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Ham Radio Operators Demonstrate Modern Capabilities
Public Demo of Emergency Communications June 23-24
Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies worldwide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio - often called "Ham radio" - was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer "hams" traveled south to save lives and property. When trouble is brewing, ham radio people are often the first to provide critical information and communications. On the weekend of June 23-24, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.
This annual event, called "Field Day", is the climax of the week long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, "When all else fails…" is more than just words to the hams as they 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.
"We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather's radio anymore," said Allen Pitts of the ARRL. "The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded."
In Putnam County, the Putnam Emergency and Amateur Repeater League (P.E.A.R.L.) will be demonstrating Amateur Radio and the spirit of this event at the Ninham Fields of the Putnam County Veteran's Memorial Park located on Gypsy Trail Rd in the town of Kent during the entire weekend of June 23 and 24. P.E.A.R.L. was formed in 1979 by a group of concerned amateur radio operators who wished to further the interests of their hobby and now serves Putnam County's residents in the event of an emergency under the auspices of the County's Bureau of Emergency Services. The club invites the public to come and see ham radio's capabilities, learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes and even get on the air during the event. To learn more about P.E.A.R.L., visit their website at http:// www.k2put.org.
There are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for the DHS Citizens' Corps, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and thousands of state and local agencies, all for free.
To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air.
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