This afternoon we had our regular meeting / work session of the MakeICT Amateur Radio Club - a club consisting of the 2-way radio committee. During our session we installed the high frequency antenna on the roof (you’ll see a bunch of wires from the chimney) and used it to make our first official contacts from our station “KS0ICT” (Kilo-Sierra-Zero-India-Charlie-Tango).
We made contacts (on 10 Watts) in Washington state and Maryland, so the system works as well (or better) as expected. Yes, that’s coast-to-coast on 10 watts, proving it doesn’t take a lot of power or an extraordinary antenna system to cover a large area. When propagation conditions are right, we should be able to talk around the world from our little station at MakeICT.
Licensed Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs) are welcome to use the antennas from the Electronics/Rapid Prototype Lab and use the callsign (KS0ICT). Remember, if you’re using the “club call” you must do so within the limits of your operating privileges, based on your own license class.
This is a great opportunity for hams who can’t have HF antennas at home, or haven’t had the opportunity to put one up.
The other thing this does is provide a resource to enhance the Amateur Radio classes we teach at MakeICT. It facilitates live demonstrations of Ham communication and gives us the opportunity to do a real-life example.
Joe Pajor is the “Chairman” of the 2-way radio committee, under the Electronics/RPT team. We welcome people who are interested in 2-way radio (Ham, GMRS, CB, etc) who want to learn more and come “play” at the station (again, subject to the limitations of their licenses).
We have a couple more projects we’re going to work on, Including: a more ‘permanent’ operating desk and more antennas. And, as always we welcome participation and input.
We’re doing what we can to expand our capabilities and support the mission of MakeICT. We’ll be present at the Maker Monday next week and encourage interested people to come visit and see what we can do.
This is just the beginning of our adventure. If we get more people and more participation, we can do more, and we’re excited to do so…
73 de W0RDR (that’s “Ham Speak” for "best wishes)
Randy - Vice-Chairman and License Trustee
