In the waning years of the 19th century, it was discovered that messages could be sent over long distances, without wires, hence the name “wireless.”

Soon after pioneers like Marconi sent messages across the Atlantic, hobbyists began their own experiments.

In 1914, the American Radio Relay League was founded to represent these “hams,” as the amateur radio operators were often called.

In 1933, the ARRL started Field Day to encourage American amateur radio operators to set up temporary stations and demonstrate their ability to conduct emergency communications.

Field Day has become an important and popular event on the calendar and is held the last full weekend in June.

Last year, there were more than 31,000 participants, including individuals and clubs, with over a million separate contacts, known as QSOs, being made.

The Carbon Amateur Radio Club will join roughly 1,900 other clubs in setting up its own temporary station to participate in this year’s Field Day.

As in past years, the club will be operating from a pavilion in Recreational Park in Penn Forest Township along Route 903. CARC will be setting up several antennas and radios, along with computers for logging contacts.

Field Day is part team exercise, part contest and part social event. Last year, the Carbon club made 272 QSOs and is looking to better that score. It is also a showcase for amateur radio with demonstrations and information for interested visitors.

After setup in the morning, operations begin at 2 p.m. Saturday and end at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The club invites all to visit and if you have a ham radio license, you may have the opportunity to operate one of the radios. The club welcomes new members and encourages them to attend one of our meetings.

For more information, check the club’s website at https://www.carbonamateurradioclub.org.

Long distance communication is made possible by a layer of electrically charged particles, known as the ionosphere, which encircles the Earth far above our breathable atmosphere.

Radio signals are reflected and refracted (bent) by this layer, making large hops to distant lands. The ionosphere is affected by radiation and particles emitted by the sun, and such solar weather can make the difference between worldwide communication and a total radio blackout.

The Carbon club noted that we are currently near the optimum of an 11-year solar cycle and the solar forecast for the weekend is favorable.