| |
AE5ME > ARL 26.03.16 07:46l 41 Lines 5318 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : VNDTMKV2680R
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter March 24 Part 3 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160326/0414Z 34224@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
UC Berkeley Trains, Tests Hundreds of New Hams
Ham radio-related courses taught at the University of California Berkeley Campus and a follow-on "Annual VE Mega-Session" may be one reason that California continues to lead the nation in the number of Amateur Radio licensees. A March 16 exam session yielded 50 new Technician licensees, as well as three new General class, and five new Amateur Extra class licensees. For the third year in a row, scores of mostly electrical engineering and computer science students capped their participation in one of two ham radio-related classes taught by UC Berkeley EE/CS Professor Michael "Miki" Lustig, KK6MRI. His lower-division "Hands-On Ham" course is for sophomores, while and his upper-division "Digital Signal Processing" course is aimed at juniors and seniors.
"These popular courses are filled quickly on registration day," Lustig said. "Class members also include some majoring in mechanical, biological, and nuclear engineering."
A 2015 UC Berkeley Amateur Radio test session. [Peter McElmury, AA6SF, photo]
The entry-level course exposes newcomers to ham radio and introduces them to "hacking" and "making," Lustig explained, while the advanced class "delves into the theoretical applications of digital signal processing, filter design, modulation/demodulation, decoding subcarriers, APRS audio interface techniques, and antenna design." Both classes feature hands-on, practical projects that require them to transmit on radio frequencies, so students are motivated, as part of their courses, to become licensed Amateur Radio operators.
The lower-division students are given inexpensive handheld transceivers to keep, and are coached in radio protocols. The upper division students are issued higher-end handhelds that they may keep if they pass the General or Amateur Extra class examination.
"They make satellite contacts, participate in on-campus Field Day-like activities, practice with small software designed radio dongles, and, if already licensed, stay in touch with each other throughout the semester on a 2 meter simplex frequency," Lustig told ARRL.
Lustig is quick to point out that the two courses would not be possible without the active support of the UC Berkeley W6BB club members, including Trustee Fritz Sommer, K6EE/DL4TT; President Jack Burris K6JEB, and others, as well as support from the EECS Department staff.
In the latest VE session, 63 candidates took a total of 78 exam elements in a little more than 2 hours. Only one candidate left without a license. Read more.
Fox-1C and Fox-1D Satellites Ready for Payload Integration
AMSAT reports that its Fox-1C (Fox-1Cliff -- named in honor of the late AMSAT pioneer and benefactor Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR) and Fox-1D satellites are ready for delivery to Spaceflight Industries for integration into the SHERPA payload dispenser, which will be making its maiden flight. Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D successfully finished environmental testing on February 8.
Launch is set for later this year on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Until delivery, the CubeSats will be sealed in anti-static bags, opened occasionally to charge the batteries so they will be fully topped off for delivery. Launched into Sun synchronous orbits, Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D will carry the same FM repeater as Fox-1A (AO-85), in addition to a Virginia Tech camera experiment that will take images of Earth for high-speed downlink.
Fox-1Cliff will also contain a radiation experiment from Vanderbilt University ISDE, like the one in AO-85, and Fox-1D will host the University of Iowa High-Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument experiment to map the Van Allen radiation belts.
The Fox Engineering Team now has shifted its focus to RadFxSat/Fox-1B, currently set to launch in January 2017. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service
"Amateur Radio Roundtable" Connects Live with Heard Island DXpedition
W5KUB's "Amateur Radio Roundtable" webcast scored a live, audio-only interview on March 22 with the leader of the Heard Island VK0EK DXpedition, Bob Schmieder, KK6EK -- believed to be a first in ham radio news media history. The VK0EK DXpedition team got under way on March 23.
When "Amateur Radio Roundtable" host Tim Medlin, W5KUB, spoke with Schmieder, he and the other 13 DXpedition operators had just arrived on Heard Island on the R/V Braveheart and were preparing to start moving equipment and personnel ashore. Schmieder talked with Medlin for about 15 minutes over an Iridium phone, explaining that he could not do a video interview this time, because he was still on board the Braveheart, and the necessary Inmarsat phone's antenna must be pointed at the satellite.
"Amateur Radio Roundtable" host Tom Medlin, W5KUB (left, inset), interviewed VK0EK DXpedition leader Bob Schmieder, KK6EK, on March 22 via a satellite telephone connection.
"Amateur Radio Roundtable" is hoping for a video interview on Tuesday, March 29, with the VK0EK DXpedition. "I want to see a volcano in the background and penguins all around him," Medlin quipped, looking ahead to the planned video interview.
More information is on the DXpedition's website, and the VK0EK log appears on the DXA3.org website. The interview, available on the "Amateur Radio Roundtable" YouTube archive, was also broadcast on international shortwave station WBCQ on 5130 kHz.
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
