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Amateur PHOTOS BY BOB FROST
Radio101
SCARS radio room (the “shack”) at the Texas Drive Activity Center.
By Bob Frost, Jeff Hahn and
Don Parrish SCARS member Jeff Hahn stands by for can be found in the police and fire training
emergency communication in the George- center on D.B. Wood Rd., Fire Station #3
Sometime in the past, you’ve probably town Police and Fire Training Center. on Texas Drive and at all Williamson
known an amateur radio operator, county hospitals, all staffed by trained
otherwise known as a ham. Maybe it For emergency communications, there are amateur radio operators.
was your granddad, dad, uncle, a childhood national systems that include amateur
friend or a neighbor down the street. If you radio and are managed by the states and One of the ways hams train is by providing
ever ventured into their “ham shack,” it implemented by local government. One communications support for public service
probably looked like one of the strange labs of the best examples of amateur radio events. One of the largest local events is
from the 50s-60s TV series Buck Rogers, emergency communications occurred in the annual Red Poppy Ride where SCARS
Mr. Wizard or The Outer Limits – lots of Williamson County on May 27, 1997, when members make up more than half the
wires, blinking lights, static, radio sounds a deadly F5 tornado struck Jarrell, Texas. radio operators providing communications
and tech stuff. Amateur radio filled the communication for race organizers and managers.
gap until traditional infrastructure was INTERESTED AND WANT TO LEARN
Ham radio is still very much alive and restored. MORE ABOUT HAM RADIO?
well today. At last count, there were over
770,000 licensed ham radio operators in Williamson County took that experience Sun City’s Amateur Radio Society gives
the U.S. with well over 30,000 new hams to heart. Today, the county has invested radio enthusiasts and ham operators a
joining the ranks each year, some as young over $150,000 in amateur radio place to meet monthly and stay in touch.
as age six and others well into their 90s. communications facilities and equipment Membership provides access to a fully
In Sun City Texas there are about 100 (including a mobile communications equipped radio room where licensed hams
licensed hams, roughly 60 percent of whom trailer) ready to be used in case of an can “get on the air” and talk locally or
are members of the Sun City Amateur emergency. Fully equipped radio facilities around the world. A club-sponsored
Radio Society (SCARS). 440 MHz UHF-band repeater allows
GET A LICENSE members to communicate in and around
Georgetown using simple and inexpensive
In 1912 the U.S. Government required hand-held pocket-sized radios.
an individual to be tested and licensed to
legally transmit on amateur frequencies – To learn more about amateur radio and
simply talking on a CB radio doesn’t make meet Sun City’s active hams, simply drop
you a ham. Obtaining a ham radio license in on one of the first Wednesdays of the
isn’t difficult. There are three classes of month meetings at 7 p.m. in the Texas
licenses, each of which requires more skill Drive Activities Center to see what it’s all
and knowledge than the last. Proficiency about. We hope to see you there!
in Morse Code is no longer required to
obtain a ham license. ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
TURN ON AND TUNE IN
Once licensed, amateur radio operators
have access to specifically allocated radio
frequencies. Within those frequencies,
hams can communicate over-the-air,
locally, regionally, to each other or
worldwide to distant stations. Today’s
hams have options beyond traditional
voice communication and may choose to
experiment with other modes, including
computer-aided digital communication.
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