HAM RADIO OPERATORS LINK TO THE WORLD AT SENIOR CENTER.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

NEWHALL - Tuesdays at the Santa Clarita Senior Center bring out the shortwave junkies, who affectionately call themselves hams - about a dozen old-timers determined to bring their shortwave radio hobby into the 21st century.

``Will here is our leader,'' said one of the hams, motioning to 81-year-old Willard Wilson. ``Willard's working on a voice circuit that gives the call letters as soon as someone hooks in.''

To the uninitiated, these words are foreign. But for this group of graying grandfathers, most of them retired engineers and technicians who maintain a keen interest in the latest technological developments, this is serious business.

Sitting below two framed, yellowing Radio Amateur world maps, the men are in no hurry - they snack on soft cookies and occasionally hurl an innocuous insult across the table.

Calling themselves the Santa Clarita Senior Hams (W6SCS on the airwaves), the group is constructing equipment that will take them beyond the ham radio operators' usual ability to chat with other hams across the world.

``The equipment will interface with our little handheld radios through the Internet to other hams all over the world,'' said Ken Schwartz, 65, who made a career in NASA's propulsion department. ``In the meantime, (hams) will be able to make a call from anywhere in the world to Santa Clarita free of charge.''

Using donated parts and equipment, the men will soon be able to decode special radio signals containing the equivalent of long-distance telephone numbers. Using the Internet, they can transmit calls to similarly equipped facilities across the globe.

``But it's perfectly legal,'' Ron Stuart, 66, stated, as if reading the mind of a visitor. ``You have to be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. We're not breaking any laws.''

Asked why there are no women currently in the group, Stuart ventured a guess.

``There are women who are ham radio operators, but they're all much younger,'' he said. ``I guess some of the ladies around (the center) think stuff like this is too boring.''

It is required that at least one of the members hold an FCC license and there are no charges or fees to the public. Internet access fees are paid for as part of the Senior Center's computer training program.

For information on the Santa Clarita Senior Hams, call the center at [phone].

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Photo:

(color) Ron Stuart, 66, call sign WA6JEF, tunes in the airwaves at the ham radio room at the Santa Clarita Senior Center, home of the Santa Clarita Senior Hams. The group meets each Tuesday at the Newhall facility.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer