Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club President Jonathan Pearce, 76, of Deptford recalls the “devastating” 2021 tornado that ravaged through neighborhoods and “doubled over” the radio facility’s approximately 70 to 80 foot antenna towers.
“It ripped through Mullica Hill,” he said. “And it ripped off the tops of a whole bunch of houses, and we (the facility) were right smack in its path.”
Two years later, bouts of severe weather that have continued to affect South Jersey — including a June 5 tornado warning in Salem County — are shedding light on the fragility of the modern digital communication networks and generating increased interest in obtaining amateur radio certification, club members explain.
Amateur radio operation, also known as ham radio, is an activity that involves radio communication for non-commercial purposes, and can be used to establish communication networks in virtually any location during emergency situations.
“If we have a widespread failure of the cell phone network, for example, and the internet goes down, we can still communicate via ham radio,” said Christopher Prioli, 68, of Pitman, who serves as chair of the group’s education and membership committees. “One of the things that drives the current interest is the fact that people are aware of the fact that we are dependent, very dependent, on a very fragile system that really has no backup.”
Since its 1959 establishment, the amateur radio club has remained a staple in the Gloucester County community, persevering through decades of technological advancement. The club is one of thousands of its kind across the U.S., and offers certification courses, in addition to frequent meetings and events open to the public, as well as weekly “nets,” in which several club members gather to engage in on-air discussions.
Recording Secretary Michael Resnick, 73, of Vineland, said the club’s facility is equipped with two complete stations.
“One station is the (High Frequency) HF, which is primarily the shortwave type of communications,” Resnick said. “The other one is (Very High Frequency) VHF and (Ultra High Frequency) UHF, and we do satellite work there. We do a lot of bouncing a signal off of various satellites that are within the scope of our antenna system.”
According to Prioli, the organization, which is the only ham radio club in the area with a physical facility, currently has over 200 members on the roster, and is only continuing to grow. The current entry level amateur radio license course has 18 students, which is a significant increase from the typical class size, Prioli said.
Some students and club members view ham radio as a pastime, while other students, referred to as “preppers,” gain their certification to communicate with loved ones in case of an emergency.
“We have families, mom and dad, and son or daughter, want to get ham licenses just in case something like that happened,” said Pearce.
In an effort to engage the community, the club is slated to host its annual field day later this month, a two-day event that challenges ham radio operators to set up radio stations using temporary equipment as part of an emergency communications demonstration, according to Pearce.
With the unpredictability of the weather and the uptick in natural disasters, Pearce believes the amateur radio club will continue to cement its place in Gloucester County for years to come.
“There’s always going to be a need for this type of emergency communications,” Pearce said. “If there’s a hurricane, or a tornado, or something like that, that shuts down power and wipes down the cellular service, public service communications and other forms of communications, all of a sudden, you have no other way of talking. But hams, we can stick an antenna up and be on the air in a couple of hours.”
