Ham radio enthusiasts practice emergency preparedness in Morton Grove
By Cathryn Gran cgran@pionerlocal.com June 27, 2011 9:26PM
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
Morton Grove played host to the Chicago FM Club’s annual Field Day exercises.
Usually held in River Grove, Field Day is an annual demonstration of how ham radio can respond to a catastrophic emergency, said Bob Odrowski, club member.
Field Day was held from 1 p.m. June 24 to 1 p.m. June 25 at the north end of Harrer Park, 6250 Dempster St.
“It’s a combination emergency-preparedness exercise, operating contest and social experience,” Odrowski said. “You can talk on the radio to people around the country. This is a major global event for amateur radio.”
He added that the public was invited to participate.
The Chicago FM Club includes members from across Chicago metropolitan area, including Morton Grove.
Club member Stan Wilk noted he importance of ham radio.
“I’ve been a ham long enough to witness the exchange of information during the Chernobyl disaster, where the ham radio community seemed to transcend Cold War politics to safeguard mankind, to the more recent disasters in Japan and Joplin, Mo.,” he said. “I just missed the health-and-welfare traffic from Southeast Asia to the States from our soldiers in Vietnam.
“And I am glad to see that we play a small part in the communications between our servicemen in Iraq/Afghanistan, though the newer technologies seem more prevalent today.”
Many engineers who also happened to be hams worked to deliver this “miracle” to the rest of mankind, Wilk said.
“In any case, it is a good thing to take the time and get ‘primitive’ with our hobby, and to operate under unusual conditions during a 24-hour period the last weekend of June,” he said. “And hopefully showcase our craft to curious on lookers and potential hams.”
Additional information is available by going to www.chicagofmclub.org.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment