[June 19, 2013] Radio operators to gather at Camp Seymour for annual Field Day Tweet Jun 18, 2013 (The Peninsula Gateway (Gig Harbor - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- As Lynn Neece grew up in Pennsylvania, he was enthralled with the power of his AM radio to hear broadcasts from as far away as Indiana. On Saturday, Neece and his fellow members of the W7JQ RF Wireless Amateur Radio Club of Burley will race to send radio signals all over North America and, possibly, the world. Ham Radio Field Day at Camp Seymour, one of the many Field Days around the country held by the American Radio Relay League, will be held for 24 hours, from 11 a.m. Saturday until Sunday morning. During the day and night, 20 to 30 members of the Burley club, as well as licensed individual radio operators from around the area, will try to make contact with as many other Field Days around the United States and Canada as they can. "And if somebody in Germany wants to make contact, we're more than happy to put them through," Neece said. Points are awarded for the number of stations operators reach during the course of 24 hours, as well for targeted messages, and then they are tallied and fed into a ranking system for ARRL clubs around the country. The ARRL's Field Day has been held since 1933, a time when radio was the only method of mass communication. Field Days were designed as emergency preparedness exercises, sending amateur radio operators out into the field to test their skills at reaching one another from long, remote distances. Much has changed in the 80 years since then, most notably the rise of cellular and satellite technology that makes cross-country and international communication an instantaneous task. Neece and his fellow operators still gather every year for Field Day, however, and he said the event's primary purpose is still to prepare communications skills in the event of a natural disaster or another emergency. "It provides a means of demonstrating the ability to operate your radio in a non-typical environment in support of an emergency situation," Neece said. Neece became interested in radio when he was a child after his grandfather gave him an old tabletop radio from the 1950s with AM and short-wave capabilities. He soon moved past Indiana to receiving broadcasts from all over the world, and he decided to pursue a career in radio communication. Neece went into the Air Force after high school, and he still works in avionics, or aircraft communication. The initial interest that turned into a career has carried on as a hobby and inspired Neece to join amateur radio clubs around the region, including in Tacoma and, as of last year, in Burley, near his home in Olalla. "It's still that magic of being able to communicate with a little box and antennae," Neece said of his enduring passion for radio. "It's just the box, and you need electricity and that's it -- you can talk to someone else with the same little box. To me, there's something magical in that." Neece discovered the Burley club when he drove past the post office in Olalla, where the club meets. He spied an antenna coming from a back room and investigated. The club has about 30 members, only some of whom are active. "They're a small, friendly group -- my kind of people," Neece said. The public is invited to go to Camp Seymour to talk with operators about ham radio communication, Neece said. For more information, visit www.w7jq.com or email Neece at [email protected]. ___ (c)2013 The Peninsula Gateway (Gig Harbor, Wash.) Visit The Peninsula Gateway (Gig Harbor, Wash.) at www.thenewstribune.com/gigharbor Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]