Published: July 01, 2008 11:49 am         

Ham radio showcased

POPLARVILLE — Preparation for an emergency is vital for any organization and a local group of ham radio operators participated in a 24-hour nation-wide exercise this past weekend at the Poplarville City Park for just that purpose.

Larry Waggoner, vice-president of the Pearl River County Amateur Radio Club, said participants try to contact as many other operators as possible during the approximately 24-hour event, from noon on Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday noon.

“It’s an opportunity to take our equipment out and test it under emergency circumstances,” Waggoner said.

Local weather helped in the simulation as a thunderstorm moved through the area Saturday afternnon, forcing the group to break out tarps to protect sensitive equipment, Waggoner said.

The group used several different communication formats during the event at the park — voice, digital (computer assisted), Morse Code.

The field day offered ham radio a chance to practice skills in non-standard emergency-type situations and places. Waggoner said that was one reason for setting up at the Poplarville City Park, rather than at operators’ homes or other usual locations. While electrical outlets are available at the park, he said for the purpose of this exercise portable generators were used to simulate an emergency situation where standard power sources might not be available.

“We are, in fact, operating purely on generator power. ..,” he said. “Yesterday (Saturday) we also had a solar panel out here. We were operating a radio on solar power.”

He said in addition to testing their equipment and skills in a field setting, the public had the opportunity to become familiar with this form of communication, its importance to emergency communication and to get information about amateur radio and emergency preparations. As of Sunday morning, the group had made about 700 contacts across the nation.

When the field day was over, Waggoner said the group would total the number of contacts made to arrive at a point total used to score their activity.

The Pearl River Amateur Radio Club has classes and can administer the test for amateur radio licensing. Waggoner is one of the certified communicators for the county’s emergency operations center. For those who are interested in getting started in this type of activity, Waggoner said the group can help supply information on licensing and equipment.

The group meets 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the emergency operations center on Mississippi 26 East and has a breakfast the third Saturday of the month. Contact Waggoner at 601-590-0553, or any of the club’s members for further information. The local group is part of the nation-wide organization, the American Radio Relay League.

The website < www.prcarc.com > also has information about the local group and upcoming activities.