PHOTO 2: Some of the ARES operators taking a break during the annual ARRL Field Day Competition at Harwoods Mill Reservoir in York County.
On the weekend of June 22-23, 2002, amateur radio operators, or "ham operators," from all over the Americas participated in the American Radio Relay League’s Annual Field Day competition. The purpose of Field Day is for amateur radio operators to practice their skills in deploying emergency communications equipment under field conditions using non-commercial power sources (generators, batteries, solar panels, etc.). This is accomplished as a fun-filled contest, testing an individual or team’s ability to contact as many other stations as possible during the 24-hour contesting period. One local team participating in the Field Day activities was Virginia Amateur Radio Emergency Service (VA ARES) First Colony District 7, comprised of operators from Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, York, and James City Counties, as well as the Cities of Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, and Williamsburg. Deployed to the Newport News Water Works’ Harwoods Mill Reservoir in York County, the team set up tents, hung antennae from trees, setup and operated voice, digital, and Morse Code stations, and ate and slept under field conditions. In 2001, the District 7 team placed seventh in the state in points and since they almost doubled their score this year, they hope to place higher in the contest standings when they are released later this year. This year they completed more than 1600 contacts during the contest period.
The District 7 team is comprised of highly trained, highly motivated amateur radio operators who are prepared to deploy to emergency scenes to provide communications for local, state, or federal government entities, and private relief agencies on very short notice. They maintain a communications trailer that is deployment ready 24 hours per day, seven days per week stocked with numerous radios and antennae that operate on the various amateur radio frequency bands in either voice or digital modes as well as emergency power sources for this equipment. Amateur radio operators have a long, proud history of providing emergency communications around the world during the aftermath of natural or man-made disasters when normal communications are often interrupted.
District Emergency Coordinator, Darrell Sutton, KF4HJW, of Newport News, stated "We recently adopted the unofficial motto of ‘Preparing today for tomorrow’s needs’ and that is exactly what we do. We train for emergency deployments hoping that we will never be needed, but we ARE ready to perform our mission as soon as we are called upon." ARES personnel are prepared to work under field conditions or from fixed facilities such as the Newport News Emergency Operations Center where amateur radio equipment is currently installed, and other locales such as Gloucester County’s EOC where District 7 recently donated two radio stations providing both voice and digital communications capability via amateur radio frequencies. "We do because we can," stated Gloucester County ARES Coordinator Earl Evans, KE4NBX, "and we practice continuously to improve our skills. We believe in quality, not quantity, and have developed a group of ham operators that have dedicated massive amounts of their spare time away from their personal lives to prepare to help others as the need arises."