Amateur Radio Field Day coming

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Greene County News

BELLBROOK — Members of the Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club (BARC) will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise June 25–26 at Shelter #1 in Sackett-Wright Park.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

For more than 100 years, Amateur Radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communication techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cell phone or the Internet.

Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. More than 35,000 people from thousands of sites in the United States and Canada will participate in Field Day 2016.

“It’s easy to pick up a cell phone and talk to someone on the other side of the world without knowing anything about how it works,” said Darryl Fowler, field day coordinator for BARC, “But if the cell phone system is down or you are out of range, you can’t communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the commercial infrastructure and the Internet and can be set up quickly almost anywhere.”

BARC members will demonstrate this ability by quickly establishing six or more radio stations in the park with the ability to communicate worldwide, said BARC member Fred Stone, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service coordinator for Greene County. “That’s what we do if needed during a communications outage.”

Stone explained that by having radios on different frequency bands, hams can take advantage of the earth’s atmosphere and bounce radio waves to where they are needed. “Hams are continually working to remain a valuable asset to their communities during disasters and live up to their motto, ‘When All Else Fails, Ham Radio Works’,” he said.

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as the Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club, it’s easy for anybody to get involved.

The club invites the public to visit its Field Day site at Sackett-Wright Park in 2-9 p.m. Saturday, June 25 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, June 26. Sackett-Wright Park is located on Ohio Route 725 just east of Bellbrook. Plan to stop by and see ham radio voice, data and Morse Code operation in action. Sit down and talk to other Hams across the country and learn how you can earn a license and become an Amateur Radio Operator.

For more information contact Darryl Fowler, BARC Field Day Coordinator, at 619-838-6416 or [email protected].

Story courtesy of Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club.

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