What is Ham Radio?
Ham Radio is a very popular hobby all over the world. In October 2017, with over 800,000 licensed ham radio operators in the Unites States, why not join this fun fun hobby. Be a hero to your neighbors during an emergency. This is a hobby where you do need to get a license from the FCC. Get your license today and join in the fun. Look for our upcoming class in January. We will start signing people up in mid November on the Desert R.A.T.S. web site at https://desertrats.us.
You can sign-up for our class announcement or free monthly newsletter right now.
Class notification sign-up page is at https://desertrats.us/classes/
Monthly Newsletter sign-up in on our blog page. https://desertrats.us/blognewsletter/
A ham radio license allows you to talk with people from all over the world without using the Internet, Cell Phones or land lines. You can talk to friends or family just down the street, in the next county or in another country. There will be many opportunities for you to help out in other areas of the community. Communications is handled by local Ham Radio operators for the “Tour de Palm Springs” bike race. Beside these activities, there is a group that support the local hospitals in emergency communications both internally and communicating with the county. Ham radio operators practice with the local hospitals twice a year.
Why should I care?
Part of being a ham radio operator is that you can help those that need help in some big ways. Lets take the last two hurricanes to hit the USA and the Caribbean Islands, Irma and Maria. Some areas that were hit, the people in those areas can only communicate with loved ones is via someone that holds a ham radio license. Take for example an article on USA Today from Sept 10, 2017. Ham Radio operators are helping the Indian River County communicate with all the shelters that were setup. Normal phone service had stopped working and the only communication was via ham radios. This was the only way for the shelters to request needed supplies and medical help if required. You can read more about this story at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/09/10/during-hurricanes-emergency-officials-turn-ham-radio/651994001/
A man in Long Island, NY helped relay messages from people in New York to Puerto Rico. Ham radio operators in Puerto Rico relayed messages and reported what the status is of loved ones back to New York. It will take up to a full year for some areas hit by the hurricanes to get all services back. You can read more about this story at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/22/ham-radio-hurricane-maria/
Look for our upcoming class in January. We will start signing people up in mid November on the Desert R.A.T.S. web site at https://desertrats.us. You can sign-up for our free monthly newsletter as well if you wish to keep up to date with some of the fun things we do as a club.
Here are logos for some of the Ham Radio Organizations that work during an emergency. There are many more. Groups like American Red Cross use Ham Radio operators during an emergency as well.
