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.

Technician Class for High School Students

On the weekend of May 22nd and 23rd, the Nashua Area Radio Society held a Technician License Class for students from Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, NH, and from Council Rock High School South in Holland, PA.  Both schools recently had contacts with the ISS.  The Bishop-Guertin High School ISS contact was held earlier this year in February.  and the Council Rock High School South ISS contact was in December 2019.

Students in May 22-23 Tech Class
Students in the May 22-23 Tech Class

The class was held online via Zoom Web Conferencing.  The students were enthusiastic and came to the class well prepared.

Visit from Gordon West
Visit from Gordon West, WB6NOA

We had a visit from Gordon West, WB6NOA on Saturday morning.  Gordon enjoyed the class so much, he stopped by on Sunday as well to visit.

Congratulations to the 10 new Technicians from the class:

 

 

 

 

Bishop Guertin High School Students:

  • Tamara Golosarsky: KC1PJK
  • Nicholas D Root: KC1PJL
  • Ryan J Wallat: KC1PJM


 

 

Council Rock South High School Students:
  • Sabrina N Adler: KC3SFF
  • Matthew D Floyd: KC3SFG
  • Kari P Johnson: KC3SFH
  • Lauren M Jones: KC3SFI
  • Areesha F Muzaffar: KC3SFJ
  • Aarya Parekh: KC3SFL
  • Paulina E Royzman: KC3SFM

Thanks to our instructors and VEs for their help in teaching the students and running the online exam:

  • Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
  • Aron Insinga, W1AKI
  • Anthony Rizzolo, KC1DXL
  • Burns Fisher, WB1FJ
  • Ted Trost, W1TED
  • Dave Merchant, K1DLM
  • Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
  • Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB

Our next license classes will be held this Fall:

  • Technician: September 18th and 19th
  • General: October 23rd and 24th
  • Extra: December 3rd – 5th

Students can get more information and register at https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

Read All About it! Bishop Guertin ISS Contact

The Nashua Area Radio Society has partnered with Bishop Guertin High School for several years on STEM and Amateur Radio activities.  The latest activity is the Bishop Guertin ISS Contact.

Astronaut Shannon Walker, KD5DXB
Astronaut Shannon Walker, KD5DXB

The recent Bishop Guertin ISS Contact with Astronaut Shannon Walker has had quite a bit of media coverage.  There is news of the Contact everywhere that you look. You will find coverage of the students talking with Shannon Walker on the ISS on TV, in Newspapers, on the Radio, and on the Internet,

Television Coverage

WMUR Covered Bishop Guertin ISS Contact

After the conclusion of the Contact, a reporter from WMUR interviewed the BGHS students over Zoom. The story was on all of their evening news broadcasts on Friday as well as Saturday morning.  Readers can view the story below.

The Bishop Guertin Students were also interviewed for Boston TV.

The BGHS students and their partnership with the Nashua Area Radio Society were featured in a spot on WCVB News in Boston on Tuesday, February 23rd.  You can view the video and an article about the contact at this link on their website.

On Public Radio

NHPR Logo

A story about the contact was featured on New Hampshire Public Radio.  You can find the article and the audio at this link.

In Newspapers

Union Leader Logo

The BGHS ARISS contact was also featured on the front page of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper.  Here is a link to the article on the Union Leader’s website.

Nashua Telegraph Logo

The Nashua Telegraph published an article announcing the contact on February 18th.  The article can be found at this link.

On YouTube

You can watch the Contact in its entirety below.  The video includes a great introductory program with a video made by the BGHS students.

We will keep an eye out for additional media coverage of the contact and add links to this article as we see them.

Anita, AB1QB

Countdown to an ISS Contact with Bishop Guertin H.S.

We have been working with the students and faculty at Bishop Guertin H.S. (BGHS) here in Nashua, New Hampshire for several years now. This is the story of their planned contact with the International Space Station (ISS).

Amateur Radio STEM Learning Projects

The STEM Club at BGHS has done quite a few Amateur Radio-related project with us.

HAB-2 Students and their Teach Ready to Launch
BGHS students and their Teacher Ready to Launch the HAB

Our High-Altitude STEM Learning program got its start with the students at BGHS and they have been part of several HAB projects and launches.

The video above shows the students launching the HAB.

BGHS Kit Build Students

We also built CW Transceivers and Morse Code Practice kits as part of the STEM club activities and BGHS.

All of this has led to several students and their teacher becoming licensed Amateur Radio operators.

A Contact with the ISS

Karen KC1KBW - Bishop Guertin Teacher Building a Kit
Karen KC1KBW – BGHS Teacher Building a Kit

We owe a lot of thanks to Karen Crivac, KC1KBW who is a teacher at BGHS. Karen has been providing tremendous support and encouragement for our work to bring Amateur Radio to the students at BGHS. Karen holds a General Class Amateur Radio license.

The Bishop Guertin STEM Club Joins The Experience
The BGHS STEM Club Joins The Experience

Karen and the STEM club at BGHS were part of the ISS Contact that we did with Hudson Memorial School some time ago. Shortly afterward, Karen began working on securing an ISS Contact for her school.

The process of securing an ISS contact experience involved a lot of work to create a quality STEM-learning program leading up to and after a Contact with the ISS. Karen and the faculty at BGHS did a great job with this and were awarded a Contact late last year.

John, AC1EV Helps a Student Get On The Air
John, AC1EV Helps a Student Get On The Air

Contacts with the ISS are arranged by ARISS. I serve as both a Mentor and a Ground Staton as part of the ARISS program. I have had the pleasure of serving as the ARISS Mentor for the Bishop Guertin contact. The Nashua Area Radio Society is also BGHS’s partner Amateur Radio club. Jon Turner, AC1EV has been working closely with Bishop Guertin to help them to prepare for their contact.

BGHS Calling NA1SS, Do You Copy?

The students at BGHS have been working on creating questions to ask their Astronaut during their upcoming contact. Many BG students submitted candidate questions.

There is only time for about 20 questions to be asked during the actual contact so the students in STEM Club create the video above to answer some of the questions that did not make the final list for their contact. You can click on the video above to hear the questions and the answers from the STEM Club team.

Here are the questions that the students at BGHS are planning to ask their Astronaut:

  1. Aya, KC1JEB – What landmark on Earth looks the most amazing from space?
  2. Shea – What day to day task is most challenging in space?
  3. Brandon – What inspired you to become an astronaut?
  4. Ian, KC1ONS – What experiments are you currently working on?
  5. Christopher, KC1KBY – Can you share with us what you like best about being in space?
  6. Ella  – What does a typical day look like for you?
  7. Connor- What is something new you learned in space?
  8. Ethan – What did you bring from Earth to remind you of home?
  9.  Lindsay – What part of space travel is most exciting for you?
  10. Connor – Does being in zero gravity feel like floating in the water?
  11. Aya, KC1JEB – What are some recent discoveries the ISS has made from the experiments conducted in space?
  12. Shea – Upon returning to Earth, how do you plan to re-adjust to gravity?
  13. Brandon – What are your thoughts as you prepare for lift-off?
  14. Ian, KC1ONS – As an experienced astronaut, what advice would you give to a new astronaut heading to the ISS?
  15. Christopher, KC1KBY – How do you treat injuries or illnesses in space?
  16. Ella – Do you have a favorite space food?
  17. Connor – What is the most unusual thing you have seen in space?
  18. Ethan – What part of your training was most challenging?
  19. Lindsay – What happens to your tears in space?
  20. Connor – How do the sun and stars look different in space than on Earth?

T = 0 for Calling the ISS from Bishop Guertin H.S. 

Astronaut Shannon Walker, KD5DXB
Astronaut Shannon Walker, KD5DXB

The pre-contact program for Bishop Guertin’s Contact will begin on Friday, February 18th, 2021 at 12:20 pm eastern time (17:20 UTC). The students at BGHS will be talking with astronaut Shannon Walker, KD5DXB who is onboard the ISS. The ISS will come over the horizon here in New Hampshire, USA at about 12:56 pm eastern time and will plan to make initial contact with Shannon then.

You can view the contact by clicking on the video above.

The Ground Station

AB1OC ARISS Ground Station
AB1OC ARISS Ground Station

I also have the honor of serving as the ARISS Ground Station for BGHS’s contact. It will be my job to establish and maintain the radio link between the students at BGHS and the Shannon on the ISS while the students ask their questions.

AB1OC Space Communications Antennas
AB1OC Space Communications Antennas

The station will be computer-controlled, enabling the antennas here to track the ISS during our contact. You can learn more about our Ground Station here.

Interested in learning more about our experience making contacts with the ISS? Check out this link for other ISS contact and activity articles.

The students have been learning much about space and radio technology in preparation for their contact with the ISS. The faculty and administrators at Bishop Guertin have also poured a great deal of time and energy into their contact. I hope that you’ll join us via the live stream and watch the students at BGHS make history!

Fred, AB1OC