June 20, 2019 456 PM
ALPINE – Members of the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 22–23 at the pavilion on the Double Diamond Ranch eight miles south of Alpine on Highway 118.
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.
Last year the club made 1,767 contacts during the 24 hours of Field Day. They finished in 16th place, out of 328 groups nationally, in their category.
For over 100 years, Amateur Radio – sometimes called ham 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 35,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2016.
“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 Bill Brooks, KE5OG, Brewster County Emergency Coordinator of the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club. “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.”
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 Big Bend Amateur Radio Club, it’s easy to get involved right here in the Big Bend area.
For more information about Field Day, contact Bill Brooks, KE5OG, at 432-244-8863 or visit bigbendarc.com or the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club on Facebook.
