Tag Archives: NARS Event

Fall Youth Events at Boxboro and NEAR-Fest

Quite a few Nashua Area Radio Society members have been working on a display to get young people and potential new Hams interested in Amateur Radio.

NETT Youth Events: High Altitude Balloon Display
High Altitude Balloon Display

Our display was first used at NEAR-Fest this spring. It includes over ten high-quality exhibits and hands-on activities related to Amateur Radio and Nashua Area Radio Society licensing, activities, and youth projects. Some of the activities that are part of the display include:

We’ve created a new page here on n1fd.org that explains more about our Amateur Radio Displays for Young People. Check it out!

Our Youth Event Display
Our Youth Outreach Event Display

We also provided our display as part of a youth summer program a the Westford Public Library this summer.

Morse Trainer Kit
Morse Trainer Kit

Thanks to a cooperative project with Steve Elliot, K1EL, we are planning to add a kit building activity to our display. The kit is a new one that Steve created for learning Morse Code. The Morse Trainer kit should take less than an hour to build and will be available to purchase and build at Boxboro. We will be providing soldering equipment and mentors to help our builders at the show.

Youth Events - Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders
Youth Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders

We have been working with the New England Amateur Radio Convention at Boxboro, MA to include our display in their vendor hall.

Planned Youth Events - Display Layout at Boxboro 2018
Planned Display Layout at Boxboro 2018

The Boxboro leadership is very excited about our display and has agreed to give us approximately 90 ft of table space in the main vendor hall and space outside for our Portable Satellite Station.

Boxboro 2018 Youth Event Flyer (click to see the flyer)
Boxboro 2018 Youth Event Flyer (click to see the flyer)

Along with the Boxboro team, we are hard at work publicising our event. We’ve created an information Flyer and a short picture presentation that teachers and our members can use to let folks know about our planned event. Please take a minute to download these materials and share them with as many interested folks as you can:

It is going to take quite a few member volunteers to support our display at Boxboro 2018. If you’d be willing to help, please contact us at [email protected]. Everyone who helps will receive free admission to the Boxboro 2018 convention.

Fred, AB1OC

 

Youth Outreach Event at the Westford Public Library

The folks at the Westford Public Library reached out to us sometime back about hosting an Amateur Radio Youth Outreach day at the library.  This event gave us the opportunity to use the Amateur Radio Youth Outreach materials that we created for NEAR-Fest and to fine-tune them. The event took place in July and included an afternoon of presentations and hands-on activities about Amateur Radio. We had about 15 students and parents attend.

Youth Outreach Event Team
Youth Outreach Event Team

Several Nashua Area Radio Society members helped to set up and deliver the program at the library. A very big thanks to:

for all of their help!!

Our Youth Outreach Event Display
Our Youth Outreach Event Display

Our approach was to simplify and leverage the display that we created for our Youth Outreach at NEAR-Fest. We were able to bring almost all of our displays from NEAR-Fest and simplify them to the point where we could set everything up in about 2 hours. Our displays included the following:

  • A Remotely Operated HF GOTA Station
  • A Satellite Communications Display
  • A Nashua Area Radio Society Activities and Licensing Display
  • An Emergency Communications and Field Day Display
  • A Portable Operating Display and Digital HF Activity
  • A Morse Code Display and Activity
  • A Fox-Hunting Display and Activity

Our program consisted of presentations and videos about each of the displays followed by hands-on activities and a chance to take a closer look.

HF Get On The Air Station at WPL Youth Outreach Day
HF Get On The Air Station

The HF Remote GOTA was popular and provided a chance for folks to talk to Hams in Europe and across the United States. We used a Maestro and the Internet to run the AB1OC/AB1OC station remotely.

High-Altitude Balloon Display at WPL Youth Outreach Day
High-Altitude Balloon Display

Our High-Altitude Balloon Display was a hit. Folks were very interested in the video presentation from our flights and they asked lots of questions about our HAB programs.

Portable Operating Display
Portable Operating Display

Brian, W1BP brought his Elecraft KX3 Transceiver and Buddipole Antenna and set up an FT8 Digital GOTA Station at the event. Brian’s activity provided a great way for us to explain and demonstrate portable operations.

Emergency Communications and Field Day Display at Youth Outreach Day
Emergency Communications and Field Day Display

Our third GOTA station was part of an Emergency Communications and Field Day display. The GOTA enabled everyone to try to make contacts through local repeaters and to learn about EMCOM.

Morse Code Activity at Youth Outreach Day
Morse Code Activity

Tom, AB1NS hosted our Morse Code activity. We had a variety of keys, practice oscillators, and simple code activities for folks to try.

Fox Hunt Activity at Youth Outreach Day
Fox Hunt Activity

Marie, KC1RMS hosted a Fox Hunt and demonstrated Radio Direction Finding. Members of the group were able to locate the three Foxes that we had hidden on the library grounds.

Nashua Area Radio Society and License Information Display at Youth Outreach Day
Nashua Area Radio Society and License Information Display

Our final display highlighted the many STEM learning and other training activities that the Nashua Area Radio Society provides for young people. Two of the attendees at our youth day decided to join our summer Technician License Class the following week. Maximilian, KM6UVJ, and Tatiana, KM6UVK both earned their Technician licenses at the class – congratulations to both and welcome to NARS!!!

As you can probably tell, our Amateur Radio Youth Outreach event at the Westford Public Library was a success. We are looking forward to offering similar events at other local libraries and Ham Fests later this year.

Fred, AB1OC

2018 13 Colonies Special Event Results

The 2018 13 Colonies Special Event took place from July 1-7 this year and Nashua Area Radio Society members operated as K2K, the New Hampshire station.

Charlie, W1CBD operating the pileups from AB1OC station
Charlie, W1CBD operating the pileups from AB1OC station

Several members operated from AB1OC and AB1QB’s QTH.  We were operating from 2 stations.  The SSB station was in our shack and used the stacked SteppIR DB36 beams.

Fred, AB1OC operating FT8 as K2K
Fred, AB1OC operating FT8 as K2K

We also had an FT8 station set up in our kitchen.  It used the Flex 6700 in our shack remotely and the SteppIR BigIR vertical antenna, which is in the woods next to our house, far enough from the tower to avoid interference.

We live-streamed much of the operation on our Facebook page – here is one of Brian, AB1ZO operating as K2K.

In addition to the operators at AB1OC and AB1QB’s QTH, several members operated as K2K from their own stations.

13 Colonies Certificate
13 Colonies Certificate

With 13,622 QSOs, the Nashua Area Radio Society won the top club and New Hampshire was the 2nd state behind K2J, North Carolina.

Congratulations to all of the 13 Colonies operators:

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide