 7th. Here’s a transcript of our student’s questions and Serena’s answers.

  1. How do astronauts train and prepare before going into space?
    • “Good question, actually, so what occurs is about 2 years prior to the flight, and even more before that when you first come into the astronaut corps, we do a lot of training on space station systems, using a robotic arm, and even doing space walks and then we learn about all the experiments right before we go into orbit.”
  2. Do you have regular physical check-ups and or vaccinations to stay healthy in space?
    • “Yes we do, actually, it’s probably the most extensive physical check-up you’ll ever have and we get more vaccinations than anybody else will ever have.  Our physical exams every year last about two days! Probably doesn’t compare much to the one hour you guys spend at the doctor’s office, but they try to keep us really healthy before we come up here.”
  3. To help us understand the scale of the ISS can you compare it to the size of something on Earth?
    • “It’s actually really big, the modules themselves are about the size of a 5 bedroom house, and then the truss itself is the length of a football field so I can work almost all day in one module and not see the rest of the crew for that day at one time – it’s that big. So we definitely don’t feel cramped up here.”
  4. What does it feel like exiting the atmosphere?
    • “It’s amazing. When our rockets lit and we knew those engines were going, we knew we were going somewhere really, really quickly, and it was the most amazing feeling to feel that thrust, take that rocket off and last about 8 1/2 minutes before we reached orbit
  5. Looking down from space what landmarks and countries do you wish you could visit?
    • “Honestly one of the most beautiful continents I’ve been able to view from up here really well is Africa. Crossing over the Sahara desert causes this lead glow that we see throughout the space station. Someplace I haven’t been to and would love to go visit.”
  6. With space being mostly blackness and stars, what is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in space?
    • “Honestly, it’s the Aurora, seeing the Northern Lights.  The green, the pink, the purple…those lights are alive. They are dancing around and you could stare at them for a good 15-20 minutes and never, ever get tired of watching them.”
  7. How long have you been a licensed Amateur Radio Operator and do you use your license for any other communications besides ARISS?
    • “I’ve been a licensed radio operator now for probably about a year and a half in preparation for this space flight and I’ve only had the chance to use it up here in the space station and I’ve really enjoyed doing that, including just making random contacts across the United States and other countries and so I’m hoping to get to continue that after the mission.”
  8. What is your daily routine?
    • “So we work about 12 hours a day. We get up about 6:30 in the morning, start work at 7:30 and end work at 7:30 at night.  During that time period, we have about 1 meal. We spend about 2 ½  hours exercising to keep our bones and muscles strong.  We spend a lot of time with maintenance of space station systems.  We also do experiments.  We did some experiments this past week looking at Parkinson’s Disease and trying to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease by growing protein crystals up here.  Every day is different.  That’s the best thing.”
  9. Is sleep more comfortable in space than on Earth?
    • “Honestly, I sleep very, very well up here. I slept in till about 10:30 this morning, which is very nice because it’s very dark inside your crew quarters.  It’s very quiet.  It’s about the size of a phone booth.  Our little crew quarters is like our little bedroom.  But I sleep really well up here.”
  10. We learned there are 16 sunrises and sunsets in one day in space.  About how long does it take you to adjust to the time switch?
    • “There are a lot of sunrises and sunsets every day up here. We don’t feel it. I feel like my body follows a normal clock. We operate on GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, which is like London Time, and at night, once 9 or 10 rolls around, we all get tired. Although the station sees all the sunrises and sunsets, we aren’t necessarily looking out the window and seeing all of that every time.  I will say it is one of the most beautiful things that we get to view up here from the space station.”
  11. What is the best part about living on the ISS?
    • “That’s easy and that is floating everywhere.  Float to get up, float to go to work, float to go exercise…everywhere we go, we can turn somersaults.  We can flip.  It almost becomes very natural, like this is how the body should always be moving.”
  12. Do you ever regret your decision to leave Earth?
    •  “No, absolutely not, because the chance to get to see Earth from this vantage point has been amazing and the opportunities up here have been amazing. I worked really hard and a really long time to get here. I actually don’t regret it.  I believe you need to go through life not regretting anything at all because it makes you who you are.”
  13. What is the most commonly occurring error on the ISS?
    •  “Honestly it’s an error caused by humans. So we follow procedures very tightly, but if one day you’re a little more tired than the next and you don’t read things closely and pay attention to all the details, you can easily make a mistake.  The systems run pretty well, but it’s usually the humans running the systems that can make the errors. So we always try to be very careful with all our procedures.”
  14. What will be the first signs of the ISS finally expiring and what procedures will take place at this point?
    • “Honestly, I don’t know that we’ll see those signs.  The ISS is staying pretty elevated. We perform a lot of daily maintenance and upkeep on a majority of those systems, so we don’t see that from up here. I think the ISS would last a long time, but at some point, we need to push towards going to the moon and Mars, which we’re preparing for right now. So as far as what would actually happen to the ISS, I think that remains to be seen. Could parts of it still be used? I think so but people are still making those decisions.”

The students of Hudson Memorial School would like to thank you for talking to us today.

Dan, AC1EN

Featured, General, Newsletter, Space, Youth Activities

Hudson Memorial School Preparations for the ARISS Contact

Things are now moving full speed as ahead as we quickly close in on our Amateur Radio contact with the International Space Station.  While preparing for this contact began over a year ago the rush is now on to complete the last pieces required to create a successful contact.  Teachers and students from grades 5 – 8 are working through space and radio curriculum applications, preparing questions for the astronauts, and excitedly waiting to hear about our official ISS contact time.

Preparation for the contact began over a year ago with the ARISS application process.  This is the process which brought my school and me into the amazing world of Amateur Radio.  The application asked us to prove that we provided several opportunities for our students to access curriculum centered around the concepts of radio and space sciences.  In our application, I was able to include that our 6th-grade science curriculum covered space, our 8th-grade science curriculum covered radio communications, we annually hold an Astronomy and STEM night for all students, and our 7th-grade team already provided a skype contact with a NASA Engineer after their Science Fiction unit.  We have since included new opportunities for students to access space and radio sciences by participating in a High Altitude Balloon launch, planting seeds that were brought to the International Space Station, visiting the Boston Museum of Science for the special exhibit on space and the international space station, building rovers and participating in an egg drop, having our pre-engineering program work on solutions for the ISS, and building amateur radio into our annual STEM nights.

One of the best parts of working toward this contact has been the relationship that has been forged with the Nashua Area Radio Society.  The application suggested that we reach out and partner with a local radio club.  I believe we lucked out being located just across the bridge from NARS and that there are so many members dedicated to helping students discover Amateur Radio.  Without this relationship, this contact would never have been possible.  This relationship provided us with the ability to expose students to Amateur Radio through a comprehensive curriculum with the High-Altitude Balloon Launch, chances for students to get on the air at our annual STEM night and through our hosting of their ARRL Field Day activities.  We have also been able to work to provide student amateur radio licensing in our first school licensing course and our new school radio club.

In just the past few weeks preparation has accelerated as we near our possible contact dates.  Students and teachers from the 5th through 8th grade worked on questions to ask the astronauts.  Staff was provided with previously asked questions and links to NASA and ISS research.  In just a few short weeks questions rolled in from the students at all levels.  Teachers that teach ELA, Social Studies, Math, Science, PLTW, and 5th grade were invested in helping students developing thoughtful questions.  In the end, we had a stack of over 300 questions to chose from.  Students questions ranged from inquiries about science experiments to how the ISS provides clean air for the astronauts to breath.  It was an incredibly difficult process to narrow down the questions to twenty-three and then to select the fourteen students that would ask questions.  One might ask why we only went with fourteen students.  The answer is simply that with a ten-minute contact window, we wanted to make sure that every student asking questions would get a chance to talk to the astronauts before the end of the contact.  While there are twenty-three prepared questions that include entries from other anonymous students, we wanted to make sure every direct participant had this once in a lifetime experience and did not get left out because the pass ends before they asked their question.

Along with questions, we have had to provide a story about our local school to the ARISS people as a bio of our school population.  We are working now on a media press release that will be sent to WMUR, Hudson Cable Television, the Nashua Telegraph, and the Hudson Litchfield News as soon as we have our final contact date.  We are working with the students that are selected to go over how to ask their questions, what the set-up will look like on the day of the contact, and how close to the microphone they need to be to make sure their question is heard.  We are also working on how and what additional programming we will present to the school during the week of the contact and during the thirty minutes before the preparation.

It still amazes me how much our staff and students have learned about amateur radio and the ISS in just one year.  I know that I myself have grown immensely in my knowledge and understanding of a hobby and interest that I knew nothing about just two summers ago.  My one hope for my students after this contact is that we inspire more students to take an interest in science, space, the ISS, and amateur radio.   Who knows, maybe someday we will be contacting someone in space who sat in our auditorium during our ARISS contact.

A sincere thank you to everyone at the school and members of the Nashua Area Radio Society that are working so hard to make sure that our students get to experience this once in a lifetime event.  Your efforts are noticed and greatly appreciated.

Dan, AC1EN

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

My Week at the ARRL Teacher Institute on Wireless Technology

My Week at the ARRL Teacher Institute TI-1 in Newington, Connecticut

Being new to Amateur Radio I had no idea what to expect when I signed up for the ARRL Teacher Institute on Wireless Technology.  I only assumed that my week would be filled with radio communications and how to bring the concepts behind the radio sciences to the classroom.  What I got was a room full of new educator friends, connections were made to names and faces at ARRL, and a week of first class instruction on basic electronics and wireless technologies that I could bring back to my local radio club and students in the classroom.

Dan arriving at ARRL Headquarters
Dan arriving at ARRL Headquarters

From the first morning arrival at the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Headquarters I was embraced with kind greetings, welcoming faces, and an energy of excitement from the ARRL staff.  Upon entering the conference room at Headquarters where our instruction would occur we were greeted by a pile of resources that we would use over the course of the week.  For a novice in electronics and a newbie in the amateur radio world, the scene was quite overwhelming.

The first morning began with our instructor, Tommy Gober (N5DUX), introducing himself and others at the ARRL.  We were introduced to the two members of the education department Kris Bickell (K1BIC) and Ally Riedel (KM3ALF) who were responsible for putting together the impressive week of professional development.  I learned that of the other ten participants, five were also licensed in Amateur Radio and by the end of the week we would welcome two more participants to the ranks.  According to the Institute this may have been the highest number of participants that were licensed Amateurs in the Institute’s history.

By midway through the first day of the institute we were already delving deep into the educational context for wireless technology, basic electronics, and soldering.  While I had some experience in these areas with my work in Amateur Radio and my experience at Space Camp the summer prior, this was just as exciting as experiencing it for the first time.  We opened our new Breadboard, connecting a circuit filled with wires, resistors, and LEDs, to help us understand the functions of our new Multimeter.  By the end of day one we opened our ARRL designed clock kits to accomplish our first task.  We were tasked with putting together the components of the clock from a kit and soldering the back of each piece.  This was supposed to become homework, but all participants were so excited to be working on this project that we all stayed at ARRL an extra two hours that night to complete our clocks.  The next morning, we were able to put the finishing touches of the base on the clock and plug them in to see that they worked.

On day two, we opened our new Picoscopes and began to play around with two different circuit boards designed to allow us to see the various waves that occur and how they can be manipulated.  The Picoscopes being digital allowed us to download a program to our laptops quickly for a great interface to our new Oscilloscopes.   Day two also allowed us to take a tour of ARRL headquarters where we met members of the VEC department, walked through publishing, and the QSL bureau.  The tour continued through a museum of radio history and ended in station W1AW.

Day three begin with the introduction of the Arduino boards and the Bo-Bot Shield Robot build.  If things were not already exciting, this is where the excitement in the participants and staff at ARRL became amped up.  Participants followed instructions to build their bots from scratch.  Once robots were built, Tommy Gober, led participants with the use of their Picoscopes through making the proper electronic connections on their bot’s breadboard.  For this day, participants also downloaded the Arduino software onto their computers to begin to learn the C++ code that would allow them to progress to advance operations of their robots in the coming days.  By the end of day three, all participants’ heads were whirling from the extensive knowledge they had gained in the advanced instruction of coding they had in just a short time period.

Day four and five concentrated more on the coding of the robots and the science behind infrared remote controllers that would ultimately allow us to drive our robots with a Sony TV remote.  Teachers learned to program the Arduino to display numeric digits 0 through 9 in progression, learned how to get their robots to move forward, backward, turn left, and turn right, program their robots with several lines of code to run a maze, and then learned to program the robots to be able to avoid obstacles through the use of LED sensors and other sensors like those used to collect data for APRS packets.  By the end of day five the participants were able to circle their robots together in the lobby of ARRL and have Tommy use one Sony remote to orchestrate the robots doing the Hokey Pokey.

One other exciting event occurred on day four that needs to be mentioned because of how special it was to the participants.  The teachers of the institute could go into station W1AW to operate the various radio stations.  Participants operated W1AW on 20 and 17 meters as well as, digital modes and Echolink stations.  Many participants were able to make connections with people from the local radio clubs.  Participants were able to ask Joe Carcia(NJ1Q), the W1AW station manager all the questions that came to their heads.  A few of us were able to take a handheld radio to the parking lot and use the 2-meter band and our own call signs to contact W1AW.  By doing this we would be in the station logs and be guaranteed a QSL card from the station.

This is all of the materials I received when attending this institute. I was able to select 8 books from the ARRL catalog, a digital Picoscope, an Arduino Bo-Bot, a multimeter, several sensors, a clock kit, and several circuit kits.
This is all of the materials I received when attending this institute. I was able to select 8 books from the ARRL catalog, a digital Picoscope, an Arduino Bo-Bot, a multimeter, several sensors, a clock kit, and several circuit kits.
The particpants and instructor for the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology in Newington, CT
The particpants and instructor for the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology in Newington, CT                                       By the end of this educationally inspiring week I had a greater appreciation for all that Amateur Radio and wireless technology had to offer me and my classroom.  I cannot wait to take some of the knowledge and bountiful resources I have gained this week and put great activities it into place in my curriculum and in my STEM club that engage and excite students.  I also look forward to the possibility of being able to continue my education next summer at TI-2.   Thank you to the instructor, Tommy Gober for sharing all his knowledge, to Ally and Kris for putting their hard work into continuing to offer this great institute to further the radio sciences for our youth, and to the other members of my TI-1 cohort.  I not only extended my network of learners to people from various other areas of the US, but I have made new lifelong friends.   I know above all else, this week would not be possible without the generosity of ARRL members across the nation.  I want to personally thank those ARRL members who see the value in providing these great opportunities for educators.  It is because of the great generosity that we will continue to inspire students to pursue careers in the STEM field and grow Amateur Radio use among younger generations. 

Dan (AC1EN)

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide