In the 1980’s I attended the University of Maryland in pursuit of my Electrical Engineering degree and was both a member and president of the UM Amateur Radio Association. At the time, W3EAX was set up in the Nugent House. In the mid-80s the house was burned to the ground and replaced by a parking lot. W3EAX then moved to South Campus Dining Hall, where the station sits today.

Below are club members from that era to include Mark N3AVA, John WB3ERU / NA3J, John KA1TB / W1RT, Ted N3EWQ, Tom KB3YF and me Andy KA1GD / K1RA. Click on the picture below to see more shots from that time on campus.

Nugent House Tower Day 1.jpg


After graduation I maintained ties with the association and assisted in a group effort between the members of the organization and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to deploy the Spartan Packet Radio Experiment (SPRE). a shuttle experiment that flew on STS-72 in January 1996. You can read more about that experiment by clicking here or on the graphic below.

University of Md W3EAX SPRE


Over the years a number of the members managed to keep in touch and operated Field Day emergency exercises together. Click on the picture below to see one particular outing in June 1999 at Greenbriar Park in western Maryland, attended by Jon KD3FG, Ken N3FZX, Patti KB3CTO, Chris N3XRV, Scott NF3I / N7JI, Dave KA3PRU and me Andy KA1GD / K1RA.

JN29^019.JPG


To see the clubs online presence please click the following link w3eax.umd.edu and visit there web site.