Ham Radio in March, what to do?

March is a month, when I lived up North, that had very little to recommend it. March was always blustery, cold and usually wet. The snow was gone but the lousy conditions were still there. It wasn’t until I moved to Florida that I found out that March can also be a great month. Down here, the temperatures are very nice, the sunshine is abundant and rain only falls, apparently, on the day of the Daytona 500.

What, you may ask, does that have to do with Ham Radio? Lots, as you will see in a moment. Ham fest season is still in full swing and the weather is perfect for doing a little alfresco amateur radio. Rather than being cooped up in the radio room (some people call it a radio shack, but my radio room is no shack and so I tend to use a more appropriate term) the ham operator can get out and go to the beach or a park, set up a simple antenna, generally made of wire, hook up the radio to a battery and do a few hours of DX (long distance communicating) with stations all over the world. A convenient tree serves as the antenna support, a picnic table makes a fine operating position and one can even get a tan while doing an activity they enjoy.

Ham radio in the “field” is a most enjoyable activity. There are groups within the hobby that focus on things such as lighthouses. There is even an international association that supports this activity with awards and specialized events.

Other groups such as radio clubs operate “special event stations” for a wide variety of mostly non-radio related events. One such event is the annual “Sun and Fun” fly-in held annually in Lakeland. The event lasts all week and the special event station will be there the whole time. Often, a unique QSL card (a verification of a radio contact) is sent to every station that contacts the special event station. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) even issues special temporary call signs to special event stations that request it. Special event stations are associated with innumerable functions. The opening of a new park or museum, an anniversary of some important person’s birth, a public event like a fair or carnival, all are frequent reasons for a special event station.

One of the best aspects of a special event station is that in most cases, the station is right in the middle of all the public activities. This gives the general public a golden opportunity to see and hear amateur radio in action. Many times a member of the public who might have been interested in amateur radio years ago, before career and family needs pushed it to the back, has their interest reignited at one of these stations. Almost every time a club runs a special event station at the next club meeting there are a few new faces who are returning to or joining a hobby they had almost forgotten.

Amateur Radio is stronger than ever. Just recently, the FCC announced that the number of active licenses for amateur radio operators has passed 800,000 in the US alone. The “doom and gloomers” have been saying ham radio was dead. NOT BY A LONG SHOT! The ham radio hobby is very much alive and well. There are countless operating modes and aspects of amateur radio such that almost anyone, regardless of their focus in life, can find an enjoyable and interesting facet of amateur radio in which to find a home.

Check out the American Radio Relay League’s web site at www.arrl.org to find a local club meeting or special event station close to you. Then go and find out what amateur radio has to offer you. You will not be disappointed.