Mike Hall is the former Secretary of the Lanierland Amateur Radio Club (L.A.R.C.) a local group who have served the Hall County community for nearly 60 years.
Club President Tony Constabile recently spoke with AccessWDUN about Hall’s involvement in the club despite his battle with health issues.
“Mike has been the trustee of our repeater for many, many years. He also runs the L.A.R.C. Wednesday night net. He's also a past president, and up until he suffered the stroke, he was our secretary,” Constabile said. “The amazing thing about Mike is he is visually impaired. He cannot see and he still is able to run the radio log, all the contacts and all the information that's needed for the net.”
Constabile said Hall has not been able to run the net since his stroke, but he will run it on Christmas day at 8:30 p.m. as he recovers at the Oaks at Limestone Nursing Home in Gainesville.
“Mike has not been able to run the net or be very active since his stroke, but he is recovering, and we're going to set up a temporary station,” Constabile said. “We are setting up a temporary station there, and Mike will run the net. It's going to be a surprise to the club members.”
Hall is visually impaired but that does not stop him from dedicating time to L.A.R.C.
“He [Hall] has served the community for years. He worked for, I believe, the forestry department. He's worked for radio stations,” Constabile said. “People that know Mike know he's an incredible individual and helps a lot with the visually impaired. We have a couple of other club members that are visually impaired, and Mike has helped them as well.”
L.A.R.C. is one of the oldest amateur radio clubs in north Georgia. It assists amateur radio operators in obtaining their licenses.
“Amateur radio is a great hobby, and it also serves the community in many capacities. A lot of times during emergency emergencies, we provide communication to help with first responders and law enforcement,” Constabile said. “We also help connect family members, like when Helene hit, all the electric was out, all the phones were down, but the ham radio was still working, so we were able to help family members and first responders find people and keep communication.”
Constabile provided the frequency of the Christmas Day net for those wishing to tune in.
“Our repeater is 146.670, that's the frequency, you would need a radio that's capable of receiving that. A lot of people have, GMRS radios, Family Radio Service radios, anything with a VHF on it may be able to pick it up, but generally, it's ham radios,” Constabile said.
Constabile said they hope to record it but it does not always work with their temporary station.
To learn more about L.A.R.C and how to get involved visit their website.
