Culver City’s “hams” will join with thousands of amateur radio operators worldwide who will be showing off their emergency capabilities next weekend in a 24-hour event, Saturday, June 26, and Sunday, June 27.
The event will be Downtown, behind Fire Station No.1, 9600 Culver Blvd. (Schedule is listed below.)
Over the past several years, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications during unexpected emergencies in towns across America, including the California wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes and other events worldwide.
During Hurricane Katrina, amateur radio – often called ham radio — often was the only way people could communicate. Hundreds of volunteer hams traveled south to save lives and property. When trouble is brewing, amateur radio’s people frequently are the first to provide rescuers with critical information and communications.
Next weekend, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with Culver City’s ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse Code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications. Field Day, an annual event, is the climax of “Amateur Radio Week,” sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for amateur radio.
The Final Resort
Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools, and back yards around the country.
Their slogan, “When All Else Fails, Ham Radio Works,” is meaningful because it is intended to be literal. Hams prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 35,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's event.
“We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather's radio anymore,” said Allen Pitts, W1AGP, of the ARRL. “The communications that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded. And besides that – it’s fun!”
The Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES) was started 15 years ago in May, 1995. Since Aug. 14, 1995, CCARES has been providing disaster communications to the city of Culver City pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding with the city.
Both CCARES and the Culver City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) are essential components of the written disaster plan for Culver City.
CCARES is a part of that plan, both in its own right and as communications support for CERT.
Demonstrations
In Culver City, the Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES) will demonstrate Amateur Radio at it its Emergency Operations Center behind Fire Station 1, located on Saturday, June 26, beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 27.
The public is invited to come see ham radio’s new capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.
Some 650,000 FCC-licensed amateur radio operators are in the USA, and more than 2.5 million around the world.
Through the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free.
To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to http://www.emergency-radio.org
Contact: Bob Pine, K6RMP
Director, Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES)
Culver City CERT Communications Manager
4039 Colonial Ave.,
Los Angeles 90066
310.572.1941
K6RMP@ca.rr.com
Ms. O’Neal may be contacted at lonneal@gmail.com
