Ham radios are making a comeback. Local enthusiasts share why

By Kathy Feist

Imagine sending out a radio wave signal to God knows where.  It could be received by a stranger half a mile down the road. Or it could be picked up in a remote place in Siberia, Russia, or an international space station. 

“It’s kind of exciting to get on the radio and all of a sudden you hear some foreign station call you back,” says amateur radio enthusiast Joe Rinella. Rinella first caught the radio bug 54 years ago when he was 12 years old.  “Maybe they’re from Morocco or from Spain or Italy or Japan or wherever.” 

Since the pandemic, there has been a resurgence in the number of licensed amateur radio operators, known as hams. Currently there are 2 to 3 million in the world. The Kansas City area reportedly has about 6000. 

The Telegraph stepped into that world by visiting three local hobbyists: Joe Berry, Steve Everely and Joe Rinella. 

All agree that half the fun of having a radio transmitter is collecting QSL cards–some quite creative in their design–confirming the connection made with another radio operator. 

“It’s kind of the same principle of collecting coins or collecting stamps,” says Rinella.  “You’re collecting confirmation cards to show that you actually communicated.” 

The cards contain information about the owner and the station’s call letters. Some are highly sought after. 

During the FIFA World Cup tournament in Kansas City this summer, thousands of special World Cup-themed QSL cards were sent around the world. 

Steve Everely was designated the National Association of Amateur Radio Operators‘ key coordinator in Kansas City for the special event. “I recruited 22 [radio operators] in Kansas City, and we got on the air between June 11 and July 19,” he recalls. “In those 39 days, we made thousands and thousands of contacts with people all over the world. Our group here in Kansas City talked to 131 different countries and made 13,000 contacts.” 

Fortunately for Everely most QSL cards consisted of a simple downloaded with a special code from the website. “I only mailed out about 60 cards and that’s still a lot,” he says.  

Making random contacts and growing a QSL card collection is the entertaining aspect of being a ham radio enthusiast. Participating in emergency events is a more significant one. 

With the introduction of the cell phone, the need for ham radio communication has decreased. But cell phones rely on tall towers. And towers can be destroyed during disasters. 

Joe Berry, who lives in the Birchwood Hills neighborhood, became a licensed ham operator in 2016 due to concerns for his own emergency preparedness. But that concern, and hobby, grew. 

Over the years, Berry’s investment grew from a $160 hand-held device to a mobile unit. It paid off.

In 2024, Berry was able to provide disaster assistance after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina. 

“I did it after listening to the [networks] in North Carolina,” he recalls. “For a month I listened to what was going on, and then I was deployed.” Berry delivered 50 survivor totes, each filled with a week’s worth of supplies to a ministry helping hurricane survivors in the Asheville area. “I could not have fulfilled my mission without my radio. The highways were shut down. The communications were not good. But the radios were working. The net control told me how to get there. So I accomplished my mission with my radio in my truck.”

Berry moderates a local network called Perfect Storm Net, whose members meet on Tuesdays via the radio of course. 

There are several radio clubs in the Kansas City area, varying in interests from social to special interests to emergency preparedness.

“There are different scheduled groups that gather together on the radio on certain frequencies or channels,” says Berry. “Those groups can be just casual groups that get together to say hi, or they can be a group with a purpose.” 

There are 25 different amateur radio clubs in the metropolitan area, and within those clubs are special interest groups, or “nets,” that have their own meetings.

 Rinella is vice president of the Raytown Amateur Radio Club, which has around 100 members.  After 54 years, his license has been upgraded several times. He shares his expertise to help others become licensed. 

“I have a one-page sheet that I pass out to people that are interested in ham radio, and it tells you what to study, how to get things to start, or how to take the test,” he says. He also recommends an online site called hamclass.org. 

To become a radio ham there are tests to take for three licenses: technician, general and extra. 

“By learning the basics of what ham radio is about, you get a technician license, which is a beginning license,” says Berry. “You don’t even have to have a radio. It’s very simple.”