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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