Field Day demonstrates the critical need for emergency communication through amateur radio

Ed Efchak

Public Information Coordinator ARRL Northern New Jersey Section

A member of the Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club operates the radio

FAIR LAWN — Members of the Northern New Jersey amateur radio clubs will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 23 ending Sunday, June 24 also at 2 p.m.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary "ham" radio stations in public locations during Field Day weekend to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. The event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend. More than 45,000 "hams" from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2017.

Central Jersey participants of the day include the Carteret Volunteers Amateur Radio Club in Carteret Park, the Cherryville Repeater Association in Milford, the New Providence Amateur Radio Club at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club in South Plainfield, and the Tri-County Radio Association in the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside.

For more than 100 years, Amateur 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.

Members of the Northern New Jersey amateur radio clubs will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise

Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Ham operators train and prepare to support emergency communications by providing radio links when other communications channels aren't working.

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This year's event is particularly poignant in the wake of the impact of hurricanes in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico; the latter which left critical communications solely to the responsibility of amateur operators in the first critical days after the storm struck.

“In disasters, we've learned that cell towers won't work and ham operators play a huge role when that happens.” said Rob Roschewsk, American Radio Relay League Northern New Jersey Section Manager. “Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of amateur radio during a communications outage.”

Radio operators with their tents and equipment

“Hams can literally throw a wire in a tree for an antenna, connect it to a generator, solar or battery-powered transmitter and communicate effectively with others,” Roschewsk added. "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 if the standard communication infrastructure goes down....amateur radio remains contemporary and more important than ever".

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator; there are more licensed US operators today than ever before. For more information contact Ed Efchak at wx2r@arrl.net or eefchak@gmail.com or visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.