Amateur Radio “Field Day”

Members of the Lambton County Radio Club (LCRC) will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 24 – 25, 2023 at Krall Park located at the intersection of Shiloh Line and Oil Heritage Road (Highway 21) in Enniskillen Township, Ontario.

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 and all are encouraged to attend. For over 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, 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. Over 45,000 people from thousands of locations in North America participated in Field Day in 2022.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smart phone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said Charles Chivers, President of LCRC. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate.”

Ham radio functions completely independently of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, yet can interface with tablets or smart phones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

In today’s electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) environment, ham radio also remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology, and numerous other scientific disciplines.  It is also a huge asset to any community during disasters if the standard communication infrastructure goes down.

Currently, there are over 75,000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators in Canada, and more than 2.5 Million worldwide.

Through their work with such organizations as the Radio Amateurs of Canada (www.rac.ca), and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), Hams in Lambton County have now become an official part of the emergency communications plans for the Province of Ontario, Lambton County and the City of Sarnia. They also donate their time, talent and unique communications skills as trained storm spotters for Environment Canada during local severe weather outbreaks.

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More information about the Lambton County Radio Club (and the upcoming “Field Day” event) is also available here!