EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, e-edition of The Tribune Chronicle. No Monday print
edition was published due to the winter storm.
NILES — Amateur ham radio operators from the Warren Amateur Radio Association come together for two field day events each year, with one in the summer at Mosquito Lake and the other in the winter at Stevens Park in Niles.
Those participating over the weekend in the 30-hour event said the summer field day is always easier because of the weather.
A group gathered Saturday and Sunday at the cabin at Stevens Park.
Ron Leckfor of Hubbard, secretary / public relations for the association, said members from 11 a.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Sunday communicated with many people on ham radios — not only in the United States, but in other parts of the world.
Member Steve Ruman of Niles was able to repair and rebuild a communication tower and get it set up for the weekend.
The portable former cellular antenna tower has a Hex Beam antenna mounted on it. It was placed next to a truck in the park.
“We are trying to run multiple radios on the same frequency and a separation is needed to accomplish that. We have a radio in that truck and are remote controlling into that radio,” Ruman said.
He said a lot of rebuilding of the tower had to be done.
“It was 25 years old and the cables needed replaced. It was a lot of work. We spent a lot of time rebuilding. It needed a complete rehaul,” Ruman said.
He said plans are to use the tower at the summer field day, which may be at the Waddell Park pavilion in Niles.
“We have been at Mosquito Lake for many years, but may change location this year,” Ruman said.
Leckfor said participants write down the contacts they make during the field day.
“It is a U.S. contest and where most of the points go,” he said.
Leckfor said despite the predicted snowstorm, the group still wanted to participate in field day.
He said it is a national event that allows amateur radio operators to test their field gear that includes high frequency, VHF and UHF transceivers, filters, coaxial cables and connectors, computers, power distribution and generator systems.
Leckfor said one of the main goals of this American Radio Relay League sanctioned event is to allow amateur radio operators to practice deploying quickly in adverse winter environments with a fully operational emergency communications post in the event of a local disaster.
“This exercise ensures we have all the equipment on hand to do so, if deployed by EMA anytime year round, along with the practice needed to keep proficiency and efficiency up, to do so effectively and smoothly,’’ he said.
Leckfor said the event was open to the public to come and watch, but the colder temperatures may have discouraged people.
He said the association’s repeater is W8VTD with both a VHS and UHS crossbanded repeater.
“You can talk on either one of those and it comes out on both the VHS and UHS sides. It helps extend our range and coverage with people in Ashtabula hearing us,” Leckfor said.
Ruman said the members on Saturday were seeing what weather conditions were like in other parts of the country, which is a common theme.
All the communications they make during the 30 hours is recorded.
Ruman said he started in 2003 as a radio operator when his grandfather Ray Solinger was one.
Leckfor said he became an amateur radio operator in 2021, starting as a technician and upgraded in recent years to higher levels.
Paul Mazza of Warren has been a radio operator for 55 years, starting when he was 15.
“We get more participants and visitors in the summer who are there with us in the field,” he said. “I like the mystique of being able to transmit your own radio signal and receive from other people too. It’s fascinating. When you tell people you are a ham radio operator, they know about CBs but when you tell them you can talk to people anywhere in the world with the right conditions, they are blown away,” Mazza said.
Carmen Acierno of Lordstown said the radio operators are also able to send emails to those they reach and communicate with just like those at sea are able to do.
Ruman said he was aware of other local amateur radio groups participating, with one in Struthers and another, the Mahoning Valley Amateur Radio Operators, at the Jim Marter Yard in Youngstown in cooperation with the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association.
Leckfor said he was told the Youngstown radio group was inside two cabooses. Ruman said the Struthers group was at a baseball field.
“There is a Facebook page for this event and I know some groups did cancel because of the weather. Some did not have a shelter,” Ruman said.
Leckfor said the sight of the tower standing vertically 65 to 70 feet illustrates the professionalism, dedication and skills this group has toward the quick deployment of an emergency communications post, in the event of a local disaster that brings regular telecommunications, such as cellphone and landline service, to a grinding halt.
Leckfor said the trailer for the tower was funded by federal American Rescue Plan funds approved by the Trumbull County commissioners in December 2024. The trailer carries most of the field deployment gear in it and has organized and labeled storage bins.
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