ARDC Grant Supports University Ham Radio Station

A new amateur ham radio station in planned for The University of Scranton’s Amateur Radio Club through support from a nearly $200,000 Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) grant awarded to Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D., assistant professor physics and engineering at The University of Scranton. The grant will support antenna systems and state-of-the-art equipment to allow HF, VHF, UHF and microwave operations including amateur satellite operations. The new station will be located in the glass-walled study room 596 on the fifth floor of the Loyola Science Center, with additional lab space on the same floor. The station will give students the chance to learn about amateur radio, radio engineering and radio science, in addition to allowing them to participate in Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) research.

“In addition to serving University students, this installation will benefit the larger community by being accessible through outreach programs for local high school students and community members and, because of the accessibility of back-up power in the Loyola Science Center, possibilities exist to work with Lackawanna and Luzerne County Emergency Communication Agencies,” said Dr. Frissell.

Dr. Frissell includes ham radio technology in his classes and research, as well as with the University’s Amateur Radio Club (W3USR), for which he serves as moderator.

In 2019, Dr. Frissell received a $1.3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) research. The project seeks to harness the power of a worldwide network of licensed amateur radio operators to better understand and measure the effects of weather in the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere. He received additional grants, including a $25,000 ARDC grant, to support an annual Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Workshop, which just took place at The University of Scranton in March 17-18, as well as grants to further support his space research.

Equipment for the new amateur ham radio station has begun to arrive on campus, with members of the Amateur Radio Club hosting a box opening ceremony at their last meeting to reveal some of the technology to University community members. Construction for the station will continue through the summer with the completion date expected for the beginning of the fall semester.

Dr. Frissell noted that the timing of the opening of the station is particularly important this year in order to capture data for the upcoming annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, and the total solar eclipse on Apr. 8, 2024.

“Both eclipses have paths that sweep across the continental United States and are the last solar eclipses to traverse this area until 2044, and are therefore important, time-sensitive, in- formation rich opportunities for running unique and “controlled” ionospheric experiments,” said Dr. Frissell.

For additional information about Scranton’s Amateur Radio Club or the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), contact Dr. Frissell at nathaniel.frissell@scranton.edu.

Dr. Frissell talks about the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Workshop 2023 in this WVIA podcast.

Below, members of The University of Scranton’s Amateur Radio Club unwrap equipment arriving on campus for a new, state-of-the-art amateur ham radio station supported through a $196,241 Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) grant awarded to Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D., assistant professor physics and engineering. From left: Dr. Frissell, who serves as moderator for the University’s Amateur Radio Club and Scranton students: Gerard Piccini, a sophomore electrical engineering major from Monroe Township, New Jersey; Veronica Romanek, a senior physics and Spanish double major from Hampton, New Jersey; Thomas Pisano, a sophomore electrical engineering major from Staten Island, New York; and James Fox, a sophomore computer science major from Hillsborough, New Jersey.