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.
BGHS students and their Teacher Ready to Launch the HAB
All of this has led to several students and their teacher becoming licensed Amateur Radio operators.
A Contact with the ISS
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 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
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:
Aya, KC1JEB – What landmark on Earth looks the most amazing from space?
Shea – What day to day task is most challenging in space?
Brandon – What inspired you to become an astronaut?
Ian, KC1ONS – What experiments are you currently working on?
Christopher, KC1KBY – Can you share with us what you like best about being in space?
Ella – What does a typical day look like for you?
Connor- What is something new you learned in space?
Ethan – What did you bring from Earth to remind you of home?
Lindsay – What part of space travel is most exciting for you?
Connor – Does being in zero gravity feel like floating in the water?
Aya, KC1JEB – What are some recent discoveries the ISS has made from the experiments conducted in space?
Shea – Upon returning to Earth, how do you plan to re-adjust to gravity?
Brandon – What are your thoughts as you prepare for lift-off?
Ian, KC1ONS – As an experienced astronaut, what advice would you give to a new astronaut heading to the ISS?
Christopher, KC1KBY – How do you treat injuries or illnesses in space?
Ella – Do you have a favorite space food?
Connor – What is the most unusual thing you have seen in space?
Ethan – What part of your training was most challenging?
Lindsay – What happens to your tears in space?
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
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
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.
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!
2020 was a year that most people would like to forget. However we had a great year at the Nashua Area Radio Society, as we continued to have great meetings and activities online despite the pandemic. Here is our 2020 Year in Review.
Winter Field Day
WFD 2020 Operations
Winter Field Day 2020 was held the last weekend in January. We improved our score by over 100% and came in 2nd in the Outdoor Category. See this article for more on our operation and this article for the results. This was the last major event that we were able to spend together.
Craig N1SFT Working to setup for Winter Field Day
The Pandemic – Meetings Moved Online
May Meeting – Bob Heil, K9EID
When the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, we could no longer meet together. We moved our meetings online and continue to hold our monthly membership meetings and tech nights over Zoom web conferencing. Although we miss getting together in person, this allowed us to include our internet members in our meetings. In addition, geography was no longer a barrier so we brought in some great speakers for our monthly meetings including Bob Heil from Ham Nation, Tim Duffy, K3LR from DX Engineering, Ray Novak from Icom, Fred Lloyd from QRZ, Doug Grant, K1DG, world class contester, and more!
Tim Duffy, K3LR Speaking at June Membership Meeting
September Meeting – Doug Grant, K1DG – Getting Started in Contesting
Ray Novak, N9JA, tells us about the Icom-705 at our November Meeting
Summer Field Day – 2020 Year in Review
Field Day Virtual Site Visit on Zoom
The Nashua Area Radio Society decided to not hold a large group operating event for Field Day 2020 due to the pandemic and the need to social distance. The ARRL modified the rules to allow Category D (Home w/non-emergency power) stations to contact each other and to allow operators to designate a club with their entries.
We held a social distanced field day but still maintained a few of the annual field day activities. Sterling, AK1K took the lead in teaching us all how to send and receive messages for the messaging bonus, and led a messaging net during Field Day. We also held a Zoom meeting and invited an elected official and several club members who are in public agencies so that the members attending could claim those bonuses. Club members who were operating published articles with their plans on the website. You can visit this link to see the Field Day stories.
Our total club score was 14,952, and put us in the top 3% of all clubs.
Jeff, AC1FX Operating at Field Day 2020
Summer Field Day Antenna Setup at Jon, AC1EV’s Station
Spencer Webb, W2SW, Taught us about Antennas, Feedlines and much more!
In addition to taking our membership meetings online, we also took our Tech Nights online each month. This allowed our members as well as internet subscribers to have access to the live training sessions. We had some great speakers including Spencer Webb, W2SW, Jamey Finchum, AC1DC, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC and learned all about EME, Antennas, Contesting, Portable Operating, PCB Design with Eagle and more! Members and Internet Subscribers can find video recordings of our tech nights on our website.
Jamey, AC1DC, Teaches us about Portable Operations
Gordon West Checks In to Technician Class
We also took our license classes online this fall. We are now offering an online exam session after the class to all students in the class. Gordon West dropped in to offer some words of encouragement to our Technician class! Our Spring 2021 Classes are on the calendar and registration is open.
Class Zoom
Ham Bootcamp
October 2020 QST Cover
This year we took our Ham Bootcamp program online. We held an all day Ham Bootcamp on Saturday November 7th, where we taught new and inactive hams the skills they need to get on the air. The session was very successful – we had over 200 people attend! The ARRL published an article about our Ham Bootcamp in the October Issue of QST, which helped Hams all over the country and in Canada find out about it. Our next Ham Bootcamp is scheduled for April 24th, 2021. See this article for more information and links to register for Bootcamp.
Thanks to our Ham Bootcamp instructors, Abby, AB1BY, Jamey, AC1DC, Aron, W1AKI, Burns, WB1FJ, Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB.
Abby Speaks About Fox Hunting in Fall 2020 Ham Bootcamp
Membership
300 Member Cake
2020 was a great year for membership! We celebrated over 300 members at our December Meeting – an increase of over 100 members since 2019! We now have over 240 regular members and over 80 internet subscribers!
Student Teacher Contest Series
Keith Sangillo, KC1IMK – Winner of the Student Teacher Contest Series
We held a Student Teacher Contesting competition this year to encourage young people to get on the air and develop their operating skills. The winner was Keith Sangillo, KC1IMK, who won an IC-7300. Abby Finchum, AB1BY was a close 2nd and will win a DX Engineering Hex Beam Antenna.
NARS in the Media – 2020 Year In Review
Ham Nation Bob with Ham Bootcamp QST Article
The Nashua Area Radio Society got quite a bit of media exposure this year. We published 2 articles in QST, were on Ham Nation twice, and were mentioned in a youth contesting article in the National Contest Journal.
Jim, K1BRM, tells Ham Nation audience about the NARS QSO Party
Our activities chairperson Jim, K1BRM was interviewed by Val, NV9L on Ham Nation to publicize the NARS QSO party, which we held in the fall. We also publicized Ham Bootcamp on that episode.
Note that ARRL Membership is Required to access QST and NCJ online
December Meeting
We ended the year with a memorable December Meeting, where we held Elections, heard from our NH Section Manager, John Gotthardt, K1UAF. We even had a visit from Santa where we could tell him Ham toys we want for the holidays! I hope everyone got what you wanted!
Santa at December Meeting
As we close 2020, we are hoping for a better 2021, and that we can finally get together in person with our fellow club members. We wish all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
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