Area residents will be able to join this hobby through a free, four sessions, ham radio class that will begin on August 15.
The class will run for four consecutive Wednesday evenings, starting August 15, at 6 to 9 PM, at the Dickson City Volunteer Fire Company, Eagle Hose Company #1, 1 Eagle Lane, in Dickson City. Local experienced ham radio operators, with over 100 years of experience, will provide instruction in the basic skill areas needed to pass the Technician Exam. The Technician Class allows the ham to not only talk through regional relays called repeaters, but to make international voice or digital contacts, use the ham satellites, talk to other hams via amateur radio equipment linked to the Internet and communicate with several advanced computer/radio forms of communication and even bounce signals off the moon. The Technician Class is the first of three classes, with each level requiring greater skills and provides enhanced opportunities.
Boy Scouts will also be able to qualify for the Radio Merit Badge and if they become hams, will be able to receive the newest badge of recognition that the Scouts have selected. Scouts hold an international ham radio event, called Jamboree on the Air, each October when Scouts at all levels and a hundred countries make contact with each other and often exchange troops or pack badges. The ham radio station at the recent, week long, National Boy Scout Jamboree, made thousands of radio contacts including hundreds of countries and every state.
The ham radio operators of today are a far cry from those of even fifty years ago. Equipment is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, can cost under $100, provides more forms of communications are and the Morse code, while still very popular, is no longer required. In the Scranton area, the Scranton Pocono Amateur Radio Klub, (SPARK) hold monthly exams and the license itself, is free, good for ten years and renewable it is issued by the Federal Communications Commission. The exam itself is only $15.
Amateur Radio Operators have been an essential service during disasters for Red Cross, Emergency Management, Police and government agencies. The hams usually provide their own equipment and practice at quickly establishing communications networks, without outside support and within minutes of being activated. By law, they may not accept any reimbursement for their services. Local hams also play an important role for the NOAA’s weather service, through their SKYWARN program of spotters where 90% of the active ones are hams, and the National Hurricane Center.
Persons interested in joining the class are welcome to contact Bob at 570-586-2569 orWA3LWR@epix.net. There are no age limitations and many disabled individuals have also been happy hams.
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