Amateur Radio Enthusiasts Hit the Airways this Weekend:

KAMLOOPS - When reliable forms of communication like cell phones and landlines go down during natural disasters, amateur radio enthusiasts are able to relay messages. Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the aggressive Barriere wildfire in in 2003 wiped out phone lines and amateur radio enthusiasts grabbed their gear and stepped up to help people communicate. Those enthusiasts are known as hams, and they study for years to prepare for worst case scenarios. This weekend is the largest on-air field day in North America. An estimated 40,000 hams from across the continent will take part in the exercise, according to the American Radio Relay League. Cell phones and landlines need infrastructure but with ham radio, all that's needed to relay messages is a transceiver, cable, an antenna and a power supply. In this emergency preparedness field day, hams across Canada and the USA want to make contact with as many other stations, or operators, as possible. The challenge is to do so successfully while in the field in a less than ideal setting. The point is to hone skills and practice using equipment so they will be prepared in a natural disaster. Hams communicate on radio frequencies using morse code or voice.

from Ham Radio Times http://ift.tt/2rYdGCq
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