ARDC in the News
ARDC President Bdale Garbee KB0G on Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio April 30, 2025 ARDC President Bdale Garbee KB0G joined Kevin Thomas W1DED of Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio to talk about his background, the early days of the Internet, and the origins of ARDC. He also shared where the foundation is today, highlighting our vision and its significance.
Executive Director Rosy Schechter KJ7RYV on RATPAC April 3, 2025 On April 3, Executive Director Rosy Schechter KJ7RYV was a guest on Radio Amateur Training Planning and Activities Committee (RATPAC). She gave a recap of ARDC’s 2024 activities and discussed our newly rolled-out vision and strategy and what it means for grantmaking and technology programs, as well as our broader community.
HRWB 229 – All About 44Net and the ARDC February 11, 2025 ARDC’s
44Net Program Manager John Burwell KI5QKX, Executive Director Rosy Schechter KJ7RYV, and Communications Manager Rebecca Key KO4KVG were guests Ham Radio Workbench (HRWB), where they spoke to George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU, Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL, and Mark Smith N6MTS about ARDC and the 44Net.
ARDC GAC Chair Bill Thomas WT0DX on W1DED Worldwide Radio January 15, 2025 ARDC’s Grants Advisory Committee (GAC) Chair Bill Thomas WT0DX was a guest on W1DED Worldwide Ham Radio, where he spoke of his background, ARDC, and his work with the Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES).
ARDC on Ham Radio Crash Course October 18, 2024 At Pacificon 2024, Josh Nass KI6NAZ of Ham Radio Crash Course stopped by the ARDC Booth. He spoke with both IT & Development Manager Adam Lewis KC7GDY and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) member Dennis Mojado AD6DM and got a demo of the 44Net VPN service that’s currently in beta. (Interview begins at ~3:19 mark).
ARDC on Kyle – AA0Z February 16, 2024 Kyle (AA0Z) stopped by the ARDC Booth at HamCation 2024 and interviewed Outreach Manager John Hays (K7VE) and Communications Manager Rebecca Key (KO4KVG). John gave a great overview of the 44Net VPN.
Amateur Radio as Educational Tool Represented to Policymakers in Washington DC
ARRL Letter, February 15, 2024
An item in the February 15, 2024 ARRL Letter covered the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Spectrum Policy Symposium, where ARDC Board Member Phil Karn (KA9Q) was one of the speakers on the Growth of the Spectrum Workforce, Increased Understanding of Spectrum, and Raised Awareness of Spectrum’s Importance to the Country panel.
ARDC on Ria’s Ham Shack October 30, 2023 ARDC Board Member Ria Jairam (N2RJ) of Ria’s Ham Shack spoke with Executive Director Rosy Schechter (KJ7RYV) and Outreach Manager John Hays (K7VE) about volunteering for one of ARDC’s four committees in 2024.
ARDC on Hikin’ n’ Hammin’ August 24, 2023 Lou (K4HNH) of Hikin’ n’ Hammin’ stopped by the ARDC Booth at Huntsville Hamfest 2023 to interview Rebecca Key (KO4KVG) and Jon Kemper (KA6NVY) about what we do at ARDC.
ICQ Podcast Episode 401
April 23, 2023
The ICQ Podcast team discusses Jairam’s election to the ARDC Board in this episode of the podcast.
SUPERCON 2022: Tap Your Rich Uncle to Fund Your Amateur Radio Dreams February 23, 2023
This Hack-a-Day blog post reports on John Hays’ talk at the 2022 SUPERCON. They write,
Imagine you had a rich uncle who wanted to fund some of your projects. Like, seriously rich — thanks to shrewd investments, he’s sitting on a pile of cash and is now legally obligated to give away $5,000,000 a year to deserving recipients. That would be pretty cool indeed, but like anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? Well, maybe not. It turns out that we in the amateur radio community — and even amateur radio adjacent fields — have a rich uncle named Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), a foundation with a large endowment and a broad mission to “support amateur radio, funds scholarships and worthy educational programs, and financially support technically innovative amateur radio and digital communications projects.”
44Net – What Is It And Why Should Hams Care? February 14, 2023 K0PIR blogs about Jon, KA6NVY’s talk at Hamcation. He writes, “Recently I was in Orlando for HamCation and I had the pleasure of attending a forum my first day. At first I didn’t even know what 44Net was, but as Jon, KA6NVY explained it became clear to me I have been using it for many years. Everything from IRLP to Winlink.”
Cache Valley students made live contact with an astronaut in space (Utah Public Radio) February 10, 2023 Utah Public Radio reports on a recent ARISS contact by Ridgeland High School students . This contact was funded in part by an ARDC grant. Listen to the report.
ARDC Grant to the Museum of Information Explosion Featured in QST and ARRL.Org
February 2023
The Happenings section of the February 2023 issue of QST included a short writeup on our grant to the Museum of Information Explosion in Huntsville, Alabama. The story also appeared on the ARRL website.
ARDC welcomes new committee member
ARRL Letter, January 26, 2023
An item in the January 26, 2023 ARRL Letter covered our announcement of new 2023 volunteers on the Grants Advisory Committee (GAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The item quotes ARDC Executive Director Rosy Schechter, KJ7RYV, as saying, “It’s always exciting to bring on new members to these committees. This year, I’m delighted to see more women and a variety of technical skills brought to the table. I’m [looking forward] to seeing what these committees do in 2023.”
ARDC helps clubs succeed January 2023 Then article “ARDC helps clubs succeed was featured in the January 2023 issue of RadCom, the magazine of the Radio Society of Great Britain. It included descriptions of our grants to the Chippewa Valley Amateur Radio Club and the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club.
ARDC Grant to ARRL NE Division Featured on ARN and TWIAR
November 18, 19, 2022
The ARDC grant to the ARRL New England Division to combat RFI was covered by both Amateur Radio Newsline (#2351, November 18, 2022) and This Week in Amateur Radio (#1238, November 19, 2022).
ARDC on HamRadio 2.0 October 26, 2022
Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, and Bob Witte, K0NR, appeared on Ham Radio 2.0 to talk about ARDC and call for volunteers to join the Grants Advisory Committee and Technical Advisory Committee.Grant Will Create STEM Class For Amateur Radio Outreach Greenville Sun, October 12, 2022
GREENVILLE, TN—A new STEM class is being created for Greene County youth ages 8-18 through a grant recently awarded to the Andrew Johnson Amateur Radio Club Inc. (AJARC). The “Youth STEM through Amateur Radio Outreach” project is designed for students to grow their interests in amateur radio and gain their technician class amateur radio license, according to a press release from AJARC.Cibola’s Armature (sic) Radio Club Receives Grant Cibola Citizen, October 12, 2022
GRANTS, NM—The Cibola County Amateur Radio Club recently received a grant of 2k awarded to the club from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Amateur Radio Digital Communications | Managing the AMPRNet ™ — TCP/IP Networking for Amateur Radio a private foundation from California that exists to support amateur radio and digital communication science and technology. The CCARC requested the $2,000 grant to enhance our ability to send emergency radio communications for public safety organizations via licensed amateur radio operators when infrastructure is damage or lost like the recent fiber optic cut which put out most cellular and internet services in Cibola and McKinley counties for twelve plus hours some weeks ago.Physics Major Awarded National Scholarship Royal News, October 11, 2022
Veronica Romanek’s interests are as vast as the universe.
A member of The University of Scranton’s class of 2023, she is a double major in physics and Spanish and participates in Scranton’s undergraduate Honors Program. She has presented her physics research project at several conferences including those hosted by the American Geophysical Union, CEDAR, HamSCI, SARA, the National Science Foundation, and others. As part of another project, she built an atmospheric sensing device that was launched into space through NASA’s RockOn project. Aside from physics, she is a certified Physical Fitness Zumba instructor and offers weekly Zumba classes on campus. She is also a peer health educator for the University’s Center for Health Education and Wellness and an active amateur (ham) radio operator, the latter of which helped her earn a highly-competitive national Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) scholarship.
The Internet Archive Wants Your Help Building Its Collection of Amateur Radio Broadcasts Gizmodo.Com, October 5, 2022
As much as some companies like Google are willing to let their cloud-based game services like Stadia perish on the vine, groups working to preserve digital information are only growing more sophisticated. On Monday, the nonprofit Internet Archive said they’re working with a grant to create a monster library of amateur audio broadcasts and early digital publications.
Amateur Radio Takes Center Stage at The Big E ARRL News, September 15, 2022
The Big E, “New England’s Great State Fair,” kicks off on Friday, September 16, 2022, and includes Project Big E, a 17-day amateur radio exhibit that runs through October 2, 2022. The fair, held in West Springfield, Massachusetts, is the largest agricultural event on the eastern seaboard and the sixth-largest fair in the nation
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The Big E Project was awarded a grant by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), a private foundation that supports amateur radio and digital communication science and technology.
Two Dozen Clubs Share $270,000 in Grants CQ Newsroom, September 13, 2022
The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program, funded by the Amateur Radio Digital Communications foundation (ARDC), has made its first round of grants, A second round of applications opened on September 7. The announcement in the ARRL Letter did not break down the individual grants, only that a total of $270,000 was split among 24 clubs. In the first round of applications, a total of 128 clubs requested funding totaling $1.74 million. The total available this year is $500,000.
Grants were made to fund “transformative projects that encourage growth of active amateur radio operators and training opportunities, education programs for student groups and schools, and club revitalization.” For more information, visit http://www.arrl.org/club-grant-program.
ARRL Thanks ARDC ARRL Letter, September 8, 2022
The item, ARRL Board Holds Second Annual Meeting, notes:The meeting also included a report from ARRL Foundation President David Norris, K5UZ. Norris shared that the Foundation awarded $922,250 for scholarships to 139 students this season. Norris made note of the generous funding from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), which substantially increased the scholarship awards, and additional funding from ARDC that granted $500,000 for the newly launched ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program. The Foundation also awarded $41,032 to six organizations for the betterment and advancement of amateur radio.
Becoming a Ham: Venturing into the World of Amateur Radio Sound Girls, no date
Becoming a Ham: Venturing into the World of Amateur Radio describes the experience of Nicole Kirch, a North Carolina-based recording engineer and musician. Nicole is attending the amateur radio classes being taught by the Make Operating Radio Easier (MORE) Project, one of our grantees. Kirch writes, “I am excited to participate in the MORE course and find another way to marry my electrical and audio worlds.”
Helping Secure Amateur Radio’s Digital Future
Hack-a-Day Hack Chat, July 15, 2022.
ARDC Executive Director Rosy Schechter (KJ7RYV) and Staff Lead John Hays (K7VE) appeared on HackaDay’s Hack Chat to talk about the future of radio and digital communications. Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. You can find a transcript of the ARDC Hack Chat on the HackaDay website.
Local News Site Cites ARDC Scholarship Winner Cumming Patch, July 7, 2022
Under the title, “Local Wins Radio Scholarship,” the Cumming Patch reports:Cumming native Audrey McElroy has been awarded the Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Scholarship. McElroy, who works at KM4BUN (sic), will receive a $25,000 scholarship. In total, the ARRL Foundation is awarding $921,250 to 139 individuals. (ARRL)A complete list of all the ARDC scholarships awarded by the ARRL Foundation can be found on the ARRL website.
This Week in Amateur Radio Delves into ARDC History This Week in Amateur Radio, July 2, 2022
In episode #1218 of This Week in Amateur Radio (TWIAR), Onno, VK6FLAB highlights ARDC in his Foundations of Amateur Radio segment. Starting around the 44:50 mark. Onno provides a little historical context (with shoutout to Hank KA6M), talks about the sale of the address space, then goes on to describe our grants program.
Amateur Radio Newsline Reports on Science is Elementary Grant Amateur Radio Newsline, June 24, 2022
ARN Report 2330 begins with a story on the ARDC grant to Science is Elementary to publish Jasmine and Jose Build a Radio. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, says about the grant, “Get ready for Jasmine and Jose, two school kids who fell in love with amateur radio after visiting a family friend who’s a ham. Now the friends want to build a simple radio of their own. While these two children are fictional characters in a book that tells their story in both Spanish and English, the magnetic – or should we perhaps say electromagnetic? – draw of kids to amateur radio is very real.” You can hear the entire episode on the ARN website.John, K7VE, Appears on Ham Radio Now Ham Radio Now, June 12, 2022
John, K7VE, appeared on episode 431 of this videocast hosted by David Goldenberg W0DHG and Gary Pearce K4AAQ. He explained how ARDC got its start and it current mission of administering 44Net and giving out grants to support and promote amateur radio. John’s segment starts at about the 23:00 mark.Indiana Radio Group Receives Grants for Emergency Operations Amateur Radio Newsline, May 6, 2022
The emergency response work by hams in the Northeastern Indiana Amateur Radio Association just got a big boost from more than $33,000 in grants to buy additional equipment, including a trailer. The club’s Go Box project, a key tool for efficient response in disasters, has received a grant of nearly $3,000 from the ARRL Foundation. The club’s other project is to buy a trailer and furnish it with an analog and digital repeater, radios and an array of software including Winlink and FLDIGI. That effort has just been given a grant of nearly $30,000 from San Diego-based Amateur Radio Digital Communications. When the trailer is not in use supporting the activity of Amateur Radio Emergency Services, it will be taken to public events to be part of various amateur radio demonstrations and public education.
AMSAT Receives Grant from ARDC
March 23, 2022
There were numerous mentions of this $94,000 grant for the development of a 3U spaceframe with deployable solar panels. This mention appeared on the This Week in Amateur Radio podcast and website.
Grantee Bridgerland ARC on the Radio KVNU, March 8, 2022
The March 8 episode of KVNU’s For the People features our grantee Bridgerland ARC and partner Cache Makers. They discuss their program of teaching kids about space using amateur radio. The spot starts at the 8:45 mark.Young Hams Wax Eloquent on Keeping the Hobby Relevant CQ Newsroom, January 31, 2022
The Intrepid DX Group, working with ARDC (Amateur Radio Digital Communications), recently announced the winners of its annual “Dream Rig” essay contest for young hams. The topic was keeping ham radio relevant in the age of the internet and the winner was 10-year-old Silas Davis, W3SED. Silas wrote that ham radio will always be relevant because it “inspires and creates community,” can help save lives and … it’s fun! Second and third place recognition went to Olivia Lee, KD2UYX, and Isaac Schmidt, K6IAS, respectively. Each of the three won radios donated by ICOM and Yaesu. The essays are posted on the ARDC website.4-H starts Eleanor Hazel After-School Program Fauquier Now, January 13, 2022
Although not specifically about an ARDC grant, it does mention that “the Fauquier County 4-H Ham Radio Club recently received a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications to build a ham radio trailer that can be hauled to different schools to give participants a hands-on experience.”ARDC Grant Will Expand RMHAM’s 5 GHz Microwave Network in Rockies ARRL News, December 8, 2021
A grant of $374,233 from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to Rocky Mountain Ham Radio (RMHAM) will go toward expanding a multistate 5 GHz microwave network and help to outfit communications trailers.ARDC Grants Will Expand Emergency Capabilities in Haiti and the US Virgin Islands ARRL News, November 24, 2021
Grants from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) will benefit amateur radio emergency communication networks in Haiti and the US Virgin Islands (USVI).Mississippi Valley Amateur Radio Club awarded $116,000 LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW), November 22, 2021
Local ham radio operators get a sizable grant to help expand their emergency and educational capabilities. The Mississippi River Valley Amateur Radio Club received $116,000 from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications Foundation (ARDC).ARISS, Others Benefit from ARDC Grants CQ Newsroom, November 10, 2021
This story reports on three ARDC grants including grants to ARISS-USA, Oregon HamWAN, and the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club.ARISS Receives Generous ARDC Grant for ARISS STEREO Education Project ARRL News, November 3, 2021
Best known for arranging amateur radio contacts between students and astronauts, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has announced that it’s received a generous grant to fund its “Student and Teacher Education via Radio Experimentation and Operations” (STEREO) project. The 5-year Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) grant totaling nearly $1.3 million will fund three distinct initiatives that will enable ARISS to sustain and improve science, technology, electronics, arts, and technology (STEAM) educational outcomes.John, K7VE, and Dan, KB6NU, on Ham Nation October 27, 2021
John and Dan appear on Episode #506 of Ham Nation to discuss the history of ARDC, some of the cool grants we’ve made lately, and how Ham Nation viewers might qualify for a grant of their own.Amateur Radio Station, K6TZ, Will Offer Visitors A Glimpse Of Island Life This Week in Amateur Radio, October 16, 2021
Episode #1181 of This Week in Amateur Radio reports on the ARDC grant to the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, which will fund an amateur radio station at the new Chrisman California Islands Center (CCIC) in downtown Carpinteria, California.ARDC Grant Provides ARESLAX with Sophisticated Noise Location Capabilities ARRL, October 6, 2021
ARESLAX, an arm of the ARRL Los Angeles Section, has used a $23,600 grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to purchase equipment that will help Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) team members to locate and eliminate sources of radio frequency interference (RFI) that could hinder their operations.Utah Amateur Radio Club Receives Nearly $18,000 Grant to Introduce and Engage Youth ARRL Letter, August 5, 2021
The August 5, 2021 issue of the ARRL Letter included a story on the ARDC grant to the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club. The club in northern Utah received a nearly $18,000 grant to fund the club’s initiatives to engage and educate youth in amateur radio through hands-on space science activities.ARDC Helps Oregon HamWAN Build its Backbone TAPR PSR, August 2, 2021
The Summer 2021 issue of TAPR’s PSR includes a story about our grant to Oregon HamWAN to bolster amateur radio’s ability to respond to disasters in the U.S. Northwest.Linux in the Ham Shack Episode #418: ARDC Deep Dive Linux in the Ham Shack, June 28, 2021
In this episode, Rosy, KJ7RYV, and John, K7VE, talk about the history and mission of ARDC, including our grant program for amateur radio projects, available resources for grantees, and more.ARDC is Busy with Major Grants CQ, June 14, 2021
CQ reports, “Amateur Radio Digital Communications, or ARDC, administers the AMPRNet (44) internet domain and recently came into lots of money as a result of selling off a portion of that domain that it determined it was unlikely ever to be used by hams. In 2019, it began making grants for various projects and programs involving amateur radio and/or digital communications. It recently made its largest grant ever as well as its first international grant.”Linux in the HamShack Episode #415: Open Research Institute Deep Dive 2 Linux in the Ham Shack, June 10, 2021
In this episode, Michelle, W5NYV, of the Open Research Institute first mentions ARDC and the funding provided by ARDC at about the 29:30 point, and for the next 10 minutes, talks about how ORI funds their projects. ARDC is a big part of that discussion. At the 38:30 point, Michelle says, “[ARDC] is absolutely game-changing…..It’s huge….Over time, [ARDC] will change amateur radio in a dramatic way.”ARDC Grant Will Support HAMNET Expansion in Europe ARRL, June 8, 2021
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has awarded a grant to support European expansion of HAMNET, a high-speed digital network that interconnects automated amateur radio stations using links in the 13-, 6-, and 3-centimeter bands, the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) reports. This marks the first international grant from ARDC since it began awarding grants in 2019….moreHackaday Links: May 23, 2021
In other architectural news, perched atop Building 54 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge for the last 55 years has been a large, fiberglass geodesic sphere, known simply as The Radome. It’s visible from all over campus, and beyond; we used to work in Kendall Square, and the golf-ball-like structure was an important landmark for navigating the complex streets of Cambridge. The Radome was originally used for experiments with weather radar, but fell out of use as the technology it helped invent moved on. That led to plans to remove the iconic structure, which consequently kicked off a “Save the Radome” campaign. The effort is being led by the students and faculty members of the MIT Radio Society, who have put the radome to good use over the years — it currently houses an amateur radio repeater, and the Radio Society uses the dish within it to conduct Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) microwave communications experiments. The students are serious — they applied for and received a $1.6-million grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to finance their efforts. The funds will be used to renovate the deteriorating structure.
Saving the radiome MIT News, May 7, 2021
MIT News reported:“We were overwhelmed at first by the amount we needed to raise, and the short time we had before the renovation project needed to begin. We just had to hope that someone would see the same promise and potential in the dish that we did,” says Gregory Allan, a PhD student in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics who led ARDC grant submission efforts. “When we contacted ARDC, they were so supportive and willing to do whatever it took to make this happen. We’re really grateful to them for this incredible gift.”
