STORY TOOLS   Print This Article E-mail This Article Special Reports Most Popular Send Editor Comment on This Article Hans Ericsson Dan Murphy, left, of Durham and Joe Natale of Mystic, members of a local ham radio group, operate a shortwave radio Saturday at the Submarine Museum in Groton.The Nautilus is in the background. TODAY'S TOP STORIES ± Palestinians Ban Militant Groups As Sharon, Abbas Meet In Jerusalem ± Surviving Rough Start In Small Town ± U.S. Officials Debate Need For Buildup Of Armed Forces ± Baghdad's Zoo Opens Its Doors, But Are Iraqis Ready For It? ± BBC Confirms Dead Scientist Was Source For Iraq Story ± Divide On Medicare Benefits Holds Up Bill ± Family Thanks Son's Lifesavers ± No Criminal Charges In Boston Church Scandal, Attorney General Says ± Rebels Wage All-Out Battle For Liberian Capital ± The Eagles Impress Across The Board At Mohegan Sun ± Who Will Train Epidemiologists To Battle Outbreaks ± Writing The End Was Hardest Part For Hepburn Biographer ± Young Aces Get A Taste Of The Wild Blue Yonder

By ANDREW RYAN
Day Staff Writer
Published on 7/21/2003

Groton — At the Submarine Force Library and Museum, they “hammed” it up all weekend.

They hammed with the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier museum in Charlestown, S.C.; they hammed with a coal carrier in Warsaw, Poland; and they hammed with ship steaming across Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

Yet with all that ham, there wasn't a chunk of cheese, a crust of rye bread or a dab of mustard. That's because we're talking about amateur — “ham” — radio.

“From 5 years old to 105 years, dentist to carpenters, anybody and everybody is a ham radio operator,” said Bob Rogers, 48, of Charlestown, R.I.

Rogers and a few other members of a local amateur radio club took their gear to the museum Saturday and Sunday as part of Museum Ships on the Air. The event connected ham radio junkies who were pointing their antennas from former military ships across the world that have become floating museums.

The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, served as Rogers and company's base. With a radio about the size of a VCR and a 25-foot antenna on the roof, the group made contact with up to 90 other museums, not to mention hundreds of other operators in ships and cars across the globe.

Sunday afternoon, the excitement was palpable. Crouched over a microphone, Dan Murphy, a Navy vet who served on the Nautilus for three years, made contact with a man and his radio who was driving in a car outside Nashville, Ind.

“We're getting well into the Midwest today,” said Rogers, listening as Murphy and the man in Indiana exchanged greetings.

Ham radio operators are licensed and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. For about $6, a potential ham can take a written test, get a license and go on the air. Like a crude Internet, ham radio operators can connect with people in every corner of the globe.

“Think of it as a big cell phone, ” Rogers said. “We're talking to anyone in the world who will talk to us.”

With clipped language and Morse Code, ham radio operators have abrupt conversations with strangers. For the most part, Rogers said, they spend their time practicing for emergencies. During a hurricane, blizzard, tornado or a terrorist attack, conventional lines of communications may be cut. Ham radio operators can step in to relay vital medical and emergency information, Rogers said.

At the same time, they poke fun. A man with a camera stepped up the radio at the museum Sunday and snapped a photograph. It was Bill Champagne, 48, a fellow radio buff from Ashaway, R.I.

“He's a ham!” Rogers said, pointing. “Literally.

Local 'hams' reach out to museum ships around the world Local 'hams' reach out to museum ships around the world Photo by JO1 (SW/AW) Mark A. Savage Joe Natale, a ham radio operator from Mystic, Conn., talks to other museum ships around the world during the annual Museum Ships on the Air at the Submarine Force Library and Museum Saturday. Broadcasting from the Nautilus Room and using the callsign, November-One-Sierra (N1S), the ham radio operators were attempting to contact approximately 83 museum ships around the world. The radio operators selected this callsign to use during the event because, according to Natale, Nautilus is the Number One Ship.   By: JO1 (SW/AW) Mark A. Savage 07/24/2003 Local amateur radio operators, or 'hams' as they're more commonly referred to, took to the airwaves Saturday and Sunday from the Nautilus Room at the Submarine Force Library and Museum (SFLM) during the annual Museum Ships on the Air. The hams, armed with a portable radio, microphone, laptop computer and an antenna set up on the roof of the museum, set out to contact other ham radio operators at museum ships around the world. "There are about 83 other museum ships around the world that we're trying to contact, and a lot of other people who just want to talk to us and find out more about submarines," said Bob Rogers, a ham radio operator from Charlestown, R.I. "Today, (Saturday) we reached up into the Northwest Territory of Northern Canada and out to the Azores. We also talked to a World War II Amphibious Landing Dock Ship, the only one left in the world, which was moving up and down the Ohio River this morning." While amateur radio operators can talk about anything from technical information to the weather or their favorite sports team, these hams were reporting how well they could hear the operators they were able to reach as part of an unofficial competition between ham radio operators. "That's what contesters do and that's mainly what we are," said Rogers. "We see how many people we can talk to in a 48-hour period and get points for that. The points are good for awards and certificates, and it's fun to do. We give our all-out effort and see what we can do with our station." When they're not broadcasting from the Nautilus Room, they broadcast out of their homes using large towers, beam antennas and more power than was available at the SFLM to talk to other amateur radio operators anywhere in the world. "If you can find it on a map, then I've talked to it," Rogers said. "Everywhere is reachable with radio-frequency. Talking to Australia is a daily occurrence, but we only talk to other ham radio operators who are licensed by the Federal Communication Commission." Anybody can become a ham radio operator. According to Rogers, all that's required to earn a license is to take an amateur radio exam, which costs approximately $6.75. All the information about amateur radio operators, the exam and exam sites are available at www.arrl.org.