Harrison County Amateur Radio Emergency Services

CORYDON, Ind. - Oct. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Harrison County Amateur Radio Emergency Services

For More Information Contact: David McKim w9wxn@arrl.net (mailto:w9wxn@arrl.netLOCAL)

LOCAL HAM RADIO OPERATORS SHARE THEIR PASSION FOR PUBLIC SERVICE DURING THE ANNUAL SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST (mailto:w9wxn@arrl.netLOCAL)

Harrison County Indiana, October 24-25 — On-air emergency preparedness activities are on tap for members of the Harrison County Amateur Radio Emergency Services as they conduct their annual simulated emergency test or drill. This same drill will be conducted in many communities around the country during October.  SET drill is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for Amateur Radio.

In the past, hams have made headlines with their work in the tsunami in Asia, hurricanes , many fires, train derailments and other crises.  The hams provide emergency communications for various relief agencies, Department Homeland Security Citizens’ Corps, FEMA, state and local agencies and other organizations in disasters. In addition, they provide supplemental communications when normal systems are rendered inoperable or overloaded. They also assist the National Weather Service as highly trained storm spotters.

The SET drill is an opportunity to provide a public demonstration to various relief agencies, the emergency management agency, and the news media of the value to the public that Amateur Radio provides, particularly in time of need, and designed to test operators' abilities and skills to set up and operate portable stations under emergency conditions such as the loss of electricity. "We want the community to know that in the event of an emergency, we will be ready to assist in any way we can, says David McKim of Harrison County ARES TM." While people often think that cell phones or other communications technologies have replaced ham radio, we can provide an important communications service that others can't. As you saw on 9-11 and the tsunami, ham radio still works when these other systems don't."

Today there are more than 700,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. To find out more about Amateur Radio or how you can get started, contact Harrison County ARES TM at w9wxn@arrl.net. Information is also available from the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 or by calling 1-800-32-NEW HAM or at  www.arrl.org/newham.