“When I go camping, like Memorial Day, I take my radio and antennas with me, sit down and talk to the area hams just for fun,” Gardner said.

Gardner uses the term “ham” to describe those who use AM radio. “Ham” is also a term synonymous with AM. It was once considered pejorative, but is now accepted and effectively adopted.

Gardner appreciates AM radio not only because it allows him to communicate with other people, but also because it can pick up certain frequencies.

“The AM band you listen to (varies) from 500 kilohertz to 1600 or 1700 kilohertz, (but) there are frequencies below where the radio really started … and I’m interested in all the frequencies below. of the broadcast band, “Gardner said. “There are natural radio frequencies on which I have picked up lightning strikes that cause whistles.”

The Ogden Amateur Radio Club has around 160 people and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A booth will be set up at the corner of 25th Street and Grant Avenue in Ogden during daylight hours this Saturday and again on May 22.

“People can come and watch (the radio operators) broadcast and there will be other displays there,” Gardner said.

The Ogden Amateur Radio Club started in 1921 with six people. There is no centralized location for the club. Rather, it is just a group of like-minded people who enjoy communicating over the radio. There is a board of directors that meets, according to Gardner, “here and there and wherever we can organize.”

“Amateur radio is a hobby, but we are doing a service to the community and to emergency response,” Gardner said. “Every hobbyist has their own radio station at home or in their vehicle.”