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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2017 33 BOO! Are you frightened? No? Are you looking at the photo of the small yellow object? Still not frightened? Really? Do you know what it is? Not sure? Well hold on. Because this little handheld object has frightened and scared away lots of people in Four Seasons Beaumont. Well ladies and gentlemen, pictured here is a terrifying… walkie-talkie. Yep. A walkie-talkie. Something your kids and grandkids might well have played with. Maybe you played with one as a tot. It's a bit more complicated than two tin cans and a string, but not much. And this simple little device may save your life someday. And that's pretty important, don't you think? Walkie-talkies are in heavy use in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and will be used continually after any disaster that may befall us. For the seven years that I have lived here and for years before that, the Amateur Radio Club has included walkie-talkies, little handheld radios, as part of our curriculum, holding training sessions and weekly check-ins called Nets. And for all of that time we have been trying to interest more homeowners in learning how to use the simple devices. To no avail. So we decided to move the little handhelds into their own domain, in the hope that the cerebral spectre of the Radio Club could be dissipated. Thus was born the Community FRS (Family Radio Service) Club. Even the name is comforting: FAMILY Radio Service. Here's what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says about FRS: "The Family Radio Service (FRS) is a private, two-way, very short distance voice and data communications service for facilitating family and group activities. The most common use for FRS channels is short-distance, two-way voice communications using small hand-held radios that are similar to walkie- talkies." That doesn't sound very onerous, does it? Just take a moment to picture how much more secure you would feel if you, others that share your home, and neighbors could talk with each other after a disaster; perhaps a severe earthquake. You could ask for help, offer help and, with a neighborhood dotted with FRS radio users, all of you together could form a "chain" and relay information back and forth from first responders and others. How much safer does that sound than being stuck alone, with no way to ask for help? Don't you think so? The Community FRS Club meets on the third Friday of each month at 10 am in the RCN Conference Room. We have the radios available for you to learn and practice on. It's easy and it can be fun. And, no one is going to try to lure you to the Amateur Radio Club. You will not be bombarded with talk about antennas, AM and FM, repeaters or any other HAM radio information. What you will do is learn how to push a few buttons on a walkie-talkie and talk properly on it. It is really easy. And it is really important. So take another look at the photo. See how friendly it looks? There are other makes and models of the radios and you might prefer one of them. You can find out more at the meeting. Please come. Don't let my little yellow radio scare you away. It could help save your life someday. Contact: Alfred Blair at alfredblair@ hotmail.com. ~ Laurie Larson Community FRS (Family Radio Service) Club Join us to learn an easy (and fun) way to prepare for an emergency!