Nebraska amateur radio operators set up for a worldwide competition

People from all over the state of Nebraska are setting up their very own antennas, and radio operation centers.

All in a competition to see who around the world can set up their own radio station and make the most contacts, and all of this is just for the love of radio communication.

“HAM radio also known as amateur radio is a hobby first and foremost we are people who enjoy radio theory we enjoy electronics theory and we just enjoy communications with people over the world,” Justin Williamson with the Nebraska Amateur Radio Club said.

They spent all Saturday morning setting this up at Mahoney Park, but they also communicate not just for competitions but also for helping out around the community.

“What we can use that for is for a lot of different things we can use it you know just for making conversation with people we were the original social media, but also went get to put those skills to use for public event around town we provide communication support for the Cornhusker state games the Lincoln marathon and also in case of emergency situation,” Williamson said.

But it’s not all fun in games; they also help during very serious situations throughout the state.

“We can come out  here quickly get on the ground started establishing communication long communications not only are we talking right these locally but in the instance of the Nebraska floods we can be sending that information back to state emergency operations center in Lincoln without having to go through any relay or any other system,” Williamson said.