For Rapids City Times

WISCONSIN RAPIDS –Wood County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) will host an Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 22 – 23 at United Emergency Medical Response, 3530 Bohn Dr., Wisconsin Rapids.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio, with multiple operating stations set up and offering license testing and mentoring on site.

Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said David Isgur, communications manager for the American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

“Hams can literally throw a wire in a tree for an antenna, connect it to a battery-powered transmitter and communicate halfway around the world.

For more information, contact kb9stb@gmail.com , visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio, or check out @WoodCoARESRACES on Facebook.