Belleville man uses love of ham radio to share Knight’s mission
The New Jersey Knights of Columbus have taken some advice from the Gospel of Matthew, namely that their light (and good deeds) should not be hidden under a bushel basket, but instead set high upon a lampstand for all to see.
Beginning May 5 and through May 20, the Knights have been operating over several amateur radio stations statewide under a special amateur radio call sign, K0C (K-zero-C) with the dual intent of sharing their philanthropic deeds and encouraging Catholic men it’s a great time to join the Knights. The project, known in amateur radio lingo as a “Special Event Station,” has been attempting to operate out of all five dioceses in the state until the last day of the 127th New Jersey State Convention in Wildwood.
“My hobby is ham radio, and I love the Knights,” said KofC District Deputy Thomas M. Perrotti, who designed and spearheaded the project. “This is a nice way to bring these two passions together.”
Perrotti was licensed as an amateur radio operator in 1979, and currently holds an Amateur Extra license under the call sign of N2JIE. The communicant of Holy Cross Parish, Bridgeton, has been a Knight since 2011.
After approval from the Knights, Perrotti has met with nearly a dozen Knight operators over Zoom, as well as alerting a number of publications to which amateur radio hams subscribe, that a Special Event Station exists. Hams don’t blindly broadcast, but rather have one-on-one conversations with other operators; in honor of the 127th N.J. State Convention, Perrotti and his fellow hams are operating in frequencies ending in 127.
Al Rossi, a communicant of St. Peter Parish, Belleville, and Past Grand Knight for Belleville Council 835, represents the Archdiocese of Newark in the Special Event Station project. Rossi, a Knight since 1986, has been an enthusiastic ham radio operator since 1984 and was eager to join Perrotti in spreading the Good News of the Knights. The exercise is proving to be both recreational and practical, he noted.
“Our goal is to promote goodwill and fellowship on the amateur radio bands,” said Rossi. “We make contacts with amateurs from all over the United States as well as all over the globe. We exchange our names, location and information about the Knights of Columbus.”
He continued, “These types of operating events are beneficial for emergency training purposes as well. You always hear of ham radio operators passing information during emergencies. The more contacts that you make, the more proficient you become at listening for weak signal stations and exchanging information.”
The origins of amateur (“ham”) radio stretch back to 1901 when Guglielmo Marconi communicated across the Atlantic Ocean with a high-power radio device and giant antennas. To curb bandwidth interference, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1912 requiring amateurs to be licensed and restricted to a single wavelength; the American Radio Relay League was formed two years later as relay stations were organized. Transatlantic transmitting and receiving tests began in 1921, and by July, 1960, the first two-way contact via Earth’s Moon took place.
Many powerful amateur stations could jam operations in an area, and their operators were dubbed with the derogatory “ham” label by commercial operators. Perhaps unfamiliar with the real meaning of the word, amateurs adopted it for themselves, and over time the negative connotation disappeared.
The Vatican has its own amateur radio station (call sign HV5PUL); the patron saint of ham radio operators is St. Maximillian Kolbe. Famous hams include King Juan Carlos of Spain, Senator Barry Goldwater, Marlon Brando, Joe Walsh, Donny Osmond, Priscilla Presley and Walter Cronkite.
In this time of smartphones and Internet availability, amateur radio still holds an important place in the communications arena, Perrotti argued.
“It’s not just an old man hobby,” he said, chuckling. “Amateur radio is used in the early hours of a disaster when cell towers and telephone lines may be down. All hams need is a radio, a battery and an antenna to transmit.”
What are the ham operators transmitting during the Special Event Station? Why, 30-second-long bits of that light of the Knights, shining for all to see.
Perrotti said, “Hundred of facts about accomplishments, donations of time and money and Knights’ success stories were given to each operator, information from the annual report and a Knights history book.” The operators also link to a Knights webpage, QRZ.com/db/K0C, directs operators to Knights facts and enrollment data.
“Between what the Knights have done for Ukraine, here in the Camden Diocese, to what we do worldwide, helping out after disasters, both with manpower and donations, I would be crazy NOT to tell people worldwide about what we do as Knights,” he said.
Rossi added, “The Knights have always been dear to me, and I am happy to represent the Archdiocese of Newark.”
A goal of amateur radio operators is to collect QSL cards (postcards) that they exchange with one another as confirmation of the conversation. They contain messages, pictures and usually the station’s callsign. The Knights plan to post the Special Event Station’s cards as a lasting memento of the project.
Despite ongoing solar flares, at press time, the Knights ham operators have logged more than 1,000 calls from such far-flung places as Egypt, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Russia and many American states. A Special Event Station for King Charles III made contact over Coronation Weekend, and one ham conversed with a station in Mystic, Conn., using the repeater system on the International Space Station.
A light shining upon a lampstand, indeed!
Featured photo: Al Rossi, Jr., from the Archdiocese of Newark. His call sign is WO2T.
