PERRYVILLE – The River Hills Amateur Radio Club will participate in a nationwide “field day” Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25 at the Bank of Missouri Soccer Complex in Perryville.
Club President Christopher Wilson (call sign WY9S) says the field day will focus on “Skill, Service, Science.”
Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s proclamation recognizing June 19-25 to be Amateur Radio Week.
Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have participated in field day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio.
This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend Saturday June 24 from 1-5 p.m.
A typical River Hills Amateur Radio Club field day type set up.
The club members will actually be operating from 1 p.m. Saturday June 24 to 11 a.m. Sunday June 25. They will be located in the shelter at the soccer complex.
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 laptops or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of amateur radio during a communications outage,” says Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, spokesperson for ARRL The national association for Amateur Radio®, (www.arrl.org), which represents amateur (or “ham”) radio operators across the country. “In today’s electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) 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 750,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as nine and as old as 100.
And with clubs such as River Hills ARC, it’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in Perry County.
For more information about Field Day or amateur radio, contact Christopher Wilson – Club President – 573-513-2214 or visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.