KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A group of Russian ham radio operators got more adventure than they expected when they took up camp on Chirikof Island recently.
The four men are members of the Russian Robinson Club. The expedition was sent to Chirikof Island with the purpose of making radio contact with as many ham radio operators as possible from around the world.
Two members of the expedition spent a few days in Kodiak after the trip and came to the KMXT studios to tell Maggie Wall about their adventure.
The expedition’s website has photos and more information.
First let me tell you about the expedition. The Russian Robinson Club is made up of a group of Russian ham radio operators. One of the things ham operators do is make contacts. They try to reach fellow radio people from all over the globe-partly just because they can. As it ends up no one ever made a contact with someone from Chirikof Island.
For good reason. There’s not much there except cattle. You may recall efforts several years back to remove the cattle from the island.
So these four Russians decide Chirikof Island is the place to be. One of the men-Alexander Kuznetsov is the mayor of a town in Russia that he says has a population that’s five times as big as Kodiak. Another-Yuri Zaruba-is the president of the Russian Robinson Club. These are the two men who came up to KMXT’s studio for an interview.
What was suppose to be a great adventure in ham radio connections ended up being just that and more-an amazing display of how ham radio operators can quickly communicate messages across the miles to bring help to the afflicted. One of the expedition members-Merle Elson-suffered heart pains and needed immediate help. Radio reception was bad, but the ham frequencies were soon abuzz with details of the incident.
Alexander Kuznetsov explains that he could only reach one other ham operator who was located in Russia…
— Russian Hams 1
And so how long this all these cross world radio calls take?
— Russian Hams 2 20 minutes
But while Kuznetsov and Zaruba could not hear any other radio operators out there, other radio operators could hear them. Many left messages of support on the expedition’s website:
— Russian Hams 3
If that seems like a lot of people, let’s try to put it into perspective.
Given how bad radio reception was during their stay on Chirikof, how many radio contacts do you suppose these Russian ham operators were able to reach?
— Russian Hams 4 5,500…all hours when we have conditions."
While we may have had some communication difficulties here at our studio, apparently language isn’t much of a barrier to ham operators around the world.
I’m Maggie Wall.
###
