Cherokee Amateur Radio Operators Show Off Skills At Annual Field Day

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Cherokee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), along with Cherokee Amateur Radio Society (CARS) club members, will participate in the annual American Radio Relay League Field Day this weekend in Woodstock.

The event will be held June 27-28 at Riverside Athletic Complex inside JJ Biello Park at 610 Druw Cameron Drive in Woodstock.

The public is invited to stop by and witness this event, which is held each year across the country during the last weekend in June.

During the event, emergency radio communications are set up to communicate without any commercial power and contact as many other stations across the United States.

This exercise tests emergency communications in the field and demonstrates the capability to provide data and voice messages for public safety agencies when disasters strike and normal communications are disrupted.

Cherokee ARES Emergency Coordinator Bob Johnston leads the ARES group and is complimented by CARS President Chris Smith and Vice President Stephen Price, field day coordinator.

“We are very fortunate to have a dedicated group of amateur radio operators here in Cherokee to provide support to the EOC,” said Renee Cornelison, director of Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management. “They are able to provide real-time ground truth about weather conditions and can also provide back-up communications if our public safety communication system should ever fail. They have a fully equipped place in the EOC to operate during activations.”

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Photo: from left to right, Renee Cornelison (Director of Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management), Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Joe Perkins, Jim Millsap (GEMA – State Warning Officer) and Bob Johnston – Cherokee ARES Emergency Coordinator (ARES = Amateur Radio Emergency Service). Credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office