Amateur Radio: Bringing One Grapevine Family Together
Nicole McKnight
Amateur radio, popularly known as ham radio, is known for providing communication systems during emergency situations. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints uses amateur radio operators as an important part of their Emergency Preparation Plan. The Church’s congregations are based geographically, i.e., the members of each congregation live within a specified physical area. If, in the aftermath of a disaster, local communication capabilities are affected, there is a designated amateur radio operator or operators available to facilitate communication for each congregation.
Chris Huff lives in Grapevine and loves amateur radio. Chris says, “I have always wanted to do ham radio. I’ve always been interested in it. I want to be prepared and capable of helping in case of an emergency. Plus, it’s cool to be able to communicate through amateur radio.”
Ralph Abel, another Grapevine resident and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints introduced Chris to amateur radio and invited him to attend a basic ham radio class put on by the NE Tarrant Amateur Radio Club, also known as NETARC.
Chris shared his enthusiasm with his nine-year-old son, Liam. It took them both about 60 hours of training and preparation to pass the test and receive their Amateur Radio licenses. When Liam got his license, he was the youngest member in NETARC’s history to earn his Amateur Radio License. Imagine that: a nine-year-old being able to dial into an amateur call signal and communicate via radio waves! Liam recalls, “My favorite part of (being an amateur radio operator) is probably just knowing that you might be able to hear someone talking who is on the ISS, International Space Station. One of our instructors told us a story: years ago, while instructing another class, they went out at night and set up a radio and the ISS passed overhead. They got to talk to the people who were on the ISS, from Earth to like a billion miles above!”
Chris and Liam also shared their love of Ham radio with Aila, another family member. Aila attended the next round of NETARC classes and passed her test. She says, “I thought it kind of looked cool because [Dad and Liam] were chatting on the radios when we went hiking and camping.” Aila attended the training classes and realized learning the information was hard. “Sometimes you don’t really get it because it’s a lot of calculating things like battery voltages and percentages. I didn’t really understand. Then I started taking all the practice tests and I started to get it. It makes me happy to understand and be able to use a ham radio!”
Chris loves working with his children in this hobby. He says, “I’ve really liked the experience of taking on something challenging with the kids and taking on something together. That’s a huge life lesson for all of us. We can prove, to ourselves, that we can tackle hard projects–and get the benefit. Great things in life are worth working for.”
Now Aila and Liam can talk to their grandpa in Flower Mound over amateur radio. He is also a radio operator and earned his license years ago. Aila and Chris drove to Grandpa’s house and helped him set up his antennae. Aila said as we drove home, “we had a mobile unit, and we could actually talk to my grandpa.” Chris mentioned, “It doesn’t sound miraculous to people who have cell phones, but the hills can get in the way, you don’t have a direct line and your antenna is not long enough or tall enough . . . it’s kind of thrilling to successfully set up a communication channel. Now if anything happens, we should be able to talk to Grandpa and we’ve already set up channels to talk on.”
As the story about Grandpa ended, Liam reminded everyone of Uncle Jimmy. Uncle Jimmy is Chris’ favorite uncle. He served in the Navy in communications. Chris called him one day and asked, “Uncle Jimmy, any chance you have an ham radio license? ‘Ya’ he said, and he gave me his call sign right then.”
Amateur radio is used for emergency communication allowing connection in disasters. The Huff family has also used it to strengthen family connections. Each member of the family feels confident that they can do hard things. Ham radio is fun, engaging, and can provide a much-needed service in times of emergency.
To learn more about getting licensed as an amateur radio technician, visit these websites.
Hurst Texas Stake Amateur Radio Classes
Northeast Tarrant Amateur Radio Club
