Ham Radio Club Stands Ready to Help in a Crisis:

A group of Anacortes residents works to keep the original social media active to help people communicate during disasters. They're called ham operators, or licensed radio amateurs, and they're prepared to send messages near and far -- from a local fire station to a shelter on the other side of the country -- even when natural disasters and other emergencies take away the use of cell phones and the Internet. Amateur radio is considered an early form of social networking and grew popular in the 1950s, said Richard Rodriguez, president of the Anacortes-based Skagit Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Club, also known as Skagit Ham Radio. Today, there are around 220 ham operators on Fidalgo Island who can utilize radio social networks to provide backup communication to the community. The club has around 88 members. "In the event we have the unthinkable earthquake, (ham radio) allows us to get messages in and out of local area," Rodriguez said. Licensed ham operators -- or "hams" for short -- are always looking for opportunities to talk to each other to test communications, he said.

from Ham Radio Times http://ift.tt/2twDUJL
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