Across the air waves

Members of the Silver Springs Radio Club chalked up radio contacts with fellow ham radio operators in all 50 states and eight of Canada’s 10 provinces in a recent nationwide 24-hour exercise aimed at disaster preparedness.

SSRC Director Andy Allen said the club’s participation in the 2024 Amateur Radio Relay League Field Day event, which ran for 24 hours staring at 2 p.m. July 22, netted 851 contacts across the U.S. and Canada, including voice and digital signal modes on four ham radio stations set up on a temporary basis at Green Clover Hall in the McPherson Governmental Complex.

Allen said the operators can use various power sources for their stations during field day, including portable solar options, and that an antenna must be erected just for the event, simulating emergency conditions such as a power interruption during a natural disaster. A wire antenna was strung between two trees for the event.

Allen said the event went well and the radio operators were “engaged” in the exercise. The number of radio contacts made during Field Day 2024 was a dramatic increase from 2023.

“That’s up from just over 300 contacts last year,” he said. About 30 of the local club’s 100 members participated in Field Day 2024.

Allen said some sparsely populated states present a challenge to make a radio contact and some states are divided into regions, like north Florida, requiring an extra contact within the same state.

Allen, retired from the music industry, and his wife, Annie, are both ham operators and participated in the event. He said he was able to put his ham operator experience to practical use once when he helped relay messages to rescue a sailboat that had gone aground in the Bahamas. He said as far as equipment, a person could find a used entry level rig for perhaps $300.

The ARRL’s annual Field Day, held since 1933, “is ham radio’s open house,” according to arrl.org

“Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event,” the website states.

SSRC member Hayden Kaufman is an emergency contact for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Management/Marion Emergency Radio Team (MERT).

According to marionso.com, the “MERT program is designed to provide communications support to areas such as shelters, healthcare facilities, point of distributions, and more during times of disaster.”

Club member Roger Ackley, a ham operator since 1962, operated a station during the exercise on Saturday afternoon. Ackley is part of the Marion County Hospital Emergency Communications Team. He was involved in emergency communication during a natural disaster on the Susquehanna River in the 1980s. Tracy Lauderslager, a local service manager, sat in with Ackley at the station.

Club member Tim Trombley, with Dixie Metals, was operating a digital set up on Saturday afternoon while Chris Kennell and Jonathan Kadegis operated a voice mode radio and made contacts in areas including North Carolina and Nova Scotia.

Club member and medical technician John Norman also operated a digital set up. Tim Connell, retired from the correctional system in Boston, sat in. He recently joined the local radio club.

Club member Bill Gillespie said the club has provided instructions for a local Boy Scout troop and that at least two scouts are now licensed ham technicians.

SSRC President Adam Parker worked through Saturday night and said about 35 club members were involved in making the radio contacts which, he stated in a text, “might simulate urgent information relays.”

Scott Seaman, a former Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy and paramedic, and Greg Wilemon were among the visitors who have an interest in ham radio operation.

Fred and Nan Lopez visited Green Clover Hall Saturday to observe the group. Fred is a licensed ham operator and Nan intends to pursue ham licensing.

“Cool,” Fred Lopez said about ham radio operation as the four stations were busy at work.

To learn more about the Silver Springs Radio Club, go to FB.com/k4gso