By Peter Landsdowne, Telegram & Gazette
Original publication date: May 19, 2011

Worcester, Mass. — If you ever get invited to a hamfest, don’t go looking for a big hunk of pink meat festooned with pineapple rings and cloves. A hamfest is a flea market run by and for amateur radio enthusiasts, who are affectionately known as hams.

According to Scott Olsen of Holden, president of the Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association, a hamfest is a browser’s delight. “You can find anything from vintage radios to state-of-the-art equipment to old radio manuals,” he said.

The 2010-11 season marks the 75th anniversary for CMARA, which began as the Central Massachusetts Radio Association March 13, 1935, the date of the club’s formal affiliation with the American Radio Relay League, the organization responsible for overseeing a variety of ham radio endeavors.

By 1948, five of the club’s original members had joined forces with a new generation of hams to form the Hilltopper Amateur Radio Association. By 1953, the club was incorporated as the Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association. CMARA continues to maintain its affiliation with ARRL.

CMARA Vice President John Brusa explained that the origin of the word “ham” for an amateur radio operator goes back to the early 1900s, when two groups of people were involved in the wireless communications technology that would evolve into radio: professional wireless telegraphy operators, and amateur radio operators who experimented to improve the technology for personal satisfaction rather than monetary gain.

“Well, the professionals didn’t care much for the amateurs,” Mr. Brusa said. “They used the term `ham’ as a pejorative word. It’s taken from the phrase `ham actor.’ By the 1920s, the amateur radio operators embraced the term `ham.'”

These so-called hams use the unused or unwanted bandwidths of the radio frequency spectrum for recreation or emergency communications. In the United States, amateur radio is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, which requires all hams to pass a test for a license.

“There are so many varied opportunities to explore,” Mr. Brusa said. “Bouncing a signal off the moon, talking to someone on the other side of the planet, tracking satellites in space, or even talking to an astronaut on the International Space Station,” he pointed out, noting that Ronald Garan, Catharine Coleman and several other astronauts are licensed hams.

Ham radio’s biggest contribution, however, is in emergency communications. For decades, skilled hams have acted as emergency communicators during fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural or man-made disasters.

For Mr. Olsen, the value of ham radio emerged in particular during 9-11.

“Everything else failed near ground zero. Cell phones didn’t work, the Internet was down, but hams saved the day because their radios were operational,” he said.

CMARA maintains the Southern Worcester County W1BIM VHF communications repeater, or automated relay station, which is used to increase signal range and links the area with emergency services and with the rest of the country in the event of an emergency.

Membership in CMARA is $25 a year, $20 a year for seniors 65 and older. The association meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at the Holden Senior Center in Holden. At the club’s next meeting

May 26, representatives from ARRL will present CMARA with a plaque honoring the association’s 75th anniversary.

CMARA’s membership includes training for the test for the FCC ham radio operator’s license, which costs $12 and is good for 10 years. Other membership benefits include access to ham radio programming such as “George’s Old Timers Net” and “The Doctor Is In,” an annual club picnic, annual holiday dinner, and annual field day.

The next field day will be held June 25 and 26 on the football field at David Prouty High School in Spencer.

“Our operators will grab their camping gear and `go-kits,’ set up their radios, antennas and emergency power sources, and get ready to contact ham operators across the globe,” Mr. Brusa said. Some 30,000 ham operators throughout the United States will be doing the same in an exercise designed to simulate a worst-case scenario of communications failure and how ham radio can overcome those failures.

Mr. Olsen advises potential hams not to be put off by all the technology and acronyms associated with ham radio.

“Our combined membership has years and years of experience in ham radio. We’re only too happy to guide people through the process of becoming a ham,” he said.

To learn more, visit www.cmara.org. 

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