by Jim Mayercak, WX8J
Though the Dresden Elementary Amateur Radio Station (DEARS), KD8NOM, will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary it’s taken a lot longer than 10 years to get to where we are today. My first attempt in the late 1980s was fairly successful, with plenty of HF and VHF contacts, but the principal didn’t see it going anywhere and didn’t offer enough support to keep it going. An attempt a year or so later drew some exciting HF contacts, and a local TV station even did a story on our radio event. Still, the administration didn’t see the worth.
In 2009, there were shifts in the education philosophy and the school had been updated with brand new buildings. At the start of the 2009 – 2010 school year, the new principal approached me about forming a club of my choosing. All of the fifth and sixth-grade staff members were doing this for an end-of-day activity that met every other week. Knowing I was a ham, she suggested Amateur Radio.
While I was thrilled, I had to ask her the tough questions about funding for antennas, coax, and radios. We were able to plan for the school’s parent teacher organization to help with funds for coax and a dipole, and I’d come up with a rig.
In a week, we had wire, traps, and coax. With additional funds supplied by the N8HR contesting group, we purchased another piece of coax and found a used vertical for VHF. A week after, the antennas were installed, and the coax was run through the walls into my music classroom. We were on the air!
Initially, we had 44 students from the fifth and sixth grade indicate their interest in our club, but that was too many. The principal narrowed it down to 15, which still seemed like a lot, but we made it happen. Using my old hybrid rig and a handheld, we managed plenty of HF and VHF contacts.
We once again made another media sensation with the local TV station and a newspaper story that made front page. The reporters conducted interviews with some very excited students. That excitement still continues 10 years later.
The DEARS, KD8NOM, had HF and VHF on-air activities that gained support from various people and resources across the country. Many individuals and clubs donated gear, such as Kenwood equipment, used VHF equipment, power supplies, a new HF Cushcraft vertical, and 150 feet of low-loss coax for our vertical. We were also gifted monetary donations that allowed us to purchase two new radios, an SWR/wattmeter, new coax, a new VHF/UHF antenna, and a SnapCircuits lab. As an incentive to continue with Amateur Radio, a generous local ham even promised to give students who pass their Technician license a free handheld.
Students continued to gain support through their constant enthusiasm, increased public presence on local repeaters, activity on HF frequencies, participation in School Club Roundup contests and especially posts on Facebook and Twitter. The members made it happen.
The group meets every other week for 90-minute sessions, which maintains a balance between learning the basics and gaining practical experience. I prepare brief lessons derived from a section of the Technician-class manual, and they make flashcards to practice phonetics, operating procedures, rules, radio theory, Ohm’s law, or basic antennas. We then use these flashcards to play trivia games.
To enhance their focus and ability to retain information quickly, we use prerecorded audio examples from on-air contacts, and to sharpen their identification skills, I have them log contact information and I quiz them on call signs heard. Some members will follow up by using online Technician self-exams. We’ve had several students pass the Technician exam and one member advanced to Amateur Extra class with personal study.
KD8NOM also incorporates hands-on building projects to give the students a taste of homebrewing. The members build various electronic circuits on the SnapCircuits lab with middle and high school DEARS members assisting. Every third year, the students build something bigger, like a code oscillator (They enjoy code, treating it like a second language) or even a 2-meter receiver kit.
Students most enjoy their knowledge through on-air activities. KD8NOM rotates students through contacts on VHF repeaters, HF SSB conversions, and HF digital with PSK31. The kids also love contesting because it provides an opportunity for each student to operate, log, and search spotting networks. We are regulars in the School Club Roundup contest, taking five first place and five second-place wins since 2014.
The station at KD8NOM is no one person success story. Wise advice from trusted hams like Carole Perry, WB2MGP, and the Hamvention Youth Forum enabled us to rapidly grow without reinventing the wheel. We’ve even had two students present at the youth forums. Ryan Harris (then 12 years old) presented in 2011 on experimenting with a smartphone app to allow PSK and RTTY communications. And Tyler Hammond, KD8UAY, (then 13 years old) made a 2015 Hamvention presentation on skills needed for competing in the School Club Roundup.
After 10 years, we enjoy continued support from the administration, local mentors, and student/parent volunteers, all of which keeps our student sessions on track and exciting. With 20+ kids in this year’s group, we are busy on VHF, HF SSB, and HF digital. The kids have even inspired some volunteers to become licensed hams, and they now assist as control operators.
You can check out our Facebook and Twitter pages for more information about DEARS.
