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.
New member here, hoping to add some value! I am returning to amateur radio after a very long period of inactivity, and have been looking for some reading material to jump-start coming up to speed on more recent technology topics. I have discovered a new book which may be of interest to Nashua ARC members. This is actually a revised 4th edition (published 2017) of a book that has been around for some time. Title: Communications Receivers: Principles and Design. This is an engineering textbook, so it is quite technical but strikes a balance between theory and practice. A bit pricey, but it is a virtual goldmine of information, and includes hundreds of references and suggestions for further reading. At 600+ pages, it is not something most will read and understand in a few evenings. Greatly expanded coverage of SDR technology alone is worth the price, IMHO. I highly recommend this book for those who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of the topics covered. This book might be suitable as the basis for a series of Tech Night sessions.
On May 6, members and friends of the HAB (High-Altitude Balloon) Project gathered at Anita (AB1QB) and Fred’s (AB1OC) QTH for an open house to introduce the students participating in our project to amateur radio and the HAB itself. The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating with us, as rain was in the forecast. In fact, this was supposed to be the week before our actual launch so we could do some prep work with the kids. Fate had other ideas for the launch, however, as it was postponed due to more rain and has been since rescheduled to June 3.
Among the students there, we had representation from Merrimack High School, Bishop Guertin High School, and our independent group of which Abby (KC1FFX) and Connor (KC1GGX) made up 2/3 of the students.
Teachers (and a student) from Merrimack and Bishop Guertin
Beginning around 9 am, we crowded into the kitchen to have Fred introduce the agenda for the day.
Gathering around the table
After showing off the HAB, the components, and explaining what everything did and how it was interconnected, we broke off into three teams. The first would tour the illustrious shack, the second would get a primer on antennas and towers in the backyard, and the third would brave the elements and go on a foxhunt.
A crew going on a Fox Hunt
After each group was able to accomplish all three activities, we then invited the kids to make some QSOs in the shack and/or make some QSOs with Fred and Anita’s amateur satellite station v2.0. (I, myself, had made my first two satellite QSOs earlier that morning. A VERY cool station, indeed). A few were definitely nervous and mic shy, but most stepped up and seemed truly amazed (bewildered) that they could talk to some random person in some random corner of the globe.
By about 2 pm, there seemed to be expressions of fatigue on the young faces, and it seemed a natural time to conclude the day. All in all, it seemed the kids truly were excited about amateur radio and the HAB. We look forward to working with them in future phases of our HAB project and hope this is something that many of these freshmen can turn into a serious senior science project when they’re looking ahead towards graduation in a few years. (And perhaps, we’ll get some of them licensed too!)
We just completed another successful Extra License class! Congratulations to the new Extras, Abby Finchum, KC1FFX, John Mara, KB1UX, and Tom Linehan, KB1VON.
Abby Blows out Candles on Birthday Cake
Abby celebrated her 13th birthday on Saturday during the class. She was able to identify the Common Emitter Amplifier on the cake before she blew out the candles! Her wish came true on Sunday!
Dave N1RF doing Antenna DemoFred, AB1OC demos Test Equipment and Waveforms
In addition to the classroom instruction, we had an Antenna Demo by Dave, N1RF and a demo of Test Equipment by Fred, AB1OC.
New Extra John Mara, KB1UX with Wayne Wagner, AG1A
Thanks to all of our instructors and VEs for all of the hard work that it took to put on this class:
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