ARRLWeb: W1HQ Comes "Back to Life" at ARRL HQ

Membership Manager Katie Breen, W1KRB, and Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, get on the air at W1HQ. [S. Khrystyne Keane, Photo]

Andrew Toth, of XX Towers, installs the beam that SteppIR donated to W1HQ, the Laird Campbell Memorial HQ Operators Club, while W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, and Matt Strelow, KC1XX, of XX Towers, assist at the base. [S. Khrystyne Keane, Photo]

Laird Campbell, W1HQ (SK)

Since the mid-1930s, W1INF, the ARRL HQ Operators Club, has been available to ARRL employees. During the flood of 1936, W1INF handled a great quantity of flood relief traffic after the headquarters station, W1MK, located at Hartford's Brainard Field, near the Connecticut River, was destroyed. At the time, W1INF was located at the League's West Hartford headquarters.

In 2002, former ARRL Assistant General Manager for Business Operations Laird Campbell, W1HQ, became a Silent Key; with his family's blessing, W1HQ became the Laird Campbell Memorial HQ Operators Club, replacing W1INF as the employees' club station. According to ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, who serves as trustee for both W1INF and W1HQ, W1INF is now used by the ARRL Laboratory staff for on-the-air operations and tests, while W1HQ is for ARRL employees to enjoy during non-work hours. Both call signs are housed in a station adjacent to the ARRL Lab. "Employees are free to use their own call sign while operating W1HQ, or they may use W1HQ," he said. Of course, employees are not allowed to use the station during their working hours, but may use it on their free time, such as lunch hour and weekends.

Breathing new life into W1HQ, ARRL Contest Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, and Membership Manager Katie Breen, W1KRB, gave the room a much-needed coat of new paint. Hare put his woodworking skills to use and constructed all-new desks and cabinets. Building Manager Greg Kwasowski, W1GJK, installed new carpet and ceiling tiles and Test Engineer Mike Tracy, KC1SX, and Lab Assistant Anthony Nesta, AA1RZ, ran new antenna cables to the roof and rewired the entire room with a new antenna patch panel to accommodate all the new antenna feed lines. Lab Engineer Mike Gruber, W1MG, built a trap vertical.

W1HQ provides ARRL employees who do not have an amateur station of their own a place to get on the air. "I'm thrilled to have this station here," said Kutzko. "I live in an apartment and can't put up antennas outside at home. W1HQ gives me a way to chase DX and be active in contests on both HF and VHF."

Breen said, "I live in a condo and don't have a lot of availability to get on the air at home. With the revitalization of W1HQ, it's now a homey, comfortable place to get on the air. I've had my license nearly two years, but in the last two months I have finally been getting really active on the air, working on my WAS and chasing DX. It's inspired me to study more to upgrade my license and learn CW."

W1HQ boasts a Yaesu FT-1000 and a Kenwood TS-690 VHF/UHF transceiver that were brought over from W1AW. Mike Mertel, K7IR, of SteppIR, donated a 3-element 20-6 meter Yagi to W1HQ, that was placed on the roof of the Headquarters building in November 2007. Bob Heil, K9EID, of Heil Sound donated two new Pro Set 4 mic/headsets, a PR781 Proline microphone and a topless boom to the station. Nemal Electronics Inc and Times Microwave Systems jointly donated two 500 foot rolls of LMR-400.