LAKEPORT, Calif. – Participating for its 31st year, the Lake County Amateur Radio Society once again took part in the Worldwide Field Day.
The event began at 11 a.m. Saturday and runs through 11 a.m. Sunday with a mobile field operations center atop Vista Point in Lakeport.
The public is encouraged to visit and learn about amateur shortwave radio, also know has ham radio.
“We do it for fun, but we also provide a valuable service to the community,” said Tom Patton, a member of the group.
Jeff Plank, president of the Lake County Amateur Radio Society, said the club’s members provide supplemental communications not only to emergency responders but also for events where other forms of communication are impossible – for instance, in areas without cell phone signals or at large events without enough personnel.
Some of the events and organizations they help provide communications assistance to include the Lake County Fair, Konocti Challenge, Davis Double Century Bike Club, Lake County Public Health, Red Cross, area hospitals and more.
“Wherever help is needed, we will be there,” said Plank.
The annual field day allows members of the Lake County Amateur Radio Society to demonstrate to the public what amateur radio is all about, allowing people to learn and try out the mobile equipment – some of which can be set up in less than a minute or carried like a cell phone – and explain the importance of the equipment in emergency situations.
During local events, amateur radio operators can communicate with one another as well as emergency responders – but they can also communicate across long distances.
“Tonight, with our battery-operated equipment and mobile antennas, we've been in contact with other operators on the East Coast, including Vermont and Pennsylvania,” Patton said.
For more information, you can stop by Vista Point in Lakeport, in the parking lot of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, before 11 a.m. Sunday, or contact Arland Souza of the Nice Amateur Radio Club at 707-349-1519.