ARRL

Register Account

Login Help

Collegiate Amateur Radio

We Want U

Facebook Group | Scholarships | Student Membership ApplicationPublic Folder | Collegiate QSO Party 

The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP) was established to support and promote Amateur Radio among students and ham radio clubs at colleges and universities. Connect with other students. Further your own interests in wireless communications. Meet professionals whose careers have been influenced by being a ham radio operator. ARRL is your place for access to the latest developments in radio electronics and Amateur Radio public service. Join us!

We Want U
... to expore the benefits of collegiate ham radio:

  • students
  • campus radio clubs
  • alumni
  • faculty
  • staff and administration

Social Media

  • Facebook. Check out our CARI Facebook group for a great way to contact other college students and radio clubs, and to share information, techniques, and resources.
  • Discord. Join the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio community on our Discord server at discord.gg/Rd5BcrWcxb

Public Folder. This is a OneDrive folder with recordings, lists of College & University Radio Clubs, and other file sharing.

Collegiate QSO Party | October 2024 (date TBD). The Collegiate QSO Party is an operating event focused on amateur radio clubs at colleges and universities around the world. Each fall, the Collegiate QSO Party provides an opportunity for clubs to demonstrate amateur radio to new members, engage with alumni, and promote activity throughout college and university communities.

Dayton Hamvention®
| hamvention.org

  • Visit the Collegiate Amateur Radio booth at Hamvention each year -- located in the ARRL exhibit area.
  • Join us at the Collegiate Amateur Radio forum at Hamvention.
  • Collegiate Amateur Radio Dinner. After spending the day at Hamvention (and participating in the Collegiate Amateur Radio forum), come join us for some casual fun. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided courtesy of the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program! All are welcome including current students, faculty, staff, parents, friends, and alumni. This is a great opportunity to meet and network with other college hams. Please RSVP so we can reserve enough seats (click here to RSVP for 2024).

The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program is sponsored in part by the W1YSM Snyder Family Collegiate & ARRL Affiliated Club Endowment Fund, first established in 2017.

Spread the word! Return to this page: www.arrl.org/WeWantU

Contact Us. Please contact us for questions about the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Intitiative and related programs.

  • Andy Milluzzi, KK4LWR, Co-Advisor | email
  • Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, Co-Advisor | email
  • Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, ARRL Staff Liason | email
  • Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, ARRL Staff Liason | email

Monthly Webinars

College Students and Educators

This web page is a portal to ARRL and other technical amateur radio resources for college/university students and educators interested in RF and communications. The information is intended to support:

  • Classroom and laboratory instruction on topics associated with RF and signal processing
  • Supporting scientific experiments, data collection, tracking and navigation
  • Developing practical experience with RF construction and measurement
  • Furthering personal interests in wireless technology
  • Using STEM skills to provide public service and emergency communications

The set of topics and links collected here will expand as we receive feedback and suggestions from visitors.  By learning more about your interests in RF and communications, we can improve this portal to provide more information to support you.

For information on the following, please click one of these links:

Download the PDF version of an eight-page brochure outlining the ARRL/RSGB Amateur Radio technical training and education material.

Click here to visit the Amateur Radio in the Classroom page with more information about the ARRL's resources for classroom instruction.

RF Comm Resources

  • Digital Signal Processing and Software-Defined Radio

    Amateurs have been using DSP and SDR techniques since the mid-1990s.  There are numerous articles and references about DSP and SDR in the Technology area of this website:

  • Digital Protocols and Modes

    Amateurs are permitted to use digital emissions (modes and protocols) at a wide variety of symbol rates (baud) from HF through microwave frequencies.

    • Amateur digital modes - ARRL resources
    • Amateurs are also developing high-speed wireless networks, both within the amateur segments of the 2.4 GHz band using WiFi and on other bands using mesh networking techniques.
    • Amateur high-speed digital communications - ARRL resources
    • Based on these digital modes, amateurs have also developed complete end-to-end communications systems.  For example, the Winlink email system has grown from casual use for sailors to a worldwide, hardened network that provides critical emergency and disaster relief communications.  The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) was adapted to create the foundation for the commercial Lojack stolen vehicle recovery system - hams use it for position, weather, remote sensing, and text messaging.
    • Amateur communications systems - ARRL resources
    • Winlink 2000
    • APRS
    • TAPR - this organization supports and helps administer amateur experimental development of digital communications concepts.  TAPR also sponsors the ham radio Digital Communication Conference every year.

  • Antennas and RF Propagation

    Understanding, modeling, and experimenting with antenna design is one of Amateur Radio's strongest suits.  Amateur bands span wavelengths from 160 meters (longer wavelength bands are coming but are not yet approved for amateur use by the FCC) through millimeter-wave.

    • Antennas - ARRL resources
    • RF Propagation - ARRL resources
    • The ARRL Antenna Book is the standard reference book used by hams for antenna, transmission lines, and propagation information.  It comes with several software utilities on CD-ROM, including numerous antenna design models, a version of the EZNEC antenna modeling program, and the Yagi antenna design software YW (Yagis for Windows).
    • At and above VHF, amateurs use the so-called "weak signal" modes: Morse, SSB, and advanced digital modes such as the WSJT software developed by Nobel laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, for amateur meteor scatter and Earth-Moon-Earth communications (a.k.a. - "moonbounce").
    • VHF-UHF Modes and Propagation - ARRL resources
    • The RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) is also very active at VHF+ (VHF and higher frequency bands) as is the continental DUBUS group.
    • UK Microwavers
    • DUBUS

  • Transmission Lines

    The ARRL provides numerous articles and tutorials on the use of transmission lines, measurements on transmission lines, and the use of the Smith chart as a tool for understanding and designing transmission line systems.
     

    • Transmission Lines - ARRL resources
    • Smith chart - ARRL resources
    • The AT&T Archive features this excellent video presentation, "Similarities in Wave Behavior" by Dr John Shive, explaining basic wave phenomena by using his Shive Wave Generator.  The video illustrates basic concepts including speed of propagation, reflection, development of standing waves.  He also derives standing wave ratio and other metrics in a visual, easy-to-understand style.
    • The ARRL Antenna Book is the standard reference book used by hams for antenna, transmission lines, and propagation information.  It comes with several software utilities on CD-ROM, including the handy transmission line calculator TLW (Transmission Lines for Windows).

  • Amateur Satellites, High-Altitude Ballooning, and Remote Sensing

    The primary amateur satellite group is the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). AMSAT coordinates all amateur satellite communications links and maintains a record of satellite status, Keplerian orbital elements, and other information about the satellite.

    University and other teams have been constructing and deploying small experimental satellites called CubeSats after their shape.  CubeSat, AMSAT, and the ARRL work together to manage CubeSat communication links.  There is Amateur Radio equipment you can contact, such as a digipeater, on the International Space Station, as well, with regular contacts between the astronauts and primary-secondary students around the world.

     

  • RF Electronics

    The ARRL Handbook is the primary electronics reference used by amateurs.  It covers topics from basic electrical fundamentals through transceiver architecture and circuit design.

    The book Experimental Methods in RF Design by Hayward, Campbell, and Larkin explores many advanced design topics at HF and VHF frequencies:

    Hands-On Radio - a monthly column by Ward Silver NØAX - presents a two-page experiment or explanation of a technical topic for amateurs.  Two volumes of the experiments are available with 60 experiments in each: Volume 1 and Volume 2, as well as a parts kit.

    Other resources include:

  • RF Construction Techniques and Safety

    Construction of circuits operating at RF requires special know-how and technique.  Here are a few resources to help you learn how to build electronics properly.

  • ARRL Technical References

  • Miscellaneous Useful References

    Electronic Products magazine's

    Student Download Center

    - lots of handy stuff for engineering and science students

EXPLORE ARRL

Instragram     Facebook     Twitter     YouTube     LinkedIn