This article was originally published in The Walton Reporter on 6/26/13.
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Radio Hobbyists Join in National Field Day
By Cori O'Connor
WALTON — Members of the Walton Radio Association gathered at Adin Miller's storage barn on Bob's Brook Road on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 for the 24-hour National Amateur Radio Field Day. The six participants sent their call signals all over the country, testing their equipment and participating in a competition.
"What it does is, it tests our capability to communicate anywhere from down the block to across the country in unusual places, unusual circumstances, because it's never going to be an ideal circumstance during a disaster," said Richard Kelly, president of the Walton Radio Association.
The field day participants sent their signals over the airwaves using a variety of technologies ranging from Morse code to more advanced forms. "We've actually invented so many modes of communication that are so common today, that people don't even realize. We can talk over just a basic radio, we can send e-mail, we can send television pictures," Kelly said.
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Craig Loudon of Sidney uses Morse code to contact another national field day site in Mississippi. photo by Cori O’Connor/The Walton Reporter.
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According to Kelly, amateur radio, also known as ham radio, has been around since the days before electricity, over a hundred years. Members, also known as hams, are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and they broadcast over public radio frequencies free of charge. "In a nutshell, what we do is we provide communications to organizations when normal communications goes down," Kelly said. During federally declared disasters, hams operate under an association known as RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) and are utilized by the emergency services department to broadcast for "served agencies" including fire departments, police departments, the Red Cross, EMS, hospitals, social services, highway departments, the Salvation Army and others.
"During Irene and Lee, Margaretville Telephone Company was about to go under water and it would have wiped out all of their phone communications for the Margaretville area," Kelly said. He explained that an amateur radio broadcaster was available at the Margaretville fire station, ready to provide any communications such as where the rescuers needed to be, how many people they pulled out and where they were going, as well as information on welfare checks, food and supplies.
Kelly explained that during disasters, hams benefit from versatile equipment and the thousands of frequencies and dozens of satellites available to them for national and international communication. According to Kelly, radio equipment is versatile in that radios can be powered by batteries and hams can use a variety of mediums for antennas including wires strung between poles or trees, antennas on top of vehicles, and even a basic electrical cow fence.
Kelly is taking steps to make amateur radio a more readily available "tool" for communication. "I'm trying to get just a basic radio put in every fire department in this county. I'm trying to get funding for that because when their system goes down, they rely on us and we can usually find a way, some way to communicate," he said.
Apart from disasters, Amateur Radio participants operate under the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) association where they conduct communications throughout different events such as running, biking or boating races. According to Kelly, amateur radio personnel were a main source of communication during the Boston Marathon tragedy. Kelly also explained that amateur radio was "the original social media" and said some hams still practice their hobby by trying to contact different people across the country with whom they talk about anything such as their jobs, families, where they're from and so on, just like a "chat room."
The Walton Radio Association is looking for members of all ages. Their meetings are held the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Walton Fire Station. If interested contact Richard Kelly at w2rrk@arrl.net.
"During Irene and Lee, Margaretville Telephone Company was about to go under water and it would have wiped out all of their phone communications for the Margaretville area," Kelly said. He explained that an amateur radio broadcaster was available at the Margaretville fire station, ready to provide any communications such as where the rescuers needed to be, how many people they pulled out and where they were going, as well as information on welfare checks, food and supplies.
Kelly explained that during disasters, hams benefit from versatile equipment and the thousands of frequencies and dozens of satellites available to them for national and international communication. According to Kelly, radio equipment is versatile in that radios can be powered by batteries and hams can use a variety of mediums for antennas including wires strung between poles or trees, antennas on top of vehicles, and even a basic electrical cow fence.
Kelly is taking steps to make amateur radio a more readily available "tool" for communication. "I'm trying to get just a basic radio put in every fire department in this county. I'm trying to get funding for that because when their system goes down, they rely on us and we can usually find a way, some way to communicate," he said.
Apart from disasters, Amateur Radio participants operate under the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) association where they conduct communications throughout different events such as running, biking or boating races. According to Kelly, amateur radio personnel were a main source of communication during the Boston Marathon tragedy. Kelly also explained that amateur radio was "the original social media" and said some hams still practice their hobby by trying to contact different people across the country with whom they talk about anything such as their jobs, families, where they're from and so on, just like a "chat room."
The Walton Radio Association is looking for members of all ages. Their meetings are held the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Walton Fire Station. If interested contact Richard Kelly at w2rrk@arrl.net.
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