Local Amateur Radio Club participates in Field Day

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

If you have plans for Jack Snyder for the final weekend of June, don’t expect him to be there – he’s been busy that weekend for nearly 50 years, and that was the case again this past weekend.

Snyder and other members of the Van Wert Amateur Radio Club took part in the annual emergency preparedness exercise known as Field Day. As has been the case for a number of years, it was held on the grounds of the Van Wert County Emergency Management Agency on Lincoln Highway. It ran for 24 straight hours, from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Snyder described Field Day as a simulated emergency, but it’s not only a local event. According to the American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) website, the “Radio Connects” Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the U.S. and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June, more than 30,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs and groups to operate from remote locations. Each year, a competition is held and points are earned and awarded for the number of contacts that are established.

“We come out to the field and erect temporary antennas and try to make as many contacts as we can – we say it’s not a contest, but yeah it is – why keep score if it’s not a contest?” he quipped. “It tests our ability and ourselves with stamina. We’re not young anymore – we used to go all night but we have to get some sleep nowadays, but the idea is to get on the air in less than ideal conditions, make contact with another station and exchange information accurately.”

He also said, as of Sunday morning, he and his partner, Jerry Ryan, had established approximately 800 contacts with other amateur radio operators, along with more than 100 others via a digital station.

Combined with a couple of other stations inside EMA headquarters, the VWARC had established well over 1,000 contacts since 2 p.m. on Saturday. One of contacts was from Hawaii.

“Snyder noted that he’s been a “ham” since 1977 and has participated in each one, except for one, since then.

“I got into ham radio because the local radio club works very closely with the emergency management (EMA) with weather spotting, heaven forbid any emergencies that come up and just helping out is a great feeling, pitching in and helping out when needed” he said. “I think that’s the heart of ham radio. Other than that, it’s just fun to talk to folks all around; and if you like to talk to people, it’s the greatest hobby on earth.”

“Most ham radio operators have emergency power capabilities like a generator, batteries, or solar power so if the power goes out, we can maintain it,” he explained. “Back when the tornado hit Van Wert years ago (November 2002), cell phones were still relatively new and, with power outages, a lot of those towers were down, but ham radio kept going. We had a repeater going on emergency power so we were able to help emergency management with communications because we were prepared.”

While Snyder and other members of the club have been at it for years, the search is always on for new members, including those who are interested in getting into the hobby. As he noted, ham radio does not have to be an expensive hobby.

“The idea that you have to spend thousands of dollars – you can spend thousands of dollars on equipment, but certainly you don’t have to,” he explained. “You can build certain equipment, low power equipment that’s easy to operate that doesn’t cost very much. There’s a lot of used equipment on the market.

“If I had to get a really good, nice station that you can have a lot of fun with, if I had a couple of hundred dollars I’d be set – you can spend more and certainly you can spend less,” he added.

While amateur radio seems to have men as the primary “hams,” Snyder noted he heard more ladies, girls and boys on the air this weekend.

“We encourage that participation,” he said. “We have what’s called a ‘get on the air’ station – it’s a bonus for our Field Day score but it allows unlicensed operators to work side-by-side with an older ham that’s experienced to get on the air.”

For more information about amateur or ham radio, the Van Wert Amateur Radio Club or the American Radio Relay League, go to the VWARC club’s website, w8fy.org or the AARL’s website, aarl.org.