#167 - New Amateur Radio Club on Oahu
A new Amateur Radio club has officially been formed on Oahu this week, but its membership is not limited to just Amateur Radio operators as other clubs do. Multiple membership levels are available for Amateur Radio operators, as well as CB, FRS, GMRS, and MURS users and even Short Wave listeners. There is even a membership option for people who don't use any radios at all.
Why would they do this? Simple, because everyone has to start somewhere. A person does not just start out as a licensed Amateur Radio operator, they have to advance to that point from somewhere else. We want to be able to assist these people in advancing to become a licensed Amateur Radio operator.
Membership is available to users of all forms of radio, and even non-radio users, however the ability to run for club office and to vote in club elections is reserved solely for those who are licensed Amateur Radio operators. This was done to entice all members into getting their Amateur Radio license so they are able to run for club offices and vote in the elections.
Even though it is an Amateur Radio club, it is much more than that. It is specifically for those of a "prepper" mindset. Not only are Amateur Radio license classes offered, but there are also classes on gardening, long-term food storage, water purification, canning & food preservation, etc.
Our focus on radio communications training is from an Emergency Communications perspective, but not like ARES and RACES does it. Where they train to pass communications for a "served agency", we are focusing on communications to keep our families and "communities" safe and alive. We also train our Amateur Radio operators in ARES emergency traffic handling so that we can work with them during emergencies if we choose to, but our families and "community" comes first to us, not assisting a "served agency".
We focus on what is known as "Guerilla Comms". With traditional EmComms, you are stationed at a shelter or other location and transmit and receive messages for hours or days. With guerilla comms we train to set up our antenna and radio quickly, pass your messages, and tear your station back down and move from the location quickly so that you can not be located. You never transmit twice from the same location, always moving from location to location. Triangulation can not be done to locate you when using those techniques. They have been used successfully around the world through many wars.
We also teach tactics for operational security, also known as OpSec. If we were to ever be invaded, or Martial Law were declared, we would still have the ability to communicate using these stealth tactics without being located. By the time they triangulate our signal and start heading there, we are already gone from the location, never to return again.
Some may snicker at the name of the club, but we really couldn't care less. The initials of Hawaii Emergency Radio Operators happens to be H.E.R.O., and we are more than ok with that. It is easy to remember, as well as the website www.HERO.radio also being easy to remember. Radio clubs around the world always go by their initials, and we are no different, we are Hawaii Emergency Radio Operators, or HERO for short.
For more information about HERO, visit their website at www.HERO.radio
