Amateur Radio Station W1HLO

What is amateur radio or as it's more colloquially known, "ham radio?" Amateur radio is a hobby where individuals experiment with electrons ping-ponging with each other through space. We use radios, sometimes very powerful ones, to talk with people all over the world to promote international goodwill, to experiment with electronics and other areas of science, and to have fun. The term "amateur" means that all of us in the hobby are amateurs and always learning. Our club started out in 1944 as the "Radio Club" at NFA and since then has grown to encompass other areas that are closely related to amateur radio like engineering and astronomy. Our amateur radio callsign that we've had since 1944 is W1HLO.

So, where does the term "ham" come from? There is much debate over its origins, however, some sources claim that the term "ham" had to do with how poorly an amateur radio operator performed with sending Morse Code. As the story goes, back in the early 1900's, professional radio operators heard the amateur radio operators broadcasting over the airwaves. When the professionals heard an amateur operator with poor Morse Code skills, they'd remark annoyed, "That operator has a ham fist!" (An operator's "fist" is a term for their ability with sending Morse Code on a telegraph key.) Desipite the unsure origins of "ham," the term has stuck over the last one hundred years and amateur radio operators wear the term "ham" as a badge of honor.

At W1HLO, we have a few radio stations that we operate from:

Satellite Station

Thanks to the generosity of the ARDC, we have a satellite station that we use to talk with other hams through amateur radio satellites. We were also very fortunate to have a scheduled contact with the International Space Station using our radio station. Here is a news broadcast from our contact.

HF Station #1

At this particular operating station, we primarily talk on 10m, 15m, and 20m using our Mosely tri-bander. We don't have a mast going through our roof that we turn by hand like W1HLO did in the old days, however, we do use a CGE rotator that was donated to us! We also operate CW from this station. Our rig is an ICOM IC-7300 connected to an Ameritron AL-80B for a little extra "oomph."

HF Station #2

Our second HF operating station is a Yaesu FTDX-5000 connected to a wire dipole on the roof. We tend to operate on 40m and 80m from this station. It is also equipped with a modem so we can do RTTY. We also operate CW from this station. Our HF stations are in different rooms so that we can operate and teach simulatneously with two radios.