- May 5, 2024
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When disaster strikes, whole regions find themselves in the dark, without the means to communicate.
In these cases, the one service that has never failed has been amateur radio. These radio operators, often called “hams,” provide back-up communications for everything from the American Red Cross to FEMA and even for the International Space Station.
The ham radio operators of the Flagler Emergency Communications Association will join with tens-of-thousands of other Amateur Radio operators showing their emergency communications skills for 24 hours beginning 2 p.m. Saturday, June 22. Working in the training room of the headquarters of the Flagler Beach Fire Rescue Department, 320 S. Flagler Ave., groups of local hams will be using voice, Morse code, computer and satellites in orbit to simulate emergency conditions that might face local communities.
"The fastest way to turn a crisis into a total disaster is to lose communications,” said Jamey Burnsed, the leader of this year’s Flagler Emergency Communications Association Field Day Effort. “From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to tornadoes in Oklahoma, ham radio provided the most reliable communication networks in the first critical hours of the events. Because ham radios are not dependent on the Internet, cell towers or other infrastructure, they work when nothing else is available. We need nothing between us but air.”
The public is welcome to stop by and participate in this drill, to observe, operate specialized equipment and chat with local hams to learn more about the Amateur Radio Service created under Federal Regulations Title 47 and the regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. There is no charge to visit the operations of the Flagler Emergency Communications Association, and no advance arrangements are necessary. All are welcome.
