Pupils win amateur radio licences
PUPILS took to the airwaves to earn amateur radio licences.
Eight Brownhills Maths and Computing College students took part in the school's first radio broadcasting course, which involved learning Morse code and using transmitters and receivers to contact radio users around the world.
The year-long course, part of the Tunstall school's enrichment programme, climaxed with a trip up The Cloud, near www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/mytowncongleton">Congleton, to test their skills last week.
While on top of the hill they used their own call signs to communicate with people from all over the country on a VHF calling channel.
On another occasion the group picked up a frequency being used by someone in their car at Asda in Wolstanton and were able to chat to them.
All eight pupils passed an exam to be awarded the Radio Society of Great Britain's Foundation Amateur Licence.
And they were presented with their certificates in a ceremony at the school yesterday.
Course leader and head of maths Tom Read said: "The children have achieved something I think is remarkable.
"They were so committed to the course. There was a lot of technical radio theory about wavelengths and frequencies, this was high level curriculum stuff.
"It's about trying to find other people on different wavelengths and talk to people around the world."
As part of the school's enrichment programme pupils can choose six different activities throughout the year, including learning the guitar and critical thinking.
Mr Read continued: "At first I had to introduce the children to radios. These days they don't generally have to tune in analogue radio dials. We looked at shortwave bands and found some international stations.
"Now they can find a frequency and broadcast on a shortwave frequency that could be picked up anywhere in the world depending on the atmosphere."
With their new licences, applied for through Ofcom, the children are now able to operate radios of up to 10 watts in the UK, though they can not build their own transmitters or play music through the channels.
Mr Read added: "This course has really built the children's self-esteem and confidence. Now they can use it as a hobby and it will stand them in good stead if they want to go into a career in science or engineering."
The school is now looking into getting transmitters for the children to keep.
Charlotte Rowe, aged 12, said: "I listened to radio stations from around the world, which was really interesting.
"The course was lots of fun, especially going up The Cloud and speaking to people who were up another hill in Wales. I'd like to take it up as a hobby now."
Humayun Khayer, aged 12, said: "I liked experimenting with the radio and I'm proud I got the certificate."
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