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Amateur Radio Operators Tune in for Field Day in Alachua

Amateur radio operators around the nation on Saturday and Sunday tuned into the annual Amateur Radio Field Day, a practice exercise in using the systems to establish communications during a disaster.

Closeup of a person using a CB radio.
(TNS) - A high-pitched whine came from the radio as Craig Fugate established connections with another radio operator in Illinois .

"This is the original social media," he said.

Amateur radio operators in Alachua County and around the nation on Saturday and Sunday tuned into the annual Amateur Radio Field Day , a practice exercise in using the systems to establish communications during a disaster or other emergency.

Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the non-commercial use of the radio spectrum, often for hobby or to help volunteer in emergencies.

David Huckstep became interested in the radio as a teenager, as he watched his dad send faraway messages before the internet existed.

Huckstep, retired chief deputy from the Alachua County Sheriff's Office , said amateur radio operators are valuable members of local emergency teams during an event like a hurricane. When power lines and cell towers go down, it's impossible to relay important information between police, firefighters and paramedics. Without established communications, first responders don't know whether a hurricane shelter is in need of supplies or if a house has caught fire and needs assistance.

But ham radio doesn't require the use of cell towers, or even the internet.

"If you don't have communications, we'll establish communications," he said.

Using a radio, receiver, computer antennas and sometimes satellites, the operators can make those crucial connections that can make the difference between a shelter receiving more water or an ambulance being sent to a vehicle crash in severe weather. Ham radio also was used in the response to last week's condo building collapse in Surfside .

On Amateur Radio Field Day , operators practice using the radios as they would during a real emergency, so they have to use a non-traditional power source like solar, a generator or batteries and they have to use specific channels.

To become a licensed ham radio operator, you have to study for and pass an exam through the American Radio Relay League . The multiple-choice test consists of questions related to rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission , technical terms and electronics.

There are three levels of licensure, which Huckstep likened to driver's licenses. The technician license is akin to a learner's permit, while the general license is more like an everyday driver's license. The extra class license is comparable to a commercial license.

After you're licensed, you're assigned a call sign, which is the alpha-numeric name that's unique to your transmitter. All call signs contain a number that designates the region in which you became licensed.

Huckstep, whose call sign is W4JIR, opted to get a vanity call sign rather than a random one. His is a nod to his father's, which is K9JIR.

"It was the closest thing I could get to his, and I didn't tell him I was doing it, in case it wasn't available," he said. "When I told him, he was touched."

Fugate — call sign KK4INZ — previously served as Alachua County's emergency management director, the emergency management director for the state of Florida from 2001 to 2009 and then as the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator until 2017. He's now an emergency management consultant.

He said ham radio was an important part of improving local emergency communication while he worked for the county.

"We're so used to having cellphones and Wi-Fi and streaming that we think it will always be around," he said.

When Hurricane Michael recently caused devastation in the panhandle, it took out hundreds of cell towers, making it impossible for emergency crews to remain in touch. Ham operators and their "go boxes" that contain the equipment they need to set up their transmitters, headed to the area to help reestablish connections.

Operators can talk to one another through a microphone, use Morse code or communicate digitally by typing messages. Even emails can be received and sent to a recipient that is hundreds or thousands of miles away while only one party has an internet connection.

Ham operators have diverse and interesting backgrounds: some are current or retired first responders, members of the military, even a retired judge was at Sunday's radio day event.

Fugate said there's a stereotype that all operators are middle-aged, bearded and use the radio to sit and chat with other men who fit that same description at midnight. But many women are licensed, and kids still become interested in the craft as well, similar to the way Huckstep started as a way to spend time with his dad.

Fugate's 11-year-old grandson Hoyt Inman was enthralled when Fugate told him he could connect with people at a great distance without modern technology.

"He said, 'You mean you can talk to someone in Japan without the internet?' " Fugate said.

He said amateur radio is a great educational tool because it teaches young minds about math, electronics and geography.

"Everybody says radio is dead, but it's very much alive," Fugate said. "And it's what's there when everything else fails."

— Emily Mavrakis reports on business and Alachua County government. She can be reached by email at emavrakis@gvillesun.com and on Twitter @emmavrakis.

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