Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Sam Penrod reportingA nationwide competition just ended in Fairview Canyon involving amateur radio operators.
Ham operators, as they are most commonly known, have been trying to make as many contacts as they can, in just 24 hours.
In a day of cell phones, text messaging and the Internet, ham radio may seem to be an old fashioned hobby.
But we found it is still a very effective way to communicate, especially in an emergency.
Radio: CQ field day, CQ field day, from Whiskey Five America November Radio...
Dean Harmer, Amateur Radio Operator: "Whiskey Five America November Radio from November Seven Charlie X-ray."
Inside of a tent set up in the mountains, amateur radio operator Dean Harmer is talking with other ham radio stations all across the country.
Dean Harmer, Amateur Radio Operator W7DHH: "We're actually hearing other stations in Arkansas and Texas, that's where they seem to be coming in from right now and they are set up, pretty similar to the way I am here, with just a radio on the table, a battery and a portable antenna."
Bob Armstrong and Jim Lawrence are making contacts. But it is all done using Morse Code, averaging 25 words a minute-- so fast that to the untrained ear, even the dahs and dits seem hard to distinguish.
Jim Lawrence, Amateur Radio Operator W7CT: "It's a second language, it becomes a second language."
And they are using just five watts of power. That's important, because in an emergency, they can communicate radio to radio, when phones and other public communications could be damaged.
"Bob Armstrong, Amateur Radio Operator N7XJ: "All over the world, when there has been a disaster, amateur radio operators are first on the scene and able to communicate when others can't."
And even though they are ready in the event of an emergency, it is still the excitement of being on the airwaves that keeps ham operators on the air.
Radio: "One Alpha Utah, good signal, 73's and good luck.
Dean Harmer: 73'S."
Our three ham operators who were using Morse Code tell us, that in the 24 hour competition, they made 779 contacts in 49 of the 50 states.
