Operators ham it up this weekend

by JOHN LASKO

News-Times reporter

"Ham radio works when other systems don't."

This is the motto local ham radio operator Norm Miller -- or KD8GXK as he is known on the air waves -- lives by, especially when telephones, cell phones or even the Internet can be compromised in the event of an emergency.

Nearly 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country are expected to participate in an annual event when they will demonstrate their emergency communication capabilities and the Quarry Top Hams in Amherst are no exception.

They will be holding public demonstrations beginning at 10 a.m., on Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29 at 1015 North Quarry Road. John Jones, another local amateur radio operator, not only uses his business for his hobby, he also rents out space on his two large towers to Sprint and AT&T for their cellular and paging services.

They will be highlighting their communications capabilities using only their ham radios to contact state, local and federal emergency first responders -- all for free.

"We're probably going to have 50 operators up here, taking turns making contacts throughout the United States and the world," Miller said.

The first station will be Morse code which will be run off batteries.

"Up until 10 years back, all of the deep sea vessels had to have a radio operator on board that could understand Morse code. The prime place they got them was out in the amateur radio community because we were so familiar with it," Jones said.

The second station will be for voice communications and will be run via a 17-foot wind and solar tower.

"It's made out of an old car carburetor. It's a piece of sewer pipe cut into thirds, a piece of a 2X4 and an old street sign that we use for the wind vane on the back. There is a small pipe which is connected to another pipe and it's clamped on to the other wood and a wire runs down and powers the radio," Miller said.

The third and final station for phone communication which will run off a gas powered generator.

Both Miller and Jones cite instances when ham radio operators have provided critical communication transmissions like the black-out of 2003 which crippled communication throughout much of Ohio, along with the entire east coast, or when Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans in 2005.

Using only emergency power supplies, Miller added ham radio operators constructed stations in parks, shopping centers, schools and also in back yards.

"That's the real purpose for amateur radio. Not only is it a hobby to communicate with people, but in case of an emergency we can be there as a reliable source and it was used in years past by the military to actually handle telephone calls from a soldier to their loved ones," Jones said.

Jones cited one instance in the past when he was traveling in his car while working in the Marine communications industry. One day he was able to touch base with a man living on a tiny remote island in the South Pacific near Antarctica.

"It was kind of neat talking to that guy because he was living on an iceberg basically," he said.

Some famous people who have operated ham radios include the late King Hussein of Jordan, former actor, singer, radio and television personality Arthur Godfrey, and former Arizona state senator Barry Goldwater.

"After work I would be on a UHF (ultra high frequency) or a VHF (very high frequency) 140 MHz frequency talking to people in some town, getting together for a cup of coffee. It really made it nice when you traveled," Jones said.

He added that ham radios cannot be used for commercial or business purposes.

In order to operate a ham radio, both Miller and Jones had to apply to get their amateur radio license from the Federal Communications Commission. Miller said they offer the certification test at the American Red Cross in Elyria.

There are different skill levels an individual would have to both learn and achieve in order to receive more bandwidth on their radios.

When Miller became a ham radio operator one year ago, he started as a tech-novice, or the beginner level. He received about 28.5 MHz to work with. He is now at the general or intermediate level and receives about 29.7 MHz to work with on a 10-meter band.

The advanced level and the final extra level is where an individual will have unlimited bandwidth to use in order to communicate with people at home and abroad.

"The higher you go, the more privileges you have, which means more studying you have to do and the more knowledge you need to have because they don't want you in there causing trouble and doing the wrong things," Miller said.

It was Jones, along with a group of friends, who turned Miller on to the hobby of becoming a ham radio operator.

He hopes to turn other people within the city of Amherst on to such a unique hobby.

"I'm learning a lot, life's too short and I want to learn all I can while I'm here and share my expertise and the love I have for this hobby with others," he said.