That's a 10-4: Amateur Radio Field Day at Harbins Park

Members of the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society (GARS) will take part in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 27 – 28, 2015 at Harbins Park, 2995 Luke Edwards Road, Dacula. The public is invited to observe and learn about Amateur Radio, sometimes called ham radio.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend, especially between 2-8 p.m. on June 27 when activities will be set up especially for the public. The event is family-friendly and will feature a Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station with a Ham Coach who will help you make your own radio contacts!

For over 100 years, Amateur Radio has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cell phone or the Internet. Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Over 45,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2014.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said Sean Kutzko of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

Ham Radio can be a huge asset to any community during disasters if the standard communication infrastructure goes down. Amateur Radio is STEM in action!

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society, it’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in Dacula.

For more information contact Mitch Matteau, GARS Public Information Officer, at n0dim@earthlink.net or review the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society web site at www.gars.org.