Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club continues monthly meetings online

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The Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club canceled its in-person meetings until further notice, but plans to conduct online meetings in their place, with the next one slated for May 6.

“Amateur radio has and will continue to play a valuable part in communicating with the outside world during disasters and emergencies, as well as practicing emergency communication, or even just having fun during normal times,” Jefferson County ARC President Dick Illman said.

The Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club typically meets at the Cape George Volunteer Fire Station on the first Wednesday of each month, with social time starting at 7 p.m. and the meeting commencing at 7:30 p.m.

The club already held its April meeting using a Zoom teleconference, and Illman expects these conferences will continue to keep existing members in touch with each other.

“The programs now usually start between 8 to 8:30 p.m. and last about an hour,” Illman said. “These programs can focus on improving the skills and knowledge of new operators, as well as more advanced topics.”

Illman described amateur radio as “a hobby with many embedded hobbies,” since its practitioners can build their own equipment and antennae and connect their computers to communicate using digital modes.

“We even have the ability, under FCC rules, to operate wireless broadband networks that act like the Internet, but are not affected by a busy or broken internet,” Illman said. “We can bounce signals off the moon and talk directly to astronauts on the International Space Station.”

More locally, Illman takes seriously how Jefferson County “is counting on amateur radio to be their eyes and ears” in any local disaster where normal communication channels are damaged.

For that reason, amateur radio classes are taught periodically through the club, with subsequent testing and licensing.

“Because of social distancing, we have put classes and testing on hold, but if you’re interested in a future class, you can email newhamclass@gmail.com,” Illman said. “You can also email jeffersoncountyradio@wordpress.com or visit our web site at w7jcr.wordpress.com to learn more about our club.”

With 60 members, 30 of whom typically attend any given meeting, Illman described the Zoom conferences as “well-received,” even with some concerns about the format’s security gaps.

“We had 35 at the last conference,” Illman said. “Having a skilled host for the meeting helped, as we were able to conduct business and do a program on the history and present-day uses of piezoelectric crystals, which were first used during World War I as submarine detectors and later used by amateur radio operators as a way to generate very stable Morse code signals.”