When all else fails, ham radio can help
BUTLER TWP — Through the security doors of the Butler County Emergency Services department is a locked office containing analog radio equipment and speakers that can operate without traditional power or telephonic communications.
The door sign may indicate that it’s an office for amateur radio users, but the equipment inside and the people who use it are considered an integral partner to emergency services operations in Butler County.
The Butler County Amateur Radio Public Service Group provides emergency communications when the emergency services department’s equipment goes dark.
“A lot of times cellphone communications go down, and any time you have a disaster or a flood or tornado, the first thing that goes down is established communication,” said Julian Savage, the group’s president. “That's when amateur radio operations become more vital because we can go out to different places.”
The Butler County ham radio club consists of operators from around the county, each with their own license to operate amateur radio. Possessing a FCC license is required to be an operator. But while amateur radio operators spend most of their time using the communication devices for hobby communication, the equipment also has the capability to work when other communications methods fail.
According to Savage, the group’s partnership with Butler County Emergency Services is longstanding. He and the group’s liaison with the department, Tom McCracken, have worked with its past three directors to keep the county prepared. The nearly 200-foot tall tower at the emergency communications department even has a repeater antenna attached for the amateur radio club.
The group hasn’t been deployed to provide services in an emergency in Savage’s memory. However, Steve Bicehouse, director of Butler County Emergency Services, said it’s still important for the county to maintain good contact with the club.
“We look at it as a partnership. It's for the greater good of the county,” Bicehouse said. “The reliability of the ham group and the radio system they have is something key to keep and foster that relationship to keep them engaged and practicing and always refining their craft.
“Because god forbid we have a complete system failure … these guys can be a key component.”
The equipment used by ham radio operators does not rely on electricity to function. They can send signals directly from their inputs that bounce off antenna to be picked up by others who have receiving devices.
Butler County’s ham radio club has six repeaters in the county that allow operators to reach anywhere they would need in an emergency. The equipment in the emergency services department includes high frequency, ultra high frequency and very high frequency radios, which can each send directional signals that bounce off repeaters and even the earth’s ionosphere.
Despite ham radio equipment being more rudimentary compared with modern technology like Wi-Fi and telephonic communications, Savage, McCracken and Bicehouse agreed that experts are needed to operate it in case of an emergency. The amateur radio group meets once a month at the emergency services office, and Savage said the members are always getting practice with the equipment through frequent use.
“You have to use a variety of equipment depending on the conditions and locations of who you're talking to determine what frequency or what band you're using,” Savage said. “VHF and UHF equipment is basically line of sight equipment … One signal goes up to a repeater antenna and the repeater will retransmit the signal down to another location.”
Savage said amateur radio operators have been deployed in natural disasters to places like shelters and resource centers, to provide contact between first responders and agencies like FEMA. The amateur radio office in the emergency services center has a “go box” underneath a desk, which contains all the equipment operators would need — Walkie-talkies, tuners, and emergency power — in case they have to quickly set up communications in a remote location.
McCracken said the amateur radio group could operate as a go-between if the professional dispatchers would get inundated with calls in an emergency.
“First responders, they might be busy with their responsibilities, so if Steve wants specific information, they can send us in to get that, no matter where it's at,” said McCracken, who is also a charter member and director of the Butler County amateur radio group. “That way, he can make the decisions that are most important for saving lives.”
Because of the amateur radio group’s partnership with Butler County, it is recognized by the American Radio Relay League as a special services organization. The group is registered as a nonprofit organization. It provides a report to the ARRL each year including information on what it did over the previous year.
Licensed amateur radio operators are not allowed to accept payment for services, as per the FCC, so Savage said being a nonprofit is important to keep the club funded. The club may have to buy new equipment or service old equipment, so its members do some fundraising for those purposes.
The group also has machinations to connect its repeaters to Wi-Fi, so they can be directionally oriented at will.
“If you key up one repeater, all the repeaters would key up and it would be a big repeater across Butler County,” Savage said. “We would throw up our call sign and every repeater would pick up instantaneously and broadcast regardless what frequency it's on, and we would expand our coverage throughout the county.”
Amenities like that would be on the club to fund, even though the county provides some services and equipment to the club upon certain requests. Bicehouse said he communicates with Savage and McCracken regularly to ensure they have everything the club needs in case of an emergency.
“That group is really knowledgeable and they have a lot of members,” Bicehouse said. “We try to accommodate them, they are a partner of ours.”
McCracken said about 40 to 50 members attend each meeting at the emergency services center. Many of them would be prepared to operate equipment in case they are deployed. He said that even though the county has not recently experienced an emergency that required the club to spring into action, its members are relatively active year-round.
“I think Butler County is one of the more active clubs in emergency communications in a wide area,” McCracken said.
