TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Magic Valley Amateur Radio Club (MVARC) is hosting its annual American Radio Relay Legion (ARRL) Field Day in Twin Falls to show how local ham radio volunteers and Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) operators can provide off-grid emergency communications when normal systems fail.
The MVARC has been around long before any of it’s current members were even born. The former MVARC president, Kelly Klaas, says he has been involved with the club since he was a teenager and gave insight on how ham clubs start.
“The club has been operating since before my time and I started hanging around it when I was 13 years old and I’m past retirement now,” Klaas said. “It’s how ham clubs start you get a few ham radio operators together, they start meeting in a place and they form a club.”
Even for those who haven’t been around ham radio their entire lives, the club serves as a hobby for service-minded people like former Idaho State Police officer and four year member of the MVARC, Michael Wendler.
“It’s been a nice way to be able to have a hobby that I can do and serve in the community as well,” Wendler said.
The field day is a nationwide amateur radio emergency-preparedness exercise held on the last weekend of June each year. It is meant to test equipment, operating skill, and readiness under field conditions.
It also serves as a public demonstration of how amateur radio works and why it still matters when power, internet, or cell service is disrupted, as in a natural disaster.
The event will be held at 3817 North 2538 East in Twin Falls for 24 hours starting at noon this Saturday, and the event is completely public.
During those 24 hours, campers will make as many contacts as they can to simulate a real-world scenario.
Klaas encourages anyone who is even slightly interested to stop by and see what radio is all about.
“We would be tickled to death to have anyone show up here that is interested in it,” Klaas said.
While Wendler emphasizes the family-friendly nature of the event.
“It’s a great environment to meet new people and to have some social interaction,” Wendler said. “It’s also for those who are service minded like myself, it’s been a way to remain in community service.”
For more information on the field day, you can visit the club’s website here.
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