Category Archives: Education and Training

Education and Training information is for folks looking for help to earn or upgrade their license, learn about Amateur Radio, and get help with Ham Radio questions.

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Youth Activities

NARS Activities at HamXposition 2019

September 17, 2019 Fred Kemmerer 1 Comment

The Nashua Area Radio Society was a major part of the New England HamXposition 2019 @ Boxboro again this year. We added some new things including:

Ham Bootcamp – an activity to help Hams to get on the air
An HT Programming Clinic
An Expanded Kit Building Activity – which included a new antenna kit
Forum Presentations about the ISS Crew Contact we did with Hudson Memorial School and our Road To Becoming Club Of The Year
Updates to our Satellite and HF GOTA Stations and Activities

Amateur Radio Expo Display

HamXposition 2019 — NARS Expo Display and Kit Build

Our Expo display grew a bit this year to include an HT Programming Clinic. We also updated several of our display elements to add more hands-on activities.

In particular, we added information on our training programs and the associated Internet Subscription that we launched earlier this year. We also added video and other content from the ISS Crew Contact that we did with Hudson Memorial School late last year.

More Photos from our Amateur Radio Expo Display

Ham Bootcamp

Our main new activity at HamXposition 2019 was Ham Bootcamp. We had a total of 57 folks join us on Saturday morning for 9a – noon to learn about how to put together a station and get on the air.

Bootcamp consisted of two tracks – one for Techs/Perspective Hams and one for Generals. Both were popular with the group pretty evenly split between the two.

Bootcamp included a number of demonstrations and hands-on activities. The photo above shows Dan, AC1EN and Mackenzie, KE1NZY explaining how to get started with Amateur Radio Satellites. The Tech track included:

How to pick an HT and a simple, effective antenna
How to program your radio
How to get started with EchoLink
How to make a QSO – this activity involved having Bootcampers checking into and participate in a practice chat net using HT’s
How to get started with Fox Hunting and Amateur Radio Satellites

Jamey AC1DC, Anita, AB1QB, Abby AB1BY, and Jerry K1OKD covered how to put together a first HF station as part of the General Track. They built a working HF station at Bootcamp and used it to explain and demonstrate making contacts using SSB, CW, and Digital (FT8). The activities in the General track included:

How to put together a basic HF station for SSB, CW, and Digital (FT8)
How to make a QSO on the HF bands
How to pick a simple HF antenna and put it up safely
Operating portable (gear and antennas) – especially important for Hams in HOA and other antenna restricted situations
How to find and work DX and how to QSL
How to go about learning CW

Jerry K1OKD, Andrea KC1JDX, and Patrick W1YTT handled registration and put together a nice graduation package that was personalized for each Bootcamp participant.

We closed Bootcamp with some information on how to go about earning a license or an upgrade along with a walking tour of the vendor area, our expo display, and our GOTAs. This gave folks a chance to ask some additional questions about gear and Amateur Radio activities that they were interested in.

More Photos from Ham Bootcamp

Kit Building

Our Kit Building activity was popular again this year. We build a total of 34 kits during the weekend. Our mentors help the builders learn to solder and to complete their kits. Our Morse Tutor kit was back again this year and was very popular with our builders.

We added a new kit this year – a 70 cm Ground Plane Antenna. We helped folks assemble the new antenna kit at the show and our mentors helped builder tune up their completed antennas. The new kit was very popular and we’re planning to add a 2m Ground Plane Antenna kit for our next kit build.

More Photos from our Kit Building Activity

GOTA Stations

Our GOTA stations were popular again this year. Our GOTA stations served several purposes including:

A chance for folks to get on the air and make HF and Satellite Contacts
A chance to learn how to build stations and operate them
An opportunity to generate on-air interest in youth outreach via our N1T special event operations

We updated our Satellite GOTA Station to include the new Icom IC-9700 transceiver and a more portable antenna system.

There was lots of interest in Amateur Radio satellites and the computer-controlled ground station that we had at HamXposition.

Our HF GOTA station was also popular and we used it to make most of our contacts as N1T.

Our GOTA stations helped to spark interest in Satellite Operations, DX’ing, and HF in general. We secured the N1T special event call (Youth Outreach at HamXposition 2019) again for use with our GOTA stations. We made a total of 303 contacts as N1T during HamXposition.

More Photos from our GOTA Stations

Forum Presentations

We provided two presentations as part of the Forum Program at HamXposition 2019:

You can view a copy of these presentations via the links above.

Thank You NARS Members!

It would be impossible for us to provide a set of activities as extensive as these without a lot of support from our members. The NARs team at HamXposition 2019 consisted of over 30 volunteers who contributed to planning, preparation, and operation of our activities at HamXposition.

A very big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our contribution to HamXposition a success! Also thanks to Charlie W1CBD and Bob K1OLD, our roving photographers, for all of the great pictures featured in this article!

Additional Photos from HamXposition 2019

Fred, AB1OC

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Space

ARRL Teachers Institute 2: A Week Devoted to Remote Sensing and Satellite Communication

September 10, 2019 Daniel Pooler 2 Comments

For the second year in a row, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the American Radio Relay League Teacher Institute in Newington, Connecticut. This summer I attended TI – 2 from July 8 – 12^th. Thanks to the generous donations of ARRL members, I was afforded the chance to further explore ways in which I can bring Amateur Radio into the classroom.

The second year of Teacher Institute helped me delve further into Remote Sensing and using radio to bring Space into the classroom. Throughout the week, seven other participants and I were offered the chance to operate W1AW, take tours of the ARRL Headquarters, and learn new ways for us to bring HAM radio alive for students.

Over the course of the week, Instructor Matt Severin brought participants through building a remote sensing buoy using an Arduino and sensors that included GPS, Pressure, Altitude, and Temperature. Participants programmed their buoy to relay information through the APRS system. Using a Yaesu FT-60R and 12-volt battery, the buoys were set outside overnight. Each participant’s buoy sent over 20 hours of data through APRS. Participants then copied the data into Excel and created several graphs that showed the change in temperature inside and outside the buoy over the course of time. We were also able to see the health of the battery and other measurements over the course of the same time. I believe one use for my new buoy will allow me to have students utilize local data while studying statistics in mathematics class.

Participants also explored how amateur radio could easily be brought into the classroom through the use of SDR radio. By connecting an SDR to a laptop in conjunction with the program HDSDR I was able to hear local radio stations, the NOAA weather updates, and packets being transmitted through the air.

The item that I found most exciting was the use of our new Arrow Antennas to make satellite contacts. During the course of the week, participants went outside of headquarters several times to attempt contacts through SO – 50, AO 91, and AO-92. Being rather new to ham radio, I found this very challenging as the airways on a good pass are very noisy. I also discovered that I am far too polite to interrupt others. To get over this, myself and another participant took our radio and Arrow antennas back to the hotel and attempted a contact in the early morning. I am pleased to report that I was able to make my first satellite contact on SO-50 at 7:10 am in the morning. Okay, I stand corrected. It was really my second satellite contact since I did get to contact the International Space Station with my students last December.

Another thing I found interesting was using my Arrow and SDR radio to collect data packets from the passing satellites. On one pass AO-91 turned on its picture transmission so that we could attempt to collect the packets. I was able to collect 6 of the packets but did not get a picture. We then looked at the telemetry that we were able to collect from the satellites.

On the last day, we once again used the APRS system. This time we used the MAREA protocol to send commands to the same Arduino robots that we built last year. With a few extra pieces we were able to send our robots’ instructions to move forward, backward, left, and right. The MAREA protocol was a great demonstration of how NASA controls rovers that have been sent to the moon and Mars.

I would like to thank all of those ARRL members whose contributions made these two years of professional development possible. I will remember this forever. It was even more special to me as the first day of this workshop landed on a day that many others dread. I turned 40 on July 8^th. While I was not with my family, I gained a whole new family of educator friends that I know will continue to support each other as we bring Amateur Radio to a whole new generation. Thank you, Ally, Kris, ARRL, and the Nashua Area Radio Club Members who continue to support me through my continued discovery of Amateur Radio.

Dan, AC1EN

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

Training Resources for Internet Subscribers and Members!

September 1, 2019 Anita Kemmerer

We’d like to welcome our Internet Subscribers to the Nashua Area Radio Society:

- Bill, KM6BYD – Santa Rosa, CA
- Stephen, KH6VK – Kailua Kona, HI
- Bill, K8TE – Rio Rancho, NM
- Gary, N1RNJ – Williamstown, VT
- William, W3WTD – Easton, MD
- Mark, N5CBF – Benbrook, TX
- Gary, KD2PYB – Binghamton, NY
- Susan, AI4VV – Huntsville, AL
- Bill, KD8WMJ – North Kingstown, RI
- Tatiana, KM6UVK – San Francisco, CA
- Maximillian, KM6VDK – San Francisco, CA
- Bryce, N4ZJW – Darien, GA
- Joel, W6JKW – Crescent City, CA
- Mark, W8EWH – Novi, MI
- James, K3YMI – Columbia, MD
- Bill, WD9GIU – Peru, IN
- David, KJ7AKG – Puyallup, WA
- Joe, K1VDZ – Cheshire, CT
- Kevin, W9KEG – Peru, IN
- Samuel, KG5FP – Georgetown, TX
- Mike, KI8R – Lancaster, OH
- Daniel, KA1BNO – West Warwick, RI
- Tim, K5TGS – Roanoke, TX
- Dennis, KL7HRO, Two Rivers, AK
- Keith, KI7KEH, Clinton, UT
- Paul, N1HOB, Newalla, OK
- Chris, KC3QFN, Dover, DE
- Barb, KD2UVG, Queens, NY
- Jim, KN4UJW, Fernandina Beach, FL
- Vincent, KD2TMJ, Sandyston, NJ
- Paul, N5SJQ, Everett, WA
- Joe, W2BCC, Cornwall, NH
- Mark KL3MR, Anchorage, AK
- John, KC3QHW, Swoyersville, PA
- Walter, KB0URZ, Washington, DC
- Chuck, KB3JIN, Newtown, PA
- Robert, KN6CPT, San Diego, CA

Thank you for supporting our work to create materials to assist Hams in building their skills and learning new things. We hope that you are enjoying the Amateur Radio learning materials here on our website.

We’d also like to welcome a new partner club, the Barry Amateur Radio Association in Barry County, Michigan. BARA is partnering with us to use our training resources at their meetings.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight the material that is available to you, as an Internet Subscriber, here on n1fd.org. Don’t forget to log in to our website before trying to access these training resources.

Tech Night Training Materials

Our Tech Night Library contains over 100 hours of high-quality training materials on a variety of topics including:

2020 Tech Nights

Simple HF Wire Antennas by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Mountain Topping and Portable Operations by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
All About Antennas II by Spencer Webb, W2SW.
VHF+ Weak Signal Stations Part 1 – Overview and 6 Meters by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
How To Post on n1fd.org by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Field Day From Home by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, Sterling Eanes, AK1K, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC, and Jon Turner, AC1EV
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites (and Progressing to Linear Birds by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC (a special How-To Session for CWA and Friends)
N1MM+ Logger by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Getting Started in EME Communications by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
2020 Project Night by NARS Members
Getting Started in Contesting by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2019 Tech Nights

All About Winter Field Day 2020 by our Winter Field Day Planning Team
Almost Everything You Need to Know About Antenna Fundamentals Part 1 by Spencer Webb, W2SW and Steve Golson, W1SEG
Raspberry Pi for Portable Digital Communications by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
HFTA, Feedline Design and Busting Pileups by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
QSL’ing and Awards by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB
Fox Hunting: Radio Direction Finding for Beginners including a Tape Measure Yagi Build by Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
Surface Mount Technology by Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS
RF Design with Smith Charts, Building a First HF Station, and Begining with CW – Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Anthony Rizzolo, KC1DXL; and Jerry Doty, K1OKD
All About Field Day 2019 by our Field Day Planning Team
Putting up a Tower by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2018 Tech Nights

Operating Your Station Remotely by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Transceiver Frequency Measurement and Calibration by George Allison, K1IG.
DMR Radios and Programming by Bill Barber, NE1B
WSJT-X: FT8, WSPR, MSK144 and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Computers by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC, Brian McCaffrey, W1BP, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Craig Bailey, N1SFT
All About Field Day 2018 by our Field Day Planning Team
Portable Operating Gear – demonstrations by Nashua Area Radio Society Members
K1EL Kits by Steve Elliott, K1EL
Antenna Modeling I by Scott Andersen, NE1RD.
Building and Operating a Mobile HF Station by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

2017 Tech Nights

High-Altitude Balloons: Amateur Radio at the Edge of Space and was presented by our HAB Team.
Getting On The Air 2.0 by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and B. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
All About n1fd.org – Getting the most from our Website by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
Digital Modes: RTTY, PSK, and WSJT-X by Mike Struzik AB1YK , Anita Kemmerer AB1QB, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Bonding and Grounding by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
All About Field Day 2017 by Dave Merchant, K1DLM, and our Field Day Planning Team.
Building and Operating a Satellite Ground Station by Burns Fisher, W2BFJ, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
DXing and QSLing by Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB; Bill Barber, NE1B; Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Dick Powell, WK1J.
Weak Signal VHF and UHF Stations by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO and Bill Barber, NE1B.
Getting the Most from your HF Transceiver and More by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Dave Michaels, N1RF.

2016 Tech Nights

Popular Loggers – Ham Radio Deluxe and DXLab Suite by Dave Merchant, K1DLM, and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
Low-Band Antennas by Dennis Marandos, K1LGQ; Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS; Brian McCaffrey, W1BP; and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC.
RF Simulation and Matching by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
Directional Antennas by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Dave Michaels, N1RF; Brian Smigielski, AB1ZO; and Greg Fuller, W1TEN
All About Field Day 2016 by our Field Day Planning Team.
Surface Mount Soldering and Desoldering, a Hands-On Presentation by Jeff Millar, WA1HCO
Building Your First Station and Getting On The Air by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, and Dave Michaels N1RF
Software-Defined Radios by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and Skip Youngberg, K1NKR
Advanced Repeaters (DMR, EchoLink, DMR, and D-STAR) by Anita Kemmerer; AB1QB, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; and Bill Barber, NE1B
Antenna Modeling with EZNEC by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

Sample Tech Night Video – Putting Up A Tower

Each Tech Night session is recorded and edited in HD video to produce a quality learning experience. The slide presentations that are used as part of our Tech Night sessions are also stored in online archives for your reference.

Online Q&A Forums

As Internet Subscribers, you also have posting access to our most popular Forums to ask questions and receive advice from other Nashua Area Radio Society members. These forums include:

What’s Coming Next?

We have a great lineup of new Tech Night programs coming. You can see what we are planning on our Tech Night Page. We welcome ideas for new Tech Night programs from our Members, Internet Subscribers, and Partner Clubs. Please email us with your suggestions at [email protected].

Interested In Becoming An Internet Subscriber?

We created our Internet Subscription program so that Hams who live outside of New Hampshire and Massachusetts can share in our growing library of training materials and resources. You can learn more about becoming a Nashua Area Radio Society Internet Subscriber here.

Do You Live in New Hampshire or Massachusetts?

If you are local to us, you can become a Member of the Nashua Area Radio Society! In addition to all of the programs and training resources that are described here, you can also participate in our local events (ex. Field Days) and meetings. You can learn more about becoming a regular member of the Nashua Area Radio Society here.

Interested In Becoming A Partner Club?

The Nashua Area Radio Society’s mission includes helping Amateurs Worldwide to develop their skills and have fun with Amateur Radio. We have invested a great deal of effort in creating high-quality Amateur Radio Training material that can be used on-line. We’ve also begun working with clubs outside of our area to help them to provide world-class training using the content described here.

We also work with partner clubs on ideas and the development of new program projects that have helped us to grow. If your club is interested in partnering with us on training, membership growth, and/or Ham development, please contact us at [email protected].

Anita, AB1QB
Membership Chairperson