96 More Useless HAM Facts...

This weekend is a big weekend for US HAM Radio Operators. It's called Field Day, and it's a 24 hour test of emergency communications. Here's a press release from the ARRL (American Radio Relay League), the top organization for HAM Radio in the US.

Ham Radio Operators Demonstrate Modern Capabilities

Public Demo of Emergency Communications June 28-29

Newington, CT – Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies world-wide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio – often called “Ham radio” - was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer “hams” traveled south to save lives and property. When trouble is brewing, ham radio people are often the first to provide critical information and communications. On the weekend of June 28-29, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.

This annual event, called "Field Day" is the climax of the week long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, "When all else fails…”is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 34,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's event.

"We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather's radio anymore," said Allen Pitts of the ARRL. "The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded.”

I've participated in many field days, which lasts 24 hours (up to 27 if you meet certain conditions) and that time includes set up but not tear down. It's basically a contest to see how many other HAM's you can contact in the US in that time period. I've pulled a few all-nighters and we've always had a great time.

Wednesday night, when I was looking through my QSL cards, I found the one from my very first contact with my friend Dave. It was January 25, 1989. I'm glad that everything fell together so that we met.

On Saturday, my son, brother, me and a friend I used to work with are going to Abbott's Lobster in the Rough! I've gone before, and I can't wait as I haven't had lobster since.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!