Apr 2, 2008

2,000 amateurs learn cramming

County officials to honor seasoned ‘ham’ radio hobbyist

By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer

Ross Peterson has trained more than 2,000 amateur radio operators using a method most high school teachers would frown upon: cramming.

With his one-day crash course, Peterson trains local residents to pass the Federal Communications Commission’s licensing test, helping them through an initial barrier to becoming self-sufficient radio operators.

Of course, there is much more to learn about the hobby beyond the multiple-choice test, which covers on-air conduct, laws governing radio use and technical information such as emission modes or frequency ranges.

But Peterson, 59, said amateur radio is best learned through practice with the guidance of a seasoned “ham,” as radio hobbyists are called. The San Mateo resident draws an analogy to the DMV’s driving tests.

“Having the piece of paper that says you know how to drive really is where you start learning really how to drive,” Peterson said.

Peterson will be honored Tuesday by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for his training program, credited with expanding the county’s network of hams.

He started doing the all-day study sessions in 1998, with his friend and fellow ham John Portune, then a Foster City resident, who had casually been running a crash course on the FCC test for several years.

After Portune moved to Southern California in 2001, Peterson, who also runs a bakery equipment business, took over the program permanently.

He formed the nonprofit Bay Area Educational Amateur Radio Society and still teaches a class every three months to about 60 students per session.

Officials say hams provide a backup system to quickly disperse important messages during a disaster, when cell phone towers and public safety communications are overloaded, such as after the Bay Area’s last major earthquake in 1989.

“All I had to do was go out to my car and get on my ham radio, and in 10 minutes I knew more about what was going on than any of the civil services,” said Portune from his home in Santa Maria. “I knew within 10 minutes that (part of) the Bay Bridge had fallen down.”

Some members of local Community Emergency Response Teams — groups of residents trained to help respond to a disaster — have been trained as hams, Peterson said.

Every Tuesday, between 40 and 60 hams across the county participate in a “net,” a roll call on a certain frequency to check in and ensure the emergency system is working, said Sgt. John Diggins of the sheriff’s office Reserve Communications Unit, who went through Peterson’s course himself.

“On the whole, it’s a great way to get a license fairly quickly,” Diggins said.

Peterson says his program boasts a 90 percent pass rate and its $30 fee compares favorably to more extensive courses spanning several weeks, all for the same goal of passing the test.

Not all hams are in it strictly for emergency communications, though that is a key role. Some enjoy the technical aspects of sending video or data messages over radio; others simply like being part of a radio fraternity and getting to know other hams.

But, “We’ve all got to pass the same test,” Peterson said.



E-mail Shaun Bishop at

sbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.





PULL-OUT BOX

The next BAEARS course is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, May 17, at the College of San Mateo. The cost is $30 and reservations are required. For more information, visit www.baears.com.