Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Technology sparks new uses for ham radio

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 07:44:49 -0500

Technology sparks new uses for ham radio
03/14/03
Lynn Wade

At first glance, a tiny room in Dennis Kimrey’s
Nevada home looks like a compact version of
Batman’s famous hideout, the Batcave — filled
with computer communications and radio
equipment, with maps virtually covering the
walls. Kimrey literally has information from all over the world at his
fingertips as a ham radio operator. And he’s not alone. There’s a
whole network of amateur, or ham, radio operators in and around
Nevada. Kimrey estimates there are at least 25 in the area, with
about nine of them participating as members of the Nevada
Amateur Radio Club. The club formed years ago and gives its
members opportunities to participate in contests throughout the
year. The Nevada club gets together for a field day in June, during
which members practice setting up emergency communication
systems using a generator. “We usually do that in Marmaduke
Park, to prepare for an emergency situation,” Kimrey said. For
many years, amateur radio operators have played an important
role in time of war and at the scene of disasters, providing a
means of communication when telephone and electrical service
fail. “At the time, in World War II, that was how you would
communicate with your family overseas. Now we don’t really need
that. We’ve got satellites now, and the Internet,” Kimrey said. But
ham radio operators can still provide a valuable communication
service in time of need. “Any time there is a tornado or hurricane,
where they’ve lost phones or power, there’ll be ham radio
operators there,” to provide communication services, Kimrey said.
Through the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, licensed members
of the group are contacted by emergency services organizations
such as local police or fire departments, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the American Red Cross or the Salvation
Army to provide communication. “They might call and say they
need communications set up between a command center and a
shelter, or a hospital — anything like that,” Kimrey said. In Vernon
County, he serves as emergency communication coordinator, so
he keeps a list of people in the area who have battery-powered
equipment, generators and other paraphernalia that might be
useful in an emergency situation. That enables him to contact an
operator for assistance if needed. In December, a tornado struck
Barton County, and ham operators responded. Using a digital
camera, a laptop computer and an amateur radio system,
operators were able to supply the National Weather Service with
on-the-spot photos of the scene — using a process that delivers
the photo in about 72 seconds, Kimrey said. During severe
thunderstorms that struck southern Vernon County earlier this
week, ham operators in the area gave information to the National
Weather Service in Springfield, communicating valuable
eye-witness information to weather professionals who otherwise
would have to rely only on radar information to evaluate severe
storm situations. “We can also get information from over in
Kansas, where the storm came from about what’s really going on
with the storm,” Kimrey said. Adding a laptop computer to the ham
operator’s communication arsenal offers more than the ability to
send pictures. Modern technology also allows users to type a
message such as the names of those rescued or missing during a
disaster — by typing the information on the keyboard, which is
then transmitted through a sound card on the computer to the
radio, which sends the message out on a designated radio
frequency. While Kimrey agrees communicating around the world
via the radio has lost of its novelty and mystique with younger
generations, he believes amateur radio operators will still be
around many years in the future. “There’ll always be people who
want to tinker and experiment, to build their own equipment.
People who just want to talk on the radio, and people who want
the challenge of trying something like bouncing a signal off the
moon,” Kimrey said. In fact, he’s done just that. Kimrey and a
friend, determined to bounce a signal off the moon, devised an
antenna of wire and a brass rod and calculated a schedule of
communication. “You can’t both be transmitting at the same time.
It doesn’t work that way,” he said. At the appointed time, another
party waited for the radio signal, created using a computer and
Morse code. The operation was successful, and Kimrey has the
QSL card — a sort of post card acknowledging the communication
from the other operator involved — to prove it. It’s all part of the
culture of amateur radio. Kimrey’s attention was drawn
momentarily to the computer screen in the Batcave-like room as
his radio transmitted text messages across the screen. Someone
from England was having a conversation with someone from the
Pacific northwestern U.S. He could tell by the call signs —
assigned by the FCC, which licenses and regulates amateur radio
operators. A license obtained from the FCC through a testing
process is required to be a ham operator. Licenses are available at
more than one level, which makes it easier for beginners to
become authorized to transmit. Then, the FCC assigns a call sign,
a series of letters and numbers identifying the operator. Letters
are assigned according to the country, then numbers designate a
district, and so on. Through experience, Kimrey has memorized
many districts. “The only thing is, you don’t have to get a new call
sign if you move,” he said, so someone with a call sign from
California could actually be transmitting from Missouri. Kimrey said
he’s talked to people in Russia, Antarctica, Germany and many
other places on the radio, and enjoys the connection with other
ham operators, whether they’re across the sea or across town.
He’s also developed lasting friendships on the radio, citing one
close friend he talks to nearly every morning, yet he noted that
the personalities of ham operators are diverse. Some operators are
strictly business, and keep conversations short, while others chat
for hours. Even space shuttle astronauts frequently hold ham radio
operator’s licenses used to communicate with schools. Unlike many
hobbies, though, virtually anyone who passes the required test
and obtains a license can be an amateur radio hobbyist. Kimrey
noted those who are sick or disabled can participate in ham radio
activity just the same as those who are not. For illustration, he
noted that a man living in a Barton County nursing home was a
ham operator, and frequently talked on the radio from within the
home. Becoming a ham operator doesn’t have to be expensive,
either. “It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. You can start out
with your first-level license and a brand spanking new radio for
about $100,” he said, although high-end equipment can cost
thousands. “The times are changing, but it’s something people are
always going to want to do,” for fun, to provide a service to the
community, or just to keep in touch with the rest of the world.

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