Category Archives: Youth Activities

Articles and other information about Ham Radio activities for young people. Our youth activities include GOTA events, our High Altitude Balloon project, help getting licensed and more.

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

Spring 2018 Technician License Class

We held our first license class of 2018 this past weekend.  It was a Technician License Class and it was a huge success.  We had a total of 16 students in the class, including 3 high school students from Bishop Guertin High School and Merrimack High School – the two schools who participated in our High Altitude Balloon projects.  There was also a teacher in the class from Hudson Memorial School, who will be participating in HAB-3.

We had a great set of students – they all were well prepared and did great on their exams.  All 16 students earned their Tech Licenses and one of the students also earned his General!

AB1BY teaching the Tech Class

Thanks to all of our instructors and VEs who made this possible.  The Tech Class instructors were Abby, AB1BY,  Jamey, AC1DC, Fred, AB1OC, Brian AB1ZO, Wayne, AG1A, and Burns, WB1FJ.

Satellite Station 3.0 Antennas
Satellite Station 3.0 Antennas

Satellite Station 3.0

This class also marked the debut of Satellite Station 3.0, which meets the specs to support ISS Crew Contacts.

Satellite Station 3.0
Satellite Station 3.0

In addition to classroom study, we provided many demos and gave the students an opportunity to get on the air and make Satellite contacts using the station above.   Students also had the opportunity to make HF Contacts using a Flex Maestro, which connected over the internet to the station at the AB1OC/AB1QB QTH.

HF Station with Flex Maestro
HF Station with Flex Maestro

Our next license class will be the General Class, which will be held on March 24th and 25th. We will hold the Extra Class on April 27 – 29.  To register, visit our Class Information Page.

Many of our students also joined the Nashua Area Radio Society after they passed their exams.  Please say hello to the new members and congratulate them at our next meeting.

Anita (AB1QB)

Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

Kids Day On The Air

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Saturday, January 6th was ARRL Kids Day On the Air.  and we hosted a club event for kids at Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB’s QTH.  We had many fun activities for the kids including getting on the air via HF and Satellite, learning CW and demos of some cool Raspberry Pi projects.

Nora making her First Satellite Contact

Satellite Operation

The portable satellite station was set up and it was a great day for satellites as there were many good passes.  Fred helped many of the kids make their first Satellite contacts.

Keith, KC1IMK working the Satellites with Fred, AB1OC
Keith, KC1IMK working the Satellites with Fred, AB1OC

We had a total of 9 kids who participated in the event, along with their parents.

Mary, who attended with her brother, KA1LAS and father KC1IMI works the Satellites
Mary, who attended with her brother, KA1LAS, and her father KC1IMI, works the Satellites

Raspberry Pi, CW, Fox Hunting, and HAB Demos

We provided demos to the kids of several Raspberry Pi projects,  Pi-Lexa – a home built Raspberry Pi Alexa built by Connor, KC1GGX,  along with a CW decoder and the DX Alarm Clock.  Jamey, KC1ENX provided some CW demos including his favorite YouTube video – The Rhythm of the Code.  Fred, AB1OC did a show and tell of the High Altitude Balloon including pieces of the balloons that we in space and a Fox-Hunting demo.

HF Operation in the Shack
HF Operation in the Shack

We also went down to the shack and the kids got on the air and made some HF contacts.  Jamey, KC1ENX helped the kids to make contacts with other kids as well as adult Hams on the air.  The kids really enjoyed the HF operation. We did some live streaming on the N1FD Facebook page during the event.   Follow this link to see the live stream of some of our on-air activities during Kid’s Day.

AB1BY Gets On the Air

Abby, AB1BY shows off her log after running a huge pileup
Abby, AB1BY shows off her log after running a huge pileup

After most of the kids left, Abby, AB1BY took the mic and ran a huge pileup.  She was very popular on the air and did a great job of running the pileup.  We also streamed her pileup operation to Facebook and it got a huge response.

Overall, Kids Day On the Air was a fun day for both the kids and the adults.   We are looking forward to the next Kids Day in July!

Anita, AB1QB

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

Welcome to the New Executive Committee Members

As we just held our annual officer elections, I’d like to thank the departing officers for their service to the club.  Departing the Executive committee are:

  • Vice President, Dave Michaels, N1RF
  • Treasurer, Wayne Wagner, AG1A
  • Programs, Brian Smigielski, AB1ZO

Our Executive Committee members have worked hard to move the Nashua Area Radio Society forward this past year. Some of our major progress in 2017 includes:

2018 Executive Committee Members

I’d like to congratulate and welcome our new and returning Officers and Directors to the Executive Committee.  Our 2018 Officers and Directors are:

  • President, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Vice President, Dave Merchant, K1DLM
  • Secretary, Brian McCaffrey, W1BP
  • Treasurer, Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS
  • Membership, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • Programs, Scott Andersen, NE1RD
  • Activities, Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB

I am looking forward to working with the New Executive Committee a toward a successful 2018.

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide