Belleville News-Democrat | 09/13/2005 | Fairview dealer lends radio operators an assist

Belleville News-Democrat | 09/13/2005 | Fairview dealer lends radio operators an assist

"Posted on Tue, Sep. 13, 2005

Fairview dealer lends radio operators an assist
BY SCOTT WUERZ
News-Democrat

Communications equipment made in Fairview Heights is helping to reunite families torn apart by Hurricane Katrina.
Bob Heil, owner of Heil Sound at 5800 N. Illinois St., donated 35 ham radio headsets to amateur radio operators who are sending messages in and out of hurricane-ravaged areas that have no other communications.
'People from all over the country have gone to Louisiana and Mississippi with their radios,' Heil said. 'This equipment gives them the ability to have their hands free to transcribe messages while they talk so they can do their job.'
The call for the headsets, called the Traveler, came from the American Radio Relay League, which Heil described as an organization that helps to promote and organize amateur radio operation. One headset costs $90, so the total donation amounted to about $3,150."