“I got it, I got it,” John Kennedy yelled excitedly as he watched a computer screen readout.

Kennedy, a member of the Ozone Amateur Radio Club in Slidell had finally located the track of the International Space Station and as it comes over Slidell, and his computer screen is filled with messages from ham radio operators talking to the astronauts from Mexico to Florida.

Getting in touch with the ISS was just one of the highlights last Saturday during the club’s Annual Field Day event held at their emergency communications building at the corner of Cousin and Fourth Streets next door to the Slidell City Court.

Ham radio operator John Kennedy watches a computer screen with a track of the International Space Station waiting for the time when he can hear the astronauts talk to the ham radio operators. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

But tracking the ISS is not the most important part of Field Day. Always held in the last weekend of June, Field Day is an annual event where amateur operators all over the country test all their equipment and get in touch with each other in a simulated disaster scenario.

Ham radio buffs can be the only means of communication during a disaster, and that was demonstrated during Hurricane Katrina.

“When all other forms of communication are down, that’s when we get to work,” said Tom Goertz, president of the OARC.

During Katrina, cell phone towers were knocked down, there was no electricity for phones, and the only form of communications left was amateur radio.

Club members John Kennedy had set up his radio at the National Weather Service facility on Airport Road, and Mike King was set up at the Northshore Regional Medical Center on Gause Boulevard. Between the two of them, they were able to relay important information about conditions in Slidell to the outside world.

That was especially important for the NWS, which had lost all power except for Kennedy’s radio. Kennedy was recognized by the National Hurricane Center in Florida for his work on relaying important weather information between the two government facilities. King said he was relaying information from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to other parts of the parish and state.

Goertz said amateur radio operates on its own independent power supply, and under disaster conditions, all ham operators are expected to relay messages free of charge.

“It is illegal to charge anybody for sending messages. We do this for the public good,” Goertz said.

Field Day lasts from 1 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Sunday. For 24 hours amateur radio operators run their equipment from all sorts of locations.

Some go out in the woods with generators and homemade antennas and broadcast from remote locations. The idea is to contact as many fellow ham operators across the country. The members of OARC usually don’t do it, but a lot of operators will stay up the entire 24 hours. Ham operators usually contact an average of 3,000 other radio enthusiasts across the country during Field Day. Operators are also in competition as they get points for the number of contacts made.

“This is a big day for all hams across the country,” Goertz said.

The reason amateur radio is so effective in times of disaster is because they don’t need a lot of power to operate. One watt can send a radio signal over 1,000 miles. OARC member Ron Riviera has been running his radio on solar power ever since Hurricane Gustav. Also the equipment hasn’t really changed much in the 100 years amateur radio has been around, and the equipment is simple and works.

“The simplest is always the best,” said OARC member Roger Cagle.

Ham operators usually use high-frequency gear. These radios send signals that skip across the Earth’s ionosphere, enabling operators to talk to each other around the globe.

The technology has caught up with the times though. There are hams, like Kennedy that use satellites, by bouncing signals off them. He used his rig to contact the ISS. Using satellites is limited because of time. The satellite only stays overhead for a short time. The ISS was only over Slidell for several minutes. It travels at 18,000 miles per hour.

Then there is line-of-sight which uses repeater towers to send signals, but that is limited by the amount of power and height of the antennas, Goertz said.

“High frequency radio depends on weather conditions,” he said.

There are about 60 hams in the OARC, and the club is looking for more people interested in amateur radio. Katrina depleted their ranks. All operators have call letters. Goertz’ is W5HWQ, Kennedy is N5PGO, and King is W5PY. This is how they usually know each other, and call each other by their call letters.

“We hardly know anybody’s last name,” King said.

Anybody of any age can be a ham operator. The only requirement is that they pass an FCC test to get their license. There are three classes of licenses, and depending on which one an operator has determines which radio frequencies they can use.

Field Day for the OARC is a warm up for their Hamfest they will have at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium July 18. Ham radio enthusiasts from all over the region gather to hear lectures, swap and sell equipment and generally put a face to call letters.

“Hamfest is good for seeing people face-to-face,” King said.