The antenna on top of Cal High’s technology building has caught the gaze of many onlookers, but what many don’t know is that it’s part of a project from a club that is dedicated to celebrating a media long abandoned by many: the radio.
The Amateur Radio Club was started by sophomore Ryan Clark in 2022 when he was a freshman. Clark started the club out of a passion for what he considered to be an important art form that was losing relevance in the modern world.
“I started it because there was no club around here of that type, and the hobby that it revolves around is almost dying out,” Clark said.
Clark cites one of the main reasons he was interested in making a club about radios was because it had been such a long time since any club or organization had been started that specifically deals with radios.
Around 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark began his journey with radios. During this time he learned a lot about radios and how they could be very reliable.
He’s passionate about sharing his knowledge with other others.
“I want people to know that the radio is the most reliable communication system,” Clark said. “Your wifi and cell towers could go down at any minute, but your radio station is your own operating system that you can run just fine with batteries.”
Sophomore Vijay Shah first heard of the club during the 2022 Club Fair.
“Ryan did a really good job of promoting his club,” Shah said.
Shah was brought onto the Radio Club board as a bouncer, or gatekeeper for the club to dissuade nonmembers from entering the meeting.
“There used to be a lot of people coming in that were being loud and interrupting, so Ryan brought me on to keep people out and mediate club meetings,” Shah said.
A key contributor to the club in its early stages was Andrew White, a teacher at Cal who shares an interest in radios.
Clark’s mom, Ginger Clark, who is an English teacher on campus, was looking for an adviser for the club and reached out to White, the school’s former AP Biology teacher.
“I have been an amateur radio operator for 30 years or more, and I use my radios at least once every day or two,” said White, who now works as one of Cal’s instructional liaisons.
He believes that radios offer many different opportunities for people with a wide variety of interests.
“Radios involve topics from so many different fields, especially STEM and mathematics,” White said. “I view these radios as a way to enhance our science curriculum and I would love for physics students to be able to learn about the radio.”
White is committed to radio systems because of the joy and challenge that it provides.
“Radios are so great because they offer a lifelong path of solving problems and constantly sleuthing because there can be many problems you run into like too much noise in one area or faulty machinery when using them,” White said.
White took this passion and applied it to helping Clark grow his club and gain new members, and his hard work paid off.
“Mr. White helped me get the club off the ground, and now we have around 40 members,” Clark said.
During meetings, the club provides a quick lecture about radios followed by demonstrations of a specific function that the Amateur Radios have.
The club uses a type of radio system called ham radios that are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in order to explore and engage with the technology.
“We use this licensed technology to talk to people all over the world and all over the country,” Clark said. “It is no different from your phone.”
In order to use this technology on campus, however, Clark had to figure out a way to install an antenna on campus that could transmit radio waves back and forth and transport voices from all across the country. Without an antenna to transmit these waves, the members would not be able to achieve their goal of allowing people to truly experience using the radio.
“We wanted kids to be able to have the experience on the air, and I really wanted to get a club station set up and get the equipment,” Clark said.
The club ended up getting room T6 in the technology building for their equipment.
The antenna was a donation from White that was initially his own personal one. The overall installation process was short but involved intense work on the part of White.
“First, I had to dismantle my radio into something like 500 parts, label it, and bring the pieces to the room we got in the technology building,” White said. “I spent a lot of time up on the roof hoisting the pieces up there and reassembling them.”
After about a week, the antenna was fully set up on the roof of T6 and ready to be used.
This technology has allowed members of the club to engage much more with the ham radios and learn about how it works. Shah speaks fondly of his time in the club, says he enjoys working with Clark and wants to pursue his interest in ham radios.
“In the future, I definitely want to get my FCC license,” Shah said.
A license allows a person to buy ham radios. This is not permitted without a FCC license.
“The goal for every member in the club is to get them all their FCC license,” White said.
On Oct. 21, sophomore Jay Gulia went to the Pacificon ham radio Western Regional Conference in San Ramon Marriott and took the day-long license prep class. The following day he passed the FCC exam and became an licensed amateur radio operator.
Sophomore club member Ahriyan Anand appreciates how much the club has taught him about radios.
“The club made me realize that there is a whole other world out there outside of our phones, and I have learned a lot because of these lessons,” Anand said.
Another club member, sophomore Andrew Frederick, got interested in the club because his father used ham radios.
“I am interested in this club because the radio is a very reliable system and the premise of the club is to try and grow awareness of the radio to many people, which is a very exciting thing, “ Frederick said.
Clark shares this enthusiasm about the club and hopes more students will learn about the radio system and how interesting and important it is. He believes that it is a worthwhile pursuit and encourages anyone interested to gain the knowledge of talking to people on air from a radio.
“We want to make sure that people truly appreciate and enjoy radios,” Clark said. “I hope more people get experience using one.”
