Mentoring

Now is the best time to be in Amateur Radio.

Amateur Radio is one of the oldest technical hobbies in the world. It covers many areas of interest and modes of operation. Operators can use it to talk around the world, bounce signals off of meteors and even the Moon, and push the limits of the capabilities of radio communications at any frequency – or they can simply use it to talk to friends new and old, locally or around the country, every day. These are all valid uses for Amateur Radio, and there are many different modes that are used on today’s frequency allocations – Morse code/CW, several types of voice modes, and a plethora of data modes.

There is an entire universe of equipment available for Amateur Radio operators – transceivers, antennas, test equipment, cables, connectors, etc. – and it seems like the list grows longer day by day as new technological discoveries are made. Indeed, much of it can be either purchased or built if you have the skills.

Of course, all of this can be daunting to the new operator, to say the least. In many cases, we have noticed that new Amateur Radio licensees get as far as buying their first HT or mobile FM-capable VHF and/or UHF radio, but without any meaningful guidance, they don’t progress beyond that point. What if there were something in place where we could engage new Amateur Radio operators in an effective manner so that they can get the most out of this hobby?

Enter the Hazel Park Amateur Radio Club mentoring program. Whether you’re a new operator, or even if you’ve been out of the loop for years and you’re just getting back into it, we are here to help you. We can assist with station building, antenna system installation and configuration, figuring out the new digital modes, troubleshooting problems with your station, helping you to get your next license upgrade, and so forth.

Above all: We want to help you explore the myriad possibilities of Amateur Radio.

Educational Events

We have also kicked off a series of in-person educational events. The first one occurred on Saturday, July 15, 2023 at the home of Len, AD8FK. Concepts such as how to use a VNA for antenna and feedline analysis, as well as the theory and application of building a 10 meter band dipole, were explored. After having been constructed, temporarily installed, and tuned, a contact was made with that dipole across the eastern US, which demonstrated the practicality of the design.

We plan to have more events like this moving forward, and we will post information about them here.

Need Help?

If you have any Amateur Radio related questions or concerns, or if you are in need of help with radio/antenna projects, please feel free to contact Len, AD8FK, or any other Hazel Park ARC board member. We’ll be happy to help you!