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Building Blocks Illustrate Basics Electronics Building Blocks Illustrate Basic Electronics Fall 2016 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Building Blocks Illustrate Basics Electronics Building Blocks Illustrate Basic Electronics ........1 The Easton Amateur Radio Society BY RON CALL, N7GOA Technical Institute ...........................................2 Madison High School student Ham Radio Flies High at Summer Camp at assembles a 5 Building Blocks Kopernik Observatory ....................................3 Activity Board. (Photo by Ron Call, ARISS News: N7GOA) Update on Recent ARISS Activities ................4 Outreach: The 5BB boards cover the five basic Alumnus a Golden Resource .........................5 Get on the Air Event Gets Busy ���������������������5 building blocks of wireless technology Boy Scouts Man Up ���������������������������������������5 (oscillators, rectifiers, amplifiers, mix- Instructor Corner — News, Ideas, Support: ers, and filters). I divide my students into ARRL Launches Instructor teams, and they solder the components Recognition Program .................................6 onto the boards. They then use digital Resources for Instruction ...............................6 oscilloscopes to analyze the signals and Education & Technology Program News: explore concepts of modulation and de- Summer 2016 Teachers Institutes modulation. After using the 5BB boards, Generate Excitement ................................7 several students built their own ampli- Licensing Updates: fiers and rectifiers. Best of all, two of my Recent Licensing Statistics ..............................7 intermediate electronics students obtained Upcoming Events, Opportunities, their ham radio licenses this year, and and Deadlines ...............................................8 more are interested in becoming licensed even years ago, I started a profes- next year. sional technical electronics pro- Because the boards work so well and are Don’t Miss... gram at Madison High School, a S so popular with my students, ARRL sent rural school in Rexburg, Idaho, that serves An outreach to outdoors enthusiasts me more boards this year. One student aproximately 1,000 students in grades had this to say about working with the was a real winner for the Fresno Area 10 – 12. Students in the program can take 5BB board: “It has helped me learn how to Mentor and Elmer (FAME) license class electronics all year long for three years. understand the various parts of the radio recruiting effort of the Clovis Amateur Usually, sophomores take Beginning Elec- circuit, particularly mixers and how they Radio Pioneers (Central California). tronics, juniors Intermediate Electronics, combine different signals.” Greg Waters, KJ6OUI, provides the and seniors Advanced Electronics. surprising details in his article, “FAME in In my intermediate classes, I use a Editor’s Note: For more information on the 5 Building Blocks Activity Board, point Fresno — A Success Story in Recruiting tool called the 5 Building Blocks Activity your web browser here. New Hams,” in the September 2016 Board. Created by former ARRL Education issue of QST. ARRL members can & Technology Program Coordinator Mark Ron Call, N7GOA, teaches a three-year electron- access the article online here. Spencer, WA8SME, the “5BB” boards are ics program at Madison High School, Rexburg, ideal for teaching wireless technology. ID. He holds an Amateur Extra class license. Page 2 Radio Waves The Easton Amateur Radio Society Technical Institute BY DR. JACK GOTTSCHALK, K8PBJ tronics, as well as a few other related resources, we created the framework for our curriculum. We then selected a mix of top- ics, ranging from basic theory to practical matters like proper station grounding and using an antenna analyzer. We made our selections based on the perceived interest of our members, technical complexity, and the ability of our potential instruc- tors to effectively teach the subject. The topics targeted for Year One of the Institute, and pre- sented to the members for review prior to program launch, included the following: Quality Factors of Inductors and Capacitors; Capacitors & Alternating Current/Sine Waves; Inductors at RF; Proper Grounding of an Amateur Radio Station; Using an Antenna Analyzer; and Understanding Antennas & Wavelength. Our programs were initially designed as 10-minute presen- tations, followed by 10-minute discussion periods, though we’ve found it can be difficult sticking to this schedule for some topics. Designing an interesting and informative pre- sentation, especially with hands-on demonstrations, requires Dr. Jack Gottschalk, K8PBJ, presenting Transmission Lines & Matching considerable effort. Instructors usually have to develop each Networks. (Photo by Kenny Thomas, KA3DCO) presentation months ahead of time. Using our 2-meter weekly net, instructors provide mem- he roster of Maryland’s Easton Amateur Radio Society bers with a brief overview of the forthcoming topic. This is (EARS) represents the wide diversity found within done to generate interest, to give members time to assess TAmateur Radio. Some of our members have held a their current understanding of the subject, and to allow for license since the 1950s and are extremely experienced; others study two weeks before the program is conducted. We’ve have just recently passed an exam and are enthusiastic, hun- found that adults generally prefer to be informed about a gry to learn, and sometimes overwhelmed by the scope and subject before it is presented. complexity of the hobby. To help enrich their experience by So far, the feedback from our members has been very introducing, or “reintroducing,” them to the technical aspects positive. Typical comments include, “Learned a lot,” “Real- of Amateur Radio, EARS, which celebrates its 50th anniver- ized how much I've forgotten,” “A good review,” “Over my sary this year, developed a Technical Institute for the benefit of head somewhat but I learned a lot,” “I’ve got to go back to all our members. the Handbook to study,” and “Keep it coming.” The Technical We began by giving members a self-scoring quiz of fairly Institute Committee plans to reconvene in mid-summer to basic Electronic/RF concepts to generate interest and let evaluate Year One and to set the curriculum for Year Two. everyone test their knowledge. We then formed a committee, Dr. Jack Gottschalk, K8PBJ, is President of the Easton Amateur formalized the concept of a Technical Institute, and started Radio Society. He has been licensed as a radio amateur since 1959 the design work. First, using the subject indexes of The ARRL’s and enjoys operating and maintaining vintage gear. He may be Handbook, Operating Manual, and Understanding Basic Elec- reached at [email protected]. Page 3 Radio Waves Ham Radio Flies High at Summer Camp at Kopernik Observatory BY DREW DESKUR, KA1M his past summer, the Kopernik Observatory & Science ARISS Contact Brings Lab to Life Center in Vestal, New York, offered a wide range of week-long, STEM-based camps, two of which promi- A second camp, “Robots on the ISS,” offered fourth and T fifth graders an exciting opportunity to learn about various nently featured Amateur Radio. aspects of robot hardware and software design and func- Balloon and Payload Pays Off tion. Their “lab” was the International Space Station and, working in teams, they designed robots that might be able One camp, “Journey to the Edge of Space,” was offered to to help astronauts on the ISS to do their jobs. What better middle school students, with their project being to design, way to design a project than to speak directly with the people build, test, and launch a payload on a weather balloon. Along who might use their designs, in this case an astronaut on with three GoPro HERO cameras and a temperature moni- the ISS? Kopernik was able to secure an Amateur Radio on toring system, the payload included a 2-meter APRS beacon the International Space Station (ARISS) contact during the that reported, in real time, the payload longitude, latitude, camp. While the ISS was in range, 18 students were able to and altitude throughout the duration of the flight. The stu- ask astronaut Colonel Jeff Williams about how robots are dents learned about Amateur Radio and how the APRS net- used on the ISS and about work and life there. In addition to work operated to report the balloon’s flightpath. The APRS rehearsing for the contact, portions of the camp week were beacon was critical in the recovery of the payload. After dedicated to explaining radio communication, satellite track- recovering the payload and collecting the video, they learned ing, and Amateur Radio. how to interpret the raw packets from the beacon and used As shown on the YouTube video of the contact, Col. Williams that information to measure ascent (and decent) rate and answered back on the first call, and the students had great map the information into a 3-D model of the flightpath on success getting their questions answered. The video of the Google Earth. They were impressed to see that at the max ARISS contact is available here. altitude of over 105,000 feet (nearly 20 miles), the station reporting the packet was a digipeater near Ottawa, Canada Drew Deskur, KA1M, is the director of the Kopernik Observatory & — nearly 250 miles away. Science Center, and a Life Member of ARRL and AMSAT. Students designed and built robots at Kopernik’s “Robots on the ISS” Students line up to ask their questions about robots used on the summer camp. (Photo by Kasia Mazur, Kopernik staff) International Space Station. (Photo by Kasia Mazur, Kopernik staff) Page 4 Radio Waves Update on Recent ARISS Activities mateur Radio on the Interna- A direct contact via KCØNFL with tional Space Station (ARISS) students at Lawrence Public Library, A Year of ARISS Outreach program saw many successes Lawrence, KS, was successful Friday, A The World Genesis Foundation, a 501c3 not- this summer and fall, with many more September 9, 2016. for-profit organization dedicated to the mission young people communicating directly to “leave no child without hope for the future,” with astronauts (see below). To learn more will host an ARISS contact this fall for students about ARISS, including how your school from multiple schools in rural districts of La or organization can apply for contact Paz County, Arizona.
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