SUMMER 2024 | 37 CHRISTA NEU Enthusiasts can communicate “from the top of a mountain, your home or behind the wheel of a car, all without relying on the Internet or cell phone network,” according to the association. There are more than 600,000 radio amateurs in the United States and more than 2 million worldwide. “Part of being in the hobby was learning about how the radio waves propagate and the sunspot cycle that affects that,” said George. The hobby inspired him to go into electrical engineering. In addition to electronics, he liked learning about other cultures. “Early on when I was still living at home, my father would sit with me and we had a nice conversation with a fella in the Caribbean who was telling us how they lived down there, picking avocados and pineapple,” George said. Radio operators know who they are talking to based on the letters and numbers in their call sign. Each region of the United States and countries are assigned a unique prefix. History of Ham Radio at Lehigh The earliest mention of a ham radio club was in the Nov. 5, 1920, edition of The Brown and White. The original club had broken up because of the onset of World War I, but there was interest in reviving it after an “exhibition of wireless telegraphy” in the physics building on the night of the 1920 presidential election. Results were received via radio, and Warren G. Harding won in a landslide victory over James M. Cox. “Signals from Brooklyn Navy Yard Station were audible all over the room. Students were on hand as late as 1 a.m. when it became evident Harding was elected,” the article says. An article in the Oct. 30, 1923, edition of The Brown and White announced the formation of a new club. “It will be interesting to note that the students taking part in this organization are, many of them, old friends who, while they had never seen each other, have made lasting friendships through their talking to each other over the radio,” the article says, noting about 30 students attended the first meeting in Drown Hall. A Jan. 15, 1937, article says the club had managed to contact other “hams” in Cuba, Canada, South America and Europe. At that time, the club was in Packard Lab room 504. The last mention of the Amateur Radio Society is in a 1994 edition of the Epitome. Continuing the Tradition Lehigh and its students—especially those involved in physics or electrical engineering—have a long connection to amateur radio, Wilson said. Although a club was no longer on campus at the time, his daughter, Pamela Wilson ’08 (W1PAM), was able to earn $4,000 in ham radio scholarships while at Lehigh because of her license, he said. Wilson suggested the Mountaintop campus as a good location for a station. He said grants are available to obtain amateur radio equipment for educational institutions. “Amateur radio is as relevant as ever in providing hands-on practical experience in electronics and communications,” Wilson said. L SCAN TO WATCH A VIDEO OF HAM RADIO OPERATORS IN ACTION. From left, Don Corrington ’70 and Gary Wilson ’72 in front of the equipment at the Delaware Valley Radio Association club “radio shack” in West Trenton, New Jersey.
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