Wood County Ham Radio Operators Participating in National Amateur Radio Exercise this Weekend

Monday, June 19th, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

Ham radio operators from Wood County ARES/RACES in Wisconsin Rapids will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from 1 p.m. on Saturday until 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 24-25.

The event is ARRL Field Day (www.arrl.org/FieldDay), an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States. Hams from across North America ordinarily participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service.

Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

During Field Day 2021, more than 26,000 hams participated from thousands of locations across North America. According to ARRL, there are more than 750,000 amateur radio licensees in the US, and an estimated 3 million worldwide.

Locally, Wood County ARES/RACES has been designated as a “Strike Team” for communications by Wisconsin Emergency Management due to their extensive training and experience, and have the only people in the state of Wisconsin who are working toward designation as AUXCOMM operator status along with the only state recognized AUXCOMM operator.

Wood County ARES/RACES will be operating at United Emergency Medical Response in Wisconsin Rapids for the event. The designated time for media and invited officials to attend is Saturday, June 24 from 3-6 p.m.

Senator Patrick Testin is confirmed as attending, and other representatives have been invited to attend. Among the tenets of the Amateur Radio Service is developing and practicing skills in radio technology and radio communications, and even contributing to international goodwill.

Hams range in age from as young as 9 to older than 100. A self-study license guide is available from the American Radio Relay League as well as apps and websites such as hamstudy.org that can help with studying.

For more information about ARRL Field Day and ham radio, contact Wood County ARES/RACES on Facebook@WoodCoARESRACES or by email at [email protected] and visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.