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AnchorDesk

David Coursey
Have a Field Day: Why you should try ham radio

David Coursey
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Friday, June 27, 2003
TalkBack!Add your opinion
Today I want to venture away from my usual computers and personal electronics beat here at AnchorDesk and introduce you to a technical hobby that is really what brought me into technology in the first place: amateur radio.

This weekend, tens of thousands of amateur radio operators will take to the nation's parks and open spaces to practice their emergency communications skills. The event, known as Field Day, will test the operators' ability to quickly set up portable stations using emergency power. They'll then compete to make the largest number of on-air contacts with other Field Day participants over the course of 27 hours.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? Because these exercises train ham operators to help with disaster response and homeland defense, as well as to provide communications for community events. Ham radio operators played a vital role in the aftermath of the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. This summer, they've been helping firefighters in the Southwest. If you happen to see a Field Day operation while you're out this weekend, I hope you'll take a moment to stop by. You'll recognize the operation by the antennas they've erected and, perhaps, by the sound of a gasoline-powered generator. My hope is you'll become interested enough to become a ham radio operator yourself.

Doing so has never been easier. The basic license requires only a 35-question test. There's no Morse code requirement for beginners, and the code requirement for the advanced licenses (which allow you to talk to hams around the world) has been lowered to a very manageable 5 words per minute. It's possible to take practice exams online as many times as you like to become familiar with both the questions and the correct answers.

Around the country, classes are taught by amateur radio clubs affiliated with the ARRL, the national organization of ham radio operators. They also publish a wide range of training materials, operating manuals, and project books, as well as a monthly magazine.

Here in the San Francisco area, I'm part of a group that teaches quarterly "ham crams" in which thousands of people have earned their licenses in a single day--with no prior experience. Our pass rate for adults is better than 90 percent. (The under-12-year-olds don't do quite as well.) If you live near San Francisco, drop me a line at my ham e-mail address (n5fdl@arrl.net), and I'll send you information on our next class.

IF YOU DECIDE to take the plunge, you'll be in good company. Amateur radio operators come from all walks of life, but tend to have a technical bent--like the average AnchorDesk reader. Our ranks include recording artists Joe Walsh, Patty Loveless, and Ronnie Milsap; the majority of the U.S. astronaut corps, who operate from the space shuttle and international space station; and even journalist Walter Cronkite, who operates from his ocean-going sailboat. The late King Hussein of Jordan was a radio amateur, as is his wife, Queen Noor.

Amateur radio is a very broad hobby. Some hams are doing pioneering work in digital communications. Based on their work, I can talk keyboard-to-keyboard to stations around the world whose signals I can't hear in the static. Other hams build and operate the ham space program, which today has included more than 40 Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio, or OSCARs. Some just "rag chew," or chat with radio friends both around the country and the globe.

My primary interest is in community service. Long before there were cell phones, hams connected their radio systems to telephone lines in order to summon help when they spotted trouble on the highway. Many lives have been saved because ham radio operators keep watch on frequencies used by sailing vessels in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. This has included sending help to a family whose ship had been ransacked by pirates who left them for dead. Hams even arranged for a child involved in the incident to be brought to the U.S. for treatment.

MY EXPERIENCES have not been nearly so dramatic--although seeing a tornado drop from the cloud you've been chasing for an hour is a thrill that never quite goes away. As you read this, I'm probably sitting in a van helping with communications as an important dignitary visits my community.

While I'm not using ham radio for this weekend's Field Day event, it was my ham license that opened the door to my volunteer position as an emergency communicator--just as it opened the door to my years as a tornado chaser (before the movie Twister  made it cool to drive fast in and around severe thunderstorms), more years as an American Red Cross disaster volunteer, and still more years working with my local Office of Emergency Services.

Along the way, I've picked up some specialized training in hazardous materials, emergency management, meteorology, search and rescue, and emergency medicine. There have been many occasions when I've summoned help to accident scenes using amateur radio.

It is not an overstatement to say amateur radio has been the single most important factor in my life. If my Uncle Russ Van Kirk (call sign K5OSH) hadn't shown me his ham radio "shack" when I was about 12, I might have grown up and done something productive with my life. Instead, I become a shortwave listener, started work at a radio station (when I was 15), became a news reporter, and finally got my ham license (at 21).

MY INTEREST in radio led me to the first Apple computers, then Kaypros, then IBM PCs. My journalism skills took me from radio to newspapers to the computer trades and, most recently, to AnchorDesk. And all this because one day more than 30 years ago I was introduced to ham radio.

Of all I've accomplished in my life, most of the doors have been opened in some form or fashion by my ham radio license. Most of my best friends are hams and because of the fellowship that underlies amateur radio, I know that wherever I may find myself in the world I'm never very far from someone who shares many of my interests.

Out on the highway, I'm never more than a few twists of the dial from someone who will happily give me directions and tips on good places to eat. On one memorable occasion, I ran out of gas and a guy who I knew fairly hated my guts brought a few gallons out to me. Why? Because it's the sort of thing hams do for one another.

Like I said, ham radio changed my life. If any of this interests you, drop me a note, and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

What do you think? Have you ever used a ham radio? Are you curious about them? TalkBack to me! 

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