Technological progress in communications has made stunning gains in the last few decades, especially with the internet and cellular phones, but amateur radio devotees still enjoy chatting with other crackling voices over the ether.
Dave Snydal, a ham radio operator for more than 40 years, has a full radio set in one corner of the basement in his home in Brandon that he uses to chat with his buddies around the province and the globe.
But nearby, he has a computer and high-speed internet access that enables him to make Skype video and voice calls to his daughter and her family in Panama for pennies per minute.
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Snydal, 82, a former president of the Brandon Amateur Radio Club and founder and curator of the Manitoba Amateur Radio Museum, appreciates both the old and new communications technologies.
The greatest advantage of ham radio, he said, is that its underlying network of decentralized volunteer operators is so dependable.
Many of them are farmers and rural residents who got into the hobby when they were young and had a fascination with electronics. Many saw it as a way to bridge the isolation living in the rural Prairies.
Snydal remembers how he used to use his radio to help local people get in touch with relatives working in remote areas in northern Manitoba or farther afield, such as Alert, a Canadian military outpost on the northern shore of Ellesmere Island.
“This was in 1969. There was no telephone, no internet like they have now. The only communication they had was calling on amateur radio,” said Snydal.
Although the internet was designed by the United States military to withstand a nuclear attack, it is unclear if it would work for most people in the event of a total failure of the electrical system. Ditto for cellphones, Snydal said.
When things threatened to go black, like in the months leading up the Y2K bug, and during the 1950 flood, police contacted ham radio operators to ensure the alternative communications system would be available in case the unthinkable happened.
“Every major disaster, they really count on us in a way,” said Snydal. “But our numbers are getting down, so I don’t know what they are going to do. If we had a major disaster now, I don’t know if we could supply all the operators they would like.”
At the museum, the club has two old 5,000-watt diesel generators formerly owned by Manitoba Telephone System and Manitoba Hydro that were rebuilt. The club has a standing agreement with a local reeve to put them in service in case of an emergency. Fuel for the generators is kept on hand, he added.
“It’s just like my wife says, ‘If the power goes out, I’ll just go and get gas.’ But they won’t be able to pump any gas if they have no power. So you’ve got to keep those generators full,” he said with a laugh.
With a diesel generator backing up the local radio tower system, hams equipped with hand-held units stationed around the city and nearby could maintain communications with the outside world. In remote areas, amateur operators could link their 12-volt DC units up to batteries charged with solar panels, making them capable of operating independent of fuel or outside electricity for decades.
The cost of a decent amateur radio system, he said, ranges from $200 for a used outfit to $2,000 for top-of-the-line new equipment.
Many operators used to build and repair their own equipment, but the number of technically proficient hams has been dwindling as they get older, Snydal said.
Ham operators must be licensed and pass a test before being allowed to go on air. Snydal estimated there are about 2,500 operators in Manitoba, and as many as 100,000 around the world.
Mike Bilowus, president of the Brandon club, bucked the technology trend away from radio toward the internet and got into the hobby in 2000.
“There’s still something intriguing about just using the airwaves to communicate. It’s kind of a challenge to talk to a station halfway around the world versus doing it on a phone line that is almost like a guaranteed connect,” he said.
“Depending on the solar activity at the time, bands will open up and you can talk to Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It’s kind of neat.”
Bilowus has spent quite a bit of money on his hobby, and has even added a generator in case the power goes out.
“If the end of the world comes, I’ll be communicating until the bitter end,” he joked. “So long as I still can get gas for the generator.”
