HomeWireless Technology Club

Wireless Technology Club

Hosted by the Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS)

With the prevalence of technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5G networks, LoRa, IoT, and the Deep Space Network, wireless communication is ever present in today’s society. Looking into the future, we can only imagine how interconnected our devices and society will become thanks to the power of radio waves.

Join us for a series of workshops that gets hands on with wireless tech, electronics, and radio communications. Have a ham radio license, but want to get your hands dirty? Come join us as we tinker and learn together. Don’t have a radio license? No problem. Come give it a try and see if this is a hobby and subject that appeals to you. These workshops can be taken a la carte, as they interest you. There is NO expectation of regular attendance!

Together we’ll work on antenna builds, soldering kits, RF robotics, competitive fox hunts, long range communication (DX) contests, morse code, high altitude balloon tracking, encoding and decoding data signals, and more.

For those that show an interest in transmitting, we can also help you get your amateur radio license. There is no limit to how deep you can dive into this hobby, and imagine the career possibilities that could open up to you with an understanding and mastery of wireless technology.

These workshops take place on select Saturday mornings 10:00 - 11:30 am at New England Sci-Tech in Natick, MA. Join us as a NEST member or come try us out first.

+These workshops are mixed age, so both youth (aged 11+) and adults are welcome, unless otherwise specified in workshop description.

+ Parents are welcome to stay and help their child at no extra charge, or parents are welcome to hang out in another room and work. We have WIFI and coffee available.

+ Check us out before signing up! You want to know us, see our facilities, and meet our staff. Come to one of our regular open houses or call us to schedule an appointment to visit.

LEADERSHIP

We have adult volunteers who help students learn to think “out of the box” and come up with their own ideas for products and inventions.

SIGN UP

Student and/or a parent must become a member of New England Sci-Tech, then sign up on the website by clicking the Wireless Technology Club tab on the Event Calendar. Participation in the club is free*, and you may attend as many sessions as you like, all year long.

*Participation in clubs is free for members of New England Sci-Tech; participants reimburse NESci-Tech only for take-home items, consumables, and personalized kits. Members also have access to steep discounts on materials, thanks to a grant from the ARDC.

If dropping off a child for this workshop, please fill out the Workshop Student Permissions Form.

Upcoming Workshops

SAT September 21

10:00-11:30 AM

Fox Hunt Antenna Tuning - (Seth Kendall KC1PZY)

This is a chance to finish tuning our Yagi-Uda Fox Hunt antennas with hair pin matches and antenna tuners.

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SAT September 28th

10:00-11:30 AM

Terminating Coax Cables - (Jeremy Breef-Pilz KB1REQ)

Jeremy will guide us as we create patch cables to connect from our Fox Hunt Offset Attenuators to our handheld radios. Through this workshop, we'll learn to properly strip our coax cables, and crimp on BNC male connectors. The other end of our cables will already have SMA male connectors, ready to plug into our handy talkies. This workshop will involve some fine motor control with razor blades and soldering irons, so parental supervision is recommended. Adults and youth 4th grade and above are invited, and students do not need to have taken other workshops in the Fox Hunt series.

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SAT October 12

10:00-11:30 AM

Fox Hunt Attenuator Kit Build - (Seth Kendall KC1PZY)

Together, we will assemble Fox Hunt attenuator kits that fit onto the 70cm (UHF), directional, Yagi-Uda antennas we build in the previous workshop. This is the next step in our quest to assemble a group of well-equipped fox hunters and start doing regular transmitter hunts. These kits are based on the KC9ON Fox Hunt Offset Attenuator kit and the KC9ON v5 Fox Box printed case, and uses BNC connectors. This workshop is primarily a soldering workshop. Adults and youth 4th grade and above are invited, and students do not need to have taken other workshops in the Fox Hunt series.

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SAT October 26th

10:00-11:30 AM

Fox Hunt Antenna Testing and Fixing - (Seth Kendall KC1PZY)

Together, we'll run some tests with our antennas and attenuators, making sure they work properly. This is also a chance to finish up any steps on previous workshops that haven't been quite finished yet. We'll also put out one or two foxes for those who'd like to use them for an actual fox hunt. In the future, we will do fox hunts either at NEST or at a nearby park or nature area.

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SAT November 16th

10:00-11:30 AM

Fox Hunt! Open to All - (Seth Kendall KC1PZY)

Come join us for some competitive direction finding! Perfect for those who have been building their own Fox Hunt antenna kits, but also available to the general public! We will have a couple extra antennas with offset antennas available for those who don't have one.

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Previous Workshops

SAT Jan 13

10:00-11:30 AM
Types of Antennas and Common Uses - (with Joe Fitzgerald KM1P)
Welcome to the first session of the Wireless Technology Club. Every form of wireless technology, from cell phones, to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, amateur radio, GPS, and (especially!) deep space communication relies on antenna design. In this workshop we'll get hands on with a number of different antenna types, learn about their strengths and weaknesses, and what kinds of antennas are used for what purposes.

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SAT Jan 13

10:00-11:30 AM

Setting Up Antennas and Radio Equipment for Winter Field Day - (with Bruce Tinker N9JBT & Seth Kendall KC1PZY)
Join us on an action packed day for radio communications at New England Sci-Tech as we set up an off-the-grid station for long distance radio communication! Together, we'll erect antennas for temporary field operations and learn how to set up the operating station and power system.

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SAT Feb 10

10:00-11:30 AM
Build a Mobile Radiosonde Tracking Station with Raspberry Pi - (Max Kendall W0MXX)

This workshop is all about making your own radiosonde tracker. Radiosondes are small high-altitude balloon payloads launched all around the world twice per day (0:00 UTC and 12:00 UTC). They are essential assets to the National Weather Service for weather forecasts, but they can be reused! Radiosondes are great as trackers for DIY balloons, as well as a show-off to your friends! By using a USB radio receiver, otherwise known as an SDR, we can decode the signals sent from these sondes to get their positions. From this, we can chase the sondes down as they land, find their precise position, and recover them! Collect these as a game or for practical reasons. Have fun!

There are costs associated with this workshop $$, as the station will be a take home build.

Note: You may come back during the next two Saturday sessions to get help finishing your station as needed. Sign ups for parts are now closed, but you may bring your own parts and still sign up. (List of parts on event page)

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SAT March 9

10:00-11:30 AM
Programming your Handheld Radio with CHIRP - (Zachary Sherman KC1NXK)

Got a new handheld radio with your Technician license? Tired of programming your radio by painstakingly pressing buttons on the keypad? There's a better way! Come learn the ins and outs of Dan Smith KK7DS's famous CHIRP software. We'll cover everything from discovering local radio frequencies to setting your radio's settings in software. Bring a CHIRP-compatible radio, and if you have one, a programming cable that is compatible with your radio (this one from Mirkit is compatible with many common handheld radios).

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SAT March 23

10:00-11:30 AM

Designing PCBs in KiCad - (Max W0MXX)

Printed Circuit Boards represent the best way to create durable and reliable circuits for all kinds of uses. If you find yourself sick of soldering perfboards with tangles of wires, or using breadboards that constantly come disconnected, learn to solidify your circuit properly for long term use with a printed circuit board. It's not as difficult as you think, and the software is free! With all the customization options, you can make boards that you would be proud to show off. Some electronics and basic circuit design experience is expected.

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SAT April 13

10:00-11:30 AM

Designing PCBs in KiCad Part 2 - (Max W0MXX)

Continuation of Designing PCBs in KiCad Part 1. In this session, we'll finish creating our footprints, and create our PCB layout. If there is time, we'll show the process of ordering PCBs for manufacturing and how to apply for the Hack Club OnBoard grant. Depending on how far we get, we may finish any follow up on the following Saturday.

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SAT April 27

10:00-11:30 AM
Intro to Arduino Coding - (Max W0MXX)

Come get an introduction to working with Arduino microcontroller boards. In this workshop, we'll learn about different kinds of development boards and get hands on with wiring up a few peripherals and controlling them using Arduino code. We'll take a brief look at resources for expanding your knowledge at home and how to extend what you can do to future projects. We will be doing many WiTech workshops using Arduino or similar boards going forward, so this is a good chance to get a primer.

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SAT June 29

10:00-11:30 AM

NEWBS High Altitude Balloon Tracker Build - (Max W0MXX)

Join in on our upcoming New England Weather Balloon Society high altitude balloon launches as a member of the radio tracking team. Max will show us how to set up our laptops to receive, decode, and post GPS and telemetry from high altitude balloons launched by our own New England Weather Balloon Society. The only additional equipment needed is an RTL-SDR dongle and a UHF antenna (preferably mag mount). These balloon trackers use Horus Binary v2 to transmit using 4FSK on the 70 cm band. Equipment is not provided for this one, but you can come with just a laptop and get things set up while waiting to secure the other parts.

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SAT July 13

10:00-11:30 AM

70cm Tape Measure Yagi-Uda Antenna Build - (Bob Phinney K5TEC)

Together, we will build our own 70cm (UHF), directional, Yagi-Uda antennas. These can be used for all sorts of things, from simplex or repeater radio communications to various receiver-only activities, such as high altitude balloon tracking or even listening to satellites in orbit. More importantly, we will be using these antennas in upcoming build sessions to attach offset attenuators and custom coax cables, allowing each student to participate in upcoming club fox hunts. Minimal soldering required.

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