The Amateur Radio Club of the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), a private foundation that supports and promotes amateur radio. The grant will allow the Amateur Radio Club to design and implement new antennas which cover frequency ranges available to U.S. radio amateurs and add earth-space capabilities to its “shack.”
New functionality will include a computer-controlled tracking, high gain antenna system and a new satellite transceiver. This will allow for communications through the International Space Station and several low earth orbit amateur satellites.
These improvements will allow our visitors to better engage with technologies which impact their everyday lives.
Bob Allison, WB1GCM, president of the amateur radio club commented “These new capabilities will allow club members to show the full range of technologies that make amateur radio the unique lifetime hobby it is. Over the years these demonstrations have encouraged more than a few visitors to pursue their amateur radio licenses.”
The Director of the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut, John Ellsworth, emphasized the importance of the Amateur Radio Club as part of the story of communication “During our docent-led tours we discuss the history and development of radio and television. Having a working radio station available reinforces many of the topics discussed.”
About ARDC
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a California-based foundation with roots in amateur radio and the technology of internet communication. ARDC makes grants to projects and organizations that follow amateur radio’s practice and tradition of technical experimentation in both amateur radio and digital communication science. Such experimentation has led to broad advances for the benefit of the general public – such as the mobile phone and wireless internet technology. ARDC envisions a world where all such technology is available through open-source hardware and software, and where anyone has the ability to innovate upon it.
Learn more about ARDC at ampr.org.
About The Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut
The radio station and museum are an all-volunteer organization located at 115 Pierson Lane, Windsor, CT. The museum is open all year, Thursdays and Fridays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed for major holidays.) We can be reached at (860) 683-2903. Please visit our web site at vrcmct.org for additional information.