Amateur Radio's Nationwide "Field Day" Open House Publicly Demonstrates Ham Radio's Science, Skill, and Service -- June 25 & 26

NEWINGTON, Conn., June 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Radio amateurs throughout North America will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 25 – 26, sponsored by ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. Since 1933, ham radio operators have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public.

For over 100 years, Amateur Radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without a cell phone or the Internet. Field Day demonstrates ham radio's ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Over 45,000 people from thousands of locations across North America participated in Field Day in 2015.

"Throughout the country, Amateur Radio clubs will showcase their capabilities and technology that is available to anybody," said ARRL Spokesman Sean Kutzko. "Field Day is Amateur Radio's open house to the nation. We invite anybody to come see how ham radio works. The science and skill we offer can open doors to new career paths in technology and engineering fields, and an Amateur Radio network can function completely independent of other networks, such as the Internet or cellphone infrastructure. That's critical during a disaster or emergency, such as a hurricane or a 911 call center outage.

"For the DIY or Maker community, Amateur Radio enhances enjoyment of their projects through increased access to communications spectrum and enhanced electronics knowledge," Kutzko continued. "And above it all, there's an entire social network of people connected through their enjoyment of radio, sharing projects and ideas, mentoring, and a sense of community and belonging."

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 740,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as age 5 and as old as 100. Members of the public are encouraged to find and visit a Field Day site in their area by visiting www.arrl.org/field-day-locator, or learn more about Amateur Radio by visiting www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160603/375178

SOURCE ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio