“Tune in” to local HAM radio club’s field day celebration this weekend

LOS LUNAS — The Valencia County Amateur Radio Association invites the public to its upcoming field day this weekend to see why HAM radio has persevered throughout the decades and continues to fascinate people all around the world.

HAM radio, also known as amateur radio, is an officially-licensed hobby through the Federal Communications Commission.

“We are allowed to design and build our own radios that operate within the rules of the FCC,” said VCARA president John Schaaf. “We can modify them within those rules, and we have set frequencies that we’re allowed to transmit on. We communicate locally and around the world.”

VCARA participates in a national HAM radio contest annually, which the upcoming field day is a part of. Schaaf said all portions of the event, which takes place from noon to noon, Saturday-Sunday, June 22-23, are open to the public.

The event will be held at the VCARA clubhouse, which is the building at the southwest corner of the parking lot at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 700 Camelot Blvd., SW, Los Lunas.

“If you’re looking for something fun, different and interesting to do, come out and visit us,” said Schaaf.

Attendees can look forward to a barbecue that Saturday at noon to kick off the event, he said, and they will have a chance to speak on-air to other HAM radio operators far and near. Each contact will also generate points for VCARA to help advance them in the contest.

Schaaf said there will also be arts and craft activities for people to enjoy and games of “fox hunt,” where participants use highly directional antennas to locate a stuffed fox using radio direction finding.

The field day also serves as an emergency preparedness event, Schaaf said, as VCARA also serves as a volunteer emergency communications group.

“Our HAM shack is an emergency operations center for Valencia County,” he said. “HAMs all over the world will volunteer for natural disasters. Anytime we’re needed, most hands will be there helping out. For example, we help out with emergency communications for the pilgrimage to Tomé Hill and several of the bike rides around Valencia and Bernalillo counties.”

For instance, Schaaf said they provide communications between different checkpoints for the bike rides as well as emergency communications if somebody gets hurt. At the Tomé Hill pilgrimage, they serve as backup communications for deputies if something were to happen to their communications equipment.

VCARA is also dedicated to introducing amateur radio to new people, especially youth, “to keep the hobby alive for future generations.”

Most recently, this has taken the form of sponsoring an after-school amateur radio club at Valencia Middle School this past school year, which they were awarded a $10,000 Meta community action grant in 2023 to help fund.

“It’s a big success. The kids and teachers love it,” Schaaf said.

In the next school year, Schaaf said students at VMS will be able to get class credits for taking part in the club as it will be part of their curriculum. So far, one student has already earned his amateur radio license, which is not a simple feat.

“You need to know some basic electronics and learn some rules of amateur radio. You study and pass a test to get an FCC amateur radio license which gives us the rights to do what we do,” said Schaaf.

The Meta grant, he said, will also help them establish an after-school HAM radio club at Los Lunas Middle School this coming school year.

If you’re interested in learning more about HAM radio, Schaaf said anybody is welcome to come visit the clubhouse in Los Lunas from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday mornings when they meet unofficially. He said you can also find more information on the website, which is named after their club’s call sign, kc5our.com.

“It’s fun,” said Schaaf. “It’s a thrill for me to get on my radio and talk to somebody in another country without doing it via the internet. You’ll learn some things that you never thought you’d ever learn from basic electronics.”