Plenty of people attending Hamfest 2017 at the Painted Hand Casino had talked to George Williams before, but they might know him by another name. He would be better known by his call sign VE5GTW, or “Great Tasting Whiskey.”
“In ham we always put a strange tag on it. Victor echo five golf tango whiskey are the legal phonetics, but they call me Great Tasting Whiskey which is also GTW. I picked up that nickname long before I had the actual call sign.”
Saskatchewan Hamfest 2017, in Yorkton for the first time hosted by the Parkland Amateur Radio Club, was the annual gathering of ham operators spread across the province to have a chance to meet in person. While Williams notes that they talk on the radio all the time, they don’t see each other very often.
“It gives you a face to relate to, to me that’s important.”
The other goal is to get more people into the hobby. One of the ways to do that is the flea market component of the fest, and the old equipment from many ham operators is put up for sale. Williams got his start with a used radio he bought at a flea market.
“It got me on the air, and I progressed from there.”
Ham radio might be primarily a hobby, but it’s a hobby with a real world application. In emergencies, radio is a reliable form of communication when the cell phone network is down, whether it’s down due to a disaster, a missing person in an area with poor cell phone coverage or, for a very recent example, if fibre communication lines are cut accidentally like they were in the maritimes earlier this month. Parkland Search and Rescue was at the event recruiting ham operators to help them out with their technology, as the radios are their primary form of communication when doing a search.
“You can put up a wire outside, hook up a radio, broadcast and go half-way around the world with it. Ham radio is the last ditch effort, and we’re set up for it. Most of our repeater systems are on battery backup, so if the power goes out we’re still communicating. It’s old fashioned, it’s a hobby, but it still serves a purpose in major emergencies,” Williams said.
This is also why the group wants to get more involvement from kids to keep the hobby going. the Parkland Amateur Radio Club is hoping thy can get schools in the division to host a communication fair to teach kids about amateur radio and generate some interest. A 15 year-old in the area had just received their advanced operator certificate.
Williams emphasizes that getting started is relatively easy, and more importantly, people in the hobby are willing to help.
“There is no age limit to getting your license as a ham operator. It’s not as hard as it used to be, it takes some studying, but the basic radio exam, the bulk of it is regulations, to teach you when you can talk, who you can talk to, protocols, the legalities of operating a radio station... There is some electronics, but it’s fairly basic, just to get started. If you do well on your exam and get over 80 per cent, you get what’s called a basic plus, it allows you to communicate on more frequencies. When you get your advanced, you get more power, and the ability to host a repeater station. It’s a lot more electronics based. But the basic license is not that hard to get, and there are lots of hams in the area willing to mentor and help in any way.”
This might be the first time Yorkton was the host of a Hamfest, but Williams is impressed with the city’s support for the event and hopes that it’s not the last.
“It takes lots of work and it takes lots of support from the town that is putting it on, but I tell you it’s been awesome.”
