This year we focused on CW. We noticed in prior events that the sound of Morse code emanating from our tent caused people to ask “what is this?” We set up a simple 20M CW station and put CW guru Dave KR4U behind the key. In spite of so-so propagation, Dave was able to work numerous European stations, as there was a German contest underway. Domestically, the New York QSO party kept Dave busy with domestic QSOs. Dave’s brass pounding also peaked the interest of festival goers.
Once we got folks attention, a variety of code equipment was available for visitors to try. Most of the kids enjoyed tapping out their name on a basic code practice oscillator using a CW cheat sheet. When they found the tone pitch knob, many of them became musicians, changing the pitch of the signal as they sent some really ugly code. Another crowd favorite was a code key connected to a Morse decoder that Dee N4GD made using a Raspberry Pi computer. Send a letter in code and it popped up on the screen….cool. Finally an electronic keyer with iambic paddle provided a third alternative to keep the CW flowing.
All the SPARC participants agreed this was one of our best years at the festival, and offered suggestions for improvement next year. Dropping by for a visit were club members Kyle N4NSS, Molly KN4GFN and Bob WB4MCF. It’s a lot of fun to watch the kids quickly associate the dits and dahs with the alphabet and subsequently their name. Hopefully we planted the ham radio bug in one or two visitors and will see them on the air in a few years.
If you would like to join in the fun of next year’s Science Festival, contact one of the club officers.
