Newly formed NK ham radio club recruiting members

A newly formed amateur radio club in New Kent County is enlisting new members who can volunteer to assist with radio communications during emergencies.

The club, New Kent for Amateur Radio, formed in April and held its first meeting on June 7. A week before, the group obtained its FCC call sign “NK4AR” that spells the club’s initials.

Amateur radio operators provide volunteer emergency back-up communications to county officials during natural and man-made disasters when normal communications systems often fail.

“Now, the New Kent Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be known on the amateur radio bands and nets as NK4AR, a call sign that will not change as operators on duty cycle through duty shifts in an emergency, formerly using their own identifiers,” club secretary George Ford said in a press release.

Ford said New Kent officials in the past have provided a radio room with shortwave, VHF, and UHF ham radio equipment for use by volunteer operators, but the volunteer numbers faded in recent years due to deaths and operators moving away. Today, seven volunteers make up the New Kent club.

The club plans to add to the volunteer effort by having social interaction similar to a volunteer fire department or rescue squad, Ford said. The group plans to become involved with schools, civic and community groups, scouting groups, and churches to show advantages of learning other communication skills besides cell phone and text messaging which could fail during disasters.

The club is building a team of “volunteer examiners” to administer FCC tests to new members wanting to obtain a ham radio license. New members can study on their own or meet with other volunteers, Ford said, adding that becoming proficient in Morse Code is no longer a requirement.

Also planned is installation of a radio repeater in the county on 145.41 MHz in the two meter VHF amateur radio band that increases the effective range of mobile and hand-held radios, he said.

Anyone with an interest in ham radio and providing volunteer service with the club can contact Ford, K2QIJ, at 145.41 MHz or (757) 564-3247.