Russell Sawyer is a retired doctor who travels the world several times a week. He’s down in his basement searching for other ham radio operators.
"Sometimes this is like fishing," he says. "You wait patiently for someone to talk to."
There are as many as 30,000 operators in Virginia, talking about the weather, the family, the gear they use to send greetings around the world.
To broadcast on frequencies reserved for amateur operators, he had to take a test and pay $15 to the FCC. He spent $400 on some used equipment, ran a hundred-foot antenna from one tree to another in his backyard, and he was in business. This weekend, he plans to join other hams at the Earlysville Fire Station for a 24-hour marathon – hoping to interest others in his hobby.
"We’ve got some young people involved with this -- they’re in high school and have a ham radio license. In fact, I think there’s one fellow in the club who will bring several of his students to the field day and is going to set up an educational activity and do some soldering and go on the air, and we’ve got some older people who are just interested in taking it up as a hobby – learning something new, a chance to learn a new language: Morse code."
It’s fun, he says, and should the grid go down in an emergency, amateur radio operators could provide essential communications with a battery. The Albemarle Amateur Radio Club will be on the air from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday and will offer newcomers a chance to try their hand at ham radio.
