In 2022, a new student joined my computing science class at Wick High School, in the north of Scotland. This student, Scott, became very interested in the live images of Earth I was downloading via amateur radio from a Russian meteor satellite as it flew by my house five or six times a day.
Often we would look at the images and see interesting features such as wildfires, smoke from Mount Etna or live volcanoes in Iceland. Such was his interest that I knew I had to feed Scott’s curiosity but also give that opportunity to other students.
My own journey into satellite imaging started during lockdown as I gained my amateur radio . You might ask at this point: what’s amateur radio?
Well, it isn’t just people talking to each other - and it isn’t anything to do with listening to BBC Radio 2. The hobby encompasses a diverse range of skills and activities.
Yes, we talk to other amateurs across the world over radio. But we also build equipment, experiment with cutting-edge technologies, climb mountains to talk to people summit to summit, set up stations in the park and talk to astronauts on the International Space Station.
New world of opportunities
As a teacher, I wanted to give my students access to these opportunities, which I wish I’d had when I was at school. I suspect if I had had support from an amateur radio club it could have changed my career choices and opened up a new world of opportunities for me.
In 2023 I officially started the Wick High School Radio Club, with a callsign of GM0WHS. The aim of the club was to expose our students to the wide range of activities available in amateur radio.
I remember our first activity: talking to another amateur in England via the SO-50 satellite. I stood with three students on the rugby pitch, antennas pointing to the sky and talking to another amateur, Nick M1DDD.
By the end of the contact, we had 30 students around us wondering what was going on. Their curiosity sparked, we answered questions on what we were doing and invited them to take part.
What’s nice about amateur radio is that it drives curiosity and promotes communication, skills I believe we should be making greater effort to foster. With so much focus on mobile phone use in society and a perception of declining communication skills, anything we can do to build up those skills should be embraced.
As well as offering activities, our school also gives students the chance to study for and sit their amateur radio Foundation exam, giving them their own callsign. This callsign stays with them as they discover more about amateur radio - as well as being great for their CV. I am exploring the possibility of the Foundation course being given an , to make it even more valuable for young people and schools.
Since last year I have taken on the voluntary role as youth champion for schools with the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB). As part of this role, I am looking to build up the number of school radio clubs across the UK and I would love to see that number take off over the next few years.
You can see a list of schools with amateur radio clubs on the , and you can read some of their stories there, too.
Light-touch exam
If you think you may be interested in starting your own club, please don’t feel daunted by the possibility of sitting an exam. The Foundation licence exam is very light touch, and covers a wide range of topics to help get started safely.
Through my role we could offer support with your exam and with the process of setting up your club - just email youthchampion.school@rsgb.org.uk.
Chris Aitken is a computing science teacher at Wick High School
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