Over twenty-four hours in June, more than 100 local amateur radio operators made contact with more than 2,000 other “hams” around the country. “By honing these skills, we are prepared if the Internet is not available,” explains Dan Romanchik, who teaches basic licensure classes. Many students, he says, “are Community Emergency Response Team members or want to do SKYWARN” weather observation, both of which rely on radio communications. “Others are technology geeks who view an amateur radio license as something that allows them to do things with wireless that they couldn’t do otherwise.”
Hams are online, too–Romanchik’s Twitter account (@kb6nu) has nearly 4,000 followers. “It makes it easy to get the word out about classes and to publicize the fun we have with ham radio,” he explains. “I’ve had [Twitter] followers see that I’m on the air and turn on their own radios and make contact with me.”
