PERRY, Georgia — Central Georgia Amateur Radio Club and the Middle Georgia Radio Association participated in the annual American Radio Relay League Field Day event on Saturday and Sunday.
The two Central Georgia groups demonstrated their amateur radio abilities at the Sojourn Church in Perry.
The amateur radio operating event will bring amateur radio operators from throughout the United States, Canada and other foreign countries and has been going on since the 1970s.
These radio operators, also known as “hams” will attempt to contact as many stations as possible during the 24-hour event. The event was held in January last year.
The event itself is described as “the climax” of a week-long “Amateur Radio Week.” that’s sponsored by the ARRL.
The hams, including several from Central Georgia, will set up emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and backyards around the country.
This event was created to help those improve their skills when working in subpar conditions. The event noted that ham’s often have to work in tornadoes, storms and in areas with no telecommunication, so their ability to work through these is important.
Their slogan: "When all else fails, Ham radios work."
“The fastest way to turn a crisis into a total disaster is to lose communications,” ARRL’s Allen Pitts said. “From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to tornadoes in Missouri, ham radio provided the most reliable communication networks in the first critical hours of the events.”
The event will run from 2 p.m. on Saturday to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
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