Steve Schallehn and Jeff Smith put the station through the paces in March, 1990

According to legend, the KSU Amateur Radio Club was chartered in 1927, and will soon observe seventy continuous years of operation and service. (Well...continuous except for the day the Secret Service ran us off when President Reagan was speaking in Ahearn Field House).

At one time the KSUARC was affiliated with the Military Science department, and the club station was located in the Military Science Building until its eventual move to the top of Seaton Hall. The original callsign, W9QQQ, was changed when the zero call area was created.

The club in its early days was a MARS (Military Affiliated Radio Service) station, with a primary purpose of passing personal messages to soldiers.

In recent years the club has been affiliated with the KSU College of Engineering, and has certainly benefited in many ways from the support of individuals in that college, from faculty members to the dean.

The KSUARC exists to promote interest in amateur radio and related fields, to provide operating facilities for its members, and to provide alternative means of communication to the university and Manhattan community in times of need. Club members and advisers have often taught licensing classes, and also conduct license exams every few weeks.

The KSUARC is registered with the University Activities Board. The club is a long-time affiliate of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and is therefore eligible to participate in the numerous activities and contests sponsored by the League.

KSU students and faculty/staff members (current or retired), as well as their immediate families, are eligible to join the club.

It's not necessary to hold an amateur radio license to join or to attend meetings. Anyone who is curious about amateur radio is welcome and encouraged to attend club meetings or activities.

If you'd like to make it official, membership fees are a mere $2 per year. See the next section for details on station access.

An alumni membership category was created in April, 1998. Graduates of KSU who would like to renew their ties to the KSUARC are welcome to join as alumni members. The fee is $2 per year, with a minimum of five years. Alumni members are not eligible to vote, but may arrange station access for an additional fee of $25 per school year and a one-time refundable key deposit of $10.

Regular members who hold an FCC amateur radio license may have access to the club station in Seaton Hall by paying an additional fee of $18 per year and a one-time refundable key deposit of $10.

The basement doors of Seaton Hall are open 24 hours a day to facilitate your after-hours radio adventures.

The sky's not the limit with our club. Members in the 80's will recall as a highlight the first time a licensed amateur, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, operated onboard the shuttle Columbia. After designing a special antenna and tracking apparatus to receive his signals from space, members were pleasantly surprised to hear W5LFL announcing his position over North America...on the handheld radios clipped to their belts.

WØQQQ is a familiar callsign heard during national and international radio activities such as Sweepstakes, Field Day, and the International DX contests (when we contact amateurs all over the world in a 48-hour marathon). (Classes are, of course, never missed since these extravaganzas always occur on weekends).

Club members have, over the years, provided health and welfare communications for canoe races, fun runs, horse races and solar car races. When severe flooding struck Manhattan in 1993, we were able to assist in relaying relief communications needed to coordinate hundreds of volunteers.

Transmitter fox hunts, DXpeditions to Flush (not the county seat of Pott[awatomie] County) KS, chasing balloons, coordinating parachute jumpers, providing license exams, teaching radio to Boy Scouts and satellite communications are all part of the fun.

Members from other countries have often used our station to contact family and friends in Central and South America.

Icom IC-736 HF / 6m transceiver

For HF contacts we have an ICOM IC-736 transceiver, purchased in 1995. It also covers the 6-meter band, and has a general coverage receiver.

For 2 meters, there's an ICOM IC-251A all-mode transceiver.

If you have your own 2-meter radio, feel free to use WØQQQ/R (145.41-). Our 440 MHz repeater (444.175+) is also open and available to all amateurs.

For packet radio we have a Kantronics KAM all-mode modem. There's a bulletin board at W0QQQ@neks.ks.usa.noam

Our antenna farm includes a Hy-Gain TH6DXX beam for 10, 15 and 20m on a 50-foot tower, a Cushcraft R5 HF vertical, a homebrew 40m vertical, an 80m dipole, a 6m Ringo Ranger, and various VHF and UHF antennas.

ksuarc@ksu.edu

modified 2/03/14