Sure, a smart phone can connect you to virtually anyone on earth. But only a tiny $50 radio and a simple, hand-held antenna can put you in touch with astronauts traveling 17,000 miles an hour aboard the International Space Station.

The Cherryland Amateur Radio Club – which celebrates ham radio technology for its fun and practical uses – joins dozens of counterparts around the world for an annual Field Day event today (Saturday) and Sunday.

Club president Ernest Abel says it’s a hobby that combines electronics, physics, meteorology and geography.

With the right equipment and meteorological conditions, it’s possible to talk to people pretty much anywhere in the world. Abel, for example, has talked to fellow ham operators in all but a handful of the world’s countries.

“I’ve talked to people on Pitcairn Island, and talked to descendants of Tom Christian (whose lineage is traced to the Mutiny on the Bounty). They rely on a supply ship to show up every four to five weeks,” he says. “And I had a conversation with the King of Jordan.”

There are a few countries – North Korea, for example – where amateur radio is forbidden, though ham operators almost always avoid politics.

“You’re expected to be pretty polite,” Abel says. “And there are a couple of things you don’t do. You don’t talk religion or politics. We pretty much stick to technical things, not questions about what your culture is like. We would consider that a toxic topic because whatever you say, you’re going to get someone mad at you. And profanity is also prohibited.”

Many ham radios today use computers and a keyboard. Users type messages and receive text – a bit like old teletype technology. And with the right computer program, it’s possible to detect and respond to very faint signals. One of the biggest changes is that vacuum tubes are a thing of the past.

A genteel tradition of trading postcards after a radio contact still continues. Usually there are little personalized notes on them, Abel says. “We keep those. I have books full of them from all over the world. It’s a confirmation that the contact was made.”

So what do ham operators talk about? Most of the conversations are about equipment.

“I might ask Joe if I can borrow an old fashioned hand key from WWII called a J-38,” Abel says.

There are also network groups – sort of an earlier version of social media – where people can talk about things of special interest to them. Topics might be antique cars, sports, or travel.

“There’s the UP Net of about 50 people,” Abel says. “They meet on air at 5pm every day. Everyone checks in. They talk a lot about fly-fishing. Or they might ask someone how a member’s new car is doing.”

The old joke, says Abel, "is that you could leave the conversation and return after several years and the same folks would still be talking.”

But amateur radio can also serve a more serious role.

Emergency response is a big part of the amateur radio world. When power lines were knocked out during last year’s huge storm, several club members across the Grand Traverse region provided important information about who needed help.

In fact, the purpose of Field Day this year is to show that ham radios work reliably under any conditions, from almost any location, and can create an independent communications network when other means fail.

“Basically, in a pinch you can just throw a wire up in a tree for an antenna, connect to a power source and communicate halfway around the world,” says Abel.

Field Day events have been held worldwide since 1933. Locally, club members will be on hand at Kiessel Orchard at 10495 Fort Road near Suttons Bay starting at 2pm today (Saturday) through 2pm Sunday.