(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
THE CLUB … Members of the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club stand at the North Pavilion at Harrison Lake during the club’s 70th year anniversary and OSPOTA competition.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
The Fulton County Amateur Radio Club held a celebration this past weekend for their 70th anniversary. During this celebration, members also competed in a worldwide competition called “Ohio State Parks On The Air”. Both events were held on Saturday, September 7th, and ran from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
During this competition, state parks across Ohio are “activated” and each club positioned at these parks will try to compete with other clubs for the most contacts made with other State Parks.
According to the OSPOTA website, the contest was created to promote public awareness of amateur radio and Ohio’s beautiful state parks system, contribute to the recognition that Ohio has a very diverse and wonderful ecology, and to promote camaraderie within the ranks of Ohio’s Amateur Radio Operators.
Fulton County Club President Bryan Patterson also explained that last year their team at Harrison Lake (K8BXQ) achieved the overall high score over 47 other clubs that participated.
This is a major accomplishment for the group due to all of the obstacles faced when trying to communicate with other stations in Ohio.
Club member Craig Szczublewski explained that it is easier to communicate with someone in California than it is with someone in Ohio. This is due to the signal being sent up into the ionosphere, which extends from 37 to 190 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The signal is sent up and bounces off and travels beyond the horizon. This means there is a bit of work involved to get the signal to travel where it is intended.
However, this does mean you can communicate with some fairly faraway places. Mr. Patterson explained that, just before the interview, contact had been made with an operator in Switzerland who was trying to get ahold of them at Harrison Lake.
In addition to the competition came celebration. Seventy years is a long time for anything, especially a local organization.
It is a time to celebrate and express pride and admiration to your fellow members for keeping an organization going. This was done in many ways, with one such way being the presentation of a plaque.
This plaque was presented to Ed Roth, in recognition of the Roth Family’s overwhelming support of their club.
Mr. Patterson explained that Nellis Roth, Ed’s father, was the founder of this chapter back in 1954.
With that in mind, and the gracious use of property in Tedrow for all the many years the club has been in existence, it made sense to honor Ed and the family. It helped to make this year’s event even more special.
ROTH … Ed Roth receives a plaque in recognition of his family’s overwhelming support to the club.
By: Jacob Kessler