Grant date: October 2021

Amount: $25,606

Ducks on the Air is the amateur radio club of the University of Oregon (UO). The club, in partnership with the UO DeArmond MakerSpace, faculty advisor Dean Walton, (N7DPW), and engineering advisor Scott Rosenfeld (N7JI), has been meeting twice a month for the past year. Club membership is open to UO students, faculty, staff, alumni, and employees. The club’s goals include: licensing more UO students, providing hands-on learning experiences, camaraderie, and networking opportunities for students, and providing services to the entire UO community through educational programs, public service, and emergency preparedness.

This grant will fund the construction of two portable amateur radio stations. Each station will include an HF transceiver, a VHF/UHF transceiver, a laptop computer, field-deployable antennas, and a portable power system. The portable stations will be used by club members to practice and demonstrate amateur radio operation on the OU campus and to provide emergency communications should the need arise. The stations will be built in the DeArmond Makerspace, which may attract the attention of students and others who have no experience with ham radio.