Long-time friends of ours, Ronny and Tina Risinger, have gotten a ham radio club started at Deep Wood Elementary in Round Rock, Texas.

From the Austin-American Statesman:

It's 3:30 p.m. at Deep Wood Elementary. Classes are over, but a dozen students huddled around a ham radio station aren't eager to go home.

They're busy talking to ham operators in Tennessee, Indiana, Minnesota, and Maryland.

Deep Wood Elementary fourth-grader Jonathan Wachholz makes contact over a ham radio during a radio club meeting. From left, Alex Paredes, Jacob Holley, Julia Candela and Sam Dixon listen in.

"This is Kilo Charley Five Bravo Zulu Alpha - the Deep Wood Elementary Amateur Radio Club in Round Rock, Texas," says 9-year-old Alex Paredes, rattling off his school's call sign over the microphone like a pro.

The kids have reached as far as India and Mongolia in their radio travels.

This is the kind of extra commitment and dedication that can make a big impact on students, interesting them in technical topics and opening them up to a wider view of the world.

Way to go Tina! And good job on hiring a top-notch 'consultant'.

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My latest QSL card, the second I've received. This one is from Radio Prague, for a reception report on 29 May 2005, 7345kHz. The report was submitted via the Radio Prague website and this card and a snazzy magnet came in a little over a week. Very fast.

Technorati Tag: shortwave

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My first QSL card! The lovely Wife bought me a long-awaited shortwave receiver for Christmas and I'm gradually learning the new hobby. I got the QSL card this week in the mail after reporting to Radio Flanders a very clear and strong transmission on 31 Dec. They transmit to the US and other places from Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles, on 9590kHz. Unfortunately, it seems the station has plans to end English-language transmissions this Spring.

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There's a scene in the movie Wild At Heart which, in part, illustrates my feelings towards news radio, especially in the car:

LULA (attacking the dial) Jesus! How could anyone listen to this crap? Sailor jumps awake in fright as Lula yanks the car off the road and brings it to a screeching halt in the middle of the desert. SAILOR What's that, peanut? LULA I can't take no more of this radio... (switches it off) I ain't never heard so much concentrated weirdness in my life, Sailor Ripley, you find me some dancin' music right this minute... I MEAN IT!! Sailor starts spinning the dial. LULA (still crazed) The world's gettin' worse, I think, Sailor. And it don't sound like there's much we can do about it, neither. SAILOR This ain't news, sweetheart. I hate to tell ya.

A sampling of misery from today's news: Iraq, Iraq, maimed soldier, Vietnam, Palestine Hotel, Iraq, severed head, sexual abuse of deaf children by nuns, Cisco profit up, stock price down, prisoner abuse, body counts are back in vogue, Iraq, oh, and I almost forgot, Iraq.

RICHARD
(attacking the dial)
I can't take no more of this radio...
(switches it off)

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