Sandringham School Buildathon

Helping feed new youngsters into the magic of radio and electronics, VARC today supported a buildathon at Sandringham School, St Albans.

Buildathon OneTwenty five students were very excited to be building their first working radio today.  This is part of the science/technology build up to the first UK school contact with Tim Peake on the International Space Station (ISS).  RSGB’s Steve Hartley (G0FUW) led a kit build, jointly organised by the Sandringham School and the Verulam Amateur Radio Club (VARC).

It was very satisfying for the assistants to see the school students delight in hearing their radios working.  It was also promising to hear students ask “what happens if we raise the antennas higher?”

Isn’t this the sound of new Radio Amateurs in the making?

Buildathon ThreeVARC has a long history of association with Sandringham school. Headteacher Alan Gray (G4DJX) is a senior member of the club and has welcomed VARC in attracting youngsters to Amateur Radio.
Students are seen here building their kits.  VARC members David (G3YYD), Roger (G0RBK), David (G4HHJ) and Peter (G4HSO) helped the the youngsters wield their soldering irons during the full day activity.

VARC will be helping students operate the VARC club station GX3VER during the lead-up to the anticipated ISS link up event.

Buildathon TwoPlease see DX cluster spots for where the station is currently operating (operation is focused on school hours).  We will also be publishing our operating frequencies on our Facebook Page and Twitter Feeds.

The event at the school should deliver significant media interest for Amateur Radio.  Live and news coverage of the link to the ISS is expected on BBC and other national TV networks.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Secured By miniOrange