Allentown man is new president of Delaware Valley Radio Association.
By: Cynthia Koons
ALLENTOWN Calvin Moon’s fixation with radios dates back to World War II, when he worked as a technician on submarines in the Pacific.
Stationed all over the Asian front, from Iwo Jima to the Philippines, Mr. Moon got his first exposure to radio operations as a naval electronics technician first class.
When the war ended, Mr. Moon returned to school in New Jersey and then Philadelphia, earning his degree in veterinary medicine. After 47 years of treating small animals, the Allentown resident retired and found his way back to communications through a self-built station in his own home.
"In the course of my training in the Navy I was interested in (radio operations). Because of my career I didn’t have the time," Mr. Moon said. "When I retired, I decided I would do it."
With that, he became a "ham," the common nickname for an amateur radio operator.
Through a group called the Delaware Valley Radio Association (DVRA), he joined forces with about 100 other radio enthusiasts. On New Year’s Day, Mr. Moon became president of the club, which is made up of Mercer and southern Bucks County residents.
"They range in age from 14 to in their 90s," said Gary Wilson, public information director for the DVRA.
The club was started in the 1930s, and operates a radio station out of Mercer County Airport to assist in times of national emergency.
"The amateur radio provides a lot of communications during natural disasters," Mr. Moon said. "For instance (on Sept. 11), we had filled in for communications because cellphones wouldn’t work. We work with the Red Cross and the National Weather Service."
Mr. Wilson said amateur radio becomes especially important during disasters because cellphones are only capable of handling a certain number of callers.
"That’s what happened here in New Jersey on Sept. 11. It was very difficult to call between area codes," Mr. Wilson said. The DVRA linked emergency management and Red Cross offices with out-of-state departments.
Mr. Wilson said radio operators also have the capability of communicating with people in countries throughout the world, and many ham operators become interested in this aspect of the hobby.
For Mr. Moon, becoming president of the club is all a matter of managing the crew.
"A good president just chooses good people," he said. "We have excellent members; they always pitch in."
Those interested in learning more about amateur radio can visit the club’s Web site at www.w2zq.com or attend any regular meeting of the club.
The DVRA meets the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church, 137 West Upper Ferry Road, West Trenton. The church is located one-quarter mile west of the intersection of routes 634 and 579, and is just south of Mercer County Airport.

