The Cleveland Amateur Radio Club will present a display of “Amateur Radio in Action” as a part of their participation in Field Day, a 24 hour communications exercise. Members of CARC will operate their radios from their clubhouse, 560 Johnson Blvd., in Cleveland.
Field Day, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday. It will end 24 hours later on Sunday. The ARRL is the largest organization advocating on behalf of amateur radio in the world.
For over 100 years, amateur radio – sometimes called HAM radio – has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communication techniques. They also provide a free public service in their communities during a disaster working with federal, state, and local government agencies and private organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and many others.
Steve Weber, president of CARC, said Field Day is a time of fellowship and fun for the thousands of amateur radio operators participating in the United States and around the world in several foreign countries.
Mr. Weber said guidelines the ARRL established for Field Day highlight two primary purposes.
First, participants hone their skills of establishing communication on international frequencies in the wake of a natural disaster such as a flood, tornado, or hurricane that has destroyed the infrastructure of normal communications, disabling phone service and the Internet.
Secondly, Mr. Weber said the ARRL, the national association for amateur radio, wants clubs and other groups participating in the communications exercise to display their work in a place easily accessible to the public.
In a release the ARRL said, “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.”
Last year the CARC charted new territory using social media to live stream activities from their clubhouse. The club plans a presence on several avenues of social media, including Facebook.
Coordinating the effort is club member Buddy Kimsey. He started working several months ago preparing lists of equipment to be used and establishing committees that will be responsible for various aspects of the exercise.
One key aspect of Field Day is that all of the equipment used and the clubhouse will be powered by an emergency generator.
Mr. Kimsey explained the purpose of Field Day is to contact as many other participants as possible. For each, the club will receive points. Voice contacts count one point. Contacts using Morse code count two points.
Even though communication by Morse code has given way to digital modes in most commercial and military uses, it is still widely used by thousands of amateurs, including many that have used it for most of their amateur radio careers.
Mr. Kimsey said in addition to points earned for over-the-air contacts, the ARRL allows bonus points for things such as not using commercially-generated electricity, having a public information booth available, visitation by an elected official and a served agency official, and providing the media with information about the event for publication or broadcast.
During Field Day the club will use the Cleveland – Bradley County Emergency Management Agency’s communications trailer that is equipped for communication on several amateur VHF, UHF, and HF frequencies.
The ARRL estimates there are currently over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as five and as old as 100.
Sean Kutzko, an ARRL spokesman, summed up Field Day this way - “HAMS can literally throw a wire in a tree for an antenna, connect it to a battery-powered transmitter and communicate halfway around the world. HAMS do this by using a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere as a sort of mirror for radio waves. In today’s electronic do-it-yourself 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 communications infrastructure goes down.”
Public visits to the site are encouraged to view amateur radio simulate operating in a disaster.
The CARC is among Tennessee’s most active amateur radio clubs. Members provide license examinations on the second Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. Tutoring sessions to help those studying for the entry level license, the Technician, or wanting to upgrade to the General or Amateur Extra licenses are conducted on most Saturday’s starting at 9 a.m.
There is also a Morse code class at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Club meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday nights at 7 p.m.