Tehachapi Ham Radio Club 'Winter Field Day,' Jan. 27-28

The Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association would like to invite you to our annual "Winter Field Day" from 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27 through the night until 10:59 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 28.

This will take place down in Bakersfield at the Kern River Campground.

We will have different radios set up with different modes or types of communication.

We offer you the opportunity to get on the radio and make contacts near and far.

You will get a chance to see how Ham Radio Operators work off the grid using batteries, solar power and generators.

We also set up temporary portable antennas in a short time using the space available.

This simulates how we would set up and work in a real emergency situation.

This event is put on by the National Association for Amateur Radio, the ARRL http://www.arrl.org.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Days to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio.

This event is a radio contest that gives us a chance to practice using radios in the field, using different modes and sharing knowledge with each other and the public.

This event will give a chance for the public and media to actually use radios and learn under supervision to make radio calls long distance.

Why?

Field Day is a showcase for how Amateur Radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network.

"Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with laptops or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That's the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage," says David Isgur, communications manager for ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio®. "In today's electronic do-it-yourself environment, ham radio remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology and numerous other scientific disciplines, and is a huge asset to any community during disasters or emergencies if the standard communication infrastructure goes down."

Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 9 and as old as 100 years old. And with clubs such as the Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association, it's easy for anybody to get involved right here in Kern County.

Our website is http://www.ac6ee.org. Here you can find posts about our activities, events and photos.

We also have a Facebook page, Facebook: Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association.

The Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization located in Tehachapi.