Coastside amateur radio operators, better known as hams, will join their counterparts across North America in honing their skills for "The Big One" on June 22, 11 AM to June 23, 11 AM, non-stop for 24 hours. This year Half Moon Bay hams will set up radio stations at North Venice Beach parking lot off Hwy 1, about one mile north of Hwy 92. Our colleagues in La Honda, the SC4 Amateur Radio Club, will be operating from the La Honda Gardens in La Honda, behind the La Honda Country Market on Highway 84 during the same time period.
Over the past years, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications during unexpected emergencies in towns across America including earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis, storms, tornadoes and other events world-wide. Many people wonder why in this modern technological age hams are still needed, since we have the internet, cell phones, portable phones, and more. The reality is that the first thing to go out is often our cell phones, with the internet a close second. This is because cell towers may get misaligned by shaking, and overloaded in the immediate aftermath of a major event. Then, most commonly, the power goes off. No electricity means no portable phones, no computers, and no internet servers, and some other portable communication devices may also be affected. Ham radio operators are trained and equipped to provide emergency communications without connections to PG&E power or fixed antennas. They often provide the first and possibly the only means of communication when all else fails, serving local emergency providers, as well as state and federal services to keep people informed, rescuers on the move, and supplies coming in to affected areas.
Here in the Bay area, Coastside ham volunteers have responded to the Loma Prieta earthquake, helping to keep state emergency coordinators apprised of the situation as it unfolded, to large fires, such as the Oakland Hills fire, and to the recent tsunami alert. We even helped to get rescuers to a sailboat in distress in heavy seas off the coast of Chile. The crew was unable to contact the Chilean Coast Guard directly, so they put out an emergency call over their ham radio. a ham station in Japan picked up their call, relayed it to two Coastside hams, who passed the word to another ham in Texas, who in turn was able to reach aomeone in Chile. This continued for nearly 24 hours, until rescuers reached the sailboat. The crew was saved, thanks to ham radio!
Many sailboats and cruisers have ham radio stations on board, with at least one member of the crew a licensed ham operator. Boats on blue water cruises often join maritime mobile ham radio nets, with each member checking in every day with a current location and weather report. Should an emergency arise at sea, failure to check in alerts other hams that the missing member may be in trouble, and should the missing boat continue to not be heard from, someone will alert appropriate Coast Guard, sea rescue resources, and nearby ships to start a search. In the Pacific Ocean, it's easy to be 2,000 miles from the nearest shore in any direction. Ham radio can mean the difference between life and death for small boat crews when they become disabled far from land, since hams use a variety of radio frequency bands that can travel short or long distances, depending on the need.
Coastsiders may have seen the us providing communications at many local events, including the Pumpkin Festival, Dream Machines, the HMB International Marathon, bicycle rides, races, parades, and wherever our services are needed. We are stationed at various key places in the event location and provide whatever communications are needed for the organizers, volunteers, and emergency services. Sometimes we even help direct traffic.
It's not all work and no play, however. This year's Field Day will also be the Third Annual Competition between the Half Moon Bay Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) group and the La Honda group. The contest is to see who successfully logs the most contacts. La Honda hams are stiff competition, but Half Moon Bay hams have won so far...the first year brought chocolate banana slugs our way, and last year we were presented with a hand built flying saucer filled with goodies. This year La Honda wants their flying saucer back, and but we northerners plan to keep it here in Half Moon Bay. Stay tuned for the results!
We welcome anyone who wants to see ham radio operations first hand, would like to participate, or who might be interested in getting a license and joining us in a growing hobby to visit us at Venice Beach or La Honda on this coming Saturday to Sunday, 11 AM to 11 AM. The Coastside always needs more radio operators for big events and incidents, and getting your initial license is only a matter of a one day "ham cram" session and test given frequently in nearby areas. There are now over 700,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world.
Ham radio's motto is, "Whenever All Else fails, Ham Radio Works!"Come to Field Day and see how it works!