HAM RADIOS TUNE TO WORLD; FIELD DAY EVENT TEST OF OPERATORS' EQUIPMENT, CONTACTS.Byline: John Sanders John Sanders is the name of
Amateur radio operators gathered at Lancaster City Park for the annual Field Day Event on Saturday to demonstrate the importance of radios in case of emergency. The Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club (AVARC AVARC Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club (California) ) set up its radios to communicate with other radio stations across the United States and Canada during the event, which will continue today until 11 a.m. ``We want to demonstrate to the public what they (radios) can do,'' said Field Day coordinator Bill Feldmann. ``We want to test our equipment and get people interested in the hobby.'' If all the electricity went out during an emergency such as an earthquake, these radios would provide an essential means of communication. Feldmann said everyone would try to use cell phones, but that the lines would get jammed. During the Northridge Earthquake, several amateur radio clubs provided emergency communication to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. . ``It's very important,'' Feldmann said. ``It could provide our only communications with the outside world. It could do things like make sure we have enough blood plasma blood plasma n. The yellow or gray-yellow, protein-containing fluid portion of blood in which the blood cells and platelets are normally suspended. , that we have emergency vehicles coming in, things like that.'' The AVARC also is competing in a North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. competition. The club will attempt to communicate with other clubs from Los Angeles to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to Canada. The more contacts the club makes with other radio stations, the more points it will receive. Each time the club makes contact with another club, it receives two points. The more contacts the club makes, the better its equipment is working. Feldmann said that last year the club earned made about 1,800 contacts, earning 3,600 points. ``We generally haven't won a nationwide event, but this year I think we have a pretty good chance,'' said Feldmann, who has been involved in amateur radio since 1968. ``All of the stations are working quite well, and we have a good team of trained people.'' Feldmann emphasized that the contest wasn't as important as making sure all the equipment works in case of an emergency. ``It's invaluable,'' said AVARC President Myrle McLernon. ``This is all portable operations. We can go anywhere at any time at any moment's notice, set this up and provide communications. It's essential, it really is. It's gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. ; it's something we can do to give something back to the people.'' According to McLernon, all the radio members are volunteers. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1-2--Color) Above, Randy Estrello of Palmdale, left, and Matt Stewart of Lake Los Angeles program the Novice Antenna at the annual Field Day Event held at Lancaster City Park on Saturday. At left, Jim Zimmerman of Lancaster, left, and Dale Snyder of Elizabeth Lake work in the Morse code station inside an RV. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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