The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania has a new amateur radio station, W3USR. A dedication was held at the university’s Loyola Science Center on Friday, October 25, 2024, led by Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, an assistant professor of physics and electrical engineering, and club advisor for the University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club.
The new W3USR University of Scranton Amateur Radio Station supports the radio club, academic research, and the university’s outreach to the community. Frissell kicked off the dedication by framing the station’s purpose for education, research, service, and fun.
“With the establishment of your radio club and station, you’re not just creating a technical resource; you’re building a vibrant community of learners and innovators,” said Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, the Director of Marketing and Innovation for ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio®. Inderbitzen is also a staff advisor the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program.
Club President Gerard Piccini, KD2ZHK, ceremonially handed an application for ARRL affiliation to Inderbitzen, who responded by presenting the University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club with a certificate as the newest ARRL Affiliated Club. Since its inception in 1918, the Affiliated Club Program has united amateur radio clubs to enhance the Amateur Radio Service, recognizing their crucial role in developing active radio operators and serving local communities.
“You are now part of a thriving network of college ham radio stations across the country, each contributing to a larger tapestry of knowledge, innovation, and fun,” said Inderbitzen.
Before the dedication, students provided tours of W3USR. Perched five stories up, the room committed to the new station is impressive for being well appointed with the latest amateur radio gear, but also for its panoramic views of the campus and city of Scranton. The station is equipped for HF, VHF, and UHF, and has capabilities for voice, CW, and digital modes, and for operating via the amateur satellites. Among the student tour guides were undergraduate students Piccini; Thomas Pisano, KE2BAC, the club’s Vice President; Alexandros Papadopoulos, KC3WUD, Secretary; James Fox, KE2ANL, Treasurer, and Owen Ruzanski, a freshman and new club member.
Guests were also guided to the roof of the science center for a closer look at the antennas, described by Jeff DePolo, WN3A. DePolo is the owner of Broadcast Sciences, LLC, which was responsible for designing and installing the station. A centerpiece of the antenna farm is a 40-foot tower with a DX Engineering Skyhawk Tri-Band Yagi for 20, 15, and 10 meters.
“One of the goals was to be able to install a tower without having to do any roof penetrations or anything structural as far as the roof goes,” said DePolo. A 200-foot crane was used to set the tower and antennas into place. The tower is attached to ten 12 x 12 steel tubes with 5/8-inch walls that are tied into the steel structure of the roof. The tower also includes an antenna for the W3USR 70-Centimenter repeater, and a fan dipole for 40 and 80 meters. Additional antennas are installed on mounts across the roof.
Most of the more than $200,000 of funding for the new station came from a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), which has awarded many grants and scholarships supporting amateur radio and students pursuing higher education. Additional donations and support were made by Dr. Mary Lou West, KC2NMC; Ed Hayes, N6XEM (Class of ’61); Jeff DePolo, WN3A; DX Engineering, and The National Science Foundation (NSF).
The dedication ceremony included remarks from ARDC Executive Director Rosy Schechter, KJ7RYV; NSF Aeronomy Program Director Dr. Shikha Raizada, WP4PYE; The University of Scranton President Fr. Joseph Marina, and Interim Provost Dr. Tracy Stewart.
The ceremony concluded with a presentation of one of the many research projects pairing students with radio amateurs and scientists. Papadopoulos described programming techniques he and Piccini had learned in a DSP course which they used to automate the analysis of an HF time difference of arrival (TDOA) experiment conducted by Steve Cerwin, WA5FRF. Cerwin is a retired Institute Scientist at Southwest Research Institute where he designed custom electronic instrumentation and antenna systems. The experiment sought to identify multipath propagation modes between two HF stations by transmitting an audio chirp using conventional amateur radios and measuring the height of the F2 region of the ionosphere by sensing and analyzing the TDOA.
The University of Scranton Radio Club was established in 2020. Throughout its short tenure, the club has garnered the attention of the wider community of university amateur radio clubs for its success in developing student experiences with radio communications and wireless technology.
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.