Ham Radio Enthusiasts Conduct National Field Day Exercise

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(TNS) — The folks behind the Central Kentucky Amateur Radio Society (CKARS) pulled an all-nighter on Saturday.

The group took part in the National Amateur Radio Field Day exercise — making contact with approximately 2,440 other radio users across the world. CKARS is just one of many clubs which make up the National Association for Amateur Radio.

Amateur radio, or ham radio as it’s known by its users, is a passion for the people in CKARS.

According to Terry Holman, who served as Field Day Chairman on Saturday (in the group he uses his call sign “AJ4A” [And Justice For All]), “This is a national event for amateur radio in North America and the United States , in particular. We’re going to have operators from all across the country, and even around the world, that want to participate; trying to make as many contacts as possible in a 24-hour period.”

Camp Catalpa became wrapped up with wires and other radio equipment from 2 p.m. on Saturday to 2 p.m. the next day. Wired antennas were placed in trees and tents were erected throughout the campground. In total, Holman said, the group set up roughly six stations on the air to make contact with other radio users.

Field Day works as a test for participating amateur radio clubs to see how they would perform in an emergency situation. The clubs are rated with a points system for the event. Points are awarded on criteria like the number of contacts made, educational activities, and any visits from government officials or emergency service agencies.

Over the course of the weekend, CKARS made thousands of contacts through various means of radio communications.

According to CKARS numbers, 1,075 contacts were made through single-side band, 1,123 through Morse code and 242 through digital radio. The current count is approximate in nature, as the full results won’t be in until November or December of this year.

They crossed international borders as well.

According to organizers, CKARS made contact with other radio users in Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

CKARS has finished first in their class in Kentucky for more than a decade and first in the United States as a whole in 2021’s Field Day event. While Field Day is one of their biggest events, CKARS manages to stay pretty busy throughout the year.

“We repair and maintain repeaters. We do a lot of contests. A lot of us chase paperwork,” Holman said. “There are so many opportunities in ham radio to do so many different things. We all do stuff different, but we all share a lot of common interests, too.”

According to the folks at CKARS, there are over 775,000 ham radio operators in the U.S., with 10,000 of that number making Kentucky their home. The group meets the third Thursday of the month at the Joint Information Center at 558 South Keeneland Drive. Holman encouraged anyone with an interest in radio to come to CKARS meetings.