Cass County Amateur Radio Club Field Day

The Cass County Emergency Management Agency will be the site of a 24- hour communications exercise on June 27th and 28th and the public is invited.

Members of the Cass County Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the annual American Radio Relay League Field Day event. Thousands of “Ham” radio operators throughout the United States and North America will participate in the 24-hour event.

The goal is to try and make as many contacts with other stations as possible during the simulated emergency drill. Cass county amateur radio operators will set-up their radios and antennas at the Cass County EMA building at 1227 N. State Road 17 again this year. The event will begin at 2PM on Saturday June 27th and continue until 2PM on Sunday June 28th.

Dan McDonald is the Chairman of the local Field Day event this year.

Amateur radio operators assist in providing emergency communications services to the community when other forms of communications are down, due to natural or man-made disasters, or technical problems. Ham radio operators can operate their equipment using generators, solar panels or batteries. They have access to thousands of radio frequencies providing local, regional and world-wide communications. Amateur radio operators use a number of modes including, voice, digital and video to get messages through during times of disaster. Ham radio operators can also communicate using low-earth orbit satellites.

Recent tornadoes and floods in the U.S. have seen amateur radio operators used to provide emergency communications in the affected areas. Local ham radio operators also provide critical weather information to the National Weather Service when severe weather affects the area.

Local officials and the public are invited to learn about amateur radio and see the local hams in action by attending the Field Day event. For more information visit the Club’s website at: www.w9vmw.org  or www.arrl.org.