For 75 years, amateur, or ham, radio operators having been providing emergency communication during times of crisis. When a hurricane swept of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and devastated the island, the regular communication channels were knocked out, leaving the residents reliant on ham operators to communicate the need for aid and supplies.
Amateur radio allows a person in Virginia to communicate with a person in India, or even an astronaut.
"With less power than what is in your hairdryer you can talk to Japan," said Linda Thomas, a member of the Vienna Wireless Club Hams, who gathered at Burke Lake Park June 23 and 24 for the annual Field Day. Through the course of the weekend, they contacted more than 2,000 other hams in such places as Cuba, Ontario, Puerto Rico, Greenland, Hawaii, Quebec, British Columbia and Alabama.
According to the American Radio Relay League Web site, the purpose of a national field day is to demonstrate the newest in amateur radio technology to the public.
One of the goals for this weekend was "practicing operating under emergency conditions with limited resources. Only the sun and the ionosphere effect communication," said ham Gary Nelson, whose call name was KI4EKM.
"This is a game of patience and a little bit of randomness," said Rick Low, call name N6AY.
"Ham radio is a hobby but we are ready to serve if the situation arises," said Mike Toia, call name K3MT. "Amateur doesn’t mean we are not knowledgeable or experienced enough. It just means we do this for fun, for goodwill and are not paid for it either."
THERE ARE FIVE reasons ham radio is important, said Toia.
"The first is advancing the state-of-the-art of the radio. Second providing emergency communications in times of disaster. Third providing trained radio operators in times of national emergencies. Fourth encouraging international cooperation and goodwill; and lastly providing an important educational outlet for people interested in the more technical aspects of radio communications," he said.
Several tents were set up with the latest technology in amateur radio communication both in sideband or voice communication and in morse code or telegraphic communication.
Hams still talk in code, or shorthand. This practice originated during the early days of radio to conserve time. Some examples of ham code, also known as Philips code, are QSL ("Did you copy/understand me"), QRZ ("Who’s calling me"), or 73’s ("Best wishes").
"This has been a practice since the 1940s, when it was realized after World War II that hams could help the military," said Mark Murray, call name W2OR. "During the Cold War there was lots of peaceful contact between U.S. and Russia."
A ham radio operator can communicate from his/her home, the top of a mountain, even inside a car.
"My daughter Linda, once contacted Australia from her car while driving through Union County, Tenn.," said Toia. The basic communication between amateur operators nationally and internationally is finding out their call name and location. In the case of an emergency a more detailed conversation would be made.
Ham radio signals are usually bounced off the ionosphere back down to earth, but "some hams bounce signals off the moon," said Thomas.
Anyone can become an amateur radio operator regardless of age, gender or physical ability, according to the ARRL. Besides this large national field day, the other big gathering day of amateur radio operators — in Dayton, Ohio — happens once a year with more 20,000 hams in attendance.