Local Amateur Radio Club participates in yearly ARRL Emergency communication exercise

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WHO: Amateur Radio “Field Day”, June 24 and 25, will exercise amateur radio operator’s ability to setup and establish emergency communications without the use of the cell network or public power grid. Members of the Trident Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the national amateur radio Field Day exercise at a site near Summerville. Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations during Field Day to exercise their emergency operations skills.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25. On Saturday, June 24, from 2:00 PM until Sunday, June 25 at 2:00 PM operators will be operating radio stations on temporary antennas and non-commercial power while communicating with other hams across North America.

WHY: Field Day is a showcase for how amateur radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network. Operators will be honing their skills associated with emergency portable operations such as antenna setup, radio setup, battery operations, generator operations, and logging for a twenty-four-hour test of emergency communications. These skills have proven to be important in many of the hurricane and ice storm events experienced in South Carolina.

Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with laptops or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 750,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 9 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as the Trident Amateur Radio Club it is easy for anybody to get involved right here in the Tri-County Area. For more information about Field Day or amateur radio, contact TW Kirkpatrick, Field Day Coordinator or visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.