LB Amateur Radio Operators Practice Emergency Communications In El Dorado Park, Sending/Receiving Signals Across The Country In Nat'l "Field-Day" Operation
(June 28,2009) -- "HAM radio works when other systems don't" is the slogan of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association of amateur radio operators. LB HAMs and their nationwide counterparts put that slogan to the test for 24 hours, ending Sunday morning (June 28) during their annual Field Day.
HAMs young through young at heart are camping out in El Dorado Park (Studebaker Ave. @ Barrios St.), demonstrating how they might transmit/receive from a remote "field" location around the clock if there was a disaster.
An antenna farm has sprouted in the park with multiple arrays set up.
The Wilson High School AREC team is assisting in the effort, with their GOTA (Get On the Air) station. They hope to bring in 1,200 additional points for ARALB.
Photo credit: F. LaBarba
Some HAMs work inside a mobile command post frequently seen around town.
They have invited radio operators from other radio clubs to stand by during Field Day to respond to the team's "CQ" (originally a Morse Code signal meaning "seek-you," asking for any responder). The AREC team members hope to get 100 contacts each.
Using only emergency power supplies, HAM operators across the country have set up emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards, to prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's event.
There are over 650,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, HAM volunteers provide emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free.
"We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not just your grandfather's radio anymore," said Allen Pitts of the ARRL. "The communications systems that HAM radio people can quickly create have saved many lives when other systems failed or were overloaded. And besides that, it's fun!"
