Ham radio operators ‘on the air’

Amateur radio operators are bringing their combined skills to the field, showcasing their labor of love and offering the public an opportunity to get more familiar with an art of communication that is still making waves.

Ham radio operators from Sampson County, Wayne County and Kinston radio clubs will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from 2 p.m. Saturday, June 22, until 2 p.m. Sunday, June 23. The event is deemed the ARRL Field Day, an annual event first organized in 1933 by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

The field day site is located in the wooded area across from 2104 Salem Church Road in Goldsboro, just south of the Lane Tree Country Club, where the event was held last year.

Since 1933, amateur radio operators, referred to as “hams,” across North America have established temporary amateur radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skills of amateur radio. All stations will operate off-grid in emergency mode using no commercial power. Each station will operate independently, powered by generators, batteries or solar power.

Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. There will be a hands-on station for the general public to experience amateur radio.

Many hams will be demonstrating the portability of these communications by using alternative energy sources such as generators, solar panels and batteries to power their equipment. Along with several high frequency radio stations, Lawton Eure of Sampson’s club said there will be a satellite station, Morse Code station and a get-on-the-air (GOTA) station.

The GOTA station is open to anyone who would like to try out amateur radio. The public is welcome and encouraged to come out, said Eure, who regularly publicizes the annual event locally.

He noted the active hurricane season predicted for this year, which further drives home the importance of maintaining communication when nothing else is available. Hams have a long history of serving their communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communication infrastructure, including cell towers.

“Ham radio functions completely independent of the internet and phone systems and a ham radio station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes,” Eure stated. “Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source and communicate effectively with others.”

Those skills will be on display this weekend. During last year’s field day, more than 31,000 hams participated from thousands of locations across North America. That was an even larger turnout than the 29,000 who participated in 2022’s field day.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone connect to the internet and communicate, all without the knowledge of how the devices function or are connected to each other,” Dave Isgur of the ARRL has said. “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.”

Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the United States and over 3 million worldwide, with ages ranging from 5 to 100.

For more information about the field day event or becoming a ham, contact Lawton Eure of the Sampson County Amateur Radio Service at 910-590-7374.