Hams Will Test Their Skills On ‘Field Day’

BROOKFIELD — Candlewood Amateur Radio Association (CARA) will hold a public demonstration of emergency communications abilities at Cadigan Park, 500 Candlewood Lake Road, for a 24-hour period starting on Saturday, June 24, at 2 pm.

The annual event, called “Field Day,” is sponsored by The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for amateur radio. It is the largest on-air operating event of the year, with more than 30,000 operators across the country and Canada expected to participate.

During Field Day, ham operators will set up portable communications stations in local parks, at shopping malls, or even in their own backyards. Then, using only generators, batteries or solar power, they will prove that they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, Internet, or any other infrastructure that requires electricity, and which therefore might be compromised in a crisis.

During the 24-hour exercise hams will be demonstrating a variety of communications capabilities including AM, sideband, FM, digital, code and even satellite communications. Several clubs will also experiment with TV signals and incredibly high frequency equipment.

There are more than 670,000 amateur radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through ARRL, hams provide emergency communications for the US Department of Homeland Security Citizen Corps, American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, FEMA, and many state and local agencies.

“In fact,” says Frank Etzler, president of CARA, “several of our local hams were sent to the Gulf Coast area last year to provide vital communications after Katrina.

“We hope that people will come and see for themselves the capabilities we’ll be demonstrating,” said Mr Etzler. “It may be called ‘amateur radio’ because we are unpaid, but there is nothing amateur about now we handle communications and the preparation we go through to respond to emergencies or disasters when needed. We want the community to know that in the event of an emergency, we will be ready to help in any way we can.”

The public is invited to meet and talk with the hams and maybe even get on air.

To learn more about Amateur Radio, contact Candlewood Amateur Radio Association at Box 3441, Danbury CT 06813, or visit

ARRL.org/newham.