Members of the Daytona Beach CERT Amateur Radio Team will be participating in the National Amateur Radio Field Day exercise on June 26 & 27 at the Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) Emergency Operations Center.
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. This event is open to the public.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Volusia County Council and Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry have all issued proclamations making June 20st through June 26th “Amateur Radio Week”.
For more than 100 years, Amateur Radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster or emergency, all without needing a cell phone or the Internet.
Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. More than 18,000 people from thousands of locations participated in the 2020 Field Day.
This year's event is also noteworthy given that a particularly active hurricane season is predicted, according to retired DBPD Police Captain Steve Szabo.
“Hams have a long history of serving our communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communication infrastructure, including cell towers,” Szabo added. "Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet and phone systems and a station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source and communicate effectively with others.”
Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 750,000 licensed hams in the United States and 3,000,000+ worldwide, some as young as 5 and as old as 100.
Among the tenets of the Amateur Radio Service is developing and practicing skills in radio technology and radio communications and even contributing to international goodwill. With clubs such as the Daytona Beach CERT Amateur Radio Team, it’s easy for anybody in Volusia County to get involved.
For more information about Field Day, contact Daytona Beach CERT Amateur Radio Team President Steve Szabo (call sign WB4OMM) at SzaboStephen@dbpd.us or (386) 566 -2085.