The Tri-States Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the nationwide amateur radio Field Day event on the fourth weekend in June at Fire Station #1 in front of Georgia Northwestern Technical College on US 27 in Rock Spring. The event will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday June 23, and runs for 24 hours through Sunday, June 24 at 2 p.m.
Field Day is an event sponsored by the American Radio Relay League where amateur radio operators across the nation contest to make as many contacts with other amateurs as possible within a 24-hour period. The event also prepares amateurs for emergency communication situations by allowing them to practice passing information over the radio and to set up in areas where commercial power may not be readily available.
"This is a great opportunity for our club to interact with our elected officials, first responders, and the surrounding community to show how amateur radio can be an integral piece during an emergency,” said TSARC President Jody Carter. “We are very grateful to Walker County Emergency Management Agency Director David Ashburn and Walker County Fire Chief Randy Camp for allowing us the opportunity to use Fire Station 1 as our base of operations for Field Day. We would also like to thank Community Emergency Response Team President Mary Perry for coordinating the meals for Field Day activities. I believe Walker County’s emergency service agencies understand the value and power of amateur radio during an emergency. The tornadoes that struck the area on April 27, 2011 emphasized that fact.”
President Carter went further to say that he hopes to have a lot of participation from the public at-large. “This is a time where we can show the public what amateur radio operators do and show that it’s not having a big, expensive radio. A person can start out by getting their license and purchase a handheld radio for about $100 and could begin talking to and participating with other hams on the various repeaters in the area.”
The TSARC has monthly meetings on the second Thursday of every month at the Lakeview Voting Precinct and are open to the public. The TSARC also has weekly nets on Monday nights at 7 p.m. on the W4GTA repeater (145.35 MHz with 100Hz PL tone). For more information about Field Day or how to become an amateur radio operator, visit the American Radio Relay League’s website at www.HelloRadio.org.