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.
I wanted to share some information about our tracking our High Altitude Balloon as it flies. Our balloon will carry’s a GPS receiver and a 2m APRS Transmitter.
HAB Flight Platform
The on board APRS transmitter will operate on the Amateur Radio standard terrestrial APRS frequency of 144.390 MHz and will transmit our HAB’s position, heading, speed, altitude and other telemetry data every minute during the HAB’s flight. The transmitter is battery-powered and generates a 250 mW signal into a dipole antenna suspended from the HAB’s flight platform. The HAB will use N1FD-11 as its call sign.
Based upon online HAB flight prediction calculators that we have been using, we expect the HAB’s flight to last a little less than 2 1/2 hours. The HAB should reach an altitude of over 102,000 ft before the balloon bursts and the parachute on the flight platform brings it back to the ground at a safe speed. The above prediction will likely change as we get closer to an actual launch but most predictions have our HAB traveling approximately 100 km between its takeoff point and landing.
HAB APRS Packet Information
Aprs.fi will also store and display a copy of all of the APRS AX.25 packets transmitted by the HAB during its flight. Of particular interest to the STEM element of the flight will be the Balloon’s data on atmospheric temperature and pressure conditions at different altitudes.
All you need to track our HAB during its flight is Internet access and a web browser. Just click on one of the aprs.fi links here to see the HAB’s current location and altitude. If you have an APRS ground station, you may also be able to receive our HAB’s telemetry directly during the flight.
We need cloud cover which is less than 50% and ground wind speeds below 15 mph to launch our HAB. Will will post a final launch date and plans in the Youth Forum on our website. Our next possible launch window is on Saturday, June 3rd. We are all pulling for good weather so that we can launch!
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!)
My name is Abby and I’m thirteen years old. I’m in the seventh grade and live in Nashua, New Hampshire where I am a straight-A student and a member of the National Junior Honor Society. I play flute and oboe in the band and I also play soccer, tennis and I have received my junior black belt in karate. I am a member of a Destination Imagination team that has competed in the Global Finals representing the state of New Hampshire and placed 17th in the world… twice!
2016 ARRL NPOTA – St. Gaudens NHP
But, one of the things that I’m most proud of is that I’m a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (AB1BY, formerly KC1FFX)! You may ask what gets a young girl interested in Amateur Radio? Well, I have my dad to partly blame for that! He was a new ham and was very excited about amateur radio and wanted to share his new love with my brother, Connor (KC1GGX) and myself. In January of 2016, he told us about the ARRL’s Kids Day on the Air and let me operate his rig. That was it. I was hooked! He registered me for the next Technician Class Licensing Class through our club, the Nashua Area Radio Club (N1FD).
Receiving my Tech License (with Anita AB1QB & Fred AB1OC)
I received my Technician Class license in March of 2016 when I was eleven. I took the club’s licensing class. It’s a two-day class over the weekend with the exam held on Sunday night. That Sunday I passed the exam for my Technician Class license. In October I took the club’s General licensing class and upgraded to General Class.
Common Emitter Birthday Cake!Extra success! KC1ENX/AE (with Fred AB1OC and Anita (AB1QB)
Finally, on April 30th, 2017 (the day after my 13th birthday) I successfully passed my test to upgrade to my Amateur Extra Class license! It was a very hard test. I took the licensing class, which was 3 long days and I spent several months of studying with some help from my dad (KC1ENX) and a lot of help from my Elmer and friend, Fred (AB1OC). Fred spent many, many hours with my dad and I helping me understand the difficult material – I think my dad learned a lot too!
Our club members are awesome Elmers!
I am very lucky to be a part of the Nashua Area Radio Club. It is a very active club and there is always something to do. The members are awesome Elmers and don’t treat you like you’re a kid. They have given me a lot of help and it makes me want to help other kids get involved with amateur radio.
My friends trying out Amateur Radio for the ARRL’s Kids DayN1FD Youth Outreach at Mine Falls Park
Some of my friends joined us for this year’s ARRL Kids Day on the Air even though we were having a bad snow storm! The Nashua Area Radio Club does a lot of youth outreach activities and I am really looking forward to the High Altitude Balloon launch that is coming up in June!
Summits on the Air (SOTA) – Mt. Pack Monadnock
You may hear me on the air calling CQ DX! I love chasing DX (my farthest contact is New Zealand on 100 watts!)and contesting. I also enjoy mobile and portable operating. I have done a couple of Summits on the Air with a 2m HT and an Elk antenna and participated in National Parks on the Air at St. Gaudens NHP. I also like to Fox Hunt and I am learning CW through our club classes. I have been a part of the N1FD team that has taken part in the ARRL Rookie Roundup for SSB, RTTY, and CW and have been an operator for the 13 Colonies Event as K2K.
2016 ARRL Field Day – Everyone pitches in!
I am most excited about Field Day! Last year’s field day was a blast and the highlight of the year for me. We spent Friday setting up antennas, tents, and stations. Friday night I was allowed to sleep out – although I really didn’t get much sleep. I was busy “testing” out the radios. Once field day began I was on the air most of the time. I even operated most of the night on Saturday until I finally crashed for some sleep.
2016 Field Day!
Our call sign is N1FD or Number 1 Field Day and it’s for a good reason. This year we are going to have a better setup than last year, which is hard to believe.
My brother, Connor (KC1GGX) working on his pixie kit.
I’m really happy my brother, Connor (KC1GGX) will be joining me this year. I think he got interested in radio last year when he saw the setup that the club had. He is going to have a great time this year!
There is so much to do with Amateur Radio and I look forward to trying many new things. There is always something interesting and fun to do and so much more to learn. And that is really what got a young girl interested in Amateur Radio. 73!
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