The Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellence



Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) sponsored 4 Science Fair prizes for 2008. These $50 cash prizes, accompanied by a reward certificate, will be awarded to to Intermediate, Junior, or Senior level projects that best explore some aspect of the physics of radio communication.

See photos of projects that have won these prizes.

This document provides the information necessary to the student to compete for one of these prizes.

For information about CVARC's sponsorship of these awards, or for mentoring support for your project, contact one of the project advocates:

 

D. Daniel McGlothin - KB3MUN
Bill Beyrer - K3ZIV

science.fair@w3ach.org

 

For information about the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC), go to the club's website.

For information about the Science Fair itself, go to the Franklin Science Council's website.

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

Qualifying Criteria for Science Fair Entries

It is reasonable to ask "How do I know if my Science Fair project will qualify for one of the CVARC prizes?". This section answers that question.

It is the stated goal of CVARC to award prizes for projects that explore some aspect of the physics of radio communication. Another way of stating this qualification is that the project must deal with the basic science of radio as it is used in communication.

Some definitions (taken from the on-line American Heritage Dictionary of English Language, 4th Edition, see also: science, physics, radio, communication):

Science means the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

Physics means investigation of the physical properties, interactions, processes, or laws.

Radio means the wireless transmission through space (and reception of the same) of electromagnetic waves by means of equipment capable of transmitting and receiving these signals.

Communication means the transmission of information.

Therefore, for the purposes of qualifying for Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellence, we can make these descriptive definitions:

physics of radio communication refers to investigating, by means of experiments, the use of radio signals to transfer information over some distance. Such investigation may acceptably be focused on the equipment that generates, transmits, or receives those radio signals.

basic science of radio as it is used in communication refers to using experiments to investigate the application of the physics of radio to the communication of information.

 

The question of partnered projects may come up. The prizes that the CVARC will be offering will be available to partnered projects, so long as they otherwise would fit into the individual categories as discussed below. However, the student should be aware that, given a situation where a partnered project and an individual project would be scored the same by the CVARC judges, slight preference will be given to the individual project.

 

 

Notify CVARC of Intention to Enter a Qualifying Project

The student desiring to compete for one of the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellence prizes is requested to notify CVARC prior to the judging of the prizes. The latest that this notification can take place will be when the student sets up the project's display just prior to judging. Pragmatically, this notification should take place well prior to that time, especially if the student desires mentoring assistance.

The CVARC judges will work with the Science Fair organizers to review the projects as registered to identify possible qualifying projects. And the CVARC judges will also canvass all of the projects displayed projects to identify possible qualifying projects. Unfortunately, it may be that the judges will overlook a project's qualifying merit--hence the strong recommendation that the student notify CVARC of their intent to compete for one of these prizes.

Notice of Intent to Qualify for a Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellence The student should download and complete this form and submit it to CVARC well in advance of the judging.

You may also send your notice by email to science.fair@w3ach.org providing the same information (your name, the project name, the name of any ham mentors, and your level--Intermediate, Junior, or Senior) that Email notification should take place no later than the day before your project is setup for judging.

 

 

Examples of Qualifying Projects

A qualifying project will investigate, by means of an experiment, some aspect of the physical nature of the transmission or reception of information by means of radio waves. Project complexity is expected to increase with the higher divisions. Partnered projects are also acceptable assuming that they otherwise follow the guidelines of individual projects.

Intermediate Level (Grades 4-6)

  • Building a crystal radio set is a demonstration project. To make this into an experiment, the student might, for example, use different antennas (length, type, etc.) as the independent (changed) variable and record the signal strength (audio volume, voltage into the audio amplifier, etc.) or count the different stations detectable as the dependent (measured) variable.

Junior Level (Grades 7-8)

  • A remote control toy (operated by a radio controller) detects radio waves that convey the commands from the operator. To use this as the basis of an experiment, the student might decide that the dependent (measured) variable would be how far away the toy can be from the transmitter and still respond to the commands, and the independent (changed) variable would be antenna length or type.

Senior Level (Grades 9-12)

  • The voltage and current along an antenna's length could be measured as the signal frequency is varied for different experimental trials.

 

 

More Examples of Qualifying Projects

Some people have suggested that this prize is rather narrow in its definition. These additional examples are to demonstrate that the breadth of the reach of amateur radio, and hence the breadth of the science fair categories that could easily have a project eligible for this award.  

Intermediate and Junior Level Categories

  • Earth Science see description of Senior-level category Earth & Space

  • Life Science see description of Senior-level category Medicine & Health

  • Physical Science see description of Senior-level categories Physics, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science

Senior Level Categories

  • Computer Science and Mathematics are used extensively in amateur radio. There are software defined radios with software filters that could become the subject matter of an experiment. There are a bunch of digital communication modes (nearly every networking technology is represented or used in amateur radio); these could be used as the basis of experiments. There are a number of mathematical models covering a number of physical components or phenomena (a few examples include antenna models and analysis of signal skip or refraction) that could become the underpinnings of some interesting experiments.

  • Earth & Space sciences include the examination of the geo-magnetic phenomena of the sun, the earth, and the RF-noisy planets and stars. The geo-magnetic properties of the sun and the earth are especially important to amateur radio operators as these things can significantly affect the radio transmissions. The interaction of the solar flux and the sunspots with the earths ionosphere could be the source of a number of different experiments; radio signal propagation under varying conditions could be another rich source of experiments.

  • Engineering is sometimes thought of as the application of science to real-world problems. Amateur radio has its share of engineers, and also a vast array of engineering problems to be solved. An experiment could be built around ampacity testing of the Anderson Power-Pole and other wire connectivity schemes. The study of the various lightening arrestor claims should yield some ideas for experiments in the areas of safety and RF grounding, static electricity management, and equipment protection from lightening strikes and power surges.

  • Medicine & Health research can also be considered to be related to amateur radio. Experiments could be designed around the issues of RF safety, body cavity absorption of radio signals, and tissue heating from radio signals.

  • Physics is where we would like to see the most activity. With a little thought, there would be a number of experiments that could be constructed around Ohm's Law, Kirchoff's Law, or the concepts of resistance, impedance, and reactance. More complex experiments can be constructed around the application of these concepts to solve real-world issues in amateur radio.

As can be seen with this brief discussion, the physics of radio communication and the basic science of radio as it is used in communication can easily encompass many of the categories provided for the student to classify his or her project.

 

 

Some More Ideas for Projects

Keep in mind that some of the projects described in these links DO NOT meet the criteria for a good science fair project that involves experimentation. However, with a bit of clever thinking, a demonstration project can be turned into an experiment that does. CVARC provides, without endorsement, these external links for your benefit; if you know of an external link that would be appropriate here, please let CVARC know..

 

 

How to Do an Experiment

There are a number of resources that describe the scientific method and how to design an experiment so that there is a single independent variable (what you change: the thing that is changed from one trial to the next) and the measurement of a dependent variable (what you measure: the thing that is measured the same way on each trial). A more involved discussion of experimental design considers the use of statistics to analyze the data.

This next description of how to craft an experiment comes by way of a science teacher who is also an amateur radio operator.

Science Fair projects should promote experimentation. For example, pull a pendulum back 5 degrees and let it swing 50 times, and find the average swing time. Now pull it back 10 degrees, then 15, then 20, etc.

Now, graph "Period" of swing on the Y axis (what you measured) and "Angle of release from vertical" (what you varied) on the X-axis. Then find a mathematical relationship.

Even more repetition is encouraged, by doing this same experiment of 5 degrees through 90 degrees, a total of 10 times, so you have 10 trials of the 5 degree swing. This makes the average (and standard deviation) more tightly constrained.

The problem with radio, is that you'd like to vary something to at least 10 different values, and watch something respond.

For example, build an Inductor-Capacitor (L-C) circuit, and vary the capacitor value, and measure the resonant frequency, and plot Frequency (what you measured) against Capacitance (what you varied).

Showing how to put voice onto a laser light, shine it across the room, and get the information off the light beam is very cool. And to understand the science behind it is very powerful. But you always have to be thinking how to vary something ~ 10 times that is fundamental to the experiment, and then measure an output.

When [students] ask me for ideas, I tell them to look in their textbook at homework problems. For example, in the electrical section, it might say: "Suppose an L-C circuit has an inductor of 50 micro-Henrys and a Capacitor with 27 pico-Farads. What is the resonant frequency of the circuit?" Now, take that homework problem, and tweak one of the parameters 10 times and call it a project.

So, maybe start right there. Physics books with electromagnetism have very little pure-radio material. But lots of electro-magnetism. Possibly find a college-freshman Electronics/Radio textbook, that has lots of homework problems in it, and see what project ideas come nicely out of the textbook into experiments, by simply varying one of the parameters. That parameter is then graphed on the X axis, and the thing that is measured is graphed on the Y axis.

The reason you repeat the pendulum experiment so many times is to get an average. Science fair judges need to realize that when you design an electrical circuit, and throw the switch, that the current reading of 1.23 amps, is going to say 1.23 amps again, and again, and again, and again, and again. That is the cool thing about electronic experiments - once they work, the answer tends to be VERY consistent, making more trials superfluous.

Your teacher will have his/her own way of explaining the design of experiments. This section is intended to provide another description of the process of designing and running experiments for the Science Fair. We recommend following your teacher's suggestions if they differ greatly from the material presented here.

 

 

Notes About Radio License Requirements

The student performing experiments in radio science should be aware of the following information about the radio license required. More information can be found starting at the ARRL's Regulatory Information Branch webpage.

  • Many experiments can be performed without transmission, and so do not need a license.

  • Certain experimentation can be accomplished with very low power transmissions, so long as they do not interfere with other devices or operators of radio equipment. (For more information, review the FCC's Part 15 rules in light of sections 15.23 and 15.25).

  • Under no circumstances are transmissions permitted that would interfere with radio frequency bands that are allocated to specific uses or services.

  • Any person transmitting on the radio frequencies licensed to amateur radio must have the appropriate class of license for that frequency (see the FCC's Part 97 rules). The student is encouraged to obtain his/her own amateur radio license.

  • If the student can not get his/her amateur radio license, a mentoring ham may be available to supervise the student making the transmissions as a third party using the mentoring ham's license. This is a special circumstance, and the student will need to understand the rules associated with this.

 

 

Notes About Safety

The student that is performing experiments in radio science should exercise appropriate cautions related to the use of electricity and radio frequency generating devices.

  • Radio experiments can be done quite safely. Your teacher, or ham mentor, will be able to discuss basic safety concerns with you.

  • Electrical Safety—Battery: Most types of experiments likely to be performed by students for the Science Fair will be battery operated and will not generate high levels of electrical voltage or currents. Obviously, normal care should be exercised with recharging batteries, or when operating devices that are plugged into the wall outlet.

  • Electrical Safety—Line Voltage: Some devices used may be powered by the wall-outlet; normal operating precautions should be followed when using these devices. If the Science Fair project requires dissembly of such a device, or building a line-voltage operated device, the student should be aware of rules for working safely with these types of circuits. (One place for additional advice in the this area of electrical safety is the Electrical Safety excerpt from the ARRL Antenna Book.)

  • Radio Frequency (RF) Exposure Safety: For the types of experiments likely to be performed by students for the Science Fair, there is probably no more RF exposure danger from the experimental apparatus than from using a cellphone, a cordless telephone, or an electric blanket. (More information can be found at the ARRL's RF Exposure Safety webpage—near the bottom is a nice summary of RF Exposure safety guidelines.)

 

 

Guidelines for Judging Science Fair Entries

The following Judging Rubrics and Judging Guidelines have been developed. These are made available so that the students may be aware of how to best compete for the prizes.

 

 

Parental and Teacher Consent for Science Fair Project Mentoring

The student desiring mentoring assistance from any amateur radio operator affiliated with the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club will be required to have written permission of both the parent/guardian and the teacher before CVARC members will be able to provide mentoring guidance, advice, or assistance with equipment.

Parental & Teacher Consent for Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Mentoring The student will need to print this form and have his/her parent/guardian and teacher indicate their consent to the club's offer of mentoring for a student's Science Fair project. Once completed, mail it to the address shown on the form.

 

 

Pictures of the 2008 Entries

One project was awarded a Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellance.

Kyle Zimmerman, a 7th grade student of Mr. Bryan Flickinger at Waynesboro Area Middle School, had project #1416 about How to Make a Wireless Signal Stronger. The project investigated using reflectors, made from aluminum foil, to alter the signal strength of a WiFi access point.

Pictures of the 2007 Entries

One project was awarded a Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Award for Radio Excellance.

Allison Sites, a 10th grade student of Mr. Mathern Mellot at Fannett-Metal High School, had project #3203 about Microwave Radiation Safety. The project's investigation into radio frequency radiation, while focused on the microwave oven, touched on the broader issue of RF safety.

 

 

Science Fair Information—Local to International

You can look at these websites for more information about Science Fairs. The information about the regional/national/international Science Fairs are provided for your information—but don't be alarmed, the process used by CVARC to judge for its sponsored prizes will not be so rigorously formalized.

  • Franklin Science Council : this is the organization sponsoring the local Science Fair that CVARC will be sponsoring prizes for. The web site discusses the science fair from the entering student's perspective. It does not have specific criteria for judges.

  • Carlisle Area Science Advisory Committee: this nearby local Science Fair organization has a Science Fair Info page with some well developed information for both student's and judges alike. The judging rubrics used here seem to make a special effort at objectivity; these forms can be accessed from their Science Fair Info page. By the way, this is the governing organization for the Science Fair that students from the Trinity High School Amateur Radio Club N3THS participate in.

  • Lancaster Newspapers Science & Engineering Fair: this nearby Science Fair has a well thought-out judging rubric listed on its website.

  • Capital Area Science and Engineering Fair is the regional level of Science Fairs that includes the our local Science Fair, and is limited to grades 7-12. As this regional Science Fair is affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair, and so has somewhat different, and in some cases, more stringent guidelines.

  • Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is the national/international level of Science Fairs. Comprehensive information is available to both entrants and judges, especially check out the left-side menu items Info for Judges and Forms/Documents Library.