Beam Intermediate club teaches students how to use amateur radio
A new club at W.B. Intermediate School in Cherryville connects its members to people across the globe using technology that is more than 100 years old.
Mark Reep, a longtime counselor at the school, picked up an interest in amateur radio back in 2006 when he earned his radio operator license. He recalls getting his license because he enjoyed communicating with people in far-away countries and learning about their cultures.
Now, he is sharing that interest with students.
CVCS student gets FCC license
It was something that he thought would be fun. Eleven-year-old Keller Ford is now a licensed amateur radio operator. He earned his Technician Class FCC License after passing a test involving FCC rules and regulations and the basic operation of radios.
A short ceremony was held at Cottonwood Valley Charter School where ham enthusiast Jon Spargo presented Keller with a hand-held BaoFeng radio.
W5AC continues A&M’s amateur radio tradition
As the first public institution of higher education in Texas, Texas A&M is a pioneer in many ways.
A&M’s amateur radio club, called W5AC, is an example of this.
The club was involved with the 1921 play-by-play broadcast of an A&M-University of Texas football game — the first of its kind by an amateur radio station. However, a commercial station in Pittsburgh beat it out to be the first in the nation.
But the club’s history runs deeper than that.
Founded in 1912 in Bolton Hall, W5AC is the oldest college radio club that is currently operating under its original call sign, though there is some debate surrounding that fact.
Harvard claims its radio club, W1AF, was founded in 1909, but W5AC historian David Gent, Class of 1975, said there are issues with that claim.
“They did not have a station, they didn’t operate, they didn’t have a call sign in 1909,” Gent said. “What they did is they had some of their students that were interested in what was called wireless telegraphy and they met and talked about it, and they said that was the beginning of their club.”
Derick Bonewitz AB9PR says
Thanks for posting the article about W5AC. I’m a Texas A&M graduate, Class of ‘70, and am very pleased to see that old call still active. 73