As a student, I find it quite surprising and refreshing to hear about the initiative at the local high school. In a world dominated by digital technology, the idea of bridging the gap in analog electronics education is unexpected yet intriguing.I remember having to write an assignment for my school and I was struggling a lot without all the required information.... Thankfully a good friend of mine helped me by suggesting me this amazing site https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/personal-philosophy-of-nursing/ which had a lot of useful information and helped me manage my resources and finish in time.It was like a fresh stream of knowledge that was flowing through my brain hah!It had a lot of useful essays on different topics and managed to inspire me to write even more!I hope it will help you as it helped me! The decision to involve radio amateurs in teaching students how to build a direct conversion receiver using the Manhattan technique is a hands-on approach that truly fosters understanding. This project not only equips students with valuable skills in analog electronics but also encourages a deeper appreciation for the components and circuits they work with.

This is intentionally an analog electronics project, not a programming project or even a digital electronics project.  The students have many outlets for those skills including robotics and even a cube sat project.  We chose to have them build an all analog, discrete component receiver expressly to provide the students a foundation level understanding of RF engineering concepts.   It is also why we chose to use large, through-hole components, resistors, capacitors, transistors, diodes, and yes even toroid transformers that the students wound themselves.  Every step in the process - including the decision to use Manhattan style construction was intended to teach and reinforce fundamental concepts like the difference between and inductor and capacitor or the importance of a good ground plane when working with RF circuits.  The students were able to see the shape of the filter on a VNA and gain an intuitive understanding of what happens when they compressed or spread the turns of the transformer - changing the inductance.  As they built the analog variable frequency oscillators, they were able to experience directly what it means to have a resonant tuned circuit.  In the audio stage they learned why layout is important and how amplifiers can easily become oscillators if you are not careful.   We are working from the principal that there is an intuitive level of understanding that can be gained from this kind of hands-on work that you simply don't get from a software project. And this intuitive level of understanding will benefit them as they go on to bright technical careers in an all-digital world.  And they will have the advantage of having, at least once, built something complex and technical from scratch, where they can identify the purpose and function of each and every component in the circuit.

During my 35 years in the computer industry I never built an analog band pass filter.  In the next 35 years, the students will build digital filters or  write code to implement a band pass filter.  That will be a 2056 skill instead of a 1956 skill.

On May 16, 2023 Ashhar Farhan visited the High School and spoke to the students about Cubesats and about the benefits of building your own radio gear.  (He led a similar direct conversion receiver project in Hyderabad, India.)  A description of Farhan's visit to the school, along with an audio recording of his talk, is available here: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/05/farhan-speaks-to-students-about.html

One other thing:  We have been pleased to see the gender stereotypes about radio and electronics fading away rapidly in this project.  About half of the students are girls.   We notice no gender differences in this group.  

To add some fun to the project (and to provide an incentive for moving forward) we gave prizes to whichever team first successfully completed a board.   For example, the team that completed their first bandpass filter (a board that required students to wind two toroidal transformers) won the coveted "Torry"  (like the Emmy or the Tony, but more techy).  You can see the Torry here: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/03/update-on-high-school-direct-conversion.html

The students like the award program, and it helped them follow our advise to "make haste slowly."  In other words, get it done, don't dawdle, but try to get it right. 

Global (and especially South Asian) influence:  Many of the students are the children of immigrants, many from South Asia.  We think it was very positive that one of the main inspirations for this project came from India.  On our first visit to the school, we brought with us a direct conversion receiver that had been inspired by one built by our friend Farhan in Hyderabad as part of an effort to help a cousin in an EE program:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/02/farhans-direct-conversion-receiver.html

A reward offer!   Our friend Walter KA4KXX has offered a $500 reward for the first student to build a simple transmitter and check into the early morning Florida sunshine net.  This is possible for students with the receiver and with their current ham radio license privileges. 

An Australian build of our receiver: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/02/vk2blq-builds-high-school-direct.html

The first ever two wat radio contact made using this receiver (and a VERY small transmitter): 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/02/first-qso-with-high-school-receiver-100.html

A very similar project in Hyderabad, India:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/03/pictures-from-farhans-hyderabad-high.html