Ham radio field day set for this weekend
When disaster strikes, sometimes the only way for first responders to communicate is through the use of ham radios.
And for that to work effectively, it takes practice in the field, the ability to use a generator and set up in remote areas, if need be, without Internet or cellphone service.
Members of the Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise from Saturday, June 25, at 2 p.m. through Sunday, June 26, at 2 p.m. at the North Fort Myers Community Park, at 2000 N. Recreation Park Way, North Fort Myers.
The event will take place outdoors at the football concession stand and is open to the public. The public is encouraged to attend and watch many of the area’s best ham radio operators contact people from throughout the nation and sometimes the world.
“It’s a chance for us to get out of the house and do our radios in the field. It shows we’re able to set up in a remote location, deploy our equipment and still operate full functional and sometimes not on normal electricity,” said John Wells, public information officer for the Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club.
Since 1933, amateur radio operators across North America have established temporary radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio.
Operators often work in isolation honing their skills and capabilities. They volunteer these techniques when supporting the community during incidents and events.
“This allows us to practice for emergencies so if we have to provide backup communications for any entity that needs it we are able to,” Wells said. “We can send e-mail without the Internet and we provide support for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities in local schools.”
For more than 100 years, amateur radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cellular phone or the Internet.
Operators can introduce others to amateur radio, explain how it works with today’s modern technology, and provide education to students, scouts, and other interested persons to show ham radio is not what many think it is.
Amateur radio can function independently of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. This concept has been effectively applied in many types of emergencies and their aftermath.
More than 35,000 people from thousands of locations participate in Field Day each year. There are more than 775,000 licensed ham radio operators in the United States — people of all ages and walks of life.
For more information about Field Day, visit https://fmarc.net/ or http://arrl.org/ or contact Wells at pio@fmarc.net.