Noobenheim News for Nerds 
Field Day 2016 is almost upon us! As many of you know, Field Day is the on fourth full weekend of June, starting at 1800 UTC Saturday and ending 2059 UTC Sunday. This means that Field Day 2016 will be June 25th and the 26th. So, get ready to bust out the old ham radio and put it to the test!
Now I can hear some of our readers already. “Ham radio? People still use those? In 2016?” To answer in a word: Yes! In the United States alone, there are over 800,000 active licenses. Even in today’s modern society of the Internet and cell phones, amateur radio is still going strong. In fact, Field Day, is an important counterbalance to these forms of communication because it is all about practicing for emergency communications during disasters and interfacing with the public. When a storm knocks out your power and takes you offline or when a flash flood takes down the local cell phone tower, how are you going to communicate with the outside world? For most people, there are no real options. For ham radio operators there is always a way.
This isn’t the only time of year that emergency communications are practiced. Just last week, teams from both Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) participated in Cascadia Rising 2016, the largest FEMA exercise this year. Taking place from June 7th to the 10th, teams in California and Washington states addressed a simulated disaster consisting of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) and the resulting tsunami. These exercises help to keep the skillsets of operators sharp as they are often called upon for actual disasters. Even so, Field Day remains the largest event of the year for ham radio operators. Many clubs and operators participate in contests to see who can contact the stations during the event or to see how far they can get their message out and still be received.
Most events, if not all, are open to the public. Most clubs even have a a Public Information Officer. So if you’ve ever wanted to find out about the hobby or maybe get licensed yourself, swing on by! The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) even has a website set up so that you can locate an event near you.
