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.
We have successfully tested the ISS Telebridge capabilities here at our station. ARISS has scheduled a Multipoint Telebridge a school contact using our Ground Station for Thursday, April 30th beginning at 13:35 UTC (9:35 am Eastern Time). The Multipoint Telebridge format enables the students to contact the ISS from their homes via telephone connections…
After two successful tests of the Telebridge/Phone Patch capabilities here at our station, we are ready to support a school contact! ARISS has scheduled a Multipoint Telebridge contact using our station for next Thursday.
We’ve added some upgrades to our Space Communications Ground station to accommodate ARISS contacts with the ISS. The additions include:
Ann Stockbridge, Educator at Kennebunk’s Sea Road School
Regional School Unit 21 has been selected for an out-of-this-world opportunity. An international association of space agencies and Amateur Radio organizations has chosen RSU 21, represented by Sea Road School, to advance in a process climaxing in a conversation between students and astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
RSU 21 was one of 10 schools selected nationally to continue through the multi-month acceptance process. The contact event with the ISS could occur between July and December of this year.
The opportunity is provided by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), an association that includes NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the American Radio Relay League, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, and space agencies in Canada, Japan, Europe, and Russia. They collaborate to enable students to communicate with ISS astronauts and help inspire interest in space, communications and STEM coursework.
Source: RSU 21 students to communicate to outer space – Portland Press Herald
As our readers may know, I have joined the ARISS program as a Mentor to help schools prepare for and make successful contacts with Astronauts on the International Space Station. I am working with RSU 21 Sea Road School teachers and local Ham Radio folks in Maine, USA to help them make contact with the ISS during 2H2020. The link above shares more about the STEM learning program that is being created around this contact.
Every now and again one comes across a piece of Ham Radio History. Anita and I had this experience recently during our vacation in Florida. For example, we can across an artifact that we had heard about from Charle, W1CBD but had never actually seen during a recent visit to Florida.
Pretty Basic HT Transceiver
This is a Motorola MX-340. This radio was a 5w UHF (or sometimes VHF) FM rig that was popular for commercial applications in the 1970s. You can learn more about the rig here.
A Very Special HT Transceiver
So I bet you are wondering “What makes this old HT so special? Why is it a piece of Ham Radio History?”. Well, here’s a hint – it flew aboard this:
Space Shuttle Atlantis On Display At The Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Yup, the little HT flew aboard the Space Shuttle. Here’s more about our little HTs role via an excerpt from Wikipedia :
Ham Radio has been a STEM learning tool for a very long time. An early example of this was the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) program. SAREX was a partnership between NASA, ARISS, and the ARRL. Its success in bringing Ham Radio to schools and other educational venues led, in part, to the creation of ARISS.
How All Of This Effects NARS
HMS Students Talking to the ISS
And ARISS, of course, has provided NARS the opportunity to be part of bringing contacts with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to schools here in New Hampshire, around the United States, and around the world.
There are many such examples of Ham Radio History that resulted in great things for many people. Perhaps you know of one? If so, please consider taking writing about it here on our Blog.
