Learning the radio ropes: Class offers lessons on amateur radio operation

When Larry Lusk of Cape Girardeau decided to purse an amatuer radio operator's license, he found himself sitting in front of a familiar instructor.

Ernie Girardeau Chiles II, who taught the earth science class Lusk took decades ago at Cape Central High School, is also teaching the radio operator class. Lusk and his wife, Carolyn, were among more than 20 people who showed up for the Saturday morning session.

"I hadn't seen his name for 45 years," Lusk said, grinning, after the class. He said those long-ago lessons in geology resonate as he pilots his plane and notes various earth formations. Like many at Saturday's first amateur radio class, he is pursuing a license in order to help others while developing a new hobby.

Amateur radio operators, nicknamed "hams," use the AM radio band or digital communications, bouncing radio waves from operator to operator or as far away as the moon, to communicate around the globe. Hams need to be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, and Chiles, a member of the Southeast Missouri Amateur Radio Club, teaches the free local classes with fellow club member Phil Nash. Students must pay for their books.

Chiles drew a laugh from his class while teaching some ham slang: an Elmer is an experienced ham who will help newcomers sort out problems; women who get licensed are referred to as YLs (Young Ladies), regardless of their ages, while males of any age are referred to as OMs -- Old Men.

Larry Lusk of Cape Girardeau asks the instructor about bouncing a radio wave off of the moon during a class on amateur radio operation Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cape Girardeau.

As a hobby, hams can compete in frequent contests, such as one that challenges operators to contact other hams in all 50 states with long and short-distance signals as well as by telephone. Those who accomplish the feat earn a "triple play" award from the American Radio Relay League, which is the national organization for hams.

Ham licenses are free and good for 10 years, Chiles said. Students can do some studying online, taking practice tests provided by the league or a small business dedicated to getting free relay software to hams, QRZ.com (QRZ is radio lingo for "Who's calling me?").

Without being sensational, Chiles told his students that ham radio is an essential part of any disaster recovery effort.

"If we do have a major earthquake, most likely cell towers and repeaters will be down," he said.

Ham operators can send short-distance signals quickly, which can travel in a point-to-point fashion to rescue workers outside the affected area. It helps the outside world know the extent of damage and what is needed to help those affected.

Penny Wheeler, 60, a medical transcriptionist from Altenburg, Mo., said she volunteered to learn the skill so she can help others in an emergency. Wheeler, a native Californian, recalls experiencing the double-whammy of the 1992 Landers quake -- at magnitude 7.3, it was at that time considered the largest ever -- followed three hours later by the magnitude-6.4 Big Bear quake.

Wheeler is taking the class with a friend, Brenda Schoen, who lives in Cape Girardeau County near Oak Ridge. Schoen said she was motivated to sign up by memories of the 2003 tornado that caused $12 million in damage and knocked out phone service for most of her neighbors.

With the only working telephone in nearly a 3-mile radius, "I was literally communications central," said Schoen, who also helped feed those affected by the tornado, which was an F3.

Joanna Thomsen of Marble Hill, Mo., is taking the class with three of her six children: Evan, 15, Daniel, 14, and Anna, 11. Her husband, Bollinger County Associate Circuit Judge Scott E. Thomsen, has been licensed for years, she said, but he travels to handle cases. The couple decided "it wouldn't do us any good if he's out of town on business and we need to use the radio," she said.

Mike McCrate of Jackson, a landscape contractor, is taking the classes with his son, Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Nick McCrate, who is majoring in electrical engineering, because they both have "just always been interested in doing it," the elder McCrate said.

To learn more about amateur radio, visit the Southeast Missouri Amateur Radio Club at www.semoarc.org or go to www.QRZ.com or www.arrl.org.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

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