The fastest way for a crisis to turn into a total disaster is to lose communications. 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. Because ham radios are not dependent on the internet, cell towers or other infrastructure, they work when nothing else is available. “We need nothing between us but air,” said Allen Pitts of the Amateur Radio Relay League.
The one consistent service that never has failed has been Amateur Radio.
Culver City's ham radio operators, known as hams, work in conjunction with the Fire Dept. to ensure that there never will be a communications blackout in Culver City.
This coming weekend, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with Culver City's hams and see what the Amateur Radio Service is about.
Hams across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities. This annual event, called Field Day is the climax of the week long Amateur Radio Week, sponsored by the national association for amateur radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and backyards around the country.
Culver City's Field Day will be held at Fire Station 1, 9600 Culver Blvd., in the back parking lot. Visitors are welcome from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. (Although the event runs for a full 24 hours, the Fire Dept. gates must be closed after 9 p.m.). Visitors are welcome on Sunday, from 9 to 11.
Visitors will have the opportunity to get on the air — to use ham radios to make contacts around the country. They are invited to stop by and see how they're making Culver City a safer place.
Amateur Radio is growing in the U.S., with 700,000 amateur radio licensees and 2.5 million around the world. Through the Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, ham volunteers provide both emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies and non-emergency community services too, all for free.
Marty Hente, president of Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Service, may be contacted at www.ccares.net
Ms. O’Neal may be contacted at www.fundraisingbasics.org
