Floyd Amateur Radio Society to Host Community Field Day | The Floyd press
The Floyd Amateur Radio Society will host a Field Day event on June 26.
Photo courtesy of Floyd Amateur Radio Society and Floyd RACES Group
Staff report
The Floyd Amateur Radio Society Field Day, open to the public, will be held in Willis from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 26. Those interested in learning more about amateur radio, both as a hobby and as an emergency services tool, are invited.
The event will provide attendees with a hands-on opportunity to learn more about amateur radio from host Michael Gale, who is a Federal Communications Commission licensed amateur radio operator.
FCC Licensed Amateur Radio Operators, also known as “hams,” across North America participate in Field Day by establishing temporary amateur radio stations to demonstrate their skill and service in bringing people together. while providing essential communication.
This year’s event is remarkable given that a particularly active hurricane season is expected.
“Hams have a long history of serving our communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communications infrastructure, including cell phone towers,” said Gale, whose call sign assigned by the FCC is N3MDG. “Amateur radio operates completely independent of the Internet and telephone systems, and a station can be set up almost anywhere in a matter of minutes. Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna up in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source, and communicate effectively with others.
Some hams have also been trained to be certified and organized under the FEMA Incident Management System to assist emergency officials as well as agencies such as the National Meteorological Service and the Red Cross.