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Amateur Radio Field Day on Saturday

Members of the Maui Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise on Saturday in a field between the Hana Highway and the ocean, just past Hookipa Beach Park. Field Day, an event started by the Amateur Radio Relay League in 1933, is the largest emergency communication event in the world. Field Day also showcases the science and skill of amateur radio. This event is open to the public.

For over 100 years, amateur radio, or ham radio, has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communication techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cellphone 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 35,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2015.

The site MARC uses for this event was the location of a U.S. Navy radio station during World War II. The former naval pillbox is well known for hosting many local murals each year. MARC has been using the site since the early 1950s, thanks to the support of A&B Properties. The club has also received support of MEO, I&L Rentals, Pacific Portables and Kihei Rent A Car for many years.

Allen Pitts of the American Radio Relay League said, “The fastest way to turn a crisis into a total disaster is to lose communications.” Because ham radio is not dependent on local infrastructure, it works when nothing else is available.

Visitors are welcome to stop in to learn more about amateur radio, find out how they can get a ham radio license and participate in the event Saturday during daylight hours.

For more information about Field Day and the Maui Amateur Radio Club, visit www.kh6rs.org and www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

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