ARRL Ham Radio Open House events across North America have increased public awareness and engagement with amateur radio during April – which is Citizen Science Month. 

Centered around World Amateur Radio Day on April 18, ARRL Ham Radio Open House events were held in at least 57 locations. Several more are scheduled for this upcoming weekend. Find the details on them at www.arrl.org/Open-House.

In Vienna, West Virginia, the Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub, W8PAR, set up its open house in a shopping mall, garnering many impressions in foot traffic – and even more in the local news. The Marietta Times and Parkersburg News and Sentinel newspapers and WTAP-TV each did stories on their activation. 

In Yaphank, New York, on Long Island, an event held by the Suffolk County Radio Club was featured in Newsday (paywall). Reporter Joe Werkmeister profiled the club’s event that drew out a crowd of visitors. ARRL Hudson Division Director Ed Wilson, W2XDD, who serves as Vice President of the club, was quoted in the story. 

ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager Sierra Harrop, W5DX, says the media exposure is invaluable. “News coverage – especially once the stories are shared on social media – multiplies the message in ways we couldn’t even begin to. ARRL’s media monitoring tool tells us that 1.32 million people were reached with the coverage from Long Island alone. All that media placement was earned by ARRL volunteers telling the story of ham radio,” she said. 

Many of the clubs which participated have told ARRL they intend to make the open houses a yearly event. Harrop hopes the clubs can build on the momentum of the success. “ARRL Ham Radio Open House was a great introduction for people to what radio amateurs do. Let’s keep those new folks engaged in the clubs, make them feel welcome in the community, get them licensed and have them take part in 2025 ARRL Field Day.” 

Clubs that participated in ARRL Ham Radio Open House will be asked to submit visitor counts to show how many people were reached in person. HamSCI and SciStarter, which worked with ARRL to develop and promote the event, are working to track the encounters as part of 1 Million Acts of Science – SciStarter’s nationwide program for Citizen Science Month.