Members of the Ozark Mountain Amateur Radio Club will participate in the national amateur radio Field Day exercise Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23, at the Pizza Express restaurant on U.S. 63 in Houston.
Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio. The event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.
For more than 100 years, amateur radio – also called “ham” radio – has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communication techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster or emergency.
Field Day is a showcase for how amateur radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network.
“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,” said David Isgur, communications manager for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), an organization that represents amateur radio operators across the U.S. “That’s the beauty of amateur radio during a communications outage.”
The operators at Field Day set up radio stations using a variety of different power sources that are totally independent of commercial power. More than 35,000 people in thousands of locations participated in Field Day activities last year.
“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,” Isgur said. “In today’s electronic do-it-yourself environment, ham radio remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology and numerous other scientific disciplines, and is a huge asset to any community during disasters or emergencies if the standard communication infrastructure goes down.”
Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the U.S., ranging in age from 9 to 100. And with organized groups like the Ozark Mountain Amateur Radio Club, it’s easy for anyone to get involved.
For more information about Field Day or amateur radio, email club president Willie Adey at n0tpe80@gmail.com.