Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be demonstrating emergency capabilities this weekend.

From June 28-29, the public will have a chance to meet and talk ham radio operators and learn about Amateur Radio Service. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even Morse code, hams from across the country will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities, according to a press release.

In the Carver County area, the SMARTS Radio Club will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at Baylor Park in Norwood Young America on Saturday, June 28. The group invites the public to see ham radio’s new capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license.

This annual event, called “Field Day,” is the climax of the week-long “Amateur Radio Week” sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. More than 34,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year’s event.

Ham radio operators have provided communication in many major emergencies. “We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather’s radio anymore,” stated Allen Pitts of the ARRL, in a press release. “The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded.”There are 650,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the United States, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL’s ARES program, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free.To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org [2].