They call it "Field Day" and it's an annual event run by Radio Amateurs all over the country. Using emergency powered equipment "hams" test their radio communication capabilities should a community---or an entire region---lose electric power and conventional telephone links. Such communication disasters are often accompanied by severe weather. Lockport area hams were using emergency power at their field day set-up at Outwater Park on Saturday, 6/23 to send and receive hundreds of test messages. And the weather made it realistic, too. Much of the day was accented with rain and filled with gray skies.
According to the test rules, the radio hams have a limited number of hours to set up before they must start sending and receiving messages. Temporary trailers, tents, and antennae were used as might well be the case in the event of a major natural disaster. The view above shows an overview of the operation at the northwest corner of Outwater Park. In the frame below, members of the local radio club, The Lockport Amateur Radio Association, are seen putting up a temporary emergency antenna support using an extension ladder with ropes as guys. Copper wire is run between several such supports to form radio transmitting and receiving antennae capable of worldwide emergency communications in the event of telephone, satellite, and (gasp,) Internet failure.
Amateur Radio operators around the country this weekend are showing off the latest in digital communications, talking to people around the world using amateur satellites and demonstrating their unique dedication to public service during Amateur Radio week, June 17-24. Amateur Radio clubs, like the Lockport one, are out in their communities to raise awareness about Amateur Radio and prepare for the week's culminating event, an annual emergency preparedness exercise called "Field Day," June 23 and 24.
Field Day is designed to test operators' abilities to set up and operate portable stations under emergency conditions such as the loss of commercial electricity. Most participants will set up their Field Day stations in parks, on town greens or even in shopping mall parking lots. The event is a serious test of skill, and a contest for fun, too. During the weekend, the radio operators try to contact as many other Field Day stations as possible, simulating the fast on-air skills needed to assist town officials and served agencies during an emergency. More than 30,000 Amateur Radio operators across the country participated in last year's event. The first Field Day was held in 1933.
Just this week, in the wake of Tropical Storm Allison, ham radio volunteers helped provide emergency communications in flood-stricken areas of Texas and Louisiana. Amateur Radio operators in every state are ready to assist if called upon as the summer storm season intensifies.
Today there are more than 650,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide.
Making
Contact!
Two members of the Lockport Amateur Radio Association operate their short-wave transmitting and receiving equipment inside a temporary tent at Outwater Park.
Most of the contacts made at Lockport were using voice communications (International Morse Code is going out of vogue and many radio hams recently licensed, don't know how to use it.
The wire just over the young man's head, is what feeds powerful RF energy to the outside antenna and is a safety defect in the emergency lash-up apparently overlooked.
That's Daniel Hoff (on East Amherst, NY) in front of the mike while Hat Humphrey (of Wilson, NY) looks on. Daniel's dad is also a ham radio operator. All are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission after passing examinations.