OUR NAME & GROUP HISTORY
Women amateur radio operators began meeting and holding a Net in Seaside, OR around 2007, naming the group WHO in 2012.
Many of us become interested in ham radio through emergency preparedness. Amateur radio provides a vital communications tool when the power is out for any length of time, which happens often here in the Pacific Northwest.
WHO focuses on providing a comfortable, welcoming venue for practicing communication skills, asking questions about equipment and protocol, learning to participate in a Net and to serve as Net Control, and relaying amateur radio and emergency prep information.
CONTACT US
What Ham Radio Means to Me
My earliest introduction to radio would be due to my grandfather. He was a radioman in WWII. I remember being in grade school when he must have been in his late 60’s and he always had a radio in his living room on a shelf next to his recliner.
When it would crackle with a transmission he would stop in mid conversation and attend to it either by listening or picking up the mic and responding. He also had a couple of CB radios that we would use when our families were camping together but traveling in different vehicles. We all had call signs that were related to bugs-June bug, stink bug, lady bug, earwig…
OTHER FEMALE HAM GROUPS
There are numerous amateur radio groups for female operators only, all with names that work for their particular group and area. Most, like WHO, have dropped the old “YL” , which stood for “Young Lady”. Male ham operators sometimes referred to themselves as “OM” or “Old Men”. Both terms now feel as inappropriate as “daddy-o” or “doll” because both YL and OM are relics of the 1940's and '50's, like Foxtrot, Zulu, Yankee, Whiskey and Papa. (There is no "Mama". M is "Mike".) All phonetics were standardized long ago by the International Telecommunications Union.
Women are a steadily growing minority among ham operators, It helps to have the support of a female-only group where no question is too basic and everyone feels at ease. Female hams now comprise over 19% of all amateur radio licenses on the west coast, fewer on the east coast. DX Zone provides the map below showing the concentration of women ham operators in different regions of the continental US:
The imbalances in Ham radio and why I will no longer use the term YL
Amateur Radio Canada blog | 2016
Ham radio has a gender problem. In the USA, it's about 15% women, but in my personal experience I feel there are far fewer active operating Hams who are female for whatever reason (for example, I logged a few hundred voice QSOs during the last Field Day, and it was definitely under 5% female). As a woman who got her license at 16 and has been active in this hobby for over a decade, plus one who is fairly visible in various ways in the hobby, a lot of people have asked me my thoughts on this. And to be clear, these are just my thoughts, and you're free to chime in on whether you agree or disagree with any of the.
Let's Hear It for "Termites"!!
Many new hams got their licenses to be part of emergency communications during a disaster. Our WHO group is dedicated to being on the air "during an emergency or disaster situation" as we state in our preamble every net. Hobby hams call e-prep hams "termites", meaning they come "out of the woodwork" during a disaster.
Here's a 2011 clip of Craig Fugate, then Director of FEMA, on the importance of amateur radio operators during emergencies:
;Hobby hams are more equipment/technology focused. Thank goodness for that, because no one could help during an emergency if equipment won't work. Working together, we can make a huge difference and keep lines of communication open.
Even publications like The Atlantic are recognizing the importance of amateur radio emergency communications:
The Amateur Radio Operators Preparing for the Worst
In natural or man-made disasters, ham-radio enthusiasts put their hobby to work.
Jennifer Hackett ,Technology, March 14, 2016
There’s a sense of urgency in the air at a Virginia nuclear power plant. Everything within at least a five-mile radius is at immediate risk due to a critical meltdown. One of the emergency responders opens the envelope she’s holding, scans its contents, and announces the bad news: “We just lost 911 and the cell towers are overloaded.”
There are some groans, but the team of amateur radio operators knew this was a possibility, and they’re prepared. They have their radios at the ready to coordinate evacuations, making sure that no shelters are overwhelmed and that evacuees arrive at the right locations.
WOMEN IN HAM RADIO HISTORY
Gladys Kathleen Parkin received her amateur radio license in 1910 at age 9 and her professional license at age 15. Young Ladies Radio League begun in 1939 gives more history on its web site www.YLRL.org
