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Community Corner

Tyler State Park Hosts Amateur Radio Field Day Activities

An amateur radio weekend with the Penn Wireless Association HAM radio club took place at Tyler State Park.

The Penn Wireless Association Ham radio club held Amateur Radio Field Day activities at Tyler State Park in Bucks County this weekend.

The words “CQ Field Day” could be heard for 24 hours straight at Tyler and on the airwaves around the world. CQ is a general call to all listening amateur radio stations requesting communications. In this case, it was a call for any stations participating in Field Day.

Field Day weekend has been happening every June since 1933 across North America and several other countries, according to the American Radio Relay League. It serves as an opportunity for Ham's to practice their skills in setting up and operating emergency communication radio stations; it is practicing for times of disaster when all other communication are down or overloaded. Over the years it has become both an emergency practice and also a contest for Ham's to see how many other stations they can contact in different areas. Participating stations get points for each station contacted on each band. Extra points can be earned for operating in public parks, using emergency power generators and solar power.

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The Penn Wireless Ham club operates as a team under the FCC assigned call letters W3SK. The club operates as a team, giving each other breaks to eat or sleep while the contest continues, for 24 hours.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett proclaimed his support of June 2012 as Amateur Radio Month for the amateur radio community in their work providing emergency communications in times of disaster, homeland security, promoting international goodwill, and encouraging young people to pursue education and careers in science, liberal arts and advancing the art of electronic communications through experimentation.

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According to the FCC website, the FCC established amateur radio as a voluntary, non-commercial, radio communications service. It allows licensed operators to improve their communications and technical skills, while providing the nation with a pool of trained radio operators and technicians who can provide essential communications during emergencies.

Field Day allows Ham's to come together to practice their skills and compete for bragging rights as to how many contacts they made and how many different areas of the world were contacted. Skills practiced here will be valued assets in times of disaster.

The public is always encouraged to stop in and learn more about Amateur Radio at Penn Wireless Field Day or at their monthly meetings at the Falls Township Building every third Monday of the month.

To learn more about  Amateur Radio, Field Day and the ARRL follow this link.

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