Berthoud High students go ‘ham’ with amateur radio competition – In the school’s first year competing, 90 students signed up to participate. Sequestered behind a room divider in the corner of the Berthoud High School library, a group of students, teachers and adult volunteers leaned over a radio. “CQ, CQ, this is high school station Whiskey Zero Bravo Hotel Sierra,” Sergey Eggers, a junior at Berthoud High School, said into the radio microphone. “Standing by for a call from anywhere.”
Storm Spotters brave elements to get a first look at severe weather. Tornado sirens might send most Iowans scrambling for their basements, but they send Chuck Wagoner out to his pickup truck. Wagoner, along with his colleagues in Newton’s ham radio club, the Amateur Radio Association of Newton have been assisting emergency management personnel in Jasper County for years, heading out to track and monitor deadly storms. In April, the association will sponsor a free class designed to teach residents more about storm spotting, and how to recognize dangerous weather events. “It just gives you a good idea of what to look for in a storm and not be terrified, because it may not be as bad as it seems,” Wagoner said. During the class, participants will learn how to spot funnel clouds, the best way to contact emergency officials and how to accurately measure wind speed.
Orlando HamCation event: Ham radios offered lifeline to Puerto Rico after Maria. For decades, ham radio operators have been vital during disasters, when all other communications fail. How to handle disasters was one of the topics that radio operators discussed. Those at the event heard from the man who led the amateur radio effort to help Puerto Rico immediately after Hurricane Maria in September.
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