While You Were Sleeping, They Were Volunteering

It's not something most people spend any time thinking about but it's a concern that keeps a small army of Chester County volunteers up all night at least once a year.

Ham radio operators in West Chester and Chester County spent 24 hours this weekend making sure that emergency lines of communication remain open and operational in case of disasters.

LLoyd Roach is one of the volunteers and a (56 year) ham radio operator veteran. He is also the public information officer for the Chester County Amateur Radio Emergency Service/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service Organization (ARES/RACES).  The group of ham radio operatiors supports the Chester County Department of Emergency Services 911 Center to back-up and supplement communications efforts in the event of an emergency.

From Saturday at 2 p.m. until Sunday at 2 p.m., Roach and a small band of volunteers took part in an annual exercise called Field Day which tests the endurance of both the operators and the equipment they employ for the 24-hour continuous event.

Roach tells Patch his day actually started much earlier on Saturday as he and fellow amateur radio operators set up a ham radio station at the Chester County Services Building on Westtown Road. 

The station was set up inside a County Emergency Services "super RV" that is outfitted to serve as a mobile 911 center in case of an emergency at the County Services Building.  But other ham stations around Chester County, the region and in fact all over the United States and Canada were set up in tents, backyards, and virtually anywhere that could accommodate an emergency power source and the ham radio antennas, which look basically like wires strung up between a small base radio transmitting station and something high. Sometimes that's a tree, or in the case of Roach's station, a portable radio town and generator that the county lent to the operation.

Why Does any of This Matter to the Average Person?

In the event of a weather or man-made disaster that knocks the 911 center or other emergency radio communications off the air, Roach says "we are officially the back-up communications for the department of emergency services."

"About four years ago, we had a not-so-bad snow storm. That not-so-bad snow storm ended up causing a lot of slush and ice on Route 30 near Devon and it caused power (and communication) lines to come down" Roach says while explaining the real-world need for the ARES/RACES network.

"There's a nursing home over there called Devon Manor. Devon Manor lost power. They have back up power and then they lost back-up power. Police and fire were trying to get to Devon Manor and the couldn't do it, and their communication (with the 911 Center) failed. We had two amateur operators on Route 30 at that time and they went over to Devon Manor and re-establish communications through our amateur radio circuits. Had it not been for them they would have had nothing." 

Roach says the ARES/RACES volunteers played a critical role in helping to get help to the site to get critical power restored for ventilators and other life-critical equipment.

This weekend's was the 80th annual Field Day exercise. The system goes back to a time long before cell phones and computers.  Roach says Morse code is still practiced and can be used in a time of emergency.

In times of emergency, it's become not as much a problem with communications being knocked out "but being overtaxed," Roach explains. When disaster strikes, everyone tries to make a cell phone call. Cell phones work on radio signals and can quickly overwhelm the system as happened during the Boston Marathon bombings, 9/11 and other disaster situations.  Just as text messages can often get through in those situations when a cell phone call fails, Morse code requires less bandwidth and can get through when radio frequencies are flooded.

"The Cockroaches of Communications"

On The Chester County ARES/RACES website  the group calls itself "The Cockroaches of Communications" because they can keep going through almost any situation. "members refer to themselves this way because, like the amazing cockroach, our communications survive," a note on the site says.

Hams Across the Region

Roach says the local group has "a cadre of about 80 volunteers who are able to get on the air with (virtually) a moment's notice."

In addition to the field station set up in the parking lot of the County Services Building, the hams set up stations all over the area. "There's one in Kimberton, there's one in Pottstown, there's one Norristown, there's one in Edgmont, Newtown Square and you'll see similar things, " Roach explained during an interview with Patch late Sunday morning in the midst of the exercise.

"You'll see similar things. Poles, trees, wires, all over the place. Guys will be in tents, they might be in mobile homes, and they're all operating under (generator) power. We have no infrastructure, no nothing."  That's what makes the ham operators so vital in case of a true emergency. If they have a power source they can get on the air and get in touch with emergency help.

There's Also Fun Involved

Roach says he started as a ham operator (his radio call sign is K3QNT) in his teens and he's been doing it for more than 50 years now.  During Saturday's 24-hour marathon drill, he was able to reach not only other hams taking part in the drill all over the United States and Canada, but operators who were listening in and chatting from as far away as Australia. (Australia is not part of the emergency exercise).