Field Day highlights emergency preparedness

Thousands of amateur radio operators from all over the United States will be showing off their emergency capabilities the weekend of June 27-28, including a contingent from The Colony.

The Lake Area Amateur Radio Klub, which also covers Lewisville, Flower Mound, Little Elm, Plano, and Frisco, will be demonstrating amateur radio and emergency preparedness starting at noon June 27 at the Lakeview Arts Center/American Legion Hall behind the Denton County Courts Building at 6301 Main St. in The Colony. The public is invited to attend and learn about ham radio and how to get involved before disaster strikes.

LAARK representative and The Colony resident Dan Howard said the event, known as Field Day, is about both demonstrating the capabilities of amateur radio as well as recruiting volunteers willing to take part in emergency situations should they arise.

“What we’re trying to do is create a volunteer base that has communications skills and abilities in the event of an emergency. Field Day is really about disaster preparedness and supporting the city,” Howard said. “That’s the backbone of an amateur radio club. All the volunteers that help the National Weather Service in the county are hams. We’re integrated into (the region’s) emergency disaster plans.”

Howard said that national and state leaders learned hard lessons about the fragility of communications infrastructure during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. During Katrina, ham radio was often the only way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer hams traveled south to help save lives and property.

Since then, the value of amateur radio operators has increased in the eyes of government officials on all levels.

“All the best plans in the world failed because too many people depend on infrastructure. In a wide scale disaster, no one can be prepared for that. The one out there making a difference is the little guy,” Howard said.

During a disaster situation, ham radio operators are often the first to provide critical information and communications. Field Day offers the public a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about.

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 backyards around the country. Their slogan, "Ham radio works when other systems don't," speaks to their ability to send messages in varied forms without the use of phone systems, the Internet, or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis.

More than 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's Field Day, according to ARRL.

"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."

As of last year there are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for county emergency operations, Department of Homeland Security Citizens' Corps, Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and thousands of state and local agencies, all for free.

To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.hello-radio.org.

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