11 year old ARRL PIO

Burlington, NC -- We're all married to our cell phones. But when disasters strike, phone lines might go down. And that's when people turn to one of the oldest and most reliable forms of communicating -- ham radios.They've been around for a long time, but do they have much of a future?
A few dozen amateur radio operators got together and had a field day in the woods of Alamance County. They set up under tents and in a trailer to replicate how they'd have to operate if something like a hurricane or another tornado outbreak blew through.
If that happened, the radios could be the only way to send crucial information.
"We could still set up and get information in to and out of the area using the radios," field day chairman Steve Wedge said.
So, they're great tools in case of emergency. But who uses them anymore? In an age of cell phones and the internet, there's no way kids would enjoy this.
"I can just put my feet up on this table, send a little bit of Morse code and find somebody in Australia," 11-year-old Christopher Tate said with a smile. "And then they start telling me what the Australian landscape is really like out there."
Well, scratch that. Christopher loves being a "ham" -- that's what the radio operators are called, by the way.
He only slept for five hours Saturday night so he could get back out to the field day and keep making connections across the US and in other countries.
"It's a good opportunity to meet all sorts of people from different cultures," he said.
And people in your own backyard, too. Organizers say several folks from around the area stopped in to see and hear what they're up to.
One thing those visitors learned? Ham radio will continue to be one of the oldest and most reliable forms of communication as long as there are kids like Christopher around.
"Ham radio will not die," he said. "I just don't see it dying!"
Not only does Christopher have fun being a ham, at 11 years old he is the youngest public information officer the American Radio Relay League has ever had. Last year, 35,000 hams across the country participated in the field day.
WFMY News 2