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, Space, Youth Activities

NARS Youth Expo at Boxboro

September 18, 2018 Fred Kemmerer

The Nashua Area Radio Society put together a very successful Amateur Radio Youth Exposition at the New England Amateur Radio Convention at Boxboro this year.

Boxboro 2018 - Youth Expo Display — Boxboro 2018 – Youth Expo Display

Our Expo featured more than ten high-quality displays and hands-on activities which introduced young people to many aspects of Amateur Radio.

Boxboro 2018 - HF GOTA Coach Jerry K1OKD — Boxboro 2018 – HF GOTA Coach Jerry K1OKD

Our HF GOTA at Boxboro 2018 was a hit with many folks making their first HF contacts with us. We operated AB1OC-AB1QB’s station remotely via the Internet. We secured a the N1T special event callsign for Boxboro and we made over 150 contacts as N1T during the convention.

Boxboro 2018 - Satellite Station Operated by Burns WB1FJ — Boxboro 2018 – Satellite Station Operated by Burns WB1FJ

We also had our transportable satellite station at Boxboro and we made quite a few satellite contacts as N1T as well.

Boxboro 2018 - Space Comms Display — Boxboro 2018 – Space Comms Display

There was lots of interest in satellites between the satellite GOTA station and our Space Communications display.

Boxboro 2018 - Kit Building (Dan AC1EN and Mackenzie KE1NZY) — Boxboro 2018 – Kit Building (Dan AC1EN and Mackenzie KE1NZY)

We added a kit building activity to our Youth Expo at Boxboro and it was a big hit!

Over 40 K1EL Morse Code Tutor kits got built during the weekend with many parents and grandparents building kits along with the kids.

Boxboro 2018 - Karen KC1KBW - BGHS Teacher Building a Kit — Boxboro 2018 – Karen KC1KBW – BGHS Teacher Building a Kit

Some of our High-Altitude Balloon program students and teachers also had fun with the kit building activity.

Boxboro 2018 - Forum Presentation by Dan AC1EN — Boxboro 2018 – Forum Presentation by Dan AC1EN

We did three presentations related to the activities at our Youth Expo in the forums at Boxboro. The most popular one was about the many youth outreach projects that the Nashua Area Radio Society is doing.

Boxboro 2018 - Forum Presentation by Mackenzie KE1NZY and Fred AB1OC — Boxboro 2018 – Forum Presentation by Mackenzie KE1NZY and Fred AB1OC

Dan and Mackenzie Pooler (AC1EN and KE1NZY) helped me with this one and they brought a very valuable perspective on our youth outreach work.

Boxboro 2018 provided lots of great moments and memories for the many members who help with our Expo. Check out the photo memories above to see some more of these.

Boxboro 2018 - NARS Team at Boxboro — Boxboro 2018 – NARS Team at Boxboro

A very special THANK YOU to the many Nashua Area Radio Society members who helped throughout the weekend!

We are planning another Amateur Radio Youth Exposition as part of the New England Tech Trek at NEAR-Fest in October. Don’t miss it and please come out and help us create another great Amateur Radio experience at NEAR-Fest!

Fred, AB1OC

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Youth Activities

Support the Nashua Area Radio Society on Amazon Smile and GoFundMe

August 28, 2018 Fred Kemmerer

The Nashua Area Radio Society has created many projects designed to provide STEM learning experiences and training through Amateur Radio. Some of these projects include:

High-Altitude Balloon Projects in Local Schools
Electronics Kit Building Projects for Young People
Amateur Radio License Training Class scholarships for young people
Amateur Radio Expositions at Hamfests and in public places for Young People
Emergency Communications Training through our Field Day and other activities
Supporting Local Schools with ARISS Crew Contacts and other Amateur Radio activities

To carry out our mission, we have formed close relationships with several local schools. This helps us develop and deliver effective, high-quality programs that bring learning through Amateur Radio to young people.

Dan and his completed Bo-Bot Arduino Shield - ARRL Teacher Institute — Dan Pooler, AC1EN

Dan Pooler, a professional educator at the Hudson Memory School in Hudson, NH writes:

Over the course of the past year, I have found myself the benefactor of the most amazing partnership with the Nashua Area Radio Society. … thanks to the knowledge and generosity of the club members who have dedicated their time to helping others come to know and understand the radio sciences. I have found what makes this dedication even more valuable is the clubs growing outreach to the schools and students of Southern New Hampshire.

You can read more about our partnership with Dan and his school here.

We provide many of these services either free of charge or at a very modest cost. We count on the generosity of our members, friends, and the Amateur Radio community to raise funds to support our work.

We have begun a fundraising campaign to enable us to continue and expand our training projects listed above which provide STEM learning experiences for young people and support for emergency communications readiness. Please consider supporting our work via your GoFundMe donation.

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We are also now on Amazon Smile. Please consider supporting our projects by using Amazon Smile and designating us as your favorite charity there. Click on the badge below to get started supporting our work via Amazon Smile.

It’s easy to help the Nashua Area Radio Society as you shop on Amazon. Here’s a simple set of directions to help you get going.

NARS Amazon Smile - Getting Started — Getting Started Supporting NARS on Amazon Smile

On behalf of the many young people and others that we help, thank you very much for your generosity. With your support, we will continue to work hard to provide learning opportunities for young people through Amateur Radio and to continue to make the Amateur Radio Service the best it can be to benefit everyone.

2018 Summer Tech Class - Amateur Radio Youth Outreach — 2018 Summer Youth Technician License Class

Fred, AB1OC

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Youth Activities

Fall Youth Events at Boxboro and NEAR-Fest

August 22, 2018 Fred Kemmerer 1 Comment

Quite a few Nashua Area Radio Society members have been working on a display to get young people and potential new Hams interested in Amateur Radio.

NETT Youth Events: High Altitude Balloon Display — High Altitude Balloon Display

Our display was first used at NEAR-Fest this spring. It includes over ten high-quality exhibits and hands-on activities related to Amateur Radio and Nashua Area Radio Society licensing, activities, and youth projects. Some of the activities that are part of the display include:

A Shortwave Radio Station that folks can use to talk to Hams all over the world
A computer controlled Satellite Ground Station that folks can use to make a contact through a Satellite in Space
A Display about High-Altitude Balloons that carry radio transmitters to the edge of space
Keys and activities to try out sending and receiving Morse Code
Building Ham Radio Gear using Kits and Computers
A GoKit for Amateur Radio Emergency Communications that folks can try
Gear for locating Hidden Radio Transmitters (Fox Hunting)
And much more!

We’ve created a new page here on n1fd.org that explains more about our Amateur Radio Displays for Young People. Check it out!

Our Youth Event Display — Our Youth Outreach Event Display

We also provided our display as part of a youth summer program a the Westford Public Library this summer.

Thanks to a cooperative project with Steve Elliot, K1EL, we are planning to add a kit building activity to our display. The kit is a new one that Steve created for learning Morse Code. The Morse Trainer kit should take less than an hour to build and will be available to purchase and build at Boxboro. We will be providing soldering equipment and mentors to help our builders at the show.

Youth Events - Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders — Youth Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders

We have been working with the New England Amateur Radio Convention at Boxboro, MA to include our display in their vendor hall.

Planned Youth Events - Display Layout at Boxboro 2018 — Planned Display Layout at Boxboro 2018

The Boxboro leadership is very excited about our display and has agreed to give us approximately 90 ft of table space in the main vendor hall and space outside for our Portable Satellite Station.

Boxboro 2018 Youth Event Flyer (click to see the flyer)

Along with the Boxboro team, we are hard at work publicising our event. We’ve created an information Flyer and a short picture presentation that teachers and our members can use to let folks know about our planned event. Please take a minute to download these materials and share them with as many interested folks as you can:

It is going to take quite a few member volunteers to support our display at Boxboro 2018. If you’d be willing to help, please contact us at [email protected]. Everyone who helps will receive free admission to the Boxboro 2018 convention.

Fred, AB1OC

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