As we reported in a previous article, TARC Volunteers helped the students at Saint John Catholic School in North Charleston build and test transistor radios in January 2024. The goal over the summer break was 1) to get the teachers and staff licensed and 2) to install an Amateur Radio Station at the school for them to use – perhaps to call the Pope at the Vatican (HV5PUL).
Congratulations to Karen Durand, the school Principal, who attended the ARRL Teachers Institute at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, CT. Karen (KQ4TVY) passed her Technician Class License Examination. Other teachers are now studying to obtain their licenses.
Saint John Catholic School applied for and won a grant to equip their STEM Building with a state-of-the-art Amateur Radio Station and purchased the following equipment: Yeasu FTDX-10 HF/50 MHz Transceiver, LDG AT-100 PRO-II Antenna Tuner, ICOM IC-2730A 144 MHz/430 MHz Transceiver, and a ASTRON SS-50M-AP 12Vvolt 50amp Power Supply.
We installed on the roof an ULTIMAX-100 End Fed 80-6 meter antenna on a 21′ mast on either end of the building with a COMET GP-3 VHF/UHF vertical antenna mounted on the top of the front mast. We had an issue with soldering the PL-259 connectors on to the coaxial cable, but once we had that resolved, we made a contact with a station in Corpus Christi on 20 meters SSB.
Saint John Catholic School expressed their appreciation to TARC Volunteers: Steve Anderjack (KO4AFL), Steve Behr (K4OPZ), TW Kirkpatrick (KF4CQH) and Jim Wasson (KO4MNB).
