Dan Pooler (AC1EN), a teacher at Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH, and a Nashua Area Radio Society member, worked with the school and other NARS members to present an exhibit to students and their families promoting HAM Radio and highlighting some of the activities of our club to them. Dan reported that “STEM Night at HMS was a big success.
HMS Steam Night
We had over 100 5-8th graders attend the HMS STEM Night, with over 400 people attending the event. Students and their families could watch SubZero Ice Cream demonstrate how they created ice cream, learn how pickles are made, program robots, shoot off Alka Selzer Rockets, make math art, and play games with family and friends along with visiting the NARS booth.”
Lining up for HAB Exhibit
Fred Kemmerer (AB1OC): shown here explaining aspects of our High-Altitude Balloon activities to some students. Anita Kemmerer (AB1QB), Mackenzie Pooler (KE1NZY), and Sam Hergenhahn (KC1PVZ) also participated at the event .
This big
Dan Pooler (on the left) at the High-Altitude Balloon exhibit.
Morse Code Exhibit
NARS Exhibits at Hudson Memorial School STEM Night
Our exhibits included:
A Fox Hunting display
A remote HF Radio Station, where students heard amateur radio operators from Australia, Greece, Lebanon and other countries.
An ISS /Satellite exhibit including a Raspberry-Pi based video of the HMS ISS contact video,
A Morse Code display with keys and practice exercises.
A High-Altitude Balloon display
Remote HF Radio Station
Special thanks and appreciation to NARS Vice President Jamey Finchum (AC1DC), who worked with Dan and the school to plan NARS’ participation in the event.. Thanks also to Fred (AB1OC) and Anita (AB1QB) Kemmerer, who graciously took the time to provide the displays and attend and share their love of the hobby with the students and their families.
HMS Principal Keith Bowen told me in an email after the event, “It was great having your group participate in our STEAM night. Students and families enjoyed their experiences.”
Hudson Memorial School will also be the location for NARS Summer Field Day 2023. Please check the forums on n1fd.org for updated info.
Interest and Excitement around HamXposition @ Boxboro are building! The event will take place on September 6th – 8th in Boxboro, Massachusettes. You can learn more about HamXposition here.
The Nashua Area Radio Society will be hosting several activities and displays at HamXposition this year. Our planned activities include:
NEW! Ham Bootcamp Program – a hands-on activity to help folks get on the air and build their stations
Our Ham Expo Display featuring information and hands-on activities you can do with Amateur Radio
A Kit Building Activity featuring a choice of two different kits
Multiple Get On The Air Stations including an HF Remote GOTA station and an on-site Satellite GOTA station
You can learn more about HamXposition and our activities there at the HamXpostion website.
Ham Bootcamp
A First HF Contact at Ham Bootcamp
We have created a program that we call Ham Bootcamp to help recently licensed and upgraded hams to get on the air. We are making this program available to up to 100 HamXpostion attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.
Our Bootcamp program will run from 9 am to noon on Saturday, September 7th in the Federal Room. Bootcamp will feature tracks for both Technician and General class license holders. It is also a great place for folks who are not yet licensed to learn more about Amateur Radio and how to get on the air.
Our Bootcamp program will include:
How to make a contact and join a repeater net
Putting together an HF station
Radio, antenna, and feed line choices
Getting started with FT8 and digital modes
Exchanging QSL cards
Learning Morse code
Tips on upgrading
Introduction to ham radio kit building
Handheld radio programming tutorials
Ham Bootcamp is free. Participants will receive discount certificates for a kit build at the show and for purchase of Ham Radio Gear from Ham Radio Outlet.
Our Ham Radio Expo will feature a total of 10 hands-on exhibits about activities that you can do with Amateur Radio. Our display will include:
Information on Licensing and Ham Radio Skill-Building Activities
Ham Radio Communications via Satellites and the ISS
High-Altitude Balloons carrying Amateur Radio
Radio Direction Finding (Fox Hunting)
DXing and HF Station Construction
Portable Operating
Field Day and Emergency Communications
Ham Radio Kits and Computers
Learning and using Morse Code
and more!
70 cm Ground Plan Antenna
Our kit building activity will feature a choice of two kits that you can build at HamXposition. In addition to the popular Morse Tutor kit, will also have a 70 cm Ground Plane Antenna kit available at the show.
Kit Builder and Mentor at HamXposition
We will have tools and mentors available to help you build your kit at HamXposition.
HF Remote GOTA Station – Visitor Operating the N1T Special Event Station
Our Remote HF GOTA Station will be back again this year. Visitors can use it to make HF contacts around the world. You can also help to operate our N1T Special Event Station. This is a great way to learn about DXing and speak with other Hams in the USA and around the world!
Computer Controlled Satellite Station at HamXposition
We will also have a Computer-Controlled Satellite Station on-site. The station will feature the new Icom IC-9700! It will also use an automated antenna system to track satellites in space. Visitors can use the station to learn about satellite communications and to talk to other Hams through a satellite in space.
Get Your HT Programmed At HamXposition
Kenwood TH-D74 HT
We will be offering an HT programming service at HamXposition. Programming software and cables will be available to program the following popular FM HTs:
Icom – ID-31A and ID-51 Models
Kenwood – TH-D72 and TH-D74
Yaesu – FT60, FT65, and FT70
BaoFeng – UV-5R and BF-F8HP
TDXOne – TD-Q8
We will help you to create and load a custom list of repeaters into your HT that are available near your home QTH.
HamXposition Forum Presentations
NARS Forum Presentation, Dan AC1EN Presenting
It has been a very active year for the Nashua Area Radio Society. We will be sharing some of the fun in two Forum Presentations at HamXposition:
A Recent Local School ISS Crew Contact Time/Place: 1 pm in the Cotillion Room
The Nashua Area Radio Society worked with the Hudson (NH) Memorial School to plan for and execute and ISS crew contact this past year. Join us for an overview of this project including information about what goes into planning, preparation, and execution. The presentation will feature a video of the students talking with astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor abroad the ISS. The talk will highlight the STEM learning aspects of the project.
The Journey to 2019 Club of the Year
Time/Place: 2 pm in the Cotillion Room
The Nashua Area Radio Society was recently honored as the Dayton Hamvention (R) 2019 Club of the Year for its work in bringing new people into the Amateur Radio service and providing mentoring and STEM learning opportunities for young and old. Members will discuss some of the programs that NARS has created to help folks enter the Amateur Radio service, build their skills, and have fun with Amateur Radio.
Reaching Out To Hams Across New England
HamXpostion Program Info – Amateur Radio Licensing and Skills Development Opportunities
The Nashua Area Radio Society is continuing to expand the reach of our Licensing and Training programs to as many Hams as possible. Our hands-on weekend License Training classes for Technician, General, and Extra class licenses are already quite popular with folks outside of our area.
We are also making our training video content and our popular Q&A forums available to Hams outside of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. These materials are available via our Internet Subscriptions. Look for more information about what we can provide in the HamXposition program and visit us at www.n1fd.org/hamradiofun to learn more as well.
We are planning the fourth launch of our High-Altitude Balloon (HAB-4) this Sunday, June 9th between 10:30 am and 11:30 am ET. We will be launching locally from the Hollis-Brookline HS here in Hollis, NH. Read on to learn more about our HAB projects and how to track our HAB while it is in flight.
You can learn more about our HAB projects here on our website and you can view a video about our first three HAB launches above.
High-Altitude Balloon Launch Site and Weather
The weather and Jetstream conditions look good for our HAB-4 launch! The jet stream has finally settled down to a point that will enable us to launch locally from the High-School here in Hollis, NH. Nashua Area Radio Society members and friends are invited to join us for our launch.
HAB Launch!
We have been working with students at the Hudson Memorial School and Bishop-Guertin High School here in NH. The students and their teachers will handle HAB-4 launch preparations and the launch. Launch preparations will begin on site at 9:00 am ET.
Weather Forecast for our HAB-4 Launch
The weather forecast looks great for our launch on Sunday with mostly sunny skies and moderate winds. These conditions should enable us to capture some spectacular video from HAB-4 during its flight! We are also planning to live-stream video from our HAB-4 launch and recovery to the Nashua Area Radio Society Facebook page.
Tracking Our HAB
I wanted to share some information about tracking our HAB as it flies. Our balloon will carry a GPS receiver and a 2m APRS Transmitter.
HAB Flight Platform
The onboard 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 HAB-4’s flight. The transmitter is battery-powered and generates a 250 mW signal into a dipole antenna suspended from HAB’-4s flight platform. HAB-4 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 more than 2 1/2 hours. The HAB should reach an altitude of about 110,000 ft before the balloon bursts and the parachute on the flight platform brings HAB-4 back to the ground at a safe speed. The above predictions will likely somewhat different from HAB-4’s actual flight path. Based upon the predictions, HAB-4 will be traveling approximately 42 km between its takeoff point and landing near Marlborough, MA.
HAB APRS Packet Information
Aprs.fi will store and display a copy of all of the APRS AX.25 packets transmitted by HAB-4 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 HAB-4 during its flight is Internet access and a web browser. Just click on one of the aprs.fi links here to see HAB-4’s current location and altitude. If you have an APRS ground station, you may also be able to receive HAB-4’s telemetry directly during the flight.
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