Staff Spotlight: The Ham Radio Hobbyist
Where an interest in tinkering with electronics and communicating with others around the world meets, that’s where you’ll find amateur radio operators. (But we prefer the unofficial ham radio operators!) The leader of our IT Infrastructure team by day and ham radio enthusiast in his free time, meet Kevin!Kevin’s interest in electronics is formative to who he is, having grown up in a family of electrical engineers and computer programmers. For as long as he can remember, he’s loved taking electronics apart and tinkering with them. But his first real experience with radio communication came at the age of 12. Kevin and his friend set up CB radios to talk between their houses, something that became a nightly routine.
Thanks to the support and guidance of that club, at 16, Kevin passed the test to earn his Novice-Class Amateur Radio License from the Federal Communications Commission with the callsign KBØLCR, the same that he has to this day. (He’s since earned his Extra-Class Amateur Radio License.) Because callsigns are issued sequentially based on license class and region, it was a unique treat when he happened to connect with callsign KBØLCO. As it would turn out, the Missouri-based ham radio operator had passed his test the same day, just hundreds of miles apart. He and Kevin have kept in touch and have had many conversations over the years.“Sometimes at night, we’d hear other stations hundreds of miles away, but we could never manage to talk back to them,” Kevin recalled. “It was on one of my many trips to Radio Shack to improve my system that an employee noticed my interest and told me about the local amateur radio club.”
Possibly the most surprising thing we learned from Kevin as he shared about his hobby is that it’s just as much about the community as it is about the electronics and technology, maybe even more so. Generally, the ham radio community is made up of positive and friendly people wanting to connect. When talking with Kevin, he provided the perfect example.
As a member of the Lake Area Radio Klub (LARK), Kevin and his crew of amateur enthusiasts come together to share knowledge, provide training, and encourage responsible use of ham radio. The last weekend of June, we were able to attend their annual Field Day, aka ‘Super Bowl for Ham Radio’. Clubs and individuals from all over the US and Canada set up portable stations in remote locations and spend 24 continuous hours contacting as many other stations as possible, allowing them to measure their own improvements year over year and drum up some friendly competition. It’s not all fun and games. Club members assist with emergency and public service communications during special events, severe weather, and disasters.“I can pick up a mic and as easy as…
‘CQ CQ CQ, this is Kilo-Bravo-Zero-Lima-Charlie-Romeo in South Dakota’
… and someone, somewhere else in the world, will usually reply to my call …
‘Kilo-Bravo-Zero-Lima-Charlie-Romeo, this is Zulu-Lima-One-November-Zulu in Auckland, New Zealand. How do you copy?’
… and just like that, I’ve made a new radio friend. Sometimes conversations are less than a minute. Sometimes they can go on for hours. Often, other operators will hear us and join the conversation for a random worldwide chat.”
Kevin’s also a member of the American Radio Relay League, which advocates the importance of ham radio in organizing emergency and public service efforts with government regulators.
We could go on and on about all the things we learned from Kevin, but here are a few of our favorite ‘no way’ moments.
- The term ‘ham’ was originally given by commercial broadcast and maritime operators trying to get amateurs off their frequencies by saying something like ‘hey get off my channel, you ham!’ or ‘that’s just some hobbyist hamming around’. (Bet they didn’t think that was going to stick!)
- Or the time Kevin was able to make contact with astronaut Bill McArthur (KC5ACR) when he was on the International Space Station in 2006, and he asked where he was located ‘down there on the ground’. (Get this, Kevin has had several contacts with astronauts onboard the ISS since. Mind blown!)
- And, if you’re like us, you were probably picturing some old-school radio setup with glowing tubes, but Kevin’s smallest ham radio is about the size of a Swiss Army Knife! You as impressed as we are yet?
If you ever find yourself cruising the radio waves, be sure to keep an ear open for Kilo-Bravo-Zero-Lima-Charlie-Romeo in South Dakota.“In general, the ham radio community is made up of very positive and friendly people. I enjoy the fact that I can pick up the mic nearly any time of day, transmit my callsign ‘into the ether’ and strike up a conversation with someone new,” Kevin shared with a smile.
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