Manchester, TN - Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities on June 23rd and 24th. 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
23rd and 24th, 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 30,000 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.
In the Coffee County area, the Middle Tennessee Amateur Radio Society will be demonstrating Amateur Radio
at Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park, on June 23 and 24, 2007. They invite the public to come and see ham radio’s capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.
There are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world.
Through the ARRL, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for the DHS Citizens' Corps,
the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and thousands of state and local agencies, all for
free.
To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. The public is most cordially
invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can
even help you get on the air!
