Amateur radio’s open house, ARRL Field Day in Ewing Township

Amateur radio operators are from every walk of life – men and women of all ages, in every corner of the world. They share passion for experimenting and engineering ways to transmit voice, data and pictures over the air, near and far. They’re creative, resourceful and ready to improvise, especially in emergencies.

Over the weekend of June 22-23, some 40,000 “hams” will participate in ARRL Field Day, including members of DVRA, the Delaware Valley Radio Association, based in Ewing Township. They will set up portable radio stations on emergency power and try to make contact with other hams in the US and Canada.

Members of the public are invited to see the operation, 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, at the DVRA’s radio station, adjacent to the Mercer County Airport in West Trenton.

A picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies and an informal competition, Field Day is the most popular ham radio activity held annually in North America. The event involves contacting as many other stations as possible, around the country and the world, operating radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions.

Despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems — or maybe because they are so complex — ham radio has been called into action, again and again, to provide communications in crises when it really matters. Hams are well-known for their communications support in real disaster and post-disaster situations.

Hams also put these same skills to work helping organize large non-emergency events, like marathons, bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons and parades.

Websites:
National Field Day: arrl.org/field-day
DVRA: w2zq.com