Calling All Archivists! Postcards from AES

Amateur Electronic Supply in Wickliffe was a part of the ham radio scene in Northeast Ohio for decades. They used to have a large bulletin board above the counter where patrons would post their QSL cards. (Hams call these interactions “eyeball QSOs.”) The AES bulletin board provided a history of hams in this area dating back many years. When we learned they were closing, we called and asked for the collection. QSL cards are the folk art of amateur radio, and these don’t disappoint. Now that the tape and staples have all been pulled off, we have a box of historic postcards that need to be scanned. Interested? Let us know if so.

EDU in service of the birds

The Radio Club has volunteered its services and antenna to Birds Canada for their songbird navigation research.  Our planned contribution to the project, apart from receiving the bird’s backpack transmitter transmissions, is to permit real-time notification to the ornithologists.  If we are able to use Twitter for this, the birds will of course be informing their keepers by tweeting, all as filtered through our amateur radio station.  Tweet!

-David, AD8Y

Brian Pollack installing Birds Canada’s receiver and BeagleBone. This will track transmitter-carrying songbirds as they migrate across Lake Erie, using W8EDU’s 2-meter beam antenna.