Local fans of ham radio communications reached out to touch places as distant as Hawaii this weekend as they participated in a nationwide amateur radio competition.
Members of the Baraboo-based Yellow Thunder Amateur Radio Club set up their equipment at Owen Park high in the Baraboo Bluffs to participate in a 24-hour radio competition, said club president Steve Schulze of Baraboo.
Club members set up several shortwave antennas capable of reaching round the world, as well as antennas for sending and receiving more conventional VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra high frequency) communications.
Among their equipment was a dish antenna Schulze said allowed club members to have a satellite Internet connection in the small park overlooking the south slope of the bluffs, the Wisconsin River and Madison in the distance.
The weekend event was called a Field Day, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, the liaison between amateur radio enthusiasts and the Federal Communications Commission.
"They sponsor this annual event and it’s kind of a practice in emergency communication," Schulze said. "The whole idea is to get out of your home and not use the radio you may have in your vehicle, but to do it with emergency power, emergency antennas, that you have to build or erect at the site, and use all that equipment under different conditions."
Schulze said they had their equipment set up with portable generators about 1 p.m. Saturday, were making radio contact with other ham operators until midnight, then began again early Sunday morning.
Schulze said they use a variety of different frequencies for communication. UHF and VHF systems are common for use by police, fire and emergency services, as well as commercial operations that communicate with radio transceivers.
Shortwave, also called high frequency radio, waves can be bounded off a layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, he said. Under the right atmospheric conditions, people using shortwave equipment can talk a back and forth around the world.
Club Vice President Tom Harrison of Reedsburg has had a amateur radio license since about 1992. "Late yesterday evening (Saturday) on (a frequency of) 15 meters I made a contact in Hawaii, so that was probably the furthest way," he said. "Otherwise most of them were the United States and Canada."
Harrison said it was a little bit of a challenge to conduct Field Day operations during rains Saturday afternoon. However, all in all it was a pleasant event. "It wouldn’t be a Field Day without a little rain," he said. "In all the years I’ve been coming here I’ve seen everything from windstorms that blew down tents and antennas to days like today when it’s just gorgeous."
Baraboo resident Jane Steinweg said she has been into amateur radio for about a year. During the Field Day she made contacts with people as far away as the east and west coasts and observed fellow club members making contacts.
Field Day participants are hoping to win by making the most contacts with other ham operators. Steinweg said ham operators either scan many different radio frequencies looking for a contact or set their receiver to one frequency and wait for another operator to call out to them.
"It is a competition, however, the primary goal is to practice your emergency radio skills," she said.
Steinweg said she likes amateur radio because it puts her in contact with people she wouldn’t meet in other parts of her life.
"It kind of expands my whole network," she said. "And I get to be of some public service."
Schulze said it was good to get out and undertake the challenge of simulating an emergency communications system. "We’ve learned some things, as we always to when we come out and do these annual things, because it is a practice,," he said. "What if a disaster strikes and you can no longer operate from home?
"You always find out ways to do it better, more efficient," Schulze said.
Schulze said the Yellow Thunder club does not tie membership to any particular area. It does require that all members have obtained a ham radio license.
