Local emergency radio experts take part in global communications test

John Babbitt taps out a message in Morse code to an Ohio listener on Sunday during the annual 24-hour ham radio test of emergency communications across the globe. [Click to enlarge]

The crackling frequencies of short wave radio and the tap-tap-tap of Morse code beeped across the globe from a Dyersburg field last weekend as local ham radio experts took part in a worldwide test of emergency communications.

The 24-hour test included 35,000 other ham radio operators in the U.S in the American Radio Relay League's yearly field day competition.

Edward Singleton said the test assures amateur radio operators are up to the task of maintaining the last line of communication in a disaster.

"If for any reason we were cut off from the outside world, officials would be looking to us to provide communication," said Singleton. "We could tell them what frequencies were available to use in any situation."

John Babbitt was busy inside a tent tapping out Morse code to ham operators in the Midwest as the operation wound down at 1 p.m. Sunday.

"It goes across the world," said Babbitt, who said he has all but two of 333 ham radio districts across the world -- both in uninhabited island groups in Southeast Asia.

"It's a real accomplishment to get that many," he said.

Singleton explained once a contact has been made with another ham radio operator, that contact must be verified and sent to the FCC. Postcards with images of the local area are passed between the operators as proof of contact. Sometimes the cards take years to be sent.

Babbitt has postcards from as distant as Siberia and Sudan. His postcard has a photograph of the Dyer County Courthouse.

Antennas for local coverage and global range were erected in a field north of Dyersburg High School and west of Dyersburg Regional Medical Center. Babbitt said the group in the past has used Okeena Park and the Dyer County Fairgrounds to transmit.

The worldwide test mandates generators must be used as the sole electrical supply for the radios. The group set up tents and an RV to sleep in shifts during the 24-hour test, which started at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Babbitt said the Dyersburg group at one time counted almost 30 ham radio enthusiasts in its ranks, "but there's not many of us left, and that's bad, because it's an important duty."