Cedar City Offers Free Classes In Amateur Radio This Spring

Residents interested in learning more about amateur radio will soon have an opportunity to get on the air. Ron Shelly, vice president of the Rainbow Canyons Amateur Radio Club, recently appeared on the Big Picture Morning Show to invite the public to a free licensing class in Cedar City.

“Our club is holding a class for anyone who'd like to come learn about amateur radio,” Shelly said on the broadcast. The class will be held Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. on March 5, 12, 19 and 26, and April 2, at the Cedar City Senior Center, 489 East 200 South. The required FCC exam will take place April 9. “This class costs nothing. It's totally free. We do it as a public service,” Shelly said, noting there is a $15 testing fee and, upon passing, a $35 FCC license fee.

Shelly described amateur radio as a hobby with both global reach and local impact. “Well, first of all, it allows you to speak to others locally, citywide, statewide, regionally, nationally, and worldwide. We literally, our signals reach around the world,” he said, recounting contacts from South Africa to Russia. Operators can communicate by voice, written messages, images and even Morse code, though it is no longer required for licensing.

Amateur Radio Steps Up In Emergencies

Beyond the fun of making distant contacts, Shelly emphasized emergency preparedness. “If the grid goes down, what little backup power that the cell towers have will quickly disappear. And we're able to still be able to communicate,” he said. Because operators use and maintain their own equipment, they are not dependent on cell towers or traditional infrastructure. He added that messages can even be relayed to email addresses outside a disaster zone if a distant station still has internet access.

Read More: After A Day On The Radio, I Go Home And Talk On The Radio

The club also supports community events and emergency management in Iron County, providing communications for races, working with the hospital and coordinating with the county’s emergency manager.

For those interested in registering, Shelly said, “If you want to register for the class, you'd need to call Linda. Her phone number is 435-867-5914. 435-867-5914. We'd love to have you come join us in this fun hobby and just come.”

You can listen to our entire visit with Ron Shelly in the podcast below.