TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Over the weekend, a group of amateur radio enthusiasts from Tampa engaged in a camping expedition as part of an international contest. This event serves to ready operators for situations where they must rely on their skills in a “back-to-basics” environment.
During the event, the group’s primary objective was to establish as many communication links with stations across North America as possible.
“The process involves responding to each other, exchanging signal levels and reports, then ending the conversation with a friendly, ‘Alright, cool. 7-3, have a nice day,’” explained George Oakes, who belongs to the Tampa 2‑Meter Morning Rag‑Chew Group.
Each successful connection adds to the club’s point tally as they compete against about 30,000 other operators throughout the United States and Canada.
“The rapid advancement in technology has been astounding,” noted Oakes.
The National Association of Radio (ARRL) hosts its “Field Day” contest every year with the intention of developing radio skills in “less than optimal conditions” and encouraging operators to lend their communication skills to emergency personnel when cell service or power goes down because of an emergency.
“It’s very important for amateur operators to get involved with their amateur radio emergency services for things like hurricanes because Florida has a lot of hurricanes that come through,” Oakes said.
Oakes says his hobby is a little more than just that. He says stations like his contribute to a web of information sharing that’s often used to spot bad weather or other emergencies.
“I would actually reach out and call and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got an emergency message,’ and then any other ham that’s listening or hears me… They would transmit that, or if it wasn’t them and it needed to go somewhere else, they would reach out and keep calling until it met the end point where it needed to be.”
Oakes says it only takes a radio, an antenna and a power source to get connected from almost anywhere on the planet.
The group is hoping to build interest in the hobby and in their club. More information about your local ham radio community can be found on the ARRL’s website.