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The Watertown Amateur Radio Club is putting out the call for new members.
Founded in 1982 with members from Watertown and the surrounding communities, the group of radio enthusiasts enjoy communication using shortwave radios for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, contesting and emergency communications. The club has more than 30 members from all around the Dane, Dodge, Jefferson and Waukesha county areas.
Denny Berg, 67, of Watertown said ham radios place an individual one twist of a dial or tap of a touchscreen away from the rush that comes from meaningful chat with people on the other side of the globe. He was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 and celebrated 50 years as an operator in 2020
Berg, who goes by the radio call sign, WB9MSM, has been a founding member and the president of the club several times during its 40-year history. He is looking for new people to join him and others in the Watertown Amateur Radio Club.
“We wanted to reach out to other hams (amateur radio operators) and share our true enjoyment of the hobby with others,” Berg said. “That’s why the club was founded.”
The club offers newcomers the opportunity to connect with fellow “hams,” said Berg.
“This is important as newcomers generally don’t have much experience,” Berg said. “Our club has members who have lots of experience in the many different aspects of the hobby. We, as a club, can steer new members in the right direction with concerns they may have about most anything radio related. It’s just a good group of operators who share the same hobby of amateur radio.”
The club provided communication support during the early years of the Riverfest Art and Craft Fair and Oconomowoc Art Festival, Berg said.
Claude Held of Watertown is also a founding member and past president of the Watertown Amateur Radio Club.
Building his own ham radios in the 1960s and 1970s, Held said there’s a public aspect to ham radios that makes them useful during emergency situations. Ham radio operators often work with their respective county in Wisconsin when there is an emergency, such as the Watertown flooding in 2008.
A past Watertown fire chief wanted ham radios in Watertown in case of an emergency, Held said.
The Watertown Amateur Radio Club also helped with communications during the tire fire in 2005.
That’s why newcomer Erich Doehler, 46, of Watertown recently pursued his license to operate a ham radio.
“I want to say I have been studying on and off for 30 years,” he said of his love for amateur radios. “Right now, I can go to my radio shack and have a random conversation with a random person who also has a ham radio. It doesn’t matter how old one is or what gender the person is or what license the person has—it’s kind of nice to connect with other people.”
Shortwave listeners, area hams and radio enthusiasts are encouraged to attend their monthly meetings at the Watertown Senior and Community Center on the first Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Terrace Room.
For more information, call Berg at 920-262-0880 and leave a message or visit the club’s website at www.warcwi.org
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