W1AW & ARRL

By: Kevin

For those of you who do not know, in addition to me being a nurse both Heater and I are FCC-licensed radio operators. We both have participated in special event communication and support a number of events in a medical/radio capacity.

While in Rhode Island I figured out that we were just a few hours drive from the radio mecca, better known as ARRL National Headquarters and W1AW radio station. So, we took a drive on one of my days off and made a visit. We toured the Headquarters building, saw rows of work benches and test projects in mid-completion. We walked inside an awesome Faraday cage, which blocks all outside radio interference for testing of very sensitive equipment. We saw a radio satellite, a rack of repeater equipment in operation, and a multi-band software-defined radio in operation. There was also an impressive collection of radio equipment from current all the way back to the spark-gap era. For a geek like me, it was very interesting.

I also had the opportunity to be a guest operator of W1AW including a contact with my good friend Dan, AB8VE, who was sitting in his house in southern Ohio. This was a highlight of the day for both of us.

For anyone who is a ham radio operator, this is where the code and bulletin transmissions come from. This is just some of the radio equipment inside W1AW. And you thought your radio room was impressive…