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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
July 20, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
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July 20, 2023
 
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Page 12 Shelton-Mason County Journal ~ Thursday, July 20, 2023 Connty ‘ham’ radio operators demonstrate relevance By Kirk Boxleitner kbox/e/mer@masoncounty com When Tim Weber arrived in Shelton in 1977, he recalls that a small group of amateur or “ham” radio hobbyists gathered monthly in the upper room of Blondie’s (then Timbers) restaurant. “It was informal then, and the main interests included DXing, 2—meters and computer use in packet radio,” said We- ber, who is Mason County Amateur Ra— dio Club vice president. “I can’t recall when the club became more formal, with bylaws and officers, but I know it held field days in the 1980s. I partici- pated in just two of those; one on South Mountain, above the Simpson sort yard, and the other in a field owned by one of our club members, near Mary M. Knight School.” Many hams develop their skills so they can provide emergency communi- cations in their counties and states so that when other lines of communication are overloaded or fail, the radio opera— tors can step in. On June 24—25, hams across the country set up operations to make as many contacts as possible within 24‘ hours for this year’s American Radio Relay League Field Day. The Mason County club, which operates under the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, was actively involved. John Carpenter, with the Mason County Communications Unit, is one of roughly two-dozen Mason County club members, and one of several li- censed ham radio volunteers in the county who act to support operations at the county’s Department ofEmergency Management. “It was a rousing success,” Carpenter r newnlcadrorexcwsws art & lNSTANT rewards! ifli‘d'fit’é? NU Sue Albee, Joe Stiles, Ann Bisek and John Carpenter finalize the NVIS (near—vertical incidence sky- wave) military-ster antenna. Al- though the Mason County Amateur» Radio Club can transmit around the world, the NVIS antenna is specifi— cally made for shorter distances, of 1 ,000 miles or fewer. Courtesy photo said of this year’s field day, which saw club members set up three radio sta- tions, one of them single sideband dig— ital. “We had a good turnout of club members, especially for our first field day since our forced break due to CO— VlD. My only real disappointment was the lack of kids who showed up this year, because we’d hoped to potentially draw in more younger members.” Carpenter has visited schools to ex‘ plain the need for amateur radio in a smartphone world. Natural disasters E Little can knock out wireless phone and inter- net networks, but hams would still be able to contact each other and support services. “During the 2001 Nisqually earth— quake, my cellular phone was useless, but fortunately, 1 had my handheld ham radio,” Carpenter said. “I was able to get a signal all across Puget Sound.” While this year’s field day didn’t draw the youths Carpenter hoped for, it did draw at least one VIP. Mason Coun— ty Superior Court Judge Cadine Fergu- son-Brown sat down to make contact with other stations, under the tutelage of Mason County Amateur Radio Club control operator Dave Blum.‘ “That was a pretty cool moment,” Carpenter said. “I believe she man— aged to make four contacts that day. Of course, anytime you’ve got a YL on the mic, everybody will want to talk to her.” The Morse code abbreviation “YL” is short for “young lady,” which is used for female amateur radio operators regard- less of age. Mason County Amateur Radio Club member Tom Dennis credited Fer- guson-Brown with reaching as far as Utah and Oklahoma, an achievement Carpenter deemed especially impres— sive because about 80% ofU.S. amateur radio operators live east of the 100th meridian. Carpenter emphasized the impor- tance of not only making contactwith others, but also being able to put ama- teur radio technology in the field. Car- penter, Sue Albee and Joe Stiles pre- pared a dipole antenna for standing up, before they were joined by Ann Bisek in finalizing an NVIS (near—vertical inci- dence skywave) military—style antenna. “Although we can transmit around the world, the NVIS antenna is spe- cifically made for shorter distances, of 1,000 miles or fewer,” Carpenter said. “During emergencies in the field, we need to be able to send messages using the ICS and FEMA formats.” Carpenter, Bisek, Albee, Harold St. Clair and Martin Grote are all Emer- gency Operations Center communica- tions unit volunteers for Mason Coun— ty, along with Tom Dennis, who is the emergency coordinator radio officer for ARES” Mason County District 3. “Most of the folks in our club have some level of FEMA training,” Carpen- ter said. “The federal government helps standardize our communications, so we can get coordinated more efficiently.” Carpenter deemed it an additional success that the Mason County Ama- teur Radio Club’s equipment is func- tional and deployable at a moment’s n0- tice. The equipment is not as dependent upon directional alignment as cellular signal towers are. “Cell towers all have to be aligned properly, and anything from heavy snowfall to floods and fire can cause them to fall out of alignment,” Car- penter said. “By contrast, our club and area hams are able to use frequencies, as well modes and methods oftrans- mission, that are not available to those who aren’t licensed as amateur radio operators.” While most radio signal transmis- sions are analog, Carpenter noted that they can be converted to digital to transmit simple text email messages, without images. You can visit the Mason County Amateur Radio Club at mc-arc.org or go to its Facebook page by looking up “MCARC.” FE", I‘M-H 360-426—1388 , 707 SOUTH FIRST STREET SHELTONATHLETICCLUB.COM