Ham radio connects St. Mary parishioner to the world

Courtesy photo/ Andrea Howard

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Colleen Pike has developed new skills and reconnected with old ones in her new hobby, ham radio.

OGDEN – While many people take up new hobbies in their years after retirement, few can say they have a hobby as unusual as Colleen Pike’s. Two years ago, Pike, 76, became a FCC-licensed ham radio operator. It’s a hobby that she loves and one that keeps her connected to the world around her – even during a pandemic, because there are about 700,000 licensed operators in the United States and 3 million worldwide.

“I feel like I’m a little blue thread that the Master Weaver has pulled through life,” Pike said, referring to the metaphor of a person’s life being a tapestry created by God.

Several circumstances in her life led her on the path to this hobby, said Pike, a St. Mary [West Haven] parishioner.

Although she has no background in radio or technology, Pike said her affinity for ham radio began in her early years when her father worked as a Southern Pacific station agent and telegrapher. He would often leave the door between his office and the residence open, and the steady hum of Morse code across the lines soothed and comforted the young girl. It was a feeling she never forgot.

Later, as a young woman, she worked as the secretary for the South San Francisco city manager for three years. Then, after she and her husband came to Utah in 1981, Pike began a career in the health care field and worked at McKay-Dee Hospital for 31 years in medical records. Part of the hospital culture was an emphasis on emergency preparation. Wanting to help, Pike enrolled in a Community Emergency Response Team course and has remained active in that field.

About two years ago, she learned about a free ham radio class. Her interest piqued, she signed up. Before long, she had purchased a cheap Chinese radio on Amazon, bought an instruction book and then paid $14 to take the test to obtain her FCC license to use the amateur airwaves. She passed with flying colors and hasn’t looked back. She joined the Weber County Sheriff’s Amateur Radio Emergency Support group and has begun to learn Morse code.

Pike sees many benefits to her new hobby. “I’m continually learning; I have contact with people,” she said. “I’m doing a service; I’m being prepared and ready for helping somebody eventually.”

As an emergency resource, ham operators commit to monitoring certain frequencies around the clock so Pike’s radio is always on. She frequently listens in to the chatter between operators, and often joins in herself. She has taken a second-level test that allows her to access more radio waves and is working toward taking the final level test. Each month she participates in on-air meetings of the members of her network, called nets.

Last year, Pike helped monitor the Ogden marathon at one of several medical stations along the route. This provided her and the other operators with practice for a real emergency.

Pike is impressed by the dedication of ham radio operators to their craft. “Ham radio across the country is huge, and these people are spending their own money to buy equipment that is sometimes very expensive, and through their own efforts they train and practice and become proficient and they volunteer to assist whenever needed,” she said.

In addition to being able to help out in an emergency, Pike’s ham relationships have been a resource to her, particularly during the pandemic. When Utah experienced the earthquake earlier this year and during a localized power outage, she was one of the people who had the earliest information about the events, thanks to the ham network.

These relationships benefit her everyday life, too. Recently, she needed a plumber and someone to fix her chimney and was able to get recommendations from her ham community. She’s also gotten help to secure her antenna on her roof and with setting up a new radio she invested in.

Her hobby has also helped connect her to her neighbors, many of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Emergency preparation is emphasized in the LDS culture and Pike finds much in common with those neighbors, particularly those who are ham radio operators. In fact, the person she considers her ham “mentor” is LDS.

“It doesn’t matter because we’re doing the same mission,” she said.