There was a lot of chatter going on this past weekend. But, it wasn't frivolous. It was testing a system that could well be the lifeblood of the nation in the event of a devastating terrorist attack or natural disaster.
Beginning last Saturday at 2 p.m. and ending Sunday at 2 p.m. Ham radio operators from throughout the nation were testing their systems and expertise during what is known annually as their "Field Day." Its primary purpose is to test Ham radio operators' capabilities in the event of a national emergency.
"The purpose of this exercise is for Ham operators to go out into the field, set up their equipment, and prepare as if there were a national emergency," said Lorton resident Carol Cutchall, Mount Vernon Radio Club, operating his system from a tent in Pohick Bay Regional Park.
A club of approximately 140 members, there were 25 to 30 operating from different locations in the park. "We have five station on the air — both voice and Morse code. Everyone brings their own equipment," he said.
"We string our own cable and operate off our own generator. We are not tied into any other power source. That's the way it would probably be in case of an actual emergency," Cutchall said. "We string the cables by using a sling shot to get them over a tree branch."
The youngest operator participant among the Mount Vernon group was Brennen Ernst, 13, from Leesburg. Having been involved with Ham radio for only a year he has proven himself proficient in all aspects, especially Morse code, according to his mentor Terry Hines of Annandale.
"I got interested in Ham radio last year when I was in Germany with my dad. The last day there I met a friend who was involved with amateur radio. He took me into his Ham shack and contacted another operator in Israel. That got me hooked," said Ernst.
Ernst prefers Morse code over voice contact. "When you can't get through on voice, due to static or other reasons, you can normally get through on Morse code. It's far more reliable," he said.
To members of the Mount Vernon club, Ernst is the wave of the future. "With the graying of Ham operators our average age is now in the sixties. We need to get young people interested and involved," Cutchall said.
"And, that is happening. We are seeing more and more young people coming to our meetings and getting their licenses. In many cases it is father and son teams," he said.
AT LEE CENTER, next to Alexandria Fire Department's Training Academy, the Alexandria Radio Club had members participating in the national Field Day exercise with both voice and Morse code. In addition to the club's mobile emergency preparedness trailer there was also a demonstration of the latest addition to amateur radio operations — "D-Star" technology.
"This was developed by the Japanese amateur radio league in the late 1990s. It is designed to get more use of the radio spectrum," explained Marshall DeBerry of Alexandria operating the innovative digital system from his tent.
"This is a way to rapidly set up a large scale network to deal with a wide spread emergency," he said. It takes Ham radio into the digital technology world.
There were approximately 15 members of the Alexandria club participating in the 24-hour exercise, according to Art Pond, Alexandria's Field Day Chairman.
In recent years, there have been scores of reports of Ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies worldwide. Nowhere was that more evident than in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Ham radio was often the only way to communicate in those areas at that time, according Don Smith, vice president, Alexandria Radio Club. "Hundreds of volunteer ‘Hams’ traveled to save lives and property," he said.
Each year, "Field Day" is the climax of the week-long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the National Association of Amateur Radio (ARRL). Using only emergency power supplies, Ham operators construct emergency stations in an array of venues from parks to back yards, to cars, to shopping malls around the nation.
Their slogan, "When all else fails" is more than just words to Ham operators, according to Smith. They use the day to prove they can send messages in many formats without the use of telephone systems, Internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis.
"The communications networks that Ham radio operators can quickly create have saved many lives when other systems have failed or became overloaded," said Deanna Lutz, president, Alexandria Radio Club. Last year more than 30,000 amateur radio operators participated in Field Day.
There are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through ARRL, Ham radio volunteers provide emergency communications to the Department of Homeland Security's Citizens' Corps, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA, and thousands of state and local agencies, all on a voluntary basis.