Neighbor News
Record Number of Rhode Islanders on Tap to Become Radio "Hams"
Despite COVID, over 40 Rhode Islanders became FCC-licensed in the Spring. Two additional classes start this week with another 35 students.
On Tuesday, 12 Newport County residents (4 Newport, 2 Middletown, 5 Portsmouth, 1 Tiverton) and 12 other Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York residents began online classes to earn their initial FCC Technician Class amateur radio license. Another 13 residents begin classes to earn the higher FCC General and Extra license levels this Friday.
In the Atlantic region, the National Hurricane Center currently shows one hurricane, two tropical storms, and three tropical disturbances. In the midst of an already busy hurricane season, record numbers of Newport County residents continue to signup and take FCC amateur radio license training.
The training is conducted online via Zoom by members of the Newport County Radio Club, a 150 member non-profit organization operating continuously since 1947. "Interest has been very high, especially across entire families. We're well on track to license a record number of Rhode Islanders in 2020," said class instructor Bob Beatty.
Find out what's happening in Newportfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rhode Island "hams" support the American Red Cross and local emergency management agencies. "Hams" use their handheld, mobile, and base station radios to easily talk and/or send data around the county, the state, the nation, with or without access to the electric grid, phone systems, or the Internet.
The FCC license has no age requirement, is valid for 10 years, and currently is free. If interested in earning a license and becoming "communications resilient," visit https://w1sye.org/?page_id=151