Greetings to all "Dirty Street Cleaners" and friends

The first New York University Amateur Radio Club went  on the air some time in 1924 at the Washington Square campus in downtown Manhattan, New  York City.  The earliest evidence of the club's existence is found in the listing of 2CCL in the 1924 US Government Callbook.  (The W prefix did not come into use until 1928.) The club remained in existence for six years, until 1930, when the license expired and was not renewed.  We don't know why the club disbanded and we don't know if there ever existed another ham radio club at the Washington Square campus.  We are still investigating this era of club history.

Two years later, in the Spring of 1932, the  second New York University Amateur Radio Club was founded by engineering students at the University Heights (Bronx) campus, in New York City.  The pre-war call sign was W2DSA.  (Believe it or not, Prof Phillip Greenstein, '27E. was the faculty advisor from Day One, as well as the designer of the club's homebrew transmitter.)   The club thrived, although it moved around on campus several times, and was pictured in every Heights Yearbook until 1940.  Like other amateur radio stations, the club went dark during World War II and the Heights campus became a training camp for the military.   

In the post-war 1940s,  the NYU Amateur Radio Club at the Heights was reconstituted by several returning veterans.  W2DSC became the new call sign, as W2DSA was not available (for reasons unknown). The club was very active in the '50s, '60s, and early '70s, beginning with borrowed military gear and ending up with state of the art commercially-built equipment.  The club also participated in a variety of nets and competitions.  In 1973, when NYU sold the University Heights campus and was forced to leave the Bronx , the radio club completed the original circle and moved back downtown to Washington Square, where operating space was very scarce.  Not much is known about the club after that time, or if there even was a working club.  We are still investigating.

In 1995, the club's FCC license expired, along with the last known trustee, Herbert Schwartz K2LVU.  Several of us alumni from the Class of '71 thought that the rich history of the NYU Radio Club should be preserved. We undertook the tortuous route of reclaiming our callsign under the FCC's early vanity program.  In August 2000 the callsign W2DSC was restored to the fourth incarnation of the NYU Amateur Radio Club. 

In May 2009 we acquired the callsign W2NYU after the passing of Arnold Rand.  Although not an alumnus, he was a friend of NYU ARC and honorary club member.  He wanted his call sign to live on at NYU.

We would like to hear from new or old alumni and current NYU students or faculty hams. Perhaps someday a physical station can be re-installed at Washington Square (or maybe Brooklyn, or maybe the Med Center).  For now, we will do our best to keep alive a "virtual" NYU ARC.

The NYU Amateur Radio Club Museum 

We have collected various items from the history of the Radio Club, scanned into picture files, and displayed them here for you to enjoy.  There is also a time line of the station gear, and notes from old time alumni.  We hope to add many more items as  time goes on.  If you have anything that might be of interest, please send it along.   Be sure to read the Radio Club page in the 1935 Violet Yearbook.  To enter the museum, just Click the picture at left.   Admission is Free ! 

    Announcing   -  Three new features have been added to the museum.  Click a picture to go there directly.

Heights Campus Today -  Take a quick visual tour of the former NYU Heights campus, photographed by Dan K2UL on August 19, 2007.  It's not as bad as you might think.
 

QSL Card Gallery   -  Members of W2DSC have been active on the air using the club callsign.  This page contains some interesting QSL examples received from contests and DXing. 
 

In Memoriam  -  In searching for former Club members, we sometimes find them too late.  This page is in memory of alumni and friends who are no longer with us.
 

 New W2DSC QSL Cards

For the first time in 50+ years, W2DSC has a new QSL design.  Bob WB2NVR worked on the design and did all the leg work.  The front of the card has the Call and the NYU seal printed over a picture of MacCracken Hall.  The back  has a lengthy description of NYU, past and present, and a blank space to affix computer-generated signal report labels.   Click the picture at left for full size images.  We will be happy to send a sample card to any club member who would like one. 

Since we are a virtual club, with no permanent station, any club member may use the W2DSC callsign from his/her own station.  If you would like to use the call in a particular contest or operating event, just let us know, so we can handle the QSL chores as needed.  And also to stay legit with the FCC.   Bob WB2NVR has volunteered to be QSL Manager.
 

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in amateur radio and a connection to NYU, past or present.  There are NO dues.

How to Contact Us   

     E-mail:   w2dsc.nyuarc @ gmail.com     

     Postal:   NYU Amateur Radio Club
                    c/o  Bob Schaps, WB2NVR
                    10 Club Pointe Drive
                    White Plains,  NY  10605-4463

     QSL Mgr:   WB2NVR, Bob Schaps

Executive Committee  (4)

K1NY - Gerry Skloot, President & Trustee,  '71E, '74GBA, ex-WB2FJX

K2UL - Dan Ostroy, Honorary Secretary, (SK)   '71E, ex-WB2TUL

K2EK - Bill Gioia,  Vice President,  '71E, ex-WB2DZZ

WB2NVR -  Bob Schaps,  Vice President,  '71E, '74GBA

Members  (65)

W3NCC - Richard Roxas (1934-37), ex-W2BOP no call  -  Elihu Cohen '47E W6NYW, W2NKM - Walter Bonazza '48E no call  -  Dino Paschetto '48E no call  -  Arnold Shulman '48E no call  -  Milton Rosen '48E N1RA  -  Bob Avrutik  '49E, ex-W2NVO W2GKS - Herb Sinofsky  (1949-50) ex-W2UGN - Al Eckert '50E W3GQB - Sid Schwartz  '52E, ex-W2HDZ W2VLX - Dave Freedman '52E ex-W2ZDE - Steve Leibholz '52A ex-W2VQA - Stan Dickstein '53E W3DEF - Stephen Aug  '56A, ex-K2EOF ex-K2KOK - Paul Schnitzler  '57E, '59E ex-W1LBE - Dick McClure  '59E WA6TLA - Elliott Lawrence, '60E, '61E, ex-K2KIA N6TJ - Jim Neiger '62E, ex-W7WJB and others K2IRS - Stan Teich, '63A, '64A, '99Law N6NO - Merv MacMedan '63E, ex-W2JOA K5HM - Ron Litt '63E, '63A, ex-K2KMA N2DT - Dan Handelsman '64A, ex- WA2BCG ex-WB2RBF - Alan Shapiro, '64E N1SC - Stuart Cohen '65E, ex- K2IOC SK KG6QFD - Martin Hellman '66E, ex-WB2AHX WA2UNC - Paul Moskowitz '66E, '68A, '71A K2UU - Gary "Woody" Woodhouse '67Ed, '70Ed NS6A - Rick Lehrbaum '68E, ex-WA2APT N4FA - Martin Horowitz '68E, '70E ex-WN2WZD - Don DiGalbo '69E WB2YDC - Paul Hunter '71E WB4QZG - Ruth Bromer '71E

AA2KD / 4X1FN - Yuval Zeira (1964-71) K8XM - Garry Lysiak '73E, ex-WB2DHN WA2RUF - Alan Swiedler '73W K2IE - Bob Norton '74W KN4NM - Dan Swerdlow '75E, ex-WA2BNS W2ZH - Bill Schmidt '76Ed WB2SSB - Joe Sanger, '77Med, NYUMC Faculty DU1IF - Ignacio "Chito" Frondoso, '77GBA W2GW - John Reiser  (1978-82)W K2IM - Mike Ambrosino, '82Med, NYUMC Faculty NB2N - Mitch Chesler, '83GSAS, '86Med, NYUMC Faculty N2CN - Andrew Siegel, '83GSAS W4JMJ - Joan Jones, '88W KD2CSJ - Mike Tretola, '98Wagner KD2DPW - Eric Berger, '06SCPS W2DAB - David Bamford, '07TSOA AG1Y - Jean-Pierre (JP) Chiron, '07SCPS KD7TJJ - Guy Dickinson, '08Steinhardt no call - Gi Eun Lee,  '09Stern K6UAN - Guan Yang, '11 K2TAS - Anastasios Mirisis, '13W N6WIL - Will Cromarty, '14W KF5NJI - Kira Prentice, '16W K1MRT - Matt Tierney,  CS grad student AE3A - Colin Phoon, NYUMC Faculty KC2OQB - Michael Argilla, NYUMC Faculty KJ5EX - Scott Bernstein, NYUMC Faculty N2NOV - Charles Hargrove,  member N2RGL - Brian Yulke, Law ITS no call - Joseph Levy, NYUMC Faculty KC2YSH - Alan Langsner, NYUMC Faculty ex-HA3ME - Gyuri Buzsaki, NYUMC Faculty N9NB - Ted Rappaport, NYU-Poly/Med Faculty

Club Members' Individual E-mail Addresses  -      (rev 11-3-13)
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  NYU ARC Club News Archive

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  NYU ARC Constitution    (PDF format,  30 kb)        

 

Disclaimers:  
NYU ARC is not officially or legally affiliated with New York University . 
Material published here does not reflect the views of New York University.
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