Amateur Radio Operators Demonstrate Emergency Communications

The in West Sayville was the site of a demonstration of emergency communications, as local Amateur Radio enthusiasts joined thousands of their fellow ham operators across the country to participate in Field Day, an annual emergency communications preparedness exercise sponsored by ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio.

Twenty members of the Order of Boiled Owls Amateur Radio Club and the Radio Central Amateur Radio Club set up temporary short-wave radio stations at the museum on June 25 and 26, much as they would do in the event of a disaster, and spent 24 hours continuously transmitting and receiving simulated emergency messages in exchanges with their counterparts throughout the country. Communications were conducted using both voice and Morse code, with the group making more than 2,000 contacts with other ham groups throughout the nation.

The event also included more than 24 contacts made through orbiting amateur radio communications satellites, including one exchange with a station in France.