Clubs / Licensing, Education & Training / RI History

Providence-area Amateur Radio License Exam Options continue at Historic 1920s Club house; walk-ins welcome.

- by Nancy Austin - 3 Comments.

VE Session near Providence this Saturday September 9, 2023

Would you like to take your VE session license exam this fall near Providence, RI at W1AQ’s historic 1920s radio club house? The address is 54 Kelley Ave, Rumford 02916 and the building is hard to miss with its 50′ railroad signal tower mast out front. The ARASNE club’s scheduled VE Session dates are this Saturday September 9, and also October 7, November 11, and December 2, 2023 at 9:30am. Walk-ins are welcome, too. 

Recently I enjoyed a welcoming visit with the Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England (ARASNE | W1AQ) at their club house, and encourage everyone to reach out and say hello to this vigorous club actively seeking new members, both remote and local. 

Here are some of the interesting things I’m learning about the club:

 

 

 

W1AQ (1926) is a historic call sign.

Last weekend on the ARRL Audio News I heard that the ARRL HQ historic callsign, W1AW, of the Maxim Memorial Station in Newington, Connecticut, was celebrating its 85th Anniversary; it was dedicated September 2, 1938. 

If you are interested to learn more about the history of Amateur Radio call signs, I can recommend:

Sure enough, W1AQ is listed in the Amateur Radio Stations of the United States (June 30, 1928) running 500 watts from their East Providence club house. 

 

W1AW is also listed in the June 1928 Call Sign directory, but as the personal call sign for Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936), co-founder of the ARRL – American Radio Relay League (1914). 

At this point, I turned for a RI comparison to an excellent history of another RI historic club, the Providence Radio Association, W1OP, written by Dominic Mallozzi, N1DM in 2016. He covers the history of the PRA’s club’s W1OP call sign and club house (1955-58; p.7). The Providence Radio Association is one of the oldest ARRL-affiliated clubs in the country, founded in 1919. 

It’s remarkable that RI has two ARRL-affiliated clubs continuously active since the 1920s. Both owning clubhouses and organized as Associations. This all deserves a follow-up conversation to compare notes, further document this history, and consider insights relevant today. Our shared goal is collaboration and outreach to welcome and support radio amateurs, offering a range of robust and varied clubs across the state. 

W1AQ’s Historic Club House (1926)

The Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England set up shop in East Providence at the border of the industrial Phillipsdale and residential Rumford sections. The club located  their clubhouse just up the hill from the significant industrial wire, telecom cable, steel and other fabrication businesses already established in Phillipsdale on the banks of the Seekonk River and Omega Pond. 

Phillipsdale, off Roger Williams Ave, is an historically interesting but little known area of RI where, among other things, Roger Williams originally settled in 1636. The streets were platted out in the 1850s-1890s. After about 1900, this industrial, coastal neighborhood became known as Phillipsdale. See: Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission: East Providence (1976: 4,5,20,30-33,44,72-73) and Phillipsdale Historic District National Register Nomination (2011: 60)

Once you turn off Roger Williams Ave on to Wilson and then take the first left towards 54 Kelley Ave, it is easy to identify this Rumford clubhouse because of its two prominent railroad signal towers used as 50′ antenna masts. (See image above.)

The W1AQ club house has an elevated line of sight across the Seekonk River to downtown Providence and the contemporary Art Deco Industrial Trust or Superman Building (1925-27). The father of one of the club founders was an executive there. It’s worth remembering the Superman Building was built with an eye toward zeppelin airships tethering to the top of these early skyscrapers. It’s remarkable to imagine the boundless vision of the future that inspired this club’s founding. W1AQ’s current leadership remains deeply committed to the club and all it can bring to a new generation.

In the 21st century, Phillipsdale’s industrial buildings have gone through major adaptive reuse campaigns. In 2022, Phillipsdale Landing sold for over $8 million and is now home to a vibrant community of entrepreneurial innovator businesses and artisan studios. It would seem a natural fit to connect the Phillipsdale community to their nearby neighbors at the ARASNE clubhouse. 

RI’s centuries of industrial innovation relied on the skilled artisans working with other kinds of engineers, designers, and technical problem solvers. In 2023, it’s exciting to consider what’s possible connecting the W1AQ club’s deep bench of skilled radio/electronic maker/fabricators (who prefer to make everything themselves) with the sympatico industrial design and other studio neighbors down the street in Phillipsdale. Stay tuned to see what kind of continued mentoring and welcoming radio amateurs near and far is happening at 54 Kelley Ave, East Providence. 

W1AQ has an open door social meeting almost every Friday night from about 7-9pm to discuss radio building questions. In this time of remote work, it’s a welcome change to shift from talking to the world for work to unwind with your fellow local hams in person. Amateur Radio offers a wealth of neighborhoods, and clubs are one way to find your people in a new place and join in. A place to return to and know you will belong. 

Looking to get an amateur radio license this weekend? Saturday September 9, 2023 at 9:30am? Reach out with questions to the W1AQ club VP Martin Dean Chapman, W2FQ at [email protected]