Ham Operators At County Emergency Ops Center

HAM OPERATORS AT COUNTY EMERGENCY OPS CENTER

Local Radio Operators Test Effectiveness of National Ham Radio System

(Phoenix) – Up to 35,000 ham radio operators across the country will be taking part in an international event sponsored by the American Radio Relay League and the Radio Amateurs of Canada to test emergency preparedness.

The first such test was run in 1933 and now more than seventy years later the importance of effective emergency communications have proven critical.

Fifty ham radio operators will operate this weekend from the Maricopa County Emergency Operations Center with the help and support of Maricopa County.

Operators will try to contact 2,000 plus stations in the United States and exchange a brief acknowledgement.  The contacts will be analyzed to show how effectively communications can carry on at the metropolitan, county, state, and national level during simulated emergencies.

Actual Radio operations start at 11 am Saturday June 26, 2004 and will end 24 hours later.  Set-up will begin Friday Afternoon.

WHAT:  Ham Radio Field Test

WHEN: June 26, 2004  11:00 am

WHERE:  Maricopa County Emergency Operations Center 2035 N. 52^nd St (Entrance to center is on 52^nd Street about 1 block north of McDowell Road)

CONTACT:  Tommy Beckett 602-273-1411

Media Note:  Good photo ops on Saturday … call ahead to coordinate.)