Hi Jim,
If you will forgive the correction, Reber's callsign was W9GFZ. And while it may be the same club in both places, the call is assigned to the club's address at the observatory in Socorro NM, not WV. (And that's PO Box 'O'... not PO Box 'zero' for anyone wondering like I did.)
I screwed up the link in my previous message, but here it is again, hopefully it will work correctly this time:
https://www.nrao.edu/whatisra/hist_ham.shtml
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Both Janski's and Reber's radio telescopes are on display at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, WV, the home of the world's largest steerable radio telescope. If you ever get near the area, a stop at the facility with its many telescopes and excellent visitor's center is a MUST.The observatory's radio club has been granted Reber's call, W9GVZ, They use it to commemorate radio astronomy in special events. I spent several summers as a physics teacher studying radio astronomy at Green Bank and was able to help operate W9GVZ during a special event at the dedication of the Robert Byrd Telescope in August, 2000. I have to tell you that Green Bank is quite a place. I get back there as often as I can!
Thanks, Kevin! You absolutely correct, W9GFZ is the call and the club is in Socorro, NM. When I was at Green Bank for the dedication of the GBT, I was on the understanding the group at GB had the call. BUT the NRAO is more than just GB. I had a very nice personal guided tour of Socorro by one of the hams on staff there. It was arranged by a good friend, Dr. Paul Vanden Bout, the then director of the NRAO. Paul and I both graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. I remember well the whole day I spent on site at the VLA.
I was allowed to take several high school student to GB to use the 40 ft instructional telescope and learn about radio astronomy. We stayed in the dorm and had three activity filled days at the facility. I did this three years running. What an experience! That was REAL science!
As a physics teacher, I have to say that my experience at Green Bank and several tours of observatories across the US I was privileged to take completely changed my perception of science and the scientific method.
Any way, thanks for the correction. I noticed the typo and was preparing to correct it and, then, saw your post
Jim Jipping, W8MRR, AMSAT 5512
On 4/30/2019 6:09 PM, Kevin M wrote:
Hi Jim,
If you will forgive the correction, Reber's callsign was W9GFZ. And while it may be the same club in both places, the call is assigned to the club's address at the observatory in Socorro NM, not WV. (And that's PO Box 'O'... not PO Box 'zero' for anyone wondering like I did.)
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Jim JIpping -
Kevin M