If we lose internet and other forms of communication because of an emergency, there is one way to stay connected and get word out for help, and that’s amateur radio.
Members of the Sask-Alta Radio Club or SARC provide the service in this area which includes having several antennas in strategic locations across the region including at the Lloydminster RCMP building.
“That’s the first RCMP station in the last 40-years, south of the Arctic Circle that has a high-frequency radio station in it, and it is maintained by the Sask-Alta Radio Club. So, we have an agreement with the City of Lloydminster as part of their disaster services,” says Don Henry who leads emergency measures communications with the group.
Henry adds a similar set up is being built for the Town of Vermilion. Other towns with which they have agreements include Britannia, Eldon, MD of Wainwright, and others. SARC has antennas in those areas and pitches in to make recommendations about maintenance of the communications equipment at the various locations.
Amateur radio groups in various communities were key to keeping communication going during the wildfires. Henry explains that while cell towers have backup batteries to keep the cellphone communication going, the equipment at the cell tower sites does not have air-conditioning, so as the heat rises amid wildfire, the towers shut down.
Henry says their work extends to training people involved in missionary work like the Salvation Army, Red Cross, and Mormons, so that these people can stay in touch with their various organizations wherever they are in the world. He adds the Mormons “maintain a huge emergency measures radio system in North America.”
He says there are several of these antennas in the Lloydminster area and as you drive you probably never notice the “huge TV antenna” in the air.
Henry says SARC was involved when some 400 kids at College Park School were able to chat with the astronauts at the International Space Station for the full 11 minutes as it passed overhead.
Another contribution from amateur radio operators is a program called Winlink which evolved in the late 90s to allow people to get their email when they are doing things like sailing on the open seas.
“The amateur radio people created this program called Winlink and it morphed into, in early 2001, people realized that this was a wonderful system for doing emergency communications,” says Henry.
He adds there are commercial ways to get email, the beauty of Winlink is that it’s free. There are stations in the Lloydminster area that are devoted to Winlink.
Every year, on the third weekend in June amateur radio users will set up their equipment, generators and all, to transmit for 24 hours with other operators around the world at an event called Field Day.
Over the winter months, SARC will be holding its annual training course administered through Industry Canada, and anyone who wants to learn more can sign up by looking out for the social media posts.
