RIDING THE WAVES

BY STEVE HANF

(airwaves, that is)

Decades before he once used a handheld radio to communicate with astronauts aboard a space shuttle, Jim Bailey remembers sitting in his home in Petersburg, Virginia, trying to watch the new television set his family had just purchased.

There was just one problem: The signal from the ham radio operator who lived across the street interfered with their TV.

Maddening? Nah. Jim was intrigued – and a lifelong hobby was born.

“I used to listen to our neighbor through the television every time he got on,” Jim recalls. “I could hear him talking to people all over the world, and I thought, ‘I’d really like to do that,’ so I got a shortwave radio as a Christmas present and did a lot of listening.”

Growing up across the pond in England, Andrew Darling also watched in awe as his father dabbled in electronics. Inspired by this, Andrew built his first transistor radio from scratch when he was 13 or 14, and when he heard a couple of folks chatting over the air, he wanted to learn more – so he wrote one of them a letter despite knowing nothing more than a first name and a call sign.

“All I wrote on the envelope was ‘Bruce, G3WMZ,’ but the post office in England at that time was the licensing authority, and two days later, Bruce called me on the phone,” Andrew says with a laugh. “It’s pretty extraordinary, but he didn’t live that far away, and we became really good friends. After that, I got a little bit more into the stuff and got licensed the earliest I could.”

Kitty Hawk resident Greg Akers, on the other hand, didn’t take up the hobby until moving to Corolla with his wife in 2013.

“There’s realistically a time when we can be cut off up here,” he remembers telling her. “I’m going to study and get my ham license so we have another means of communication in case everything else fails on the Outer Banks.” Of course, getting his three operator licenses came with another perk:

“My wife said, ‘Greg, this is just an excuse for you to buy more electronics,’” he remarks cheerfully. “And there’s a little bit of truth to that.” These tales are worth repeating because, well, that’s what these gentlemen do. All three hold leadership positions with the Outer Banks

Repeater Association (OBRA), a collection of more than a hundred active members who enjoy spending time together on the airwaves, during club socials and at community events when they can lend a helping hand. As many folks may know, the Outer Banks holds a special place in radio history: Reginald Fessenden, who often gets lost in the shadow of Guglielmo Marconi, is credited with being the first person to transmit speech and (later) music by radio in the early 1900s – a feat he managed by utilizing signal towers in Buxton and Manteo. And the airwaves have been crackling up and down the coast ever since, thanks in large part in recent years to the Outer Banks Repeater Association. In layman’s terms, a repeater is a combination receiver and transmitter that can take a weaker

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The Outer Banks Repeater Association’s treasurer, Greg Akers, at his home-based office where he can communicate with other radio operators from all over. Photo by Lori Douglas.

signal from a ham radio user and re-broadcast the forms of communications crash and burn, our stuff message in real time using a much stronger signal. keeps going.”

With towers from the Virginia border to Ocracoke Dare County Emergency Services showed how and points in between, the OBRA is all about improving much it values the OBRA by including space for the communications. This means that those people in group in the new Emergency Operations Center in yellow vests at all the Outer Banks Sporting Events Manteo. Jim says the space reserved for OBRA in races are OBRA members ready to the old building was as big jump on their radios in case they need as a closet. Now, they have a to report medical emergencies to “If the county much more spacious room first responders. The same goes for system that accommodates several events such as the Pirate’s Cove Billfish goes down, volunteers and their gear. Tournament and the Kelly’s St. Patrick’s we’re able If needed, the association Day Parade. to maintain members can help Dare

And when it comes to hurricanes contact. The County officials not only talk and the threat – or actual loss – of county has a to people being impacted by regular communications capabilities, pretty robust storms on various parts of the that’s when the association really shines. system, but island – getting early reports When Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016, a generator that powers the county’s 800 MHz communication system failed to start, which meant we’ve had to jump in a few times.” on road conditions and power outages, for instance – but also link to state and federal emergency operation centers. ham radio operators were an invaluable -Jim Bailey, Outer Banks “We feel appreciated by backup method, explains Jim, who Repeater Association the folks out there, and the coordinates the emergency response fire departments, too,” Jim program for the OBRA. says. “We have a good working

“If the county system goes down, we’re able to relationship with them. We try to help them, and they maintain contact,” he says. “The county has a pretty help us whenever they can, too.” robust system, but we’ve had to jump in a few times.” According to Greg, group members often spend at

“If you Google ‘ham radio during emergencies,’ least two nights a week chatting with each other over you’ll see loads and loads of references to radio clubs the airwaves. One night tends to be for fun, while the throughout the world that chip in when there are other is all business. Throughout the month of July disasters,” adds Andrew, who serves as the association’s this past summer the group even conducted mock president. “That works because our equipment isn’t emergency drills, simulating how they would react highly complicated in terms of what 911 service or the during the upcoming hurricane season. military tends to use. It’s readily available. A lot of it is It was a War of the Worlds kind of radio moment, battery operated and quite reliable, so when all other Greg says. Anyone who stumbled upon the action should have overheard a calmly read drill script – but some of the members certainly relished their imagined roles.

“One of the club members’ wives came on all excited and said, ‘The front door of my house just blew in, I’m having heart palpitations, my chest hurts, my husband’s gone, my power’s out, I can’t call 911 – what do I do?’” Greg says with a laugh. “We processed the report, and sent it through to the Emergency Operations Center as practice – and we awarded her an honorary Grammy!”

While Greg admits that many of the ham enthusiasts on the Outer Banks are retirees with professional technical experience, not all of them have the same background, and the club is always seeking new members from all walks of life. Contrary to the perception that it’s an expensive hobby to get into, a good entry-level setup can also be had for about $100. And although the licensing process may seem daunting at first, the OBRA hosts classes and testing sessions each year to help with that, as well.

Since joining the association, Greg has chatted with operators at the Indianapolis 500, a digitally linked commercial airline passenger, and even a helicopter pilot in the Grand Canyon. Jim says that ham radio operators who vacation on the Outer Banks often make contact with OBRA members and become friends over the airwaves after their week at the beach.

From one call sign to another, they repeat fun stories – and sometimes life-saving details – one transmission at a time.

“It’s a club,” Andrew explains. “It doesn’t matter what your ethnic background is. It doesn’t matter whether you’re fully abled or not. It’s completely welcoming, completely open. The only thing anybody cares about is the fact that you enjoy being on the radio like everybody else.”