Ham Radio and the Month of June

First I must apologize for the lateness of this month’s blog about amateur radio. My computer decided to go all wonky on me last week, and I have only just gotten a temporary replacement while the other one gets repaired.

The month of June is a very important one for amateur radio. First because it is the official start of Hurricane Season which means that all ham operators involved in public service go to a high degree of readiness, and also because June is the month for Field Day, an annual event all across the US and Canada when thousands of operators take their equipment and go off the grid. They do this as a way of both testing and demonstrating that amateur radio is prepared to provide communications when the more normal modes of contact are rendered inoperative by disaster, either natural or man-made.

All across North America, clubs of radio operators, individual operators and others move their operations into fields, parking lots, public parks and other places that share one thing in common. There is no line power with which to operate their radios. Some use generators, others batteries, still others will use solar power or hydrogen fuel cells to provide the electricity to power the radios, computers and other devices that ham operators use to communicate, often over thousands of miles.

Here in Manatee County, the local Amateur Radio Emergency Service will be setting up operations adjacent to the American Red Cross building at 10311 Malachite Drive in Lakewood Ranch. The location is just North of State Route 70 off of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. In addition to the ARES mobile operations trailer with two complete stations there will also be a “Get On The Air” or GOTA station which will be set up to provide an opportunity for hams and non-hams alike to actually make a radio contact with another station that might be across town or across the country. An Extra Class licensed amateur operator will be in control of the GOTA station at all times. With his help even non-licensed individuals can experience the thrill of talking to someone far away without the need for a land line or cellular telephone.

As I mentioned before, the purpose of Field Day is to test and demonstrate the ability of amateur radio to maintain communications even when all the other systems are out of service. Ham radio can even connect to the Internet outside the affected area to pass email and other messages to and from the authorities and once their needs are covered, to pass health and welfare messages from families and individuals to loved ones across the country.

One of the biggest myths surrounding a disaster of any kind is that “I will still be able to call a relative or a friend to let them know I am OK.” Maybe not! The cellular system will either have crashed due to an overload or be restricted to official use. The land line phones will not work because the wires are down. The same goes for your computer and the Internet. With the wires down there will be no main power to run either one.

You may not be able to leave the area because the streets will be covered in debris or washed away. Granted, this is a worst case scenario, but the community must plan for and be able to react to just such a situation. That is why on June 23 and 24 a lot of licensed amateur operators will be participating in Field Day. To show and prove that Amateur Radio can and will be able to maintain contact with the outside world after a major disaster when it happens.

Please join us adjacent to the Red Cross building, 10311 Malachite Drive in Lakewood Ranch on Saturday, June 23 and see for yourself just what Ham Radio can do. Who knows, you might get the itch to become a licensed operator yourself!