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Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. When most of us hear the term “ham radio,” we probably think of hobbyists with big radio sets that dominate their desks and dens, or maybe we think of truckers driving down I-5. But as you’ll learn today on the show, there’s so much more than that. In the event of a major earthquake or disaster, our cellphones and landlines may become useless. Only line-of-sight radios would work, becoming a vital link between communities and first responders. Today, you’ll hear from two leaders of Lane County’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service and learn about the vital role they’ll play in the event of a major disaster.
Dunne: Kathryn Catherwood and Jeff Hall lead the Amateur Radio Emergency Service for Lane County and West Lane County, respectively. Thanks to you both for coming in to chat with us.
Catherwood and Hall: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Dunne: Kathryn, tell folks: What is an Amateur Radio Emergency Service? What does it do?
Kathryn Catherwood: It’s called ARES, Amateur Radio Emergency Services, and it’s a community of volunteer ham radio operators who provide their skills and equipment to help the community in case of an emergency.
Dunne: Okay. Jeff, maybe talk about why that’s important. Kathryn just explained what it is. Why is it important to have ARES in our community?
Jeff Hall: ARES, which Kathryn mentioned, is a specialized group of ham operators, ham radio being another term for amateur radio. It’s an independent infrastructure, separate from cell towers or the internet. In most cases, ARES members operate completely off-grid with batteries and solar power, so we can use different frequencies for short- and long-distance communications and operate when all other systems have failed or are down.
Dunne: Kathryn, you and I were talking off-mic about building community. Tell listeners about that: why it’s important for ham radio operators to form that kind of community, and what it can become on our worst day, when a community-wide emergency occurs.
Catherwood: On that really bad day, the people you’re going to be able to count on most are your neighbors, your community. By working together to get to know each other and build the familiarity and bonds necessary for good communication, that’s the community we’re putting together right now.
Dunne: Okay, Jeff. I think I read that Oregon has a really high population of amateur radio operators. Why do you think that is? Why is it such a big thing here in Oregon?
Hall: It is, and I didn’t know those facts until Scott, our state Amateur Radio Relay League president, mentioned the numbers. He cited 20,000 ham operators in Oregon, and I agree with his sentiment that our many rural areas lend themselves to amateur radio communication. It’s also just a fun hobby, so I think our combination of retirees and remote areas leads people to get involved with amateur radio.
Dunne: Kathryn, talk about this both from the perspective of a hobby, like Jeff just mentioned, and the importance of it. How do you balance those two things: having fun, but also realizing you and your colleagues might become an absolutely critical part of recovery after a disaster?
Catherwood: We have weekly nets where we practice our skills to improve as ham radio operators for passing message traffic, which is what we’d be doing in case of an emergency. But about once a month, we also try to get out and do an activity. Parks on the Air is a fun one: getting out into our state and national parks, activating as a ham radio operator and communicating with each other. It gives you practice going off-grid and doing something fun with your equipment. We also build antennas and learn the skills we’d need to cobble together a station out of whatever’s available. Besides the fun of the activity itself, there are so many different things you can do with amateur radio. It’s not all about emergency communication, but putting it all together improves your skill as an operator.
Dunne: Jeff, talk a little more about that, about improving your skill as an operator. Can anybody do it? Does someone need any baseline skills before they pursue certification to become a ham radio operator? What does it take to begin?
Hall: There are ham operators of all ages here in the Florence area, West Lane County. We have a couple of new members in high school who studied and passed the test, and we have members of all ages and nationalities. It does focus a lot on the technical side of electronics, but it’s not too difficult. You don’t have to understand calculus to pass the test, but it does require some basic functions. One of the core tenets of electronics is Ohm’s law, where you calculate power, amperage, resistance and impedance using basic math, so that’s a large portion of the test. But like I said, age or technical ability doesn’t really matter. There are many options for learning the skills needed to pass the different levels of ham radio tests.
Dunne: Kathryn, I’ll go to you on the different types of radio designations. Can you talk about the differences?
Catherwood: Absolutely. Everybody’s usually familiar with walkie-talkies. Family Radio Service, or FRS, doesn’t require a license; that’s the first step into the world of radio. There’s also General Mobile Radio Service, or GMRS, which requires a $35 license from the FCC, no test involved, and the license covers your entire family for a 10-year period. You just get the radio, and there are various groups you can work with. With amateur radio, there are tests you have to pass, but I always tell people the test is like getting your learner’s permit: you study, you pass the exam. There are wonderful online services you can use to prepare for those exams. Then, once you get your radio, that’s when you really start learning. There’s a local group here in the Eugene-Springfield area called the Now What Net that meets once a month for hands-on practice: “Okay, I’ve got the license, I’ve got the radio, now what?” We start with the basics, like how to turn it on and charge the battery. From there, there are so many different directions you can go. There are many ways to get into radio, and every one of them is valuable.
Dunne: Jeff, like you said, you’re out there on the coast in Florence. Talk about how West Lane and Lane County work together, whether it’s training, having fun like you mentioned, or working together in a community-wide emergency.
Hall: We use our skills and communication equipment, like I mentioned. We have different frequencies appropriate for short- and long-distance communication. Out here on the coast, where we could be isolated in a disaster, we have a major artery, U.S. 101, that crosses the Siuslaw River. If an earthquake or flood damaged that bridge, we’d be pretty isolated out here. So the need to communicate with the main emergency coordination office in the Eugene area, to let them know what we need, whether it’s medical supplies, medical expertise, or just food and water, is critical. Being on the coast and susceptible to disasters and isolation, ham radio could play a big part in letting county and state agencies know what resources we may need.
Dunne: Kathryn, maybe walk us through a bit of a tabletop exercise. Let’s say an earthquake happens. How would your organization mobilize? What steps would the ARES program you lead for Lane County take to jump into action?
Catherwood: The first thing I tell everyone to do is make sure you and your family are safe and secure. You can’t volunteer until you know your family is taken care of. But beyond that, the first thing you’d do is get on the radio and listen to see who’s out there and what’s going on. All of our people know which frequency to report to, depending on which agency they’re working with. My group would be activated by Lane County Emergency Management, so I’d get word from the county that we were activated and what their need was, and then I’d go on the air and tell people where they needed to go and what their assignments would be.
Dunne: Okay. Jeff, you mentioned having some members who are in high school. Are you growing membership? Are more young people joining the ham radio and amateur radio community?
Hall: Sure, I hope so. We’re trying to develop a program with our local high school. Scouting is in decline in this area, but we hope to partner with scouting organizations again. We also do a lot of community outreach. We typically set up our equipment in the field and make contacts locally and across the country and the world, kind of like a contest, but it’s also a great way to test our equipment and connect with other ham operators. We advertise locally that this is a kid-friendly event, and we set up activities to show people our equipment. We have a station called “Get On the Air,” where we supervise and monitor members of the general public who aren’t licensed and help them make contacts themselves. That’s one way we’re getting not just younger people, but the general public, interested in amateur radio.
Dunne: Okay, Kathryn. Jeff just mentioned a key word there: global. Talk about the fact that this isn’t just a narrow range of a few miles. It’s a global community, isn’t it?
Catherwood: Absolutely. A lot of people make contacts on high-frequency radio. They talk to South America. It’s very easy to reach Japan from here; you just point your antenna west, and you have Japan, but also Europe. It’s a great way to reach out, and we all have something in common. I talked with a group of hams recently, and they were amazed when I asked what they did outside of amateur radio. They saw each other’s backgrounds and how diverse the group was, but we all do radio together.
Dunne: Yeah. Jeff, what about you? Talk about the community you’re building out on the coast, and the opportunity to speak with people in different countries.
Hall: Yeah, that’s a lot of fun, reaching out to people in different countries using our equipment. When we’re making those contacts, it’s pretty informal. Sometimes we get into nice long conversations about the weather, and almost always we talk about our equipment and how long we’ve been in the hobby, “on the air,” so to speak. It’s a fun, global community involved with amateur radio.
Dunne: Okay, Kathryn, last question for you. If someone listening right now thought, ‘This sounds like fun, this sounds like something I’d like to be a part of,’ what should they do?
Catherwood: If they’re in the Eugene-Springfield area, I’d say start by going to one of the club meetings. The Valley Radio Club meets the first Friday of each month at Norkenzie Christian Church on Crescent Avenue. The Springfield Radio Club meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Springfield Justice Center. Or, if they’d like more personal information, I’d be happy to answer an email at AI7RNU@gmail.com.
Dunne: Well, this has been great. We’ve been talking with Kathryn Catherwood and Jeff Hall, amateur radio emergency service leaders in Lane and West Lane County. Thanks to you both for coming on.
Catherwood and Hall: Thank you. It’s been a lot of fun. Thank you, Michael.
Dunne: Now let’s check in on a local middle school teacher who’s spending his summer trying to become the fastest cyclist from Canada to Mexico. Tanner Faris is a middle school math teacher here in Eugene and a marathon cyclist. Tanner, how are you?
Tanner Faris: I’m sore, but happy to be in sunny Los Angeles, Michael.
Dunne: The last time you and I spoke, you were getting ready for this monster adventure to set the fastest known time cycling from Canada to Mexico. How have things been going?
Faris: I put in six solid months of getting ready. I had an awesome plan to cut the old record down. The old record was nine and a half days, and I knew I could do it in about nine. About three weeks before I left, a guy got hold of me and said he was going to give it a shot, and he did it in six and a half days. I had to set my bar even higher, and I really wanted to give it a go. I hadn’t trained specifically for riding through the night. I kind of avoided that, since I’m a bit of a zombie if I’m not getting sleep. So I set some waypoints, benchmarks I needed to hit to have a shot at the new record. I’m going to come up a little short here, but I’m really proud of myself. It looks like I’ll finish in about seven and a half days, two days off the old record.
Dunne: Wow, that’s amazing. Congratulations. For folks who can’t even imagine doing what you’ve done, what were some of the high points, and what were some of the low points?
Faris: Sure. Getting to ride across the entire state of Washington in one day was amazing, taking the ferry across the channel, riding around Highway 101 in places I hadn’t seen before. And I love the Oregon coast; that’s home, so I covered that in a couple of days and it felt so familiar. Some of the low points: getting stuck on the side of the road trying to make it to hotels. I’d been getting in at about 3 or 4 in the morning, and like I said, when I’m sleepy I’ve had to take some micro-naps on the side of the road, or I start hallucinating, which isn’t a lot of fun.
Dunne: What was it like through California? That obviously presents a whole new set of challenges, especially with hills and heat.
Faris: Yeah, the Northern California coast, I wasn’t ready for how much it went up and down. To cross the creeks there, since they don’t have crossings on high bridges like Big Sur, you have to drop all the way down into a gulch and then climb an equally steep hill on the other side. You do that about 100 times. I measure my climbing in Fox Hollows, and I probably did at least 100 Fox Hollows.
Dunne: Wow. Other than trying to break the record, remind folks of some of your other motivations for attempting this epic journey.
Faris: Definitely. It goes back to what I do as a teacher. I ask kids to do really difficult things every day, and I want them to know there’s always a little more to give, even when they feel like they’ve reached their limit. I’ve had to keep telling myself to practice what I preach, whether that’s trying to nap on the side of the road or pushing through to get to the hotel and get those 250 miles in that I’d planned each day. I’ve been able to do it, and I feel really good about it, and I know I can bring those lessons back to the classroom.
Dunne: I think it’ll be a lot of fun when you get back in September and your class asks what you did this summer; you’ll have a great story to tell. I also recall you were raising some money and awareness for how amazing a person can be when they set their mind to something.
Faris: Yeah, certainly. The goal-setting piece has been huge for me, letting people know that you can stretch yourself beyond what you think is possible. That’s what I’ve done with this attempt. I knew I could do it in nine days, but I told myself I’d give six and a half days my best shot, and it pushed me further than I’ve ever gone to do something amazing.
Dunne: Once you finish, do you think in a few weeks or months you might try again, or was this enough to meet your initial goal of beating nine days?
Faris: After 48 hours of no sleep, I wanted nothing to do with this again. But now that I’m getting close to the finish, and I know that if I tighten up the logistics a bit I could really make a go at six and a half days. I’ll take a couple of weeks, let my body heal, let my mind heal a little. I’ll be really happy to be off the bike at the end of this.
Dunne: Take us through the first few days after you’re done. What do you want to do?
Faris: I just want to see my kids. They’re flying out, actually here, just arrived in San Diego this morning, and they’re going to meet me right at the border crossing in Tijuana. It’s amazing to think we’ll be hugging each other in just a little bit, and I’ve still got all of Orange County to go, so a lot of great roads still to see.
Dunne: Yeah, you do. And Orange County, for folks who may not know, that’s huge. You still have a ways to go, but it’s really inspiring what you’ve been doing, and it’s great that you’ve been safe. Thanks again so much for checking in with us from the road.
Faris: Thanks a lot. You take care. Bye-bye.
Dunne: That’s the show for today. All episodes of Oregon on the Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Tomorrow on the show, we check in with EWEB as it prepares for the hottest part of summer and has tips on how we can stay cooler. I’m Michael Dunne, host of Oregon on the Record. Thanks for listening.
