Ski Country Amateur Radio Club to participate in National Field Day

Since 1933, clubs and amateur radio enthusiasts throughout North America have come together to set up temporary transmitting stations in public to demonstrate the science behind ham radio and how it still remains important nearly a century later. 

The National Field Day event now includes over 31,000 stations throughout the continent, according to the National Association for Amateur Radio, one of them being in the Roaring Fork Valley. 

“It goes for the weekend. We go up on Friday and set up our stuff, and it’s an emergency communications exercise,” Ski Country Amateur Radio Club Vice President Mike Ferguson said. “It is an exercise that occurs all across the country, and it’s about mobilizing and setting up a temporary emergency communications facility on short notice. 

“It also becomes a contest of sorts between the different radio stations that get set up,” he continued. “Once we have the equipment operational, we try to exchange information with as many other setups like that around the country as we can. The actual on-air event starts midday on Saturday, and it actually runs for 24-hours contiguously.”

The event that combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach and technical skills will be on display through the last weekend of June at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley campus thanks to the Ski Country Amateur Radio Club (SCARC). 

“Shortwave radio has existed for over 100 years, and it encompasses a wide range of radio and electronic technologies,” Ferguson said. “It’s a hobby with multiple facets, but I think largely due to the internet, a lot of people don’t get exposed to it. They’re not really aware of the fact that there are people locally that engage in this and there are opportunities for people to get involved.”

SCARC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Glenwood Springs, with members across most of western Colorado, including Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin, and Gunnison Counties. The club has operated for over 50 years. 

“This is just one of our local club’s activities,” Ferguson said. “We meet once a month for a good portion of the year, and we provide training, mentoring, and we administer license testing. There’s almost 100 members, and maybe 40 of us are in the Roaring Fork Valley.”

Ferguson got his first ham radio license in 1965. He said the ability to communicate worldwide was what first got him interested in amateur radio, but the then-12-year-old could never have expected it would eventually lead to his lifelong career. 

“One of the characteristics of shortwave radio is that under favorable conditions, you can communicate worldwide,” he said. “I was learning about electronics, theory, antenna design, and was able to develop a solid electronics base. Ultimately I ended up being able to use my electronics background to get into the cable television industry, and it led to a fulfilling 34-year career in electronics.”

Set up for National Field Day will begin at 11 a.m. Friday, June 27, at the CMC Spring Valley Campus and is expected to wrap up by 2 p.m. Sunday, June 29. The public is invited to visit and learn more about the event at any time throughout the weekend. For more information, visit the SCARC website.