Amateur Radios Give Everett Expert Help In Emergency Communications

You may be aware that in the event of a major earthquake cell phones can be down for a very long time. Phones, computer networks and other communications methods may be severely limited in their ability to connect but there’s a near hundred year old technology that always works. Amateur radio.

Starting early Saturday afternoon and going into late Sunday dozens of people are volunteering their time, equipment and experience in the annual A.A.R.L. Field Day. In Everett it’s being held at Harborview Park on Mukilteo Boulevard and is organized by the Snohomish County Hams Club. There are similar set ups all across the country this weekend.

Snohomish County Hams Club practices emergency preparedness by setting up amateur radio stations and powering them with batteries. There is also a contest in which hams can earn points by making contacts with other hams. This year there are four transmitters set up at Harborview Park. You’ll also find a solar array and other emergency equipment designed to work off the power grid. The public is welcome to tour and check out all of the equipment.

James Ludden is the City of Everett radio operator. He tells MyEverettNews.com that in the event of an emergency in the city volunteers can be sent to Everett fire stations to set up communications networking. They are able to patch in various equipment to communicate in case the cell, 800 mhz emergency network or other ways of current communications are unavailable. From the network of fire stations messages can be relayed back to the city’s emergency operations center in south Everett. Operators with portable radios can be placed aboard fire trucks to help crews do windshield surveys and provide damage reports.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers was at Harborview Park today checking out the activity and learning about the gear. Somers is new to being a ham radio operator having received his amateur license the year before last. “I built a crystal radio set in 6th grade and have wanted to do this for years,” said Somers. “I enjoy talking with people across the country and the farthest person I’ve talked with was in the Cook Islands.” Somers saw first hand the importance of ham radio operators during the Oso slide. “They were invaluable to us during the first days getting information into and out of Darrington,” Somers said.

Again if you’d like to see the operation it is going on until 2:00 PM Sunday afternoon at Harborview Park in Everett and if you’d like more information on emergency radio service in Everett and Snohomish County click here.

You can also click here to see more about Emergency Management in Everett.