Decades later, ham operator picks up where dad left off
Many amateur radio operators like Kevin Spinler build their own antennas. He put up the antenna next to a tent with the rest of his ham radio equipment for a field day in Owatonna last weekend. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
Kevin Spinler is continuing a family tradition of operating a ham radio that started decades ago with his father.
Spinler took part for the first time in last weekend’s Ham Radio Field Day. He found it to be an excellent opportunity to test his abilities as an amateur radio operator.
“It’s a big learning curve,” said Spinler after sending out his call sign over the radio system Saturday night in Owatonna. “I’m a newbie, this is my first time.”
Spinler pitched a tent on the grounds of McKinley Elementary School along with about a dozen other local ham radio operators. While some had tents, others utilized campers for their makeshift communications spot. He also erected a homemade antenna to transmit radio waves through the air, enabling communication between ham radio operators.
The retired Blooming Prairie area dairy farmer became a licensed operator in April after taking his test. “I wanted to do it sooner, but life got in the way,” Spinler said. In 2023 when he had a knee repaired, he figured it was a good time to become a ham operator.
“Dad was in it all his life,” he said. “I enjoyed it as a kid watching my dad make those worldwide contacts. It kept my fasciation alive. My dad’s enthusiasm got me into it.”
The ham radio emergency practice is held annually in the same 24-hour period from Saturday at 1 p.m. to Sunday at 1 p.m. across the nation, according to Bonnie Johnson, local coordinator who got involved with ham radio 10 years ago. The event has been going on since the 1930s.
“Field Day is officially an operating event, not a contest,” she said. “It’s to test the field preparedness and emergency communications abilities of the amateur radio communities nationwide,” she added.
The local ham operators made 582 contacts during the event, Johnson said. She noted contacts can include voice on radio, computer or morse code. Spinler had five successful contacts, which he says can be “extremely difficult” to make.
“The main purpose of this is to show the government how they can rely on us if there is no communication,” Johnson said. “Amateur radio brings together its resources to demonstrate to government officials and various agencies what amateur radio can accomplish.”
All ham operators are licensed through the FCC with specific call signs. Spinler considers himself lucky to have been able to get his dad’s old call sign, K-0-GNH, that hadn’t been used since he died in 2002. “It was waiting on the shelf with the FCC,” he said.
Spinler said the importance of ham radio is if emergency communications would go down. “We can have a massive solar flare that wipes out all the cell phone towers,” he said, adding they still could have communications through ham radios.
“We are still the backbone of good, solid communications,” Spinler said of ham operators. “Ham radio allows communications traffic to keep going.”
Spinler especially enjoys the comrade he gets from other members of Owatonna Steele County Amateur Radion or OSCAR. They meet monthly on the second Saturday for a breakfast and meeting.
“It’s food, fun and radio,” he said.