Principal, Carl G. Renfroe Middle School
Here is a photo from Steve Vogel (W4PSV) of three of the
students working with George Olive (AI4UR) to assemble the
BuddiPole antenna. The photo was taken from the classroom
window where the rest of the group were anxiously awaiting
the connection to be make.
We just wanted to give you a
report on the year's activities of the Renfroe Amateur Radio
Club.We met every other Tuesday,
subject to school breaks, and had anywhere from 3 to 8
students, boys and girls, in attendance.
Our first objective was to impart some
of our enthusiasm for the hobby and explain both the fun and
practical side of it. Amateur radio, in addition to opening
literally world-wide dimensions for participants, (which was
demonstrated by one of us making a contact with an amateur
operator in Germany from his truck in the Refroe parking
lot) and can also can provide invaluable communications
capabilities in the event of disaster situations, as
demonstrated by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Colorado
wildfires, and the recent Boston Marathon bombing, where
over 200 amateur operators provided support, just to name a
few.
Our ultimate objective is to have some
of the students become licensed amateur operators and to
have a teacher licensed as well so that a working amateur
radio station can be established at Renfroe, such as was
done many years ago. To begin this process, each student in
the club was given a study guide which includes questions
and answers. Several of them took it quite seriously and
have made good progress. We supplemented that material with
some short presentations on the basic physics of radio and a
few of our own sample tests with discussions of the answers.
The students were also given the opportunity to talk to
each other using walkie-talkie style amateur radios under
our supervision, an activity they really enjoyed. One week
we staged a "fox hunt" whereby the students attempted to
locate a hidden radio transmitter using a directional
receiving antenna, an activity in which they were
successful. Some other sessions consisted of setting up
receivers to listen to whatever came in over the airwaves
from around the world in order to show the international
scope and practical uses of the hobby.
And, we gave the students information
on amateur radio events taking place in the area so that
they could see more about what the hobby has to offer.
We appreciated the continued support of
David Taube with this project and the cooperation of you and
your other staff members. We hope to continue the club next
school year with some old and some new students and look
forward to getting Renfroe on the air !
