Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Hays-Caldwell Radio Club is offering opportunities for residents to serve their community in a time of need with HAM radio lessons.
HAM operators, or amateur radio operators, are licensed individuals that can aid local agencies in emergency disasters through radio frequency communication, explained club repeater Brian Barker. The radio type has a rich history, he noted, stating that it was used in World War II, when military scientists sent information to operatives, where it was much clearer, after decoding, and more difficult to intercept, rather than voice communication. This type of work is what inspired the origin of the club in 2018, he continued.
“We provide education; we provide information; we provide training and we connect and co-op with other club organizations to provide licensure [training],” said Barker. “Once they pass their exams, we will help them get established in amateur radio by advising them on what kinds of communications equipment to buy, based on what they want to do and how far they want to go.”
These federal licenses have several variations, ranging from the lowest rank at technician to general and then, amateur extra, all of which provide individual privileges to communicate within certain radio bands, shared Barker. The tests demand a lot of practice, as they consist of a 35 question test, pulled from 500 questions, requiring a passing grade of 70% or more. So, studying and ensuring the material is learned can be quite challenging, said the club member. Though, after deciding what license to strive for, the club helps its members study for tests through testing materials and providing equipment free of charge.
The real effort begins once licensed, said Barker, as this is when members can begin aiding law enforcement and other entities during a time of crisis.
“A lot of today’s world is based on the internet and if the internet goes down, somebody cuts a fiber optic cable, [communication is limited], which actually happened in Southeast Texas on the Gulf Coast day before yesterday. [So,] the club activated their people and they went to their stations and they provided emergency communication across certain districts, so that police, fire and emergency services could at least get some minimal information,” Barker shared.
The information transferred is not individualized, he said, as it is more organization to organization, rather than to specific officers or firemen. For instance, if the Kyle Fire Department needed mutual aid, the radio club could request and send this to another fire station in the area.
“If we have an internet breakage or outage between here and Austin and between here and San Antonio, we can actually communicate by radio transmission to Austin to the state emergency operations center and also to the south, toward San Antonio through Seguin … We have the capability to go north and south and east and west,” he said.
This ability to help is why those that feel drawn to contributing to their community should consider HAM, Baker offered.
“We’re not limited to being in a county. We are called the Hays-Caldwell [Radio Club] and have people in Hays County and Caldwell County. The reason it was designed for Hays-Caldwell is because when they put the repeater up, they had to pick a name and they engineered the information and figured they can cover most of Hays County and most of Caldwell County … That also promotes that the individual — or we encourage that individual — to work in their own area, their own county or part of the county, to also service some of these locations that we have with our radio in emergency times.”
Currently, the organization provides emergency backup communication for emergency management departments in Hays County, such as the Kyle Police Department, Ascension Seton Hays Hospital, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Buda and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital. It is working on beginning services in Wimberley and in Dripping Springs, as well.
Community members are not required to have any skills or equipment prior to joining as an associate and will be upgraded to a member after earning a license and paying a $20 fee to keep up with equipment for the emergency radio services. They can also be paired up with a mentor, titled Elmers, who can aid new members on HAM radio.
To learn more about the Hays-Caldwell Radio Club, visit www.hchams.com or attend a monthly meeting, held at the Kyle Public Safety Center, 1700 Kohlers Crossing, at 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month.
