EL DORADO — The hiss of unused radio frequencies filters through a set of cabinet speakers in Richard Swilley’s room at the Hillsboro Manor Nursing Home in El Dorado. The amateur radio operator sits before a bank of equipment and turns several knobs before bringing the static to life.
“This is N5HXQ , is anybody out there?” Swilley said as he inched a wide dial to the right for a better signal.
“N5HXQ this is KC4VFP,” a voice said through Swilley’s speakers. “Go ahead.”
Swilley had found a new friend in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the pair carried on about weather and other topics for about 20 minutes.
Each day from his private room, Swilley, 47, can be found dialing in frequencies at his amateur radio station. N5HXQ is his call sign.
“It’s relaxing to me,” said the El Dorado native, who suffers from advanced diabetes and requires medical care that isn’t practical in a private residence. He’s been a fulltime resident at the nursinghome for three years.
The nursing home’s officials have made concessions to accommodate Swilley’s equipment, which includes an antenna that’s attached to the building just outside his window.
“The long-term-care business is changing, and we have to allow more stuff for our patients,” said David Lewis, facility administrator. “His life is that radio; he couldn’t function without it.”
Lewis said maintenance crews helped place the antenna and assist Swilley with adjustments now and then.
“If he has a problem with something, we do our best to help him get it fixed, within reason,” said Lewis.
Swilley said that as far as he knows, he’s one of only two amateur radio operators who live in full-time care facilities.
“I know Alvin Scott has a radio, he is 96 and lives with his wife in a nursing home in Yellville,” Swilley said. “We talk from time to time.”
Swilley said he mostly chats with his pals from the Arkansas Razorback Net, a group of guys who “just sitaround and shoot the bull.” Each Wednesday at 6 a.m., Swilley acts as the net operator, which requires him to control traffic and keep detailed logs.
Swilley said he listened recently to several of his friends as they relayed information about the flash-flooding disaster at the Albert Pike Campgrounds near Caddo Gap.
“There were several amateur radio operators involved in search and rescue,” said Swilley. “The flood took out several cell towers, and that meant the only lines of communication were ham radio.”
Before his health turned bad several years ago, Swilley lived in Tennessee and worked for the Jackson Department of Emergency Management, where he wore many hats. He was a weather spotter and chaser and would often man the radio room torelay information to emergency responders.
“In an emergency, especially in bad weather where communications can be spotty, amateur radio operators are very useful,” said Swilley,who began his amateur radio hobby at age 14 after a friend got him interested in it.
Today he holds the most advanced amateur-radio license available. His extraclass license was obtained in 1990 after years of experience and study.
As long as his energy levels hold, Swilley can be found talking on his radio. One day not long ago, he spoke to someone in Ukraine.
If he had powerful enough equipment, he said, he is even licensed to talk to astronauts in space.
But “I just don’t have any interest in that,” he said.
For now, Swilley seems more than content talking with his buddies on the Razorback Net and the occasional chance meeting of a stranger somewhere deep within the frequencies on his dial. “I’m always listening for an opportunity,” said Swilley. “Amateur radio is about listening, observing and reporting. I can’t imagine life without it.”
Arkansas, Pages 20 on 07/25/2010