Welcome to the MSU ARC!

The first radio station at Michigan State University was established through the efforts of the Amateur Radio Club in 1919 using the call letters of 8YG – broadcasting weather reports and farm market prices.

In 1925 8YG became WKAR, the public broadcast station of Michigan State University, while a ham radio station was formed using the call letters 8XBU. In 1927 the call 8SH was issued to the amateur radio station. Today the MSU Amateur Radio Club operates W8SH and W8MSU from the campus in East Lansing.

Tech In A Day Class

Dan KB6NU’s “Ham Cram” Class is at MSU this year!

The purpose of the event is to get students excited, and most importantly, prepared for this year’s amateur radio events like contesting, contacting others through the International Space Station, building antennas, and a radio fox hunt.

Getting license requirements out of the way quickly means that you have more time to enjoy and learn what the ARC has to offer. Check out the details HERE!

Upcoming Meetings

September 8, 2026
  • The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program Zoom Meeting

    September 8, 2026  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

October 13, 2026
  • The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program Zoom Meeting

    October 13, 2026  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

November 10, 2026
  • The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program Zoom Meeting

    November 10, 2026  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Upcoming Nets

September 3, 2026
  • MSU ARC NET-NCS Rick AD8KN

    September 3, 2026  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

September 10, 2026
  • MSU ARC NET-NCS Anne WA9ZZ

    September 10, 2026  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

September 17, 2026
  • MSU ARC NET-NCS Ed W8EO

    September 17, 2026  8:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Sparticipation 2026!

Sparticipation this year was looking bleak around 9:00am on the same day. It was pouring rain in the greater Lansing, MI area with no signs of letting up. As it turned out, the clouds parted and allowed the club to continue with the premier student club recruiting even of the year. We passed out about…

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Contest: Michigan QSO Party 2026!

Spartan ARC members gathered on a rather chilly day in April to participate in the annual Michigan QSO Party, an event in which radio amateurs try to contact all 49 other states, all Canadian provinces, at least one distant contact (DX), and all the Michigan counties. This year, conditions on the usual bands was tough…

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Meeting: Building Receivers!

For the latest MSU ARC meeting, the club dusted off a few boxes of the 4SQRP (Four States QRP Group) regenerative receivers to work on putting together. Students learned basic soldering skills, and how to wind a torroid while learning about crystal controlled sets. A few followup sessions will probably be necessary, as winding torroids…

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Winter Field Day 2026!

With the morning temperature in Lansing reading a balmy -18 degrees F on Saturday, of course the MSU squad was attempting to fix a satellite antenna for the 30 hour event. While unsuccessful in this repair, but very successful in saving their fingers and toes, this set the stage for the tenacity that amateur radio…

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New Hams! School Club Roundup Results!

The MSU ARC would like to send a massive congratulations to the following new hams: Rohan KF8FBHDong AD8QGLeandro KF8FHZ (Also a Brazilian ham!)Jacob KF8FCHWe also don’t want to miss out on a rather late congrats to the following MSU ARC members who’ve had their licenses under 1 year: Suzy KF8DPQAryan KF8ESIMichael KF8DQS Additionally, the ARRL…

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Club Meeting: HT Workshop

Monday night was another successful MSU ARC event! The HT workshop began with unboxing the new Quansheng UV-K6 fleet of handheld radios, powering them up into firmware flashing mode, and using the “egzumer 0.22” firmware web-based flasher. From there, everybody downloaded the latest version of Chirp-Next, downloaded the initial configs, then filled in Lansing’s most…

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