ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Amateur Radio Club participated in an international competition Saturday at Freedom Baptist Church.
According to Mark Gibson, club members practiced setting up radio equipment and using it in a location away from their main operating position.
Gibson said members get credit for how many stations are contacted and how much power is used.
Those stations were in several states along the East Coast and east of the Mississippi River — including Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine — as well as parts of Texas, California and Puerto Rico.
Stations contacted during recent competition.
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Jerry Ethridge, an elected member of the Richmond County Board of Education, visited during the competition. Gibson said Etheridge and the club discussed how to increase amateur radio participation in the school system.
“Amateur radio uses geography, mathematics, science, electronics, and more in order to improve their ability to make contacts with other stations,” Gibson said. “They are able to help out in times of emergency like when Hurricane Helene hit in western North Carolina. Amateur radio was the only form of communication they had during the initial period of the storm.”
The club offers no-charge amateur radio exams throughout the year, with the next scheduled for Sept. 20.
The club’s next meeting is July 12.
For more information, contact Gibson at markgibson6822@gmail.com.
