| Vo Ham radio enthusiasts a global club Bob Mackin News Regorter bmackin@nsnews.com MARKUS Hansen could never have afford- ed the time or money to physically travel to all the places where his voice has been heard. From his “radio shack” — the den of his Delbrook home — Hansen has conversed with likeminded amateur — radio operators from Antarctica to Zambia, Norway to India, and China to Russia. “This here is a high fre- quency transceiver, it can receive and transmit,” says Hansen, pointing to a console on a table packed with equip- ment. “Ican talk to people around the world. To prove it we exchange cards.” Hansen opens a cabinet and pulls out a stack of QSL cards. QSL is amateur radio lingo for “| acknowledge”; the postcards recognize contact between amateur radio operators, better known as hams. There are approximately 330 countries and territories around the world where an estimated 2.5 million hams practise their hobby. Hansen’s litelong ambi- tion has been to contact a ham in each and every one of those places. So far, the man licensed by the federal govern- ment and known by the call-sign VE7CA has a collec- . tion of 260 cards. Hansen is a 57-year-old commercial real estate agent who became fascinated with radio as a child, drawing pictures of the radios he saw in Eaton’s cata- logues and later building his own crystal sets. - Hansen continues to build and rebuild radios. He has a home-made handheld transceiver that he rakes on hikes. It’s a five-watt, battery-operated unit that works on high frequency channels. He can normally commu- nicate with hams as far away as Seattle. But easlier this month he spoke with another ham from Florida, thanks to a phenomenon called e-skip. That’s when _ conditions cause signals to bounce off the atmosphere and land in faraway places they wouldn’t normally end up. . . “Opposite his desk are three vintage units, including one just like the first Heathkit radio he owned. “There’s a lot of satisfaction if you can make some- thing better than a commercial manufacturer. Like having antique cars, we have antique radios.” . -Hansen is among more than 80 locals who belong to the North Shore Amateur Radio Club, which was founded in 1987. There are as many as 250 hams liv- ing on the North Shore and 3,000 in B.C., ranging " from teenagers to octogenarians. “As a group, hams don’t get much respect. In the .dawn of wireless, hand-held Internet access, hams - could be mistaken for inferior throwbacks to the pre- digiral age. , They're anything but. . “The name amateur doesn’t mean less qualified,” says North Vancouver's Bill Tracey, who’s known as - VE7QQ. “We cannot accept payment if we provide message transmission services tor our friends and neighbours.” . “Because of cellular, the mystique of radio has dis- appeared,” adds Ed Frazer, a West Vancouver man known as VE7EF. “Twenty years ago when we talked on the radio, everyone looked at you and marvelled at what you're doing. It’s pretty rare these days.” Licensed ham radio operators use traditional store- ~ bought or homemade radio transmitters, receivers and ‘antennas to communicate on. airwaves dedicated for non-commercial use. For much of the 20th century, ~ amateur sadio was the economical alternative to high long distance telephone charges. These days there are : hams who use computers and video cameras to trans- miit text and images. Some even build complex anten- na systems and bounce signals off the moon. Many carry hand-held radios instead of, or in addition to, cell phones and even use carth-orbiting communications satellites to relay messages. “if you look at the cellphone, it’s really no more EX: SPADJL, EMVJA OP: STEFAN SZADO, Mpika J SSBF [one [nour ean] wre [oes [ear] : aa Beautiful British Columbia VeE7CA MARKUS HANSEN 647 St ves Crescent North Vancouver, BC GRID CN-69 ITU ZONE 02 (Ci ese (lTNx ose than your telephone without a cable,” says Frazer. “You can’t control a crowd with a bunch of tele- phones. Just dialing cach person doesn’t make sense. Ham radio is like a regular dispatch where you can talk to the rest of the group, every member of the team hears the conversation.” And, what’s more, ham radio has a wider reach, and is more reliable and accessible from places where you can’t reach a cellphone signal. Ham radio is the last line of communication in case of a breakdown in the traditional telephone or cellular phone system. Be it a natural disaster or simply when SUNDAY FocUS Sunday, July 16, 2000 —- North Shore News - 3 " NEWS photo Paul McGrath NORTH Shore Amateur Radio Club members Bernie Leaker (left) and Ed Frazer listen to hand held radios dur- ing last month's Field Day. NSARC set up a temporary station, complete with antennas, to simulate an emer- gency at Cypress Provincial Park. The Field Day is a competition held annually across North America. HAMS trade postcards of recognition to prove they made contact. Markus Hansen. has communicated with hams from Antarctica (top) to Zambia (middie). He rec- iprocates by sending his card (bottcm), which dears his VE7CA call sign. fans of a popular band jam ‘Ticketmaster phone lines to buy concert tickets. Hams were busy putting people in voice contact during the 1997 Red River flooding that threatened southern Manitoba and the ice storms that disabled Ontario and Quebee in 1998. NSARC members were key members of the local ¥2K preparedness team. On New Year’s Eve, members were scattered around the North Shore at their home, radio shacks, ready with batteries and generators to provide a communication link in case of power outages or telephone service breakdowns. A core group statted the radio room at the North and West Vancouver Emergency Program’s wing of the Gerry Brewer Building. That’s the club’s permanent home and where it meets twice a month. “Having the club in the building has been terrific for the program,” said Laurie Bean, acting emergency co-ordinator for Nerth and West Vancouver and an” NSARC member herself. “Every emergency program should have a close relationship with their local ama- teur radio club like we do.” . Frazer is a professional telecommunications engi- neer and past-president of the B.C. Amateur Radio Co-ordination Council, which organizes frequencies for amateur radio repeaters in B.C. A repeater is a receiver/transmitter installed at a high clevation used to broaden the range of communication. NSARC has repeaters on .Bowen Island, Mt. Seymour, Mt. Fromme and the roof of the Gerry Brewer Building. He says hams enjoy the convenience of communi- cating to many people over a wide distance, whether it’s across town or across the hemisphere, and they rel- ish the chance to provide a public service in case of emergency. Hams are licensed federally. In Canada there are four levels, three of which require knowledge and use of Morse code. Once licensed, a ham is assigned a five- letter, province-specitic call-sign. Frazer is VE7EF. VE7 (and VA7) represent B.C. EF are his initials, though not ali Hams are lucky enough to use their ini- tials when they become licensed. The radio spectrum includes nine high frequency bands reserved for amateurs and another seven very See Radio page 19 Getting started on the airwaves HAM radio is almost as old as radio itself. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi sent wireless radio signals across the Adantic between England © and Newfoundland in December 1901, A dozen years later the federal government. enacted the first laws regulating radio TransHussions, Amateur radio is regulated under the federal Radiocommunication Act and Regulations and administered by Industry Canada. Four levels of the amateur radio operator certificate are offered by Industry Canada: @ 1. The basic, entry level licence doesn’t require knowledge of Morse code. Applicants must pass a multi- ple choice examination of 100 questions on theory, regula- tions and operating practices. Knowledge of basie electron- ics is essential. The licence gets access to bands above 30 Mhz in all modes with a max- imum 250-Watte DC trans- mitter. You're also allowed to build and operate all station equipment, except home- made transmitters. @ 2. Five words per minute. To get this licence, you must be abie to send by hand and receive by ear International Morse Code at 5 wp.m. (or 25 characters) for three con- secutive minutes. Allows access to a greater number. of frequencies. . @ 3. 12 words per minute. You must be able to commu- nicate in morse code for three consecutive minutes at 12 wp.m. The payoff is more frequencies. B 4. The advanced licence allows you to Suild radio transmitting equipment, operate high powered trans- mitters up to 1,000 watts and sponsor a voice repeater or club station. Must pass a higher level technical exam. All levels grant users access to VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra high fre- quency) bands, which both include OSCARS (Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio), and microwave fre- quencies. : Examiners are available through Industry Canada’s local office and local radio clubs. Call signs are issued using a province-specific .. prefix based on the applicant’s home province. In B.C. you might sce vehicle licence plates with VE7 and VA7 pre- fixes. They’re the only vanity plates that are free of charge to licensed hams who carry a radio aboard their vehicle. Radio amateurs can request their choice of three available call signs. If none of the preferred call-signs is available, they’re automatical- ly issued the next available call sign. “When you’re referring to an individual ham, it’s iniper- See Ham page 18