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“The tech class is the entry level, to get folks a license and get them on the air,” Read said.
Recently the two men taught a class at Willamette View Manor, which has an impressive antenna and radio set-up for the amateur operators, Kidd noted.
“This is a beautiful spot with fine people who come and talk to people around the world. This is the highest building in Clackamas County and we can use it as a relay site to assist others” in an emergency, Kidd said.
Members of the class must first pass a 35-question multiple choice test and learn about radio etiquette and protocol.
They also learn to use Packet, which is a “digital mode of communication that equates to e-mail over the radio. The message goes into a computer, and is relayed radio to radio, and never touches the Internet,” Read explained.
“It is called Packet, because it sends packets of information,” Kidd added.
Willamette View Manor resident and class member David Shearer said he has only been an amateur radio operator for about a year-and-a-half.
“Every week we check in with the emergency network,” he said, adding that the site is on a generator, so it will have electricity even during a power outage.
Fellow class member Louise Evans, who said she will be 100 years old in March, has been a ham operator for many years. She most recently passed the test to renew her license when she was 97, in order to get involved “with the emergency part, to help them out in the county.” She also communicates for fun with a nationwide group called the YL’s, or Young Ladies.
Bob Hamilton, also a Willamette View resident, said what he likes best about amateur radio is “talking to people” around the world.
“When you talk to people, you send them a card,” he said, pointing out colorful postcards posted from all over the world in the Willamette View radio room.
Both Read and Kidd encourage interested people to get involved with amateur radio, noting that there are plenty of classes taught within the county.
Contact Michael Read, at w7hcu@arrl.net, and David Kidd at ka7ozo@pacifier.com
Visit the Web site at www.clackamasares.org
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Re: Local radio operators 'ham' it up
With all the technology we have seen come and go in our life time and grow beyond our wildest dreams, I still consider Ham Radio to be the most reliable source communication in the event of disaster. Most modern communications are dependent on satelites now-a-days and all it takes is a big sun flare-up to knock all those out or missle strikes. Then we're all back to the dark ages. Radio people are great community minded folks as a rule and usually a little smarter than your average dummy and a little more practical than your average civil servant or public servant who are under the control of a central authority during emegencies.
I'm glad to know that we still have this group of folks with that independent pioneer spirit out there manning the airwaves. Kudos to all you vollunteers, young and old.
"Reverend Elvis"
(email verified)
Mon, Feb 09, 2009 at 01:20 PM