Engineering Students Get A Radio Demo

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This afternoon I introduced my engineering/electronics students to the world of amateur radio.
The students are in their second year with me studying part time on a three year schools provision we are delivering at the college. The students have all built FM receivers so as promised I brought in some of my standby ham radio gear to show them how things work.
I set up my YAESU FT -767 in the back of the van which I parked inside the college grounds. I showed the students my collection of mono band antennas explaining their purpose regarding wavelength size and resonance without trying to overcomplicate  things too much.
I decided to make the most of the opportunity and got out the large Hustler mono band mobile antenna which has separate resonators (interchangeable top loaded whip sections)  for most of the HF bands. I powered up the trusty old Transceiver and began to check out the 40m band with the students listening by. We were fortunate as the band conditions were favorable and  I was soon in qso using the college's club call MX0KSC. The students soon got the hang of it and were keen to try and tune the vfo to a voice signal, I gave them a go under strict supervision and to my pleasure they were taking things seriously. I spent the next couple of hours changing over the Hustler resonators to explore the various HF bands as we worked lots of stations on 40m, 20m, 17m and 15m.
The confidence levels soon crept up and when the first student took to the microphone to pass a message and help me work a station in Northern Ireland I then had my hands full because they were hungry for more. We called CQ and had a few takers and in the end managed qsos into Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Bavaria and Bulgaria. The students enjoyed the experience and a couple of them might even become Hams of the future. I was very pleased with their behavior and operating manner as well as surprised just how interested they were in ham radio as it was quite a chilly day. Next week they will be back in the welding workshop nice and warm but there will be more from MX0KSC in the very near future. 73

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