Dear Hams, Special Hands on Workshop of Applied Physics was organised at well-known School of Science - RK University, Rajkot (Gujarat) India. It was 5 day event from 2nd Dec to 6th Dec 2019. 50 final year B.Sc Physics Students from various Colleges across state of Gujarat were registered for this special program. On 4th December 2019, Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP (Regional Coordinator of AMSAT-INDIA) conducted detailed presentation on Ham Radio & it's Application along with Live Satellite Demo amongst 50 students & faculties. (Group of students @ Ham Radio event) In beginning I gave complete overview of Ham radio hobby ranging from CW to Satellites! (VU2EXP Introduce Ham Radio & it's Application - topic covered CW to Satellites) My presentation Included operating procedure & protocols, various ham events, different modes incl CW, SSB, FM, Digital, SSTV, APRS. Licensing procedure & ASOC exam syllabus was covered. For practical observing collection of radio stuff were displayed incl antennas, accessories, CubeSat model, SDR Dongle, VHF Base, HTs, PSU, Morse Keyer, Paddle, QSL Cards, ARISS Awards etc. And of course my homebrewed IOio Sat Antenna. (Radio stuff were displayed & explained their use during in-depth presentation) AMSAT functioning & it's motto was explained in detailed. Few amateur satellites were bring into notice made or supported by various AMSAT organisations. 'ARISS student outreach program' highlights were also given & played original audio conversation happened between 13 year Student (Sakshi Vagadia) and female Astronaut Sunita William aboard ISS, particular ARISS event was carried out on 14th Nov 2012 at Science City Ahmedabad Gujarat by we few hams. Below is the link to enjoy conversation: https://tinyurl.com/sakshi-talks-sunita Students surprised to see scientific capabilities of ham radio reaches upto ISS Astronauts & even further to moon with EME ! Lots of queries were raised on different topics throughout the session, and students as well as faculties were satisfied with the given answers. I always encourage students to raise query at any point of time and get immediate reply (VU2EXP addressing to Students queries) Thereafter Students also enjoyed Practical Demos as below: • Students find it funny to learn Sound act as a language during Morse Code demo with my keyer & paddle. • VHF Voice demo was given by making 3 groups and students introduce eachother with Radio, simple HT created more excitement amongst students who used to carry expensive iphones, hi.. (3 group enjoyed VHF Voice Demo) • For APRS Demo a prior information were shared to University administration & students to track my QTH to Venue journey on https://aprs.fi with Callsign (SSID) VU2EXP-10 To my own surprise group of Faculties stepped out to welcome me exactly on arrival of my car at Campus! Infact everybody were live tracking my journey on APRS! (actual travel route was tracked on aprs.fi) • Star attraction was for Live Satellite Demoamongst group of students. Tiny cubsat AO91 was preferred for demo considering elevation of 44° & AOS Time 1247 (IST). Demo was previously announced to get support of Ham community. All students, faculties and admins get assembled 15 minutes prior to AOS at terrace of the building. There were no obstacles or tall buildings in any side. (Getting Ready with IOio Antenna) I made students familiar with important Satellite terms such as AOS, TCA, LOS, Uplink Freq, Downlink Freq, Doppler shift, Tracking with apps etc. I used IOio dual band antenna with two separate HTs. Necessary frequency & tx ctcss tone was set & tested before pass. For Tx Speaker Mic was used for convenience, and for Rx small PA was connected to HT so whole group can listen to our possible two way QSO. I was prepared aiming IOio antenna at 180° (South), on AOS time at 1247 (IST) I gave few Sat calls... De VU2EXP on AO91 Satellite... repeat... soon heard a station replying me!!! Cheers!!! (VU2EXP giving Live Satellite Demo) Initially his signal was fading, but finally we establish 1st Satellite QSO, it was VU3PENfrom Hyderabad (MK97em) 955 Kms from us. Students can't stop their excitement and started cheering up!!! Soon we worked 2nd station with VU3BXSfrom Haryana (MM80pd) 1083 Kms away. To our surprise 3rd contact was made with DX station A65BP from UAE (LL75qj) 1602 Kms away. 4th contact was with VU2DGR from Kerala (MJ89gg) 1576 Kms away from us. Now we were near to LOS at NNW direction and at low elevation we heard 5th station, mostly it was R9LR (MO27qf) 3907 Kms away, I gave repeated call but two way contact was not established. Students were very excited to learn such things & just thrilled to witness live SatDemo. Many new queries were answered on SatCom and we had memorable group photo in terrace too. (Lucky group witnessed Live Sat Demo) My session was extended to 4 hours for presentation & various demos. I am thankful to VU3PEN, VU3BXS, A65BP, VU2DGR & R9LR for extending valuable support for my demo activities. This was my first Live Satellite Demo (AO91) amongst group of students & faculties who all keenly enjoyed whole session. I also thanks Prof. Harshal Desai, Dr. Savan Katba (Coordinator), Dr. Ashish Tanna (HOD Physics) & School of Science RK University Rajkot to give me wonderful platform to conduct this memorable Ham Session with Live Demos. (Senior faculties & admins with VU2EXP) Best 73's Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP Rajkot - Gujarat (India) Regional Coordinator West India Zone AMSAT-INDIA M: 9898283916 E: vu2exp@gmail.com www.qrz.com/db/vu2exp
Thank you dear Kuldeep VU2ZKC for your kind compliments. It was memorable event we had, lot of fun & learning for students. 73's VU2EXP Rajesh Vagadia
સુપ્રભાત! અભિનંદન! Namaste, Rajesh. Well done! Many YL's in one of the pictures, great to see that also. Mark Lunday, WD4ELG
પ્રિય મિત્ર માર્ક આપના સુંદર પ્રતિભાવ માટે ખૂબ આભાર. Thank you Mark WD4ELG for your compliments. Sharing one secret: If I bring 5 YLs in Ham Radio, atleast 50 OMs will join our hobby, that too without much efforts!!! hi..hi.. (talking on a lighter side). Really we are fortunate to get equal & good response from next generation, hope some of them will turnout as brilliant operators. Best 73's Rajesh VU2EXP
Many Thanks KA2CZU for your appreciation. I just put down complete details in hope some novice may find it useful. Btw you have two family hams (brother & cousin) too, that's great. We have 6 family hams in our family we do enjoy many events together. Best 73's VU2EXP Rajesh
Dear Rajesh!!! CONGRATS on your demo of the many, many possibilities of OUR GREAT HOBBY to YOUR YOUTH !!! The more like-minded DEMOS that you and your other brethren present throughout your great nation will INDEED INSPIRE THEM & THEIR PEERS, AND YOUR NATION WILL BE PAID BACK IN SPADES BECAUSE OF IT!!! 73, JIM-NN6EE TECH INNOVATOR STATE of CALIF.
Thanks a ton Jim NN6EE for so encouraging feedback, indeed it's big reward for me. Yes I always experiment with various modes & newer technologies (as much as my little mind permits) in radio shack and showcase its amongst NextGen! I always introduce Ham Radio as Scientific platform & not just Voice communication tool! Btw you have enjoyed golden jubilee in ham radio with 5 different callsign! So spectacular journey it should be... I just can imagine. Thanks again and would like to be blessed from mentors like you and others. Best 73's VU2EXP Rajesh
Dear Rajesh... Nice to see Your Great efforts to make a live demo and awareness about Amateur Radio hobby and all of your efforts to make this hobby very popular in young generation of India. Very proud of you. Keep going on. 73s de SHINDO A65DB
Excellent work there and congratulations! I am still trying to work India from the USA, but difficult with the low sunspot cycle! Maybe satellite is the best way to do it. 73 de AI4RA
Nice to hear you Shindo A65DB. Thank you so much for compliments dear, we just miss you in VU land, hope we could have good eyeball in future. Best 73's VU2EXP Rajesh
Thank you Dear Zhenglu Xu BG5DON for compliments. Btw you do have impressive ham profile with stunning photos of your antenna, Radio shack, Repeater & other locations! Just amazing. Best 73's VU2EXP Rajesh
Dear Om Rafiq Ahmed AI4RA thanks a lot for your kind appreciation for my AMSAT activities. Btw possibly we may have QSO with some weak signal modes like FT8, JS8Call etc. We can try sked QSO if you are comfortable, do drop a mail if in case. Thanks again dear. Best 73's VU2EXP Rajesh
