Radio operators link up with the world

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 30, 2003

Amid the static and bending sounds, Larry Shaunce twisted a dial and listened to a voice that sounded vaguely like Donald Duck coming over the airwaves. She was from North New York, and like Shaunce, his friends and more than 30,000 people, she was trying to contact as many stations as possilbe in a 24-hour-period.

About 30 people showed up and 12 participated as the Albert Lea Radio Club gathered to take part in the American Radio Relay League’s Field Day, intended to test radio operating ability to operate during an emergency. The ham-radio operators were trying to contact as many others as possible during the competition.

From 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday they sat, with ten gallons of chili, chips, some soda and some beer to keep them going. Teams gained points by using independent power, The ALRC-used battery, solar and generated power.

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With phrases like &uot;November X-Ray Zero Charlie&uot; into the microphone, and with morse code, they exchanged information with more than 190 operators from Cuba to California to Connecticut.

For many of them, there’s a sense of pride in being able to coordinate help during a disaster, when cell phone towers and phone lines have fallen.

And in a post 9-11 climate of heightened concern, they may be the vital form of communication.

But there’s also a challenge and desire to extend their voices across the globe.

Larry said that the club sometimes weather watches, sending their observations to the law enforcement center. At first, he said he couldn’t think of an emergency where he’d have to communicate with Connecticut. But there could be a anthrax outbreak or a &uot;something we couldn’t conceive of at this point,&uot; he said.

He explained that ham radio operators helped expediate the search of materials from for the shuttle Columbia and during tornados, earthquakes and hurricanes. Larry said in the aftermath of Black Sunday in April 1967, when tornados hit Freeborn County and the outlying area, killing 12 and injuring 12, radio operators helped coordinate much of the rescue efforts.

For Larry, 38, it’s something he’s done since he was 12 &045; one of the highlights being when contacted someone in a space shuttle.

Contacting people around the world is one of the things that Wally Ress loves. &uot;It is an extension,&uot; he said. &uot;You can reach out and get to know someone personally and never have met them.&uot; He’s talked to people as far away as the South Pole and Soviet Russia.

Ress met a good friend 30 years ago when his frequency hit Heilbronen, Germany.

After six months of communicating with his new friend Werner, he flew out and met him.

But this weekend, people didn’t get any more personal than wishing each other good luck.

By Sunday afternoon they were all a little weary. Shaunce said the weather and the sun spots had made it a little more difficult this year. Last year, they had gotten around 300 contacts, some hitting Australia and New Zealand. But he said they never intended to win and that the whole point was to brush up of operating skills and have fun.