The Carbon County Amateur Radio Club will hold its annual Field Day beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Recreational Park in Penn Forest Township.

According to information from the club, radio waves are essential for many of the conveniences we rely on, such as cellphones, WiFi networks, GPS navigation and satellite radio. Less than 150 years ago, the existence of radio waves was first confirmed, and it was discovered that messages could be sent over long distances, without wires, hence the name “wireless.”

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

And in 1914, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) 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 away from their homes and demonstrate their ability to conduct emergency communications.

There are an estimated 748,000 hams in the United States, and an estimated 3 million worldwide.

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

In 2025, approximately 32,000 participants, including individuals and clubs, made more than 1.2 million separate two-way contacts, known as QSOs, during Field Day.

According to amateur radio operator and Carbon County Amateur Radio club member Rich Berger (KC3MIO), contacts can be made between stations a few miles away or cross-country and internationally.

Berger noted that 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, or bent, by this layer, potentially 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, Berger said.

“We are just past the optimum of an 11-year solar cycle, and the solar forecast is currently favorable,” he added.

Field Day is part team exercise, part contest and part social event. It is also a showcase for amateur radio with demonstrations and information for interested visitors.

The Carbon Amateur Radio Club will be setting up its own temporary station to participate Field Day. As in past years, the club will be operating from a pavilion at the park along Route 903. The pavilion is straight back from the restrooms and past the basketball and tennis courts.

On Saturday morning, the club will be setting up several antennas and radios, along with computers for logging contacts. After setup, 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.

Those who don’t have a license are welcome to observe members as they make contacts. The club will answer any questions about amateur radio.

New members are welcome and encouraged to attend meetings, which are held on the third Thursday of the month at the Carbon Emergency Operations Center in Nesquehoning (except for December).

For more information, email Eric N3TVV at n3tvv@ptd.net or check the club’s website at https://www.carbonamateurradioclub.org.