Radio Club 24-Hour Field Day Is This Weekend In Howell

HOWELL, NJ — The world can seem like a much smaller place when ham radio operators make contact with each other.

And you can learn about Morse code and ham radio communications - and be part of a nationwide event - at the annual ARRL Field Day this weekend at Echo Lake Park.

The Ocean-Monmouth Amateur Radio Club will host the 24-hour event, starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, through 2 p.m. Sunday. The event is free to the public.

Produced by the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio, the Field Day is the single most popular on-air event held annually in the U.S and Canada, the club says.

On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or with friends to operate from remote locations.

Every year, hams around the country set up their radios anywhere from parks to parking lots to practice communications skills. They use emergency power, batteries and solar for the 24-hour event.

Field Day will be at Echo Lake Park and it will highlight many aspects of amateur radio, organizers say.

While there is a contest element, the event is also an opportunity to practice emergency response capabilities - and to show amateur radio capabilities to the organizations that might be served in an emergency, as well as to the general public.

The contest involves contacting as many other stations as possible and to learn to operate radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions.

These same skills are used to help with events such as marathons and bike-a-thons and walk-a-thons, parades and more.

"Despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems — or maybe because they are so complex — ham radio has been called into action again and again to provide communications in crises when it really matters," organizers say.

In Howell, the event is a chance for kids and adults to have hands-on demonstrations of Morse code, for example, and to get in on the radio action and make contact with another operator from just about anywhere in the country.

Echo Lake Park is at 1225 Maxim-Southard Road in Howell.

The event is rain or shine, organizers say. Visit the club at www.n2mo.org for more information.