Local amateur radio clubs practice to help during emergencies
People in the Chippewa Valley and around the world took to the radio waves this weekend preparing for how they can help when disaster strikes.
By Toby Mohr
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EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin (WQOW) — People in the Chippewa Valley and around the world took to the radio waves this weekend preparing for how they can help when disaster strikes.
For enthusiasts like Philip Spratt, amateur radio started out as a hobby.
“My dad was a ham radio operator and got me started. I was pretty young, I was about 16 years old, and it’s just fun,” Spratt said. “I’d sit and watch him and he’d be here in Wisconsin making contact with someone in California.”
Spratt is now president of the Chippewa Valley Amateur Radio Club. Amateur radio operators, or hams as they call themselves, use traditional radio waves to communicate around the world.
“It’s like going to a tavern and just striking up a conversation with somebody you don’t know,” said Troy Faulkner, a member of the Eau Claire Amateur Radio Club.
But when a natural disaster hits, and the phone lines go dark, that hobby turns into a public service.
“We can come into a location on a very short notice and set up communications equipment and make contacts with other stations around the country,” Spratt said.
This weekend, both area ham radio groups took part in a field day, preparing for if they need to set up emergency communications out in the field.
“The whole idea of the exercise is to get out of your home station, get out in the field, set up a portable station, and operate for a day and a half,” Faulkner said.
Field day is also a chance to teach other people about the science behind the radio hobby and the equipment.
Ham radio field day takes place each year across America to help make sure radio is ready to go whenever it might be needed.
“We have a lot of modern technology, we have phones and the internet and stuff, but that’s all actually quite fragile,” Faulkner said. “Sometimes those services go down and temporary radio communications needs to be provided.”
Amateur radio operators need to be federally licensed. Coming up this August there’s an event where people can take the certification test. Click here for more about Hamfest.
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