Like all of our other useful technical devices, ham radio sets have undergone a complete transformation in recent years.  Gone are the massive ham radio set-ups that often covered an entire wall of a room.  Today's home units are small, yet packed with state-of-the-art capabilities and most people are stunned at the complex functions that today's amateur radio operators shrug off as commonplace.

For example, at this year's Autumn in Bonham Bike Rally, support vehicles will be equipped with an Automatic Position Reporting System---a radio transmitter that relays its position back to headquarters, where a large screen will display real-time locations of key vehicles.  This works very similar to the transponder system used by the Federal Aviation Administration to track air traffic, only this impressive system will be operated by Fannin County Amateur Radio Club.

And gone are the days where everyone had to learn Morse code to become a licensed amateur radio operator.  In fact, a form of texting---low-power phase shift keying---has valuable benefits when the skills of amateur radio operators are needed during emergency operations.  The text can be referred back to or even printed out.

The Fannin County Amateur Radio Club also has members that are quite adept at transferring still photos over radio waves from remote locations.  Last year, this club was using a slow-scan analog TV system, but, by keeping up with rapidly changing technology, the local amateur radio operators have upgraded to a more functional digital system.

David Keene is president of the 45-member Fannin County Amateur Radio Club, an advanced group of amateur radio operators that assist the county in a variety of ways.

Most of this technology has very practical applications, which is why Fannin County Amateur Radio Club works very closely with the county's Emergency Management Operations and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members.  

If you would like to learn how to get your own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes, timing couldn't be better.  The Fannin County Amateur Radio Club will start ham radio licensing classes July 20 at the Fannin County South Annex.  Classes will be held on Mondays from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. 

For more information, call 903-583-9379 and leave a message.

(l-r) Roger Ashcraft, John Reeder and David Reeder give a demonstration of some of the new capabilities of the newest generation of amateur radio equipment.