Sheffield Amateur Radio Club and National Science Week
(6-15 March 2009)

As part of National Science Week, Sheffield Amateur Radio Club is providing hands on experience of Amateur Radio to two local schools as well as the community at large. This is part of our ongoing programme of promoting this exciting technical pursuit to people of all ages.

Amateur Radio is a unique and fascinating hobby that captivates the interest of millions of people around the world.

It encompasses a huge range of activities, including communication with other enthusiasts in the local area, building and maintenance of radio equipment, using amateur satellites to relay messages over huge distances, and using short-wave radio to communicate worldwide, often with no more transmitted power than that of a domestic light bulb and even spanning the world using signals reflected from the Earth to the Moon and back! In times of national emergencies, radio amateurs are often called in to provided much needed communications to back up those provided by the authorities.

Many of the world’s Radio Amateurs are operating at the cutting edge of technology and some have been responsible for the communications developments that we now all take for granted.

Monday 9th March 2009

Sheffield ARC "Open House" 7.30pm to 9.30 pm at the club HQ, SheffieldTransport Sports Club, Greenhill Main Road, Meadowhead Roundabout, Sheffield S8.

The evening will include demonstrations of HF and VHF/UHF amateur radio including HF, VHF satellite communications, datamodes and the D Star repeater system. In addition there will be a display of equipment, amateur radio videos and printed information.

Visitors will be able to meet the club members and, in particular, obtain information on how to obtain an amateur radio licence through SARC's highly successful courses leading to each level of the licence examination.
Children under 16 MUST be accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult family member

Wednesday 11th March 2009

SARC will be at two schools from 0830 to approximately 5pm:

(1) BIRLEY COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL, Birley, Sheffield S12 4XF SARC will be using its club callsign GX3RCM

(2) BIRLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Birley, Sheffield, S12 3AB SARC will be using it's other club callsign G2AS/P

At both schools there will be teams of SARC members demonstrating amateur radio at HF, VHF and UHF and will include, where appropriate to the age of pupils involved, modes such as HF SSB, digital communications (eg PSK31), repeaters and D Star comms as well as computer based modes such as Echolink and IRLP.

Where appropriate, students in both schools will be actively involved as much as possible, eg exchanging greetings messages, listening and logging callsigns heard on amateur radio receivers, receiving simple Morse tuition, etc. The two schools will be linked by VHF FM.

Schools anywhere in the world are invited to make skeds with either or both stations.

All interested should email the SARC Chairman, Peter Day G3PHO at: scienceweek@g3pho.org.uk

SARC website: www.sheffieldarc.org.uk

Many thanks,

Peter Day, G3PHO
Chairman, Sheffield Amateur Radio Club,
Tel: 0114 2816701