Ham Radio Operators In RivCo Joining North American 'Field Day'

EASTVALE, CA — Amateur radio operators will broadcast from an Eastvale park over a 24-hour period next week, sending messages via their personalized sets as part of a continental event highlighting how nontraditional sources of communication can be vital during emergencies.

The Local Ham Radio Club of Eastvale will be among nearly 40,000 amateur radio enthusiasts across the United States and Canada expected to take part in the American Radio Relay League's annual "Field Day," slated to get underway the morning of Saturday, June 23, and continue into the evening of Sunday, June 24.

Club members will be set up on the north end of Cedar Creek Park, 6709 Cedar Creek Road, offering the public an opportunity to watch them operate between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on June 23.
On Field Day, so-called "ham" radio operators establish temporary broadcasting stations in their homes, parks, schools — anywhere they can raise an antenna — to communicate with one another.

"Ham radio operators learn, are tested, and are licensed by the Federal Communication Commission to have special access to many frequencies across the radio frequency spectrum to practice and improve the art of wireless communication," according to the club. "They also provide a back-up of citizens with communication skills as an asset to our communities and nation. We communicate with each other around the world and even into space ... on a regular basis, with a minimum amount of equipment."

The Newington, Connecticut-based ARRL touts the utilization of ham radios as a means of ensuring connectivity to places throughout the country when modern devices, such as mobile phones and wirelessly connected computers, may not work or be available.

Amateur radio operators have aided authorities and transmitted critical information to the public during wildfires, tornadoes, winter storms, hurricanes and other emergencies, according to the ARRL. The organization said there are more than 725,000 "hams" throughout North America, and their ages range from 5 to 100.

Ham radios generally broadcast on high-frequency channels, with varying ranges, not found on most commercial receivers.

The Corona Police Department has maintained a team of ham operators as standby facilitators for decades. They're known as Communications Specialist Volunteers.