At the top of Central Park, above the Castaic Lake Water Agency headquarters, sits a narrow, tall repeater, silently waiting to boost the signal of any transmission passing through it.
For a 24-hour period over the past weekend, the repeater was put to use, testing the field equipment of the Santa Clarita Amateur Radio Club during their annual disaster preparedness drills.
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“If we had an emergency, this is what we would be doing,” said club President Randy Comeau. “If we had an actual emergency, (say) an earthquake and we needed to set up, this is exactly what we would do.”
The group, which operates HAM radios in preparation for an earthquake or other natural disaster that could shut down communication in the Santa Clarita Valley, set up several antennas at the top of Central Park in order to contact other radio operators across the North American continent.
“We have three transmitters that are capable of transmitting at any given time,” said Comeau,
Ben Grokett, a member of the club, explained how the club is able to operate when utilities such as power may be shut off in the valley.
“It’s all a portable operation,” he said. “These are all stations that were brought from people who live in this community. They bring their portable equipment, and we run off the generator instead of the (power) lines.”
The group transmits both voices and morse code over the air to other HAM Radio clubs in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Get live news updates about Santa Clarita by following KHTS on Facebook and KHTS on Twitter“We’re an educational club. We just want the community to know what we’re doing. But it’s fun to make contacts,” Grokett said. “And it gives us a chance to test equipment and make sure that it’s in working condition. If we ever do have an emergency here in Santa Clarita, we’ll be ready for it.
Jerre Crosier has been a member of the club for over forty years, helping Santa Clarita through two major earthquakes.
In the 1971 earthquake, there was less organization, and the club was the only way to effectively communicate outside the Santa Clarita Valley.
“I spent an entire week handling communications,” Crosier said. “People would call me (and ask) ‘would you check on my family.’ My sons rode bicycles and motorcycles around town to see if people were okay.”
Crosier said that even with the advancement of cell phones, HAM radio is still a vital means of communication in an emergency.
“It is even more important today than it was in the ‘94 earthquake because there are a lot more people and a lot more problems can come up,” he said.
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You never know when there will be an emergency where power will be out for an extended amount of time, so I think this is a great thing. Thanks for sharing!