A sociable atmosphere, a welcoming community, competitions and a useful tool in an emergency -- although this may sound like Facebook crossed with Sept. 11, the Amateur Radio Club, one of the University's newest CIOs, can provide all of the above.
Since its creation in October, the Amateur Radio Club has been working out the logistics of finding office space and obtaining funds from Student Council to purchase equipment, but the group expects to be on the radio waves soon, said third-year Engineering student Mike Benonis, club founder and president.
This will not the first time the University has heard an amateur radio group. According to Benonis, the University had an amateur radio station in the basement of Peabody Hall until 15 years ago and, bringing an end to this interlude, the Amateur Radio Club plans to make its mark on the radio waves.
Members of the club will not be broadcasting talk shows or sharing their favorite music playlists -- that is the domain of mainstream radio. Instead, amateur radio operators -- hams for short -- use their radio know-how for chit-chatting, competitions and emergency situations if the need arises.
"Amateur radio is kind of hard to describe," Benonis said. "It's better to describe the people. Amateur radio operators enjoy talking on the radio and the technological challenges it brings them."
To earn the privilege of broadcast power, potential hams must take a test to become certified. The test for Tech, the lowest level, concerns the laws of the Federal Communications Commission, general amateur radio rules and a few electrical engineering questions, according to fourth-year College student Kevin Bender.
Once certified, all a person needs is a radio specially designed for amateur radio use, many of which operate on the frequencies just above those used for AM radio.
While Benonis said most radios can pick up signals as far as 50 miles away, hams can also talk to other stations worldwide using radios with lower frequencies. Some radios can pick up signals from hams in Tokyo, Berlin and even Africa if the earth's atmosphere is favorable for radio communication.
Contacting stations internationally is a ham activity known as "DXing," Benonis said. Hams can keep track of their worldwide contacts using special cards and can win awards for an outstanding number of cross-cultural connections.
"It's fun because you get to talk to people from different cultures that share the same interests as you," second-year Engineering student Dan Tran said.
Worldwide communication can become confusing, however. Benonis pointed out that although English is commonly used, thick accents over an already-shaky radio connection can make talking difficult.
Another amateur radio activity, known as contesting, challenges hams to make contacts with as many stations as possible within a certain period of time. Although Benonis attested that contesting is "a lot of fun," he said some hams go a little overboard, noting that "some people sink tens of thousands of dollars into equipment" for the purpose of contesting.
Amateur radio operation is not all fun and games, though. Amateur radios are also useful in emergency situations, especially during power outages or when land phones are down and cell phone service is impaired.
"It's really nice to have if your car breaks down," Bender said. "A lot of people have them around here because cell phone service is so bad."
If a ham's car breaks down or he has another emergency, he can send out a message on the local repeater, which will then re-broadcast the message to other radios in range. Chances are, Benonis said, someone will hear the request and can then call the police.
Despite all of their possible uses, amateur radios are used most often for chatting. Benonis said many people keep their radios in their cars and talk to other hams on the way to work. Bender equated amateur radio with "a free cell phone."
"One of the things that I find nice about it is ... I can be in my car, and [Benonis] can radio to me and say, 'Buy milk,'" Bender said, adding that chatting with other hams is a welcome alternative to Charlottesville's mainstream radio station selection. Although talking over the radio while driving may sound similar to Citizens' Band radios, Bender emphasized that there is a difference. While the content of amateur radio is regulated by the FCC, there exists no such rule for CB radios.
Chatting over the radio is also a "heck of a social-networking tool," Bender said. "You can talk to people about whatever ... You meet people who are into comic books, anime, computer games, fashion design" and a plethora of other interests.
Amateur radio attracts technology enthusiasts. Of the club's 12 dues-paying members, Bender said all but one is in the Engineering School.
"I wanted to provide an organization for people who are interested in amateur radio to learn about it and explore all of it," Benonis said. "People who want to contest, electrical engineers who want to build antennas -- we can provide a place for all these people."
Though Benonis said he expects the organization to grow by a few people, he doesn't expect more than 10 truly active members at one time; this, however works well for the group because of the amount of equipment it has.
"Ten is comfortable," he said.
Tran, who earned his license about six months ago, emphasized the welcoming nature of the hobby.
"It is a very open hobby, a very close community," he said. "It's almost like a brotherhood kind of thing"
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