Mine Creek radio operators use field day to prepare for emergencies
- Billy Roudybush, Journal contributor
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Billy Roudybush
Journal contributor
A local group of ham radio operators came together on Saturday, June 27, at the rest stop at U.S. Highway 69 and Kansas Highway 52 near Trading Post to practice contacting other radio operators across the North American continent and demonstrate the capabilities of the ham radio systems.
On Saturday, the men and women of the local Mine Creek Amateur Radio Club were mainly dialing through frequencies in order to find new people to talk to on the radio.
Chris Martin, the Linn County information technology director who got his ham radio license a year ago, had talked with people in Canada, based on the map on his computer it looked as if the people were in Newfoundland. Working alongside at the station was Katie Parscale, who also works in the county IT department and is still working on getting her license.
Martin was using a digital system that was mostly used to send text messages. He said he could track who had picked up his signal, and he had a station in southern Argentina that had people who heard his signal but could not respond.
The remaining groups were using analog system that required them to slowly dial through the frequencies. Even though it seemed slower, they did periodically talk to people across the nation.
And while most of the contact being made was by voice, the operators also had keys that could be used to send Morse Code messages to operators both near and far.
One of the goals for Saturday was to educate anyone that showed up for the demonstration. But they have loftier goals.
Another purpose of the demonstration was to show the capabilities of this type of communication system. They explained that after the Joplin tornado in 2011, ham radio operators cooperated with local authorities to provide communication with families because phone service had been knocked out.
That is the goal of this group, to become integrated with the local authorities to help during emergency situations, natural and unnatural. They are hoping to help the county.
Ron Cowan, president of the Mine Creek club, said that the 10 club members who were participating contacted operators in 38 states as well as in Puerto Rico and Canada.
One of the club’s systems was working on power supplied by a gas generator and the other two used solar and battery-power. The group also practiced setting up several different types of antennas.
Cowan said that ham operators can be invaluable during an emergency when radio equipment used by area first responders may not be operable. Those systems rely on repeaters that require electricity.
He said that the central dispatch for all of Linn County emergency services also has ham equipment that can be used in conjunction with ham operators in an emergency.
The drills allow amateur radio operators the opportunity to practice operating and logistics, Cowan said in an email. “Experience and learned skills are used to set up equipment and convey information over the airwaves under adverse conditions.”
“Following the Venezuela earthquakes of last week the communications and power infrastructure in the disaster zone was heavily damaged,” Cowan said. “Their hams sprang into action to aid with the recovery efforts.
“The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) issued a bulletin asking everyone to keep a range of frequencies clear during the disaster and recovery period.
"While we are practicing up here, they are doing the real thing down there.”
The communication from ITU on the Venezuela said that amateur radio operators from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and other countries in the region were on standby to provide any needed assistance.
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