Finally, a good reason to visit Rhode Island (just kidding, just kidding)….Dan
Wireless Steam Museum reaches out
E. GREENWICH, RI – For nearly 60 years, a small sign on Frenchtown Road has led visitors to a historic collection of ancient machines, one of East Greenwich’s best-kept secrets. This just-passed fall, the New England Wireless and Steam Museum turned outward – using a new technology (the internet) to share its collection of communication devices and steam engines with the wider world.
Museum director Randy Snow says he hopes the new video program will spread appreciation for mechanics and engineering: “We’re trying to hold onto those tangible skills, those lost arts, that aren’t taught anymore.”
This sounds like a good activity for any club…..Dan
Open frequencies: Halifax amateur radio operators make contact for Get on the Air
HALIFAX, NS — With the sound of Saturday’s noon gun from atop Citadel Hill, John Bignell was off and running. Or at least his handheld radio set was as the Halifax Amateur Radio Club’s Get on the Air winter event got underway. Dozens of radio operators around the city switched on their home transmitters or took to the snow-covered streets with portable units to make as many contacts as possible before the 4 p.m. deadline.
Software-defined radio tuning in new world of broadcasting
About two years ago a friend handed me a small blue device that plugs into the USB port of a computer. As he handed it to me he said it would completely change the way I thought of radio. I grew up in a household where radio was important. It enabled my immigrant parents, who had left western Europe for the Antipodes in the wake of the Second World War, to listen over shortwave to broadcasts from their home country. As such, radio and antennas were commonplace to me, and I remember building crystal sets to pull in whatever signals I could. Eventually that led me to getting my amateur radio operator certificate in Canada.
Rob W4ZNG says
The SCR 73 aircraft spark-gap generator demo video from the New England Wireless & Steam museum was priceless.