Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night

Bill Dickert

Bill Dickert

Santa was talking to children in the Rome/Cedartown area about 8:15 tonight on the Northwest Georgia ARC repeater. He was using a ham radio installed in his sleigh especially for tonight. Santa talked to 10 or 12 children and a few adults. He said he was over the North Atlantic between Greenland and Nova Scotia. Thank you, Santa. His closing statement was "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!".

from Bill Dickert's Facebook Post

Dru Fuller OK, what's an ARC repeater?

Bill Dickert ‎@Dru, it means Amateur Radio Club. The Repeater is located on top of Mt. Alto, in Rome, GA. It allows all licensed Amateur Radio operators (AKA hams) to talk to each other easily. Sort of like an old 'party-line' telephone. It is used for personal communication, to support special events like the Santa net last night, and for emergency communications supporting our local EMA's in times of emergency. I got my start in ham radio through the CHS Radio Club long ago.

Messages from Bill

Bill DickertDecember 25, 2010 at 7:23am

Subject: Santa net

Dru, I've been playing Santa on ham radio for about ten years. I got started when a close friend asked me to talk to his grandchildren just before Christmas using our radios. The next year we set a schedule and invited all hams to participate. The only requirement is you must be a licensed ham to use the system.

Bill DickertDecember 25, 2010 at 7:36am

Re: Santa net

Dru, representing Santa on ham radio is a natural extension of my other Santa activities. Twenty five or more years ago a very dear friend twisted my arm a bit and convinced me to 'represent' Santa at his church. I had an absolute blast. One thing led to another and I now have regular gigs at several local churches. I'm now talking to the children of the kids I talked to when I began. The kids are awesome. Some are a little nuts, but, so were we. Merry Christmas!