Sunday, June 29, 1997
Amateur radio operators contact the world
By TANYA EISERER / Abilene Reporter-News
Members of the Key City Amateur Radio Club set up their overnight
camp Saturday under the shade trees in the Abilene State School
Park.
Huddled around a transmitter, ham radio operators made contact
with people from as far as way as North Dakota, Ohio and Minnesota.
"You never know who you're going to contact," said
Richard Chastain, who has been a radio operator for two decades.
Club members put up four antennas connected to two transmitter
stations which were powered by an electric generator as part of
"Field Day," an annual emergency preparedness exercise.
The event is designed to test operators' abilities to set up
and operate under emergency conditions such as the loss of electricity.
More than 36,000 amateur radio operators across the country
participated in last year's event, officials said. It takes place
from noon Saturday to noon today.
'We're trying to make radio contacts with whoever we can,"
said amateur radio operator Tim Wright as he swatted away mosquitoes.
The local operator and the person at the other end exchange
signs and locations, and then the contact was logged into a computer
for the competition.
"We're practicing in case there's a situation in which
something happened to communication," Wright said.
Assuming that telephones and others forms of communication
went out, ham radio operators would still be able to contact the
outside world, he said.
"In Oklahoma City, the amateur club let people know where
help was needed," said Wright, referring to the 1995 bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Oftentimes, ham radio operators act as weather spotters to
keep the public informed about the movement and actions of thunderstorms.
"When bad weather comes along, the (ham radio channels)
are a great place to listen," Chastain said. "The radios
we have will also operate off a 12- volt battery, if necessary."
Besides being beneficial, Wright said that many people find
operating a radio to be a fun hobby.
"This is something that is kind of interesting,"
he said.
Chastain added that an operator can spend as little as $100
to get started or up in the thousands for radio equipment.
"You can go as far as you want to go," he said.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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