Up in Seaton 402 you can talk to the other side of the world. Or anyplace else.

Room 402 is the location of the K-State Amateur Radio Club station, WØQQQ. The equipment there has been used by KSUARC "Hams" for purposes ranging from talking with foreign radio amateurs to providing emergency communicatiuons in disaster areas. They also send messages to anyplace in the United States, free of charge. The club is advised by the department of Electrical Engineering, but the membership is made up of both Engineering and Arts and Sciences students.

Over the past two years, the club has grown from a handful of members with little equipment to an active organization. Four semesters ago, there were only three men in the club. Now there are twelve licensed hams, and several others are working for their license. Donations from around the state have helped solve the equipment shortage, and have allowed the club to equip four operating positions. WØQQQ now has operating capabilities in single sideband voice, radiotelegraph and teletype.

When the tornadoes struck Clay Center and Greenleaf, K-State hams were fully involved in the relief efforts. With the phone lines down and local exchanges damaged, the only route for messages in and out of the disaster zone was by radio. The first communication from Clay Center after it was hit was provided by Rod Blocksome, a graduate student in Electrical Engineering, and a KSUARC member. Other amateurs soon followed, setting up and operating portable and mobile stations for the relief organizations. In all, amateurs from the K-State club spent about 150 hours in the disaster zones. Bruce Frahm, a computer science major, worked for thirty-six hours straight. He was once interrupted by a clean-up bulldozer that removed the supports from the antenna of the station he was operating, as well as debris from the twister. Here in Manhattan, WØQQQ operated for most of the emergency, handling over a hundred messages, and acting as control station for the hams in the field.