Locals keep ham radio alive and well
World explorers: WCS students travel across radio waves. The U.S., Canada, Central America and Europe represent just a handful of global locations Worthington Christian School students have been able to explore with no passport required. Using radio frequency technology, WCS students have made contact with hundreds of people across the world by way of radio waves. “You get to know people you wouldn’t otherwise know,” said WCS fifth-grader Cali Visser of her experience transmitting shortwave radio signals. Led by longtime amateur radioer Randy Shirbroun, students interested in learning about amateur (ham) radio have had several hands-on experiences over the past two years during both casual and organized radio operating events via the school’s club station, W0WCS.
Amateur radio operators make worldwide contact. Having a good time enjoying a hobby interest that also serves an important service when severe weather or disasters strike was a good reason for a “party” Saturday in a school parking lot. Amateur radio operators from the Chickasaw Amateur Radio Association (CARA) and the Olive Branch Amateur Radio Club (OBARC), along with the DeSoto Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, spent 12 hours in the parking lot of Pleasant Hill Elementary School attempting to make contact with the rest of the world, or at least the rest of the country. They joined other operators in what OBARC president Shawn Braddock called, “The Mississippi QSO Party.”