Field Day will begin Saturday, June 28 at 1:00 p.m. and continue until shutdown at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. The event will take place at the City of Plano's Hoblitzelle Park pavilion, located at 7500 Red River Drive, behind Hendrick Middle School.

ARRL Field Day is a showcase for how amateur radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network.

“Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with laptops or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of amateur radio during a communications outage,” said Sierra Harrop, W5DX, Public Relations and Outreach Manager for ARRL [the American Radio Relay League - The National Association for Amateur Radio®, www.arrl.org], which represents amateur or “ham” radio operators across the
country.

“In today’s connected world, ham radio remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology and numerous other scientific disciplines, and is a huge asset to any community during disasters or emergencies if the standard communication infrastructure goes down. Ham radio is also a great sandbox for tomorrow’s technology leaders to get hands-on with STEM concepts,” Harrop added.

Beside demonstrations of emergency communications, other events planned during Field Day are: visits by Plano area dignitaries, a visit by Plano Fire-Rescue, an educational workshop and opportunities for unlicensed operators to make contacts with other Field Day sites and/or possibly out of the country at PARK's Get On The Air [GOTA] station.

PARK recently celebrated its 50th year as a club. Throughout the year, members participate in multiple
service events in the area such as the Plano Balloon Festival, the Blackland Triathalon and Meals on Wheels. It is also maintains the primary radio system used by the Collin County SKYWARN storm spotter program. Any time severe weather is active in the county, operators are on the air reporting severe conditions to the local National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.

Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator. There are more than 750,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 9 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as PARK, it’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in Plano.

For more information about Field Day or amateur radio,
visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio and about the Plano Amateur Radio Klub, visit www.k5prk.net.

Join us on Field Day!