RIDGWAY — The Elk County Amateur Radio Association (ECARA) has announced the following events for the remainder of the month.
There will be a test session held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, at the Hallton Church on Evergreen Drive in Ridgway. All license classes will be tested. Two forms of identification are required, with one photo ID necessary to take part. The test is offered at no charge. Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 9 years old, and as old a 100.
Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. More than 35,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day 2022 activities.
The ECARA will demonstrate the science and skills while participating in the National Amateur Radio Field Day exercises. Ham radio Field Days are scheduled from 2 p.m. June 24 to 2 p.m. June 25 at the Lewis Camp on Bingham Road in Ridgway. Radios and antennas will be available. The public is invited to learn how ham radios work and see how operators can use them under emergency conditions when cell phones will not work.
“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said David Isgur, communications manager for the American Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio.
“But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.
Set up for the event is Friday, June 23. Club members who can assist with set up are asked to contact the Lewis family.
The annual ECARA club picnic will follow the tear down of Field Days at approximately 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 25. Club members, family and friends are welcome and asked to bring a dish to share, as well as their own beverages. Anyone who is interested in ham radio is welcome to attend.
The next meeting of the ECARA will be in July.
Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.
For more than 100 years, Amateur Radio, also known as ham radio, has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide free public services to their communities during a disaster or emergency, all without needing a cell phone or the internet.
“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,” Isgur added. “Hams do this by using a layer of 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. In addition, amateur radio is a huge asset to any community during disasters or emergencies if the standard communication infrastructure goes down.”
