Radio operators help replace antenna damaged in ice storms

Cape Girardeau County emergency management director Dick Knaup and three volunteers took advantage of Tuesday's good weather to replace a radio antenna ruined during February's ice storm.

"We took the pieces of the antenna damaged by the storm off the tower and installed one new antenna and one old one," said Phil Nash, who volunteers for emergency management duties for the county. Nash is one of four members of the Southeast Missouri Amateur Radio Operators Club who helped with the repairs.

Amateur radio operators — nicknamed "hams" — are critical members of the communications process during an emergency. They are able to set up and operate off generators when telephones and other devices are not functioning.

Though the county has had a radio set in the emergency management office for years, Knaup said, it hadn't been used since the county's first emergency manager, Brian Miller, died in 1996. None of his successors had been licensed for such work until Knaup took training earlier this year.

"The state emergency manager requires us to have an operator's license," Knaup said. He said the county participates in annual disaster communications drills, but the broken radio antenna prevented participation in this year's ham drills.

He said Tuesday's repairs cost the county $700 and included installing a new wire antenna on the existing 40-foot tower atop the county administration building in Jackson.

Ernie Chiles II, the radio club's president, helped test the antenna's reach after it was installed by broadcasting messages over the county's radio to another club member, Steve Hay, stationed in Cape Girardeau. Willie Sandin, an electrical engineer and former club president, made sure all the rooftop connections were correct. His son, Devin, 8, tagged along for the work but declined to make a second trip onto the roof when his father returned to make adjustments after the test broadcasts.

Knaup said amateur radio operators have a reputation for finding ingenious ways of creating a radio connection.

"They say a ham can take a piece of wire, a can and a battery and they'll make a radio out of it," he said.

Chiles laughed and agreed.

"We're not quite MacGyver, but close."

The club maintains three repeaters — devices which strengthen and rebroadcast radio signals — in Cape Girardeau County and makes them available for emergencies. Local hams participate in independent field days such as those hosted by the American Radio Relay League, the national organization for amateur radio operators. Chiles said more people seem to be interested in the hobby because it is so useful in an emergency.

"Especially after Hurricane Katrina, that's what brought the idea of emergency communications to the forefront," Chiles said. "The cell towers were out, the circuits were overloaded. For the first 72 hours, the hams provided the bulk of the communication."

Ham operators have the capability to send messages halfway around the globe, though shorter distances tend to take priority during disasters, he said.

"When we had an earthquake drill a little over a year ago, I sat at the new fire station [in Cape Girardeau] and talked directly to Jefferson City from the radio in my truck," Chiles said.

The Southeast Missouri Amateur Radio Club meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of the month in the basement of the county administration building. The meetings are open to the public.

In January, the club will offer free training to take the Federal Communications Commission technician class radio examination. The class is free, but materials cost $25 and the test costs $15. For more information, visit the club's website at www.semoarc.org.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

Does this affect you?

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com