Metro Atlanta amateur radio operators practice emergency communications

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – For one weekend each year, amateur radio operators across the U.S. and Canada practice emergency communications — including those in metro Atlanta.

On Sunday, members of the Alford Memorial Radio Club gathered in Doraville’s Pleasantdale Park to participate in the American Radio Relay League Field Day. During this weekend, more than 35,000 operators across the U.S. and Canada go to remote locations and try to contact as many people as possible, practicing for a crisis.

Barry Kanne, a member of the club, said the organization accessed the park and coordinated with official emergency operators by partnering with DeKalb County’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA).

“It gives us a chance to practice our emergency skills and work in concert with the EMA to actually give us the capability of exercising with them,” he said. “Because in the event of a real emergency, that’s who we’re going to be working with, and that way we can be doing something which applies to real life for us.”

Some amateur radio operators use the airwaves to talk to strangers across the world Kanne said. Others experiment with new technologies. And through the Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, some volunteers help thousands of state and local emergency response agencies for free.

Group members said they support DeKalb County’s EMA.

“Particularly in weather emergencies like hurricanes, an amateur radio group is out there communicating … helping emergency groups coordinate what they do,” said Jim Penland with Dekalb County Amateur Radio Emergency Service. “If all of the communications went down, we have a radio communications amateur radio station in the emergency operations center, where we could make contact with other people in other parts of the world using that radio station. So, if everything is down, radio works.”

Steve Garrison, the president of the Alford Memorial Radio Club, said that in 2005 he helped respond to Hurricane Katrina in a Mississippi emergency operations center.

“I was their contact for all the shelters from the Red Cross that were along the coastline down there,” Garrison said.

Garrison said the role he played there could be a role he plays here if a disaster were to strike.

“We might be providing communications for the Red Cross or DeKalb Emergency Management Agency, “ he said. “It’s real beneficial for you to get a license, which is pretty easy to do, and then you can operate amateur radio — ham radio.”

Leaders said operators must have a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“If it’s a real bad storm the infrastructure gets destroyed,” Garrison said. “That’s what happened down in Katrina. All the towers were down. All the cell towers were down. They were out of power, and we carry our own infrastructure. You know, we put antennas. I don’t know if you notice here, we have up in the trees wired antennas that they’re using to transmit,” he added.

Kanne said you can get your license and a ham radio for under $100.

More than 750,000 people have amateur radio licenses in the U.S., including 18,000 in Georgia. The Alford Memorial Radio Club helps people learn about ham radio communications and provides community service.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Kanne said.

To see how you can get your license or join the group’s efforts, click here.

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