Get Your Ham Radio on Next Weekend

If an earthquake knocks out cell phones, land lines and internet servics, emergency crews still have a standby.

Ham.

Members of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos groups will take part in a nationwide demonstration of emergency communication using amateur radio, also called ham radio, next weekend.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 22 and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Seal Beach Pier, local members of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services will join thousands of amateur radio operators calling each other during the 24-hour period.

According to a Seal Beach Police Department spokesman, the exercise will demonstrate the RACES emergency capabilities in the event of a major disaster. Local operators, called hams, will also try to see how many people they can contact in one day.

During the annual Field Day, locals will get a chance to meet and talk with Seal Beach/ Los Alamitos RACES members and learn about the technology. The Seal Beach Police Explorers Scouts will help out at the event, the climax of a week-long Amateur Radio Week.

More than 35,000 amateur radio operators across the country are expected to participate in the 2013 event, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League.

The Seal Beach/Los Alamitos RACES group meets once every other month at the Seal Beach Police Department. As part of their emergency communications training, members take part in a number of drills during the year and a half-hour once-a-week radio check. 

Anyone interested in learning how to earn a ham radio license or any hams interested in joining RACES can get more information by contacting Todd DeVoe, the SBPD Emergency preparedness coordinator at (562) 799-4100, extension 1121 or via email at tdevoe@sealbeachca.gov.

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