FCC Radio License Course and Exams (July-Aug 2024)

After the success on 17 Nov 2023, where 6 participants successfully obtained their FCC Radio License, another course was conducted on the following dates:

(a) 5 July, 12 July, 19 July, 26 July from 3 pm to 9 pm. 

(b) 29 Aug 2024 Examinations 

With the support from Singapore Amateur Radio Transmission Society Singapore (SARTS), we managed to conduct the programmes and examinations on the dates above. The SARTS members who conducted the lessons included: 

(a) HUGH MASON, 9V1SA

(b) CHEW LIP HENG, 9V1YP 

(c) CHIA LIH WEI, 9V1LW 

(c) DARRYL EE, 9V1DE 

(d) THAM FU HANG, 9V1FH

(e) CHU HAOYUAN, 9V1HY 

(f) CHEUK YAN AU,  9V1AD

(g) GOPALAN VEDARTHAM, 9V1AZ 

(h) SAI WAI PHYO, 9V1WP

(i) RAGUL BALAJI, 9V1RB  

A total of 26 students attended the course and 17 students took the test. 14 passed with different classes of the license. 

Date	Name	CCA	Class
Aug-23	GAVRIEL CHIA KAI ZE	Astro	General
Aug-23	KWEK EN XIN, RISSA	Astro	General
Aug-23	TEH TIAN CHENG	Astro	General
Aug-23	DESSEN ARWIN TAN AHN JOON	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	DYLAN KWOK HENG YI	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	LEE JUN LEI ADAM	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	SHAUN CHUA ENQI	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	TAN SHI HENG XAVIER	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	TESSA LEE JIN EN	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	TOH HONG RUI, TREVOR (ZHUO HONGRUI)	Astro	Technician
Aug-23	ANDRE RYAN SUNG	Scouts	Technician
Aug-23	DAKSH THAPAR	Scouts	Technician
Aug-23	IAN ANG KAI ERN (HONG KAI'EN)	Scouts	Technician
Aug-23	YU ZHE RICHARD TAN	Scouts	Technician

It takes a village to develop students. Thank you to the SARTS volunteers. 

Thailand Astronomy Conference (28 June -1 July 2024)

For the second year, SST Astronomy Club joined the 10th Thailand Astronomy Conference from 28 June to 1 July 2024. However, this time around, we made the trip all the way to Chiangmai for the competition. 

During the competition, we had the chance to interact with the students from Thailand schools. By pitting our skills against the best in Thailand schools, we are able to match up to the high research standards amongst the Thai students. 

SST Astro club is represented by Harish Ram and Poon Zhiler. They came back from the competition with a Gold Medal for their project on "Observation of the 21-cm hydrogen spectral line of the Milky Way galaxy using a homemade horn antenna".

 

 

Villea Port Dickson Astronomy Retreat (18-21 June 2024)

Organised by the Institute of Physics, Singapore. the 28th IPS Astronomy Retreat promises a reconnection with the cosmos for Singapore students, Malaysia students, and public alike. From 18 to 21 June 2024, SST Astronomy club participated in the retreat with students from Seremban and Port Dickson nearby the site.  

Group photo before and after the Astronomy Retreat 

Besides the main programme, SST students also visited the following sites: 

(a) Turtle Sanctuary at Malacca 

(b) Malacca Town 

(c) Jonker's Street 

The main highlights of the trip were the following: 

Moon gazing at night and radio detection in the day time

Setting up telescopes and learning how to use them from the seniors from NUS

Moon Gazing at Toh Guan Park (15 June 2024)

The Moon Gazing at Toh Guan Park was organised on 15 June 2024 by the Bukit Batok East grassroots organisations. A total of 10 SST Astroclub members participated in the outreach programme at a community hall within the the Toh Guan Park estate. 

This is yet another community outreach that we do with the support of Singapore Academy of Young Engineers and Scientists (SAYES). The Member of Parliament, Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, came to support us at the event. 

The most important activity was to allow a child to marvel at the moon through a telescope. 

BPAOR - Bukit Panjang Astronomy Outreach (24 Aug 2024)

On 24 Aug 2024, 9 Astronomy Club members organised the BPAOR for the public at the void deck of Blk 273 Bangkit Road in Bukit Panjang. 

This is a community initiative for the kids and adults alike to look at the stars and moon through telescopes. This experience is unique in a sense that it engages the community at the doorsteps.  Several learning stations, including telescopes were set up to engage the children on the topic of Astronomy. 

  

The Member of Parliament of Bukit Panjang, Mr. Liang Eng Hwa, was also present at the event to encourage the club for its efforts in the outreach.   

BRO - Blangah Rise Outreach (13 May 2024)

On 13 May 2024m SST Astro club organised the Blangah Rise Outreach (BRO) for a group of 20 Blangah Rise Primary School students. 

The aim of this event is to allow students from the Primary Schools to interact with SST students through a CCA (Astronomy Club) event. 

For this event, students built a telescope using 2 lenses and card board tubes to engaged the students. Initially they wanted to get the students to observe the Sun using Solar Telescopes and solar filters. However, due to wet weather, the activity was changed to an egg drop experiment. We hope that the students have enjoyed the activities and find the joy in learning. 

 

 

Catch a Star 2023

The European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) organised the astronomy contest “Catch a Star” in 2023 and the award ceremony is on 21 April 2024.

The idea of the contest “Catch a Star” is to encourage students to work together, to learn about astronomy, and to discover things for themselves by researching information about an astronomical object. 

A team of SST students participated in the competition and achieved the first place. The team consisted of LUKE GOH REN YONG (S3-03), JOEN FOO XUN HAO (S3-04) and GAVRIEL CHIA KAI ZE (S3-05).

The video of their submitted entry is found here: https://youtu.be/26PfV7bRu-s