Amateur radio is more than just a hobby for some

When Gary White was growing up , there was no Internet.

Cellular telephones were not invented, and computers were certainly not a normal household item.

To talk to people outside his small community, White decided to find another outlet – amateur radio.

“I was fascinated by the ability to have my own communication tool in my home,” said the Independence resident. “That is why I got into amateur radio.”

The beginning of amateur radio can be traced back to as early as 1895 when people began experimenting with radio transmissions. Communications were first made with Morse code.

Following the end of World War II, the Federal Communications Commission began to completely reorganize the amateur license system. In the United States, there are three license classes. Each comes with an expansion of privileges. For example, the beginning license, a Technician Class License, is earned by passing a multiple choice examination that covers basic regulations and operation practices. Limited privileges, usually involving local communication, is allowed with this license.

By 1970, there were more than 250,000 people licensed for amateur radio, and by the end of the 1990s, there were between 500,000 and 700,000 ham radios in operation.

“Amateur radio is a hobby that can interest people at all levels,” White said. “You can get into it on a limited basis or be even more involved. It depends what you want to do.”

Many amateur radio hobbyists talk to people through devices in their vehicle so that they can communicate en route to another location. White has a hand-held device he uses at home that is good for local communication, and still others have complete stations set up where worldwide communication is possible.

Matthew Heiser, Blue Springs, remembers when he first received his Technician Class license.

A cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, he was taking a radio course when one of his senior officers saw his interest in the hobby and suggested he take it a step further.

“I like the human compassion and support it has in the hobby,” he said. “I am also interested by all the help and services that the hobby provides, such as being able to ease public safety’s radio system by bringing in our capabilities.”

Both White and Heiser are members of the Blue Springs Amateur Radio Club, a group of radio enthusiasts who meet monthly at St. Mary’s Medical Center. White said some of the club’s ham operators are involved in special training courses to prepare for emergency situations. The club partners with local law enforcement agencies such as the Blue Springs Police Department to do a variety of things including storm spotting and the lost child patrol at events such as the Blue Springs Fall Fun Festival and Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival.

“There are not a lot of kids who get separated from their parents, but the ones that are simply are terrified,” White said. “We think because we use the public radio waves, we should return something to the public. That is why we volunteer our services like that.

Amateur radio is also used in catastrophic situations when all other communication fails.

One of the events that Heiser remembers was Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The devastating storm destroyed most conventional communication tools such as land lines or cellular telephones. He said some of the first communication from the hurricane-ravaged new Orleans was from amateur radios who were up and running within hours, relaying much needed information to law enforcement.

Radios were also used during Sept. 11, 2001, when cell phones and other forms of communication were not available and again during the recent flooding in North Dakota, where radio operators patrolled the levies looking for potential breeches.

“This allows me to talk effortlessly across great spans of the earth and sound as if they were right there with you,” Heiser said. “I also am interested by all the help and services that the hobby provides, such as being able to ease public safety’s radio system by bringing in our capabilities such as Fall Fun Fest or storm spotting. This allows them to be more focused on what they need to do while the volunteers aid them until they need to take action. We have more flexible options that enable us to communicate when other devices fail in catastrophic events.”

But communications with those around the world is still what keeps most hobbyists interested in amateur radio. White, who has an advanced license, said he has talked to people in Australia, several African countries, Russia, Europe and Japan. He said in the mid-1990s, he even helped to organize communication between students at William Bryant Elementary and astronauts in the Space Shuttle.

One experience, however, remains a stand out.

“I was communicating with this Russian scientist who was on some island in the middle of the Arctic Ocean,” he said. “He wanted me to send him a postcard that was physical proof that we had spoken. He told me to wait for a letter before I sent the card.

“After months of waiting, I finally received a package with a six-page letter. On his way home, the scientist had been involved in a plane crash and had been in the hospital recovering. But he was still insistent that I send him this post card. I responded quickly, but I will always remember that experience.”