Members of the Lake Whitney Amateur Radio Society (LWARS) recently assembled on the shore of Lake Whitney in White Bluff Resort for a 24-hour deployment of amateur radio emergency communications. The national preparedness drill, Winter Field Day, takes place annually on the last full weekend of January.
The exercise is an opportunity for the 40 members of LWARS and similar radio organizations worldwide to practice emergency communications in a mobile environment under less that optimal conditions. The local group operated remotely in a donated travel trailer near the community center at White Bluff using portable power generation provided by the Hill County Emergency Management office.
Five separate antennas were successfully erected during poor weather conditions. Together, the antennae were paired with radio transceivers to provide the capability to transmit and receive communications on 10 different radio bands using voice, analog and digital along with Morse code and satellite methods.
The LWARS team can typically deploy a mobile base of operation in just a few hours and can coordinate with local authorities as well as the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
“We never know when, where or under what conditions our services may be needed,” said Roy McCleary, president of LWARS. “Our ability to deploy equipment and establish communications both locally and worldwide in a short period of time is a skill set that must be practiced. Quickly establishing a mobile base of operation has become second nature for members.”
“Our mission for this exercise was to effectively deploy away from our homes using portable equipment. The generous community of White Bluff provided the ideal lake-side location to establish our base of operation,” added Ron Franklin, chair of the Winter Field Day event for LWARS. “We successfully achieved 100% of our goals by using very low power to contact stations in 56 sections of North America as well in Belgium, Italy, U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Lucia.”
The LWARS team operated for 24 hours nonstop and was also successful in its effort to establish contact with low orbiting satellite stations.
Amateur radio operators have played a significant role in past emergencies and natural disasters, including communications supporting Hurricane Katrina relief, search and recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia and, more recently, with the fires that devastated Maui, Hawaii. The Hill County-based LWARS response team also assists local and regional authorities with community events such as parades, marathons and National Night Out events.
The Lake Whitney Amateur Radio Society team meets at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the Lake Whitney Public Library and welcomes anyone who is interested in learning more about amateur radio.
The group can also be contacted by email at LWARSCom munications@gmail.com or online at Facebook.com/LakeWhitneyAmateurRadioSociety.
The Lakelander 