AREG Amateur Radio Experimenters Group
"AREG club members at a radio direction finding event."
Amateur Radio is a wide-ranging hobby, welcoming all who are interested in the many aspects of radio and communications. The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group (AREG) has a practical focus, with club members performing a wide range of activities such as Radio Direction Finding, High Frequency Communications, launching high-altitude weather balloons, constructing radio repeater systems, and much more! AREG meets on the third Friday of each month, with most meetings featuring a technical presentation on an amateur radio related topic. Information on upcoming meetings is available on our website – all are welcome! AREG Website
Why was AREG formed?
Formed to unite people with a common interest.
A number of ham radio friends would from time to time work on common projects. Forming a group helped promote teamwork and support for these projects. Large project could be broken down into smaller task, which could be more easily managed.
A forum in which to present ideas.
While some of the members were out on the town one night, they came up with some ”crazy” ideas. At the next meeting these people spoke about what they thought up. The club provides a forum for idea development and problem solving. In other words having a place that ideas can be discussed with out the fear of someone saying “what the hell do you want to do that for” or “that’s impossible, it can’t be done”.
What does AREG hope to achieve?
Having Fun
After all, experimenting with Amateur Radio is supposed to be fun (well isn’t)! Enjoying the hobby is one of the most important aspects of the hobby. If you don’t enjoy it, then you would not continue with Amateur Radio for very long.
Rekindle experimentation
Promote the challenge of new technologies.
To explore new technologies can at times be very daunting. Such things as surface mount construction, new LSI (Large Scale Integration) and other chips, combining many circuits into one package. Sometimes present a perception that these devices are hard to use. In fact once you know how to use it, your life as an experimenter just got a whole lot easier. For example, a PLL ( Phase Lock Loop ) for a HF or VHF multi channel radio can save much in the way of crystal costs. However to calculate the loop filter for this system can be a challenge. It is worth giving it a go, even if you have to seek assistance getting it to work. By giving it a go, you have started down the path of learning about new technologies.
Make experimenting with new and old technologies easier.
Some of the time you would like to build something, but you don’t know where to start. By having some vital bit of information you gained from some place, you are able to make a start, or even get over the problem you were stuck on. By making available information to experimenters, like articles on construction of various items, or even just ideas for a project. It can get others started down the part of discovery, and start experimenting again.