2019 Radio Club of America Symposium

In this article I take yet another break from the technical articles I should be writing and recap the Cadet Amateur Radio Club’s brief (work-related) trip to Times Square for the RCA 2019 Banquet and Symposium.

Myself, Carole Perry WB2MGP, and Pat KD2SUE

The Symposium

The biggest takeaway I got from the RCA event was that communications is more than just hams. It was truly humbling to be educated on wireless communications by a PhD who had never heard of frequencies below 1 GHz. Of course, 5G was the big talk, so naturally I had a lot to learn.

Although I was met with more than the usual crowd for radio conferences, the usual crowd is still a great pleasure to listen to. Jim WA3FET and Mike W9CN, among many others, are highly skilled and highly helpful to a young ham like me. We will be at HamSci for our next conference, and I can’t wait for what new ideas will be presented.

The talks during the symposium were truly a different echelon of technical research. I was most impressed with Padraig’s talk about Starlink and SpaceX research. AMSAT also gave a presentation on CubeSatSim which I hope to build soon. Lastly, the talks on the Apollo Missions gave me firsthand insight to the magnitude of the accomplishment by all scientists involved.

AMSAT CubeSatSim, coming to a low-earth orbit near you!

The Banquet

Because RCA is more than just hams, I learned how much of our daily lives is affected by wireless communications. From police communication (as discussed by the keynote speaker, Mr. John Miller), to 5G, to my hobby of ham radio, wireless communications have completely revolutionized our lives.

I can add more to the People I’ve Met list too!

  • Dr. Jim Breakall, WA3FET
  • Mr. Martin F. Jue, K5FLU
  • Ms. Carole Perry, WB2MGP
  • Dr. Henry Richter, W6VZA

Plus many more people I undoubtedly forgot to mention.

Pictures

Cadets, not to be mistaken with the doormen

Acknowledgements

I want to thank ICOM and Ms. Perry’s Youth fund for being able to sponsor us. In addition, the Radio Club of America for having such a great workshop to meet giants in the world of telecommunications.