[ARRL-OK] MEDIA HIT: Local ham radio operators band together to brush up on their emergency preparedness.

[Mark D. Conklin N7XYO]

TULSA WORLD - Daily Newspaper, Tulsa, OKLA

These hams are serious


By KENDAL KELLY World Staff Writer
6/28/2004


Local ham radio operators band together to brush up on their emergency
preparedness.

Some do it to talk to people around the world. Some do it because
electronics is their hobby. But mainly, they do it to help others in times
of emergency.

"The common motive is that they want to give of themselves, to be with their
friends and to grow in preparation to be of service in a public disaster,"
said John Thomason, section manager of the American Radio Relay League.

Though the reasons for becoming licensed as an amateur radio -- or ham -- 
operator vary, about 70,000 of them come together annually for Field Day, a
24-hour nationwide emergency communications preparedness exercise.
In Tulsa, 30 to 40 ham operators took part from 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m.
Sunday at Whiteside Park.

Over the years, ham radio operators have helped out during times of
disaster.
They provided a main

communications outlet following the Oklahoma City bombing, and also aided
the Moore area after it was devastated by a tornado in May 1999, said Mark
Conklin, president of Tulsa Repeater Organization.

Ham operators also act as Skywarn storm spotters for the Tulsa office of the
National Weather Service, he said. After Sept. 11, 2001, ham radio operators
assisted the American Red Cross in New York City with communication needs,
Conklin said.
"If you can think of a major disaster in this country, ham radio operators
have been there providing emergency communications needs," he said. "When
all else fails, ham radio works."

Thomason said the concept of ham operators is "profound," because they are
"not doing it for income, they're doing it because they care." The Tulsa
Repeater Organization sponsored Field Day in Tulsa in conjunction with
Oklahoma's Amateur Radio Week, June 21 through June 27.

Field Day was designed to test ham operators' abilities to set up and
operate portable stations under emergency conditions, such as severe weather
or loss of electricity.
"If disaster -- man-made or otherwise -- strikes Tulsa . . . we can
communicate and get the assistance we need," Conklin said.

Participants in Tulsa's Field Day had the additional goal of contacting as
many people around the world as possible, he said.

Ham operators reached others as far away as Hawaii, Canada and the Virgin
Islands, he said.

During Field Day, many participants pitched tents and spent the night trying
to communicate with people around the world. Generators provide power for
equipment, and various makeshift antennas were erected.

Some ham radio operators put their antenna on the top of a vehicle, and
others suspended an antenna made out of wire from a large, red helium
balloon.

All ham operators have their own license number, or call sign, that they
must use to identify themselves on air