This annual event, called “Field Day”, is sponsored by the ARRL(American Radio Relay League), the national association for amateur radio. Using only emergency power supplies, local ham radio operators will construct emergency stations in parks, schools and backyards around the country.
We hope that people will come and see for themselves that this is not your grandfather’s radio anymore. The emergency communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past when other systems failed or were overloaded.
In the Duarte area, the Temple Hamwatch and the San Gabriel Valley Radio Club will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at Encanto Park, in Duarte on June 28th. We invite the public to come and see ham radio’s capabilities in action, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air!
There are 650,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL’s ARES program, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free. More than 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year’s Field Day event.
To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org.