Western Community Hams gear up for a very active Hurricane Season by participating in a national emergency communications exercise
(WELLINGTON, FL June 9, 2013) —Amateur Radio operators in Wellington will work ’round the clock to set up field radio communication stations, get on the air, and contact thousands of other operators in the US and Canada as part of a national preparedness exercise called Field Day. It’s sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, ARRL to help ensure that “when all else fails, ham radio works” to fill critical emergency communications gaps after a disaster.
According to Jim Gerlach, Field Day Manager, this is the annual “shakedown run” for the Wellington Radio Club. “Field Day is a way for hams to get outdoors and have fun under some difficult conditions,” Gerlach says. “But it’s also a chance to fine-tune emergency communication skills. We use generators and battery power, and we set up antennas in the field. The idea is to put together a self-sufficient, working station quickly and begin sending and receiving simulated emergency messages.”
The ARRL reported that over 1,400,000 messages were transmitted in 2012’s exercise… each described the emergency powered site’s location and its transmitting stations. The exercise is partly a competition to stimulate sending as many messages, to as many different parts of North America, as possible.
Radio Amateurs have been effective in establishing emergency communications nets during floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and other major disasters. Many of those emergency communicators are among the 37,000 or so hams that yearly get their training during Field Day.
Wellington’s Field Day operations will be at Pavilion 3, VillagePark, 11700 Pierson Rd. in Wellington. The exercise begins at 2pm Saturday, June 22nd and runs through 2pm Sunday, the 23rd.
For more information, contact Larry Lazar, 385-2986 or go to the Wellington Radio Club’s website: www.qsl.net/k4wrc. 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!
SUMMARY: Wellington Radio Club volunteers to contact hams throughout North America in the nation’s largest ham radio on-air preparedness event.
WHO: Licensed Amateur Radio Operators in Western Communities.
WHAT: Hams will set up and operate field radio stations to contact other hams throughout the US and Canada over 24 hours.
WHERE: Pavilion 3, VillagePark, 11700 Pierson Rd., Wellington, FL 33414
WHEN: 2pm Saturday, June 22nd and runs through 2pm Sunday, the 23rd.
WHY: Amateur Radio operators practice communication skills under primitive conditions, with generator and battery-powered equipment and portable antennas. Field Day is a “trial run” for emergency communication skills used during disaster situations and is also a competition. Special awards are given for “alternative” power sources such as solar, wind and methane.
Photo opportunities, interviews, activities of local participants in important national Amateur Radio event.