| Radio Hams (July 10) |
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Forget the Internet, these amateur radio enthusiasts have been spanning the globe for years on out-of-this-world frequencies
Imagine being able to communicate with someone halfway across the world. Using technology to learn about other cultures, discuss world events or just shoot the breeze about Lady Gaga for a few minutes after work. Considering you are probably dialed into the Internet in some way or another at this very moment it’s not much of a stretch. However, for the nearly two million amateur radio enthusiasts (you know them as ham radio operators) in the world — including 220 in Columbia County — newfangled technology won’t get in the way of old-fashioned radio. It’s social networking of the old school variety. Our ways of communicating may have advanced significantly in the hundred plus years since ham radio became in vogue, but these “hams,” while still acknowledging, and sometimes utilizing, electronic achievements, deliberately disregard them in many ways. Remember, some people still use carrier pigeons. For an amateur radio operator like Dave Morrison, who helped found the 45-member Columbia County Radio Association in 1996, there’s something thrilling in the science of amateur radio. It’s a special feeling, he said, to be able to adjust large personal antennas just the right way, bounce a broadcast signal off the moon or some other skyward celestial body, and have it connect with someone doing just the same thing across the globe. “In the simplest form, it is seeing how far you can talk, or communicate,” Morrison said. A lifetime pursuit Morrison first discovered ham radio when he was in his early teens, 53 years ago. His first radio broadcasted at a modest 50 watts and only in the rhythm clicks of Morse code. Over the years his fascination with the hobby grew as he was able to reach farther and farther around the globe with his signals. “There were so many things to explore,” the semi-retired college professor and St. Helens resident said. “There still is even to this day.” In college, Morrison found less time to “play radio,” but his interest never left him. After moving to Oregon in the early ’90s, Morrison got new call letters, W7OR, (proudly shown off on his license plate) and continued his pursuit of broadcasting. But in 1996, his abilities helped play a much greater role than chatting with strangers in other countries. Created in the wake of disaster Unlike CB radio, the Federal Communications Commission regulates Ham radio signals. And at the heart of the craft is the ability for licensed amateur radio technicians to use their equipment and abilities in the event of disaster. When the 1996 Vernonia flood wreaked havoc on the region, Morrison and other ham volunteers gave their services to the county to help emergency crews relay information to each other after a landslide wiped out some wired communication. “We were able to step up,” he said. The local radio club was founded in the wake of the flooding by Morrison and a few others. The first president, Bob Dent, died a few years back, and the other founders have all left the area. Since then, others have stepped up to help grow the group, and while Morrison said their ranks aren’t skyrocketing they have stayed steady, despite the growth of the Internet. To the moon and beyond Ham radio operators monitor frequencies on dedicated bands to find a broadcast, or send one out themselves. To work, the broadcast signal must be “line-of-sight” to where it is headed, meaning operators will utilize many different options to get the signal from here to there. Wherever “there” may be. Some, like Morrison, have antennas aimed directly at the moon. Others have used trails of meteors, or a series of repeaters placed on hills that will bounce the signal hundreds, or thousands, of miles away. Often, operators will talk shop about where they were able to connect to and, in the Columbia County group, will give each other awards for reaching milestones, such as being able to reach each individual continent or state. With some training, a certified test and a few hundreds dollars, you can start broadcasting. Some set-ups can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but that is rare, Morrison believes. Despite being fascinated with amateur radio for five decades, Morrison estimates he has only dropped between $3,000 or $4,000. Showing their stuff For 24 hours starting at 10 a.m. this Saturday, June 26, local hams will meet in the parking lot next to Ichabod’s Restaurant (52049 Columbia River Highway) in Scappoose to put on their annual “Field Day,” sponsored by the American Radio Relay League. During the day, hams from across the country will use emergency power supplies to simulate how amateur radio can aid in emergency communications. Over 35,000 amateur radio operators took part in the national Field Day last year. A vice president in the local club, Bill Okrasinski, of Scappoose, has been a licensed ham for about 14 years, but remembers feeling like a “fish out of water” at the first Field Day three years back. “I had mic fright,” he said. “I was afraid of it.” But after that day he started to become more involved in the hobby, eventually upgrading his license, which let him legally broadcast on more frequencies. Like Morrison, Okrasinski has such a strong passion for the hobby that when he talks about it, he speaks quickly and technically about all the wonders he has discovered in the world of radio. Okrasinski uses his home computer to aid in connecting his ham radio. This lets him chat with people in other languages using a built-in text translator. “That’s one of the beauties about it,” he said. “There is an ever-evolving connection between new technology and old technology.” But while ham radio advances, the heart of the science remains the same — using technical know-how to do things the average person may never comprehend. On Monday afternoon, Morrison monitors frequencies to see what he can pick up. He spots a number of conversations going on at the same time: a man speaking in what sounded like Dutch, robotic sounding gibberish and someone in Texas chatting with another in Germany. When he spotted the considerable number of strong frequencies, Morrison began to get excited, summing up his feelings in one concise phrase. “Oh wow.” |
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