Father, son communicate with the world

Chad Haviland and his 9-year-old son, Sam, enjoy backpacking along the Longleaf Trail, part of Kisatchie National Forest northwest of Alexandria. The wilderness sometimes makes the Havilands unreachable by cell phone and the outside world.

That's until Sam and Chad became amateur radio operators a little over a year ago. Now, the Havilands and their hand-held ham radios not only keep them connected to each other, but also to people on the other side of the globe.

"You get to meet so many friends," said Sam, whose ham radio call sign is KG5AYI. "I talked to India. I talked to people a couple of times in Canada. I talked to the same guy two or three times. He's cool."

The Havilands and members of the Acadiana Amateur Radio Association will be camping and talking this weekend during Field Day. Hams, who set up radio stations outdoors and run them on generators, will try to contact as many stations as possible during a 24-hour period.

The AARA will run a four-transmitter, Field Day station, W5DDL, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Horse Farm. The site is open to the public.

While the event is a fun competition, Field Day is also an annual exercise that demonstrates how ham radio keeps worldwide communications going during emergency situations. When cell phones, the Internet and other systems fail during hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, ham operators can keep messages flowing in and out of the affected areas.

This Field Day is the first for the Havilands. Sam is ready to camp out and get on the air.

"We're going to bring out hammocks and camp out the first night," said Sam. "Then, we'll stay for Field Day.

"It's pretty much at a big field with a cluster of trees. They also have this big bridge and I saw a bunny."

Sam is the youngest member of the AARA. To get their licenses, he and his dad had to pass exams on radio theory, operating practices and regulations from the Federal Communications Commission.

Chad, whose call is KG5AYJ, has enjoyed sharing the radio hobby with his son.

"It's a lot more fun doing it with him, than just getting my technician (license) by myself," said Chad, a computer network administrator at Abbeville General Hospital. "Studying with him was a lot of fun.

"The (FCC) Part 97 rules were written by lawyers. So it was a real stretch with grammar and learning what the question is asking, and the math and science behind it.

"To get him to pass his test and understand what we were talking about, it has pushed him way ahead in school."

Ham radio may soon become a family affair for the Havilands. Owen, Sam's 7-year-old brother, and his mom, Sonya, have studied for their licenses, sometimes called tickets.

Chad said the family's new friends through radio have been rewarding.

"We're really enjoying being members of the (AARA) club. That's something we really hadn't thought about in advance. It's really neat to go to those meetings. A lot of those guys are older than his grandparents, but not all of them.

"It's good to see him interact. I don't know if they took him seriously at first. They're really proud to have him in there."

Want to go?

Field Day with the Acadiana Amateur Radio Association

Starts 1 p.m. Saturday

The Horse Farm, 2913 Johnston St.

Information: W5DDL.org