Introduction: In the articles we have published in “Amatør Radio” throughout the year, we have gone through many of the details surrounding the events in our radio club through the years. At the end of this series, we will tell a little about what the club has done over the past year, and how we envision ARK and amateur radio to be in the future.
How has the year 2023 gone?
ARK’s anniversary year begins early. Already on the 1st of January 01:59 the first QSO with the new callsign, LA100K, is confirmed by operator LB9WI. Furthermore, the club gained 6 new members during the spring recruitment period!
With: Heidi LB9WI and Kristoffer LB0VG
Photo: LB5PI
February started with a cozy cabin trip to Ellingsvatnet. A QSO-competition was arranged here between three teams, where some went by foot, others went by cross-country skis and the third group by mountain skis. The latter combined the competition by activating a SOTA peak in addition! The radio equipment the teams were allowed to take with them was decided by various games and challenges the night before in the cabin. There were drafts about radios, tuners, batteries, antennas and callsigns, all dependent on the placement in the board games. The cabin trip was a great success, so this will definitely be repeated next year. Highly recommended to motivate more people to run lots of QSOs!
In April, after the year’s first license course, we got a total of three newly licensed radio amateurs! Congratulations to Axel LA1Q, Andreas LB7IJ and Alexander LB7JJ! Just weeks after this NRRL discontinued the ability to inherit family member call signs, so LA1Q is probably the oldest issued call sign we have belonging to an operator (and probably ever will have)!
It was not until the weekend in May that the anniversary celebration finally got off the ground after many years of planning. The weekend began with flagging on the roof of the Student Society, and on “Pirumbanken”, a sandbank in Nidelva. Inflatable boats were used to hijack the flagpole, which can be seen on the cover of one of the editions of “Amatør Radio” this year. During the weekend, there were also lots of waffles, a tour of the Student Society with both new and old members, as well as a radio exhibition in the park. The highlight of the weekend was probably the anniversary banquet in the Great Hall, where we gathered a total of 175 participants, and finally got to unveil the nice illuminated sign of our anniversary call signal. Great speeches and good food turned into mingling and good conversations late into the night at ARK. When the ARK flags were lowered on Sunday evening, we could look back on a dignified and memorable celebration of ARK’s 100 years. With the fantastic anniversary book we also have enough reading material to enjoy ARK’s history for a long time to come.
From the left: LB9WI, LB1DJ, LB0VG
Photo: SP5SBU
Constitution Day, 17th of May was celebrated with breakfast and bubbles of different alcoholic calibres. ARK also participated in the Constitution Day parade twice; once at the very beginning and the second round together with the rest of the Student Society’s groups. It was almost absolutely necessary since we had got our LA100K-sign from the banquet on wheels, which of course we had to show off to as many spectators as possible. The first lap went absolutely splendid with sun and pleasant weather, but the second lap was defined by more traditional Trøndelag-weather. We also brought along a radio, being QRV on FT8 in the parade with a homemade magloop antenna. After a good amount of effort we only got one QSO in the log, but mission accomplished as far as we’re concerned. After the parade had ended, we returned to our clubhouse. Everyone got a little wet after the rainy weather, but the appetite for the traditional Trøndelag cuisine of sodd and festivities wasn’t extinguished.
To end a good semester, we went on a portable trip to the outskirts of the city. Here we also had a spontaneous visit from a visiting radio amateur from Moldova, who wondered if he could visit our club house. As nobody were present in the city center itself, he was instead invited to join us on the trip and was able to get the full portable experience under the auspices of LA1K/P!
From the left: LB9WI, LB7JJ, Hannah, Oskar, ER1BAT and LB3SG
Speaking of our non-portable club house, new ducts were made for the wiring of our antenna park on the roof during the spring. We also had to re-route a lot of cables as the expansion of the Student Society was closing in on completion. The station manager also extended the amount of coaxial cables and as a result we got brand new double-shielded coax on our HF array, which our sound system neighbours in the building might appreciate. However, some of our heliax cables had to pay for their lives after a bit of avid cable management.
During the summer holidays, shelves at the workshop at ARK was rebuilt at the initiative of LB4FI, among other things to make cleaning easier by ensuring that more things would have allocated space. Furthermore, our antenna park also received some long-overdue maintenance, where, among other things, the 20m beam came back into operation after some arcing problems.
During the summer, a total renovation of our cabin on Vassfjellet, was continued after a few years of layover. For those who don’t know, this been the home to our radio beacons for almost 40 years by now. After (to put it mildly) a few harsh years of weather and wind, the cabin needed a solid refurbishment after having stood there since the early 60’s. Many members joined in the effort, which has now resulted in a more durable cabin. With a little more work needed, hopefully it will be completely finished by next year. The cabin has been rebuilt from the ground up inside, and has been given a new foundation, floor, trusses and an associated corridor.
From the left: LB7JJ, LB6GH and LB5PI
Photo: LB0VG
The fall admissions painted the new semester with vibrant colors, where a total of 12 new members joined our club. Many of whom had applied in person at our recruitment booth during the recruitment kickoff in the park with the rest of the gangs at the Student Society. Instead of online applications, we prefer handwritten ones on coffee filters, so we made sure everyone got the real experience from the get go. All visitors could also try their hand at our beautiful portable radio shack, as well as witness our cool Spiderbeam antenna that was put up for the occasion.
When September arrived, as it usually does, it was time for Field Day. With well over 30 participants, it was a very nice weekend, both for the fresh recruits (which joined the day before FD) and the slightly older members. During the weekend, we accumulated a lot of QSOs, ate a lot of good food and got a lot of cabin “cozyness” at Samatun. This year we also got to test quite a few new antennas, including an 80m vertical antenna attached to a 26m Spiderbeam mast and a 160m vertical antenna erected by a weather balloon. In addition, we were able to test a portable setup for reaching satellites and organized a radio Fox hunt. All of which are good activities for acquiring more contest points!
From the left: LB8WJ, LB1DJ, LB5DJ, Christian and Espen
Photo: LB5DH
The year’s second license course started again in September and resulted in one new radio amateur, LB8WJ. Seeing as the Juliet-series is coming to an end, we can only assume next year will bring along some more Kilo-“kadets”! A good fit for the LA1-K, if we do dare say so ourselves.
In October every odd-numbered year, it is the “UKA” student festival which engulfs the Student Society and ARK is no exception. The anniversary call sign “LA100K” was replaced by “LA1UKA”, and a QSO was already in the log shortly after the festival began. CQ WW SSB at the end of the month was entered a little more modestly than usual. Participation from the our own shack ended with a single QSO, ran by unlicensed Oskar! However, LB0VG and LB9WI participated from local city rival LA2T, while LA2DIA, LB5DH and LB5PI traveled down to national rival LA8W in Rakkestad to partake in the competition from there.
In the same month, a long-awaited clean-up of our storage container was also arranged, which we have received as compensation for the storage space we lost adjacent to our clubhouse. The storage container has occasionally become more and more filled with miscellaneous things that ARK has collected over the years, and now after Field Day there was an urgent need to finally arrange a good shelf system and sort out all of our things. Even though the clean-up went really well with many participants, not as much was given away or thrown away as was first hoped. Be alert next round of cleaning as hopefully more stuff can come up for grabs.
In November, the yearly general assembly was held and new and occasionally old board members were elected for the coming year. November is also the last month we can get up to our cabin on Vassfjellet, if we’re lucky with the snow. Currently the final touch on the roof was carried out to protect the construction from blocks of ice by the adjacent broadcasting antenna. Towering over our cabin and the mountain top, the majestic antenna at 200 meters can be seen for miles in the region.
Recently, the club has also had an ongoing project with the student news agency, which also does “radio”, by the broadcasting kind. “Radio Revolt”, currently only broadcasts on DAB+ and online streaming, but ARK has been helping out trying to set up and maintaining a working FM-transmitter for our Student Society affiliates, as soon as they get their FM-license. Years back, ARK also helped out make the transmitter for the UKA festival, which went by “UKEsenderen” (The UKA Broadcaster), from 1933 to 2003. We hope the project works out and we can see a comeback for FM!
If anyone has manuals for 1981 NEC FM transmitters, please send them our way!
Photo: LB5PI
ARK 200 years?
We have now spent a lot of time looking back at how the past 100 years has been for an amateur radio club. Let’s look ahead a little and think about what the next 100 years may bring as well.
The future is difficult to predict, but we do know that the Student Society is entering a new era, with a completely new extension of the building that will be ready the following year. ARK has (of course) already budgeted money to get mighty fine, new antennas up on the extended roof, as well as new storage space on the inside. Our club house at Samfundet will probably remain the same as it has been since 1945. However, we may assume that our current shack and antennas are bound to be faced with innovation and upgrades as it always has.
Photo: Adressa.no
For the Student Society itself, ARK has been an “incubator” group for almost all of the technical groups. Having been present since the early beginnings, it is said to be the “grandfather” in the big red house, and why not? Sound amplification, video management, photography and IT are essential parts of the association today that were once managed by ARK. How many new gangs will come out of our radio club in the future is uncertain, but with so much innovation happening in the digital age at the moment, it wouldn’t be surprising if it happened again.
The cabin on Vassfjellet is still a “work-in-progress” and the plan in the next year is to have the cabin painted, insulate the remaining walls and roof, arrange interior walls and a mast for our antennas. Finally, we will install our radio beacons again when they finally get a slightly more temperate (and windproof) place to stay. There will probably be a celebration of the new cabin when summer comes again and the cabin is finally finished.
In recent years, the club has participated enthusiastically in portable radio, and notably also participated in a good number of SOTA activations. A group of ARKers took part in the Norwegian SOTA gathering this fall, and strongly believe that portable radio will also be an important contributor to more new and old members finding joy in the radio hobby. Otherwise, utilising radio from parks and public places will probably help to exhibition amateur radio, and at the same time show that it is an important resource in emergency situations and otherwise when you need independent cross-communication.
Photo: Eskil M.
ARK is still experiencing an interest in radio with new members joining the club every year, and has hope the interest in amateur radio will still remain, and perhaps even grow in the future. New ongoing initiatives from NRRL such as a beginner’s license will probably make people familiar with amateur radio earlier, and can develop more awareness of what a fantastic hobby it actually is. ARK will probably continue to be a place for experimenting, competing and a place where everyone can geek out with other like-minded people in years to come.
This concludes our 6 part series, and one bonus article of our jubilee year. It took some effort to write, and to convert later for our blog here at LA1K.no, so we hope you enjoyed, and perhaps learned a thing or two. Our next anniversary will be in 2033 when the club turns 110 years, and probably every 10 years after that. Maybe we’ll even see the clean 200th anniversary some day as well.
Featured image details:
Caption: Makeshift sign above the shack reminding OPs what callsign to use
Photo: LB0VG
– Heidi LB9WI, Kristoffer LB0VG and Sondre LB5PI
Article first published in “Amatør Radio”, December 2023
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