Pittsburgh amateur radio group celebrates 80 years of providing emergency communications during disasters (Pennsylvania)

After eight decades of providing emergency backup communications on a volunteer basis during some of this region’s worst storms and disasters, members of the Steel City Amateur Radio Club will be hitting the airwaves this week to sing their own praises.

The club of about 60 members will be hosting a special event station each day until Saturday at their clubhouse in Collier. They will spend the week taking turns sending messages to other amateur radio operators around the world, sharing the news of their 80-year anniversary.

“Our club is capable of providing emergency communication services to the community if the need arises,” said Bob Mente, 56, emergency coordinator for Allegheny County Amateur Radio Emergency Service. “We have state of the art radios and antennas at our clubhouse and have a backup generator to provide power if the main electrical grid goes down.”

The Steel City Amateur Radio Club is an official relay station for Allegheny County Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Its partner agencies are the Pittsburgh Red Cross and the National Weather Service office in Moon.

Read more – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: https://bit.ly/3CMLmnr