eHam.net News

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Ham Radio Operators Worldwide Reach Out to NC:

Posted: 24 Feb 2014 04:11 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31787


WILMINGTON -- Ham radio operators from around the world tried to reach as
many North Carolina counties as possible Sunday for the 2014 North Carolina
QSO Party. Jay Barton, a member of the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club,
worked out of the U.S.S. North Carolina in Wilmington. Ham operators earned
extra points for connecting with the ship. Those with the most points
earned awards. "We've been working a lot of Ohio stations, New England
stations, Kansas stations," Barton said. When Barton and other operators
hear from foreign countries, he says language barriers are rarely an
issue. "The Q codes are a universal language so that you can carry on a
conversation in exchanging the normal, 'Hello my name is,' 'How are
you?' 'Where are you?' 'What's your location?' with three-letter codes,"
ham operator Allan Pellnat said. But the party isn't all fun and games for
operators-- it's also practice for emergency situations. "It's old
technology but it's still the only reliable communication, even satellite
telephones the satellites go out because of the weather," Barton said. "We
can get through somewhere, somebody, somehow all the time." When voice
operations are fuzzy, there's always Morse code. "A weak signal on Morse
code can be heard, copied, understood clearly when voice is completely
unintelligible," Pellnat said.