Radio club hosts Amateur Radio Field Day

By Reader Staff

The Bonner County Amateur Radio Club and Bonner County Amateur Radio Emergency Service will host the ARRL Amateur Radio Field Day from noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 at House of the Lord Church (Highway 41 Campus, 36254 Hwy. 41, in Oldtown). The event is free and open to the public.

Field Day is the most popular amateur radio operating event of the year in the U.S. and Canada, with about 35,000 radio amateurs (and the friends and families) heading into the field to make as many contacts as they can in a 24-hour period.

“We essentially take wooded areas, turn them into independent portable communications centers with world-wide communications capabilities for the weekend, and then turn them back into wooded areas on Sunday afternoon,” organizers stated in a release. “It’s an amazing transformation.”

Attendees do not have to be a member of any amateur radio club or be licensed ham operators to participate. The Oldtown event will be used to introduce people to operating in the high-frequency bands. 

“Last year, we had the pleasure of getting a young man on the air who was able to make contact with his grandmother in another station who was participating in Field Day with her club,” organizers said.

For more information, contact Mark Earls, 208-610-6510 or k7mee1@gmail.com.