eHam.net News

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Something In the Airwaves:

Posted: 03 Sep 2016 05:49 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37488


Douglas Siliker is spending most of his Labour Day weekend scanning the
airwaves. The president of the Summerside Amateur Radio Society was at
Community Connections in Summerside, Saturday, activating the lighthouse
next door. "I got into amateur radio about 11 years ago," Siliker
explained. "Some of my friends convinced me to get my license and I've been
doing it ever since." This weekend, Siliker and other members of the
amateur radio society will be across the Island activating lighthouses. To
activate a lighthouse, Siliker has to have line of sight of the lighthouse
and then be active over the airwaves. "The society does it mainly for
historical purposes. Back in the day, lighthouses had to be manned and they
would use the radios to communicate with the ships. We do it for those
reasons," he said. Siliker put the word out, hoping to talk to people from
around the world. "I put word out that we would be activating these
lighthouses from at a certain time period so people can be on the band and
we can talk to them. Siliker has spoken with people from across the United
States, Europe, Japan and Australia. "I wish I could travel to meet them,
but just getting to talk with them is great."