Ham Radio for Emergency Communications

ROXBURY, NEW JERSEY - Ham Radio operators will demonstrate modern capabilities during a public demo of Emergency Communications this Saturday & Sunday: June 28-29 at Horseshoe Lake Pavilion on Eyland Avenue in Succasunna, NJ.

Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past few years, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies world-wide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio – often called "Ham radio" - was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer "hams" traveled south to save lives and property.

When trouble is brewing, ham radio volunteers are often the first to provide critical information and communications. On the weekend of June 28-29, 2008 the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these dedicated ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.

This annual event, called "Field Day" is the climax of the week long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will set-up emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, "When all else fails…" is more than just words to the hams as they demonstrate they can send messages in many forms without the use of contemporary phone systems, Internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's event.

"We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather's radio anymore" said Allen Pitts, W1AGP of the ARRL. "The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded."

"Our group, the Splitrock Amateur Radio Association (SARA) will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at the Horseshoe Lake Picnic Pavilion off Eyland Ave in Succasunna (Roxbury Township) on June 28th from 2PM-8PM and Sunday June 29th from 9AM-1PM" said Ed Donnelly, KB2UNZ President of SARA. "We invite and encourage the public to stop by, see ham radio's capabilities, operate one of our radio stations, and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes."

To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can help you get a ham license and get on the air!

About the ARRL
ARRL is the national membership association for Amateur Radio operators. There are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for the DHS Citizens' Corps, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and thousands of state and local agencies, all for free.

About the Splitrock Amateur Radio Association (SARA)
The Splitrock Amateur Radio Association (SARA) began in 1972. The original group of interested amateurs built an amateur radio repeater, from used commercial equipment, on a radio tower on the north end of Rockaway Township, near the Splitrock reservoir.

For membership and meeting info please visit www.splitrockara.org