Parkersburg Amateur Radio Club President Larry Dale, whose call sign is KF8NW, explains his ham radio equipment Saturday afternoon during the American Radio Relay League Field Day at Fort Boreman Park in Parkersburg. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

PARKERSBURG — Amateur radio enthusiasts gathered in Parkersburg on Saturday to test their skills and prove their readiness for an emergency.

Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub members participated in the American Radio Relay League Field Day on Saturday afternoon at Fort Boreman Park.

PARK President Larry Dale, whose call sign is KF8NW, called the day” ham radio’s open house.”

“This is (primarily) a preparedness exercise in the event of some calamity or disaster,” he said.

According to Dale, during the field day amateur or ham radio operators go on the air and try to get through to each other. He said that about 40,000 people will participate in the field day which ran from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Dale said the ARRL field day is more than 90 years old and is held the fourth full weekend of June.

“What we do is we work as many contacts as we can in this 24 hour period,” he said.

According to Dale, during the 24-hour period the ham radio operators participate in what is called the “exchange,” where they record the call sign, location, and power source of operators they contact. Those operators do the same.

The focus during the field day is not just the number of operators you can contact but also the accuracy of contacts.

Participating in the event is a test of emergency preparedness, according to Florida ham radio operator and event participant Steve Lewis, whose call sign is K9SEL, and who is not a member of PARK.

“They do this for one day once a year to see if we’re ready and able to respond to an emergency,” Lewis said.

According to a PARK media release, the ARRL Field Day is the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the United States.

PARK ran three different kinds of stations during the field day, Dale said – a continuous station using Morse code, a single side band station using the operator’s voice to communicate and a digital station where one computer communicates with another computer.

The ARRL Field Day is not just about radios, according to Dale.

“What we do here is make it a social event,” he said.

Dale said some people camp during the event, and PARK would host a dinner Saturday evening for participants.

More information about PARK is available online at https://w8par.org/.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com