Yesterday, I went to the OCRA meeting and finally secured my free year of membership with them. It?s always a pleasure to hang out with the other hams, even though I still haven?t gotten around to buying a radio and learning how to work it yet. However, the material that was covered at last night?s meeting helped reinforce my interest in getting more involved in the hobby, since he was talking about how local hams can use their hobby to assist in public service events.
Public service events, for the purpose of the meeting, are events like bike races and runs that are done to support various non-profit organizations, like Habitat for Humanity or the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Some of these events can cover miles of roads in rural areas, and as such, it?s important to have a solid communication network in place to ensure the safety of the participants and attendees. Since these events are run by non-profits who want to ensure that they don?t end up spending all of their fund-raising money on expensive equipment and personnel, they have the option of recruiting local ham operators to assist with the event by bringing their own equipment and expertise to the area and doing what they love to do: talk on the radio!
Amateur Radio is strongly rooted in community service, doing everything from picking up trash on the side of the street, helping out with these public service events, and even providing emergency communications when all else fails. Even though cell phones are widespread and coverage is better than it?s been in the past, when natural disasters strike (like earthquakes and hurricanes), communication infrastructure can be damaged and destroyed, but amateur radio operators have the skills and equipment to set up emergency communications when called to do so.
The opportunity to help in this way is what fundamentally drove me to get my license and join the local (and national) clubs. After I get my radio and practice with it, I?m looking forward to taking the emergency preparedness courses set up by FEMA, joining my local ARES team, and participating in training and practice events so that I can really help out when and if the time comes. Amateur Radio is a really awesome hobby for anyone who has an interest in computers or technology, since you get to learn practical skills (such as DIY electrical work), meet fun people (on the local repeaters), and can use your hobbies to make a real difference in your local community.
I was thinking about buying a new computer, but this laptop will do just fine for now. I need to find myself a radio instead!
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I'm a Graduate Student at NC State University pursuing my Ph.D. in Computer Science. I'm a workaholic, a hacker, and a hopeless academic.Source: http://isharacomix.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/amateur-radio-public-service/
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