Keep in touch with Amateur radio
Saturday, October 25th, 2008How much do you know about cell phones? How well can you count on the cell tower that serves your corner of the world? Can your local cell survive a credit crisis or an immense energy price hike?
Tam at View From The Porch mentioned signaling with Morse Code via smoke signals – I think, mostly in jest.
But that got me looking around. I recalled that ARRL – American Radio Relay League, the major national organization of amateur (ham) radio operators – had material and training tools to pass FCC license tests to operate radios in the US. One of the tests includes the ability to receive and send Morse Code. There are several classes and computer programs listed on their CW page.
Remember ‘Dit-dit-dit-dah-dah-dah-dit-dit-dit’ (three short, three long, three short)? Morse code for SOS, sometimes called ‘save our ship’, but really just a simple code, similar to 9-1-1 – an accepted code for a call for help. Watch Steven Segal in “Under Siege” – the sailors locked in the fo’cstle (under deck in the pointy end of the ship up front) thump on the side of the ship with a big board to sound out SOS. And this isn’t the only movie that SOS appears in.
Before the cell phone, and in areas not served by cell phones, the ARRL has served as emergency communications networks working with disaster relief and on their own. They help hasten recovery, reassure loved ones, get calls for assistance out. During war time they have provided extra means of communications. There is gear available that doesn’t depend on the electric grid being available – batteries, hand cranked radios, portable or fixed antennaes. And getting a license to operate takes a bit of time and practice. But having the facilities can help communicate with locals and those far away, using signals bounced around the globe, repeated by other stations, patched onto local phone services.
If you want to try ham radio, you join the ranks of generations of people interested in the magic of radio communications, electronics, the wonder of the radio spectrum, and an interest in touching others. Learn the rules, the etiquette, and the equipment. Be courteous, be responsible, and accept the obligations to help your community and others.
And keep in touch.
