On a cold but sunny Saturday — Fayetteville’s annual Veterans Day Parade is underway a few streets away — a group of amateur radio hobbyists have set up a display at the N.C. Veterans Park and are chatting away.
Not just to each other, though, but to other “ham” operators around the world.
They’re the Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society (CFARS), a group founded here in 1969 and open to anyone interested in ham radio, also referred to as amateur radio. The groups use radio frequencies for non-commercial communication, either by voice or through Morse code, around the world, according to American Radio Relay League The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL).
According to the ARRL, there are more than 2,000 amateur clubs in the United States. CFARS, which is based in Fayetteville, held a “Special Event Station” on Nov. 4 during the Veterans Day Parade. David Winfree, a club member, said the event was centered around making connections and enjoying the hobby.
“It's a good opportunity for the club to get together, for one thing and have some fun,” Winfree said.
Winfree also likes to use events like the one held Nov. 4 to practice emergency communication — and to showcase the hobby for anyone who might see the group’s display.
First responders during emergencies
Emergency communications are important for CFARS. Members use their radio expertise to communicate with first responders in the event of emergencies like severe weather or natural disasters when phone lines or the internet may be down. When those lines are down, radio often stays on — making it an ideal form of communication in disasters.
While radio communications are not affected to the same degree as phone lines during hurricanes, radio waves are still impacted by events like solar flares — though they are infrequent in comparison to other weather events.
In 2018, CFARS members were called upon to help relay information during Hurricane Florence. Winfree remembers taking his mobile radio setup on his truck out to Interstate 95 to help coordinate nearly 170 rescues during the storm. Saturday’s event was intended to help the club practice emergency communication; in a real-life scenario, members would have to get everything set up and running as quickly as possible.
“One thing I want to do is how fast can I get on the air?” Winfree said. “So from the time (of) pulling in the parking lot to (getting) one antenna up was, like, 15 minutes.”
Amateur radio is also versatile because of the relative ease of setting up a system. All someone needs to operate an amateur radio is a license from the Federal Communications Commission, a power source and radio equipment.
Winfree owns a shooting range and got into the radio hobby after someone attending a class at the range suggested they use radios for communication, since cell service out on the range was limited. He's been operating radios ever since.
During the club’s November event, David Cowart, Winfree’s friend and fellow club member, operated the Morse paddle with high speed and accuracy. The paddle is a tool used to send codes to other people communicating via Morse code.
Winfree sat next to Cowart using a computer to log the contacts the club made. He typed their four- to seven-digit call sign, the bandwidth being used, how long the contact was, the location and the contact’s name. During the parade, the club contacted groups using Morse in Iowa, Florida and Arkansas, as well as other stations in North Carolina, and in Canada.
A powerful signal
On the other side of the park’s main building, another team was set up, working the airwaves, with club member Hector Gonzalez leading the efforts.
Gonzalez, a U.S. Army veteran who served for 27 years, has been involved in amateur radio in one form or another since 1987. The radio signal being used by Gonzalez is called single sideband — it's a long-distance radio frequency often used by amateur radio operators, ships at sea and the military.
“The simplest way to describe it is it's almost half of an AM signal," said Jeremy Gilchrist, a club member and retired firefighter. “AM has better audio quality, but single sideband is much more powerful. It can transmit further with the same amount of power.”
AM and FM — two broadcasting radio waveforms — travel shorter distances than single sideband, he said, but have better audio quality, making them ideal for commercial use and short-range communication.
During the group’s event, Gonzalez tried to contact anyone and everyone he could. Holding a receiver, he repeated the group's call sign, K4MN, in NATO phonetic alphabet.
“Kilo Four Mike November, looking for contacts,” he said. “We are the Special Event Station at the Veterans Day Parade in November Charlie.”
Eventually, he got a response from someone with the call sign E71A –– all the way from Bosnia and Herzegovina, in southeastern Europe.
Outside of these events, Gonzalez is heavily involved in the radiosport, Parks on The Air (POTA), a competitive pastime in which radio enthusiasts “activate” a designated site in a national or state park by setting up a radio. Other participants or “hunters” then use their own radios to try and make contact with the activator. A successful activation means the participant made at least 10 contacts in a 24-hour time period.
“Hector is one of our more prolific operators,” said Rod MacLean, a fellow club member.
Gonzalez recently completed “the ostrich” for POTA two weeks ago, meaning he activated 20 parks in a 24-hour time period –– which means he made at least 200 contacts.
In total, Gonzalez has made over 13,000 QSOs, or contacts, through the POTA program, according to his QRZ profile.
“In my mind, it is the most interesting training and developing tool for up-and-coming ham radio operators,” Gonzalez said.
He explained it's a good way for new operators to practice both sides — being an operator and a receiver — of amateur radio. POTA can be done individually or as a group as well, which serves well for bonding experiences.
Five weeks ago, CFARS members went as a group on Winfree’s boat to Bird Island, N.C., and made over 200 contacts out in the water as part of the POTA program. Winfree said they were able to use his truck's setup and transfer it to the boat for in-water communication.
Since the group was on a boat, those with fishing licenses also took the opportunity to catch some fish.
“We are not only ham radio operators, but we are all avid anglers,” Gonzalez said.
Though they didn’t catch much more than some small Atlantic croakers and a few lizard fish, the ham radio group still enjoyed each other's company — and those that contacted them.
Back at the Veterans Park, the radio enthusiasts continued to send out their call signs and Morse code signals in hopes of reaching more contacts, both domestic and abroad.
Contact Char Morrison at cmorrison@cityviewnc.com.
