Northern Ireland Radio Star

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Whilst football fans are preparing for Northern Irelands first major championship for 30 years, amateur / ham operators are celebrating a new star, 15-year-old Summer McCormick has passed her Advanced amateur radio exam, and in doing so became Northern Ireland's youngest advanced licence holder.

Summer, who is a student at St Patrick’s Academy in Lisburn, started on her amateur radio journey three years ago, passing her foundation exam at the age of 12. A year later, Summer gained her intermediate callsign.

Summer is a member of the Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society. Summers advanced level callsign is MI0YLT

Media Story - http://www.lisburntoday.co.uk/news/your-community/summer-15-advanced-ham-radio-star-1-7402378

ARRL National Field Day 2016

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San Benito County radio amateurs will hold a field day at Gilroy on 25-26 June 2016, to coincide with the ARRL National Field Day Event.

The group are educating by exploring the question of communication when their is no cell phone signal if in the case of power outages.

Field Day is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend; no license is needed to join in on the fun. The San Benito County Amateur Radio Association, along with the Garlic Valley Amateur Radio Club and the Morgan Hill Amateur Radio Society, will be setting up at the TEEC building at Christmas Hill Park, 7050 Miller Ave, Gilroy, and will be operating from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Stations will be set up that will enable people to talk to faraway places like Illinois, and Canada (examples of contacts made last year).  Radios that can make international and space (International Space Station, amateur radio satellites) contacts will be set up as well.

Media Story -  
http://benitolink.com/san-benito-county-hams-help-national-field-day

San Benito County Amateur Radio Association - http://sbcara.org/
San Benito County Amateur Radio Association (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/sbcara

ARRL Field Day - http://www.arrl.org/field-day

Radio Ham Praised for Service to Emergency Planning

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Retired nurse Fred Herr WD8AGH has been named the Medical Reserve Corps Volunteer of the Year 

Herr has been a volunteer with the Cabell-Wayne MRC for more than nine years assisting with flu clinics, ham radio operations, emergency drills, the emergency operations center and shelter planning. He is also a member of the Cabell-Wayne Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to provide expertise in HAM radio operations and emergency communications.

“His expert knowledge in communications has made him our go-to volunteer for ham radios and interoperable radios. Fred and his wife Melanie always answer our call outs and drills even when they are in another country. We couldn’t do it without great volunteers like Fred.”
— Karen Hall-Dundas, Medical Reserve Corps coordinator
Fred Herr WD8AGH

Fred Herr WD8AGH

"His expert knowledge in communications has made him our go-to volunteer for ham radios and interoperable radios," Hall-Dundas said. "Fred and his wife Melanie always answer our call outs and drills even when they are in another country. We couldn't do it without great volunteers like Fred."

Herr began working with Amateur / Ham radios as a hobby before he was married, but his interest was heightened when he realized the benefits they can have for public health in emergencies.

“That’s been one of its premises since the early beginnings. Even in our regulations in states, it can be used for emergency communications when other routes fail. It really started with (Hurricane) Katrina in 2005, they realized all these systems that the government builds and all the cell phone systems are subject to failure, whether natural or human made. Amateur radio has the ability to become a back-up for communications and the health department picked up on that.”
— Fred Herr WD8AGH