Submitted By: Dwight Weidman
Just like tens of thousands of Amateur Radio Operators all over the country, we members of the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club took to the field last Saturday and Sunday to operate under emergency conditions with makeshift antennas and without commercial power. Amateur Operators (or “Hams”) have been participating in this annual event, known as “Field Day” and sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), since 1933.
What is Amateur Radio?
In the words of the American Radio Relay League (A.R.R.L.), Amateur, or “Ham” Radio is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics, and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones. It’s fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of need. Although Amateur Radio operators get involved for many reasons, they all have in common a basic knowledge of radio technology and operating principles and pass an examination for the FCC license to operate on radio frequencies known as the “Amateur Bands.” These bands are radio frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by ham radio operators. The FCC created this service to fill the need for a pool of experts who could provide backup during emergencies. In addition, the FCC acknowledged the ability of the hobby to advance the communication and technical skills of radio and to enhance international goodwill. Countless lives have been saved where skilled hobbyists act as emergency communicators to render aid, whether it’s during an earthquake in Italy or a hurricane in the U.S.
Our local Field Day was fun, but not without its challenges.
We were ready for this year’s Field Day, with the food and a few other essentials pre- positioned the night before, and a bunch of us meeting for breakfast at the Historic Texas Lunch in Chambersburg at 7:30 AM. After that it was on to the Cumberland Valley Steam Show Grounds near St. Thomas to get our rigs (radios) and antennas set up and ready for the 2 PM starting time. Everything went well considering the sweltering heat and humidity and a few pesky gnats and the occasional tick, but come kickoff time, we were ready to go.
We had four separate stations set up, all on separate bands, and we started communicating, at least on the two bands where propagation was favoring us. In the meantime, several of us started watching a forming cloud mass that seemed to be heading North of us, but after a few minutes, it seemed to turn and put a bullseye on our little operation. By the time we, in our collective wisdom, decided it might be a good idea to temporarily cease operations, the storm hit full force, first with a downburst that blew away everything that wasn’t nailed down, and the with torrents of rain that blew horizontally into the pavilion under which we were operating, and soaking all of our expensive radios, tuners and other toys. Fortunately, there was no permanent damage.
In the spirit of Field Day, we kept operating later that day and into the night, with full operations resuming the next morning. After all, Field Day is all about operating under “less than optimal” conditions! We also had a visit from 90th District Representative Chad Reichard, who stayed with us quite awhile as we gave him a crash course in Ham Radio. We kept operating until the 2 PM Sunday finish.
Other than “playing radio” and just having fun, each of us came away with lessons learned and ideas on how we can improve; lessons that we’ll carry into our Winter Field Day in January and a planned “Special Event” station in November. Our ultimate goal is to be able to step up and help local emergency services establish and maintain a viable alternative communications system when everything else fails, as it so often happens in disasters such as the floods in Western North Carolina or more localized emergencies such as tornadoes or snowstorms.
As we go forward into the rest of 2025, we are planning more activities and would like to invite anyone who is interested to join us. Getting an Amateur license is easier than ever. There is no age restriction and all that is needed is for you to pass a written exam that is given locally. We are here to help you become a Ham. You can contact the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club by visiting our website at W3ACH.com or by emailing us at cvarcw3ah@gmail.com. Our mailing address is CVARC, Post Office Box 121, Chambersburg PA 17201. We meet on the third Thursday of every month, at 7 PM, at the county EOC at Letterkenny Army Depot at 390 New York Avenue, Chambersburg, PA 17202. You do not have to be a member to attend.
Dwight Weidman has been an Amateur Radio Operator since 1988, getting his first license while in Germany, working for the US Army and is currently Vice-President of the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club.
