Being a techie at heart, plus living in Alaska, Ham radio is a natural hobby for me. As CIO, I have historically been responsible for creating and maintaining the radio / repeater systems for the hospitals where I have worked. Yes, I know…isn’t that typically the domain of facilities management? Yes, typically it is, but with the convergence of all these technologies, it has made sense for the Technology Group to take on radio communications as well.
Since I have been exposed to commercial radio for many years, including my time in the U.S. Army, I decided to take the FCC’s amateur radio license exam (also known as Ham Radio). This was something I had wanted to do since I was in high school. I tried to learn the information while in my teens, but I could never get down the required Morse Code skills. A few years back, the Morse Code requirement was removed from the test, so I decided I would go ahead and get my license.
I am a General Class operator. I live in Bethel, Alaska and we have a local radio club known as BARK (Bethel Amateur Radio Klub). Our local repeater is setup as IRLP Node 3465. With this technology, you can connect to our local repeater from the Internet. A list of IRLP Nodes around the world can be found here.
If you are a Ham and would like to give me a call you can reach me via this IRLP node. My call sign is KL2RA. My wife, Coryee Hamons is also a licensed Ham and her callsign is KL2RB.
This is a fun hobby that also fits well with my tasks in emergency management here at the hospital. If you are interested in getting your license, please don’t hesitate to contact me at spencer@itpodcast.org.
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This post was written by Spencer on March 24, 2009
