Below is a guest contribution from Chuck Lewis N4NM of SIGNALS. If you’re a grantee and are interested in submitting a guest contribution, please reach out to giving@ardc.net.

“So much to see! So much to learn!”
“Enjoyed the walk thru time! Took me back to my childhood.”
“What an amazing place!!!”
“I love that the students got to see and hear about so many inventions. It is a great collection!”

After several years of preparation, the SIGNALS Museum in Huntsville, AL opened its doors officially on March 1, 2025. Around 1200 artifacts representing the evolution of information technology were on full display. Docents led 170 first-day visitors through a series of exhibits from the Pony Express days to modern computers and cell phones, with stops along the way for telegraph, radio, recorded sound, and television.

Included in the museum is the K4MIE ham shack, displaying antique and classic ham gear from significant moments in the evolution of receiving and transmitting equipment design. An ARDC grant allowed the museum to extend the classic gear to include modern state-of-the-art equipment for HF, VHF, and most modern transmission modes.

The inclusion of the ARDC-enhanced K4MIE ham shack acknowledges and highlights the critical role that amateur radio played in the development of radio technology– after all, most radio activity in the early days was conducted by “amateurs”.

As one of the docents in the ham shack on Opening Day, I encountered an elderly gentleman who described himself as an army radio operator from “way back” and related his experiences learning morse code the military way. He leaned over closer to me and shyly whispered, “Does anyone still use morse code?” I turned up the audio from the ARDC-provided FLEX-6600 and found a nice, slow CW conversation on 15 meters. He was spellbound, and a bit emotional, too! He was rusty, but together, we deciphered the code for a while, and he left with a joyous smile. I think this made his day– mine too! Most of the other docents had similar experiences.

The museum continues to excite and inform visitors five days a week. It’s a spectacular presentation enhanced by the generosity of ARDC.

Chuck Lewis, N4NM