Kids Amatuer Radio Day set

Most youngsters already know how send instant messages by texting and tweeting, but an Enterprise group is planning to show them another way to instantly communicate with friends.

Enterprise Amateur Radio Club members are preparing for Kids Day 2009 to introduce young people to amateur radio. The event will be held in Enterprise and other cities around the nation on June 20. The Enterprise Kids Day event will be held at Johnny Henderson Family Park on Highway 167 from noon until 6 p.m.
During the family-friendly event, about six local amateur radio operators, also known as “ham” operators, will be demonstrating how they communicate with other radio enthusiasts.

Organized by Todd Pippin, local “hams” plan to demonstrate amateur radio and let youngsters spend time on the air talking and working others across the country. A log sheet will be available for each participant and an area will be provided to help them fill out their log individual sheets to prepare for the contacts they make.

“It’s a way to talk with people around the world, or even orbiting the world,” Pippin said.

In addition to being a hobby, amateur radio is recognized as a resource by national relief organizations and local operators are part of the Coffee County Emergency Management Agency team. “It’s a very important emergency communications system,” said Pippin. “When cell phones, land lines, the Internet and other systems are down or overloaded, ham radio still gets the message through.

According to the American Radio Relay League’s Web site, there are more than 660,000 amateur radio operators in the United States and more than two million throughout the world.

“Hams” get involved in the hobby for many reasons, Pippin said. “But they all have in common a basic knowledge of today’s wireless technologies, regulations and operating principles.”

In the United States, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license is required to communicate on amateur radios, Pippin explained. There is a test required before a license is issued, but there is no minimum age.

“We have operators as young as 6 years old,” said Pippin, who enjoys being able to communicate around the globe.
“I even talked with astronauts on the International Space Station.”