LARG News Release

       Loudoun Amateur Radio Group ● P.O. Box 1004 ● Purcellville, VA 20134

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA:

CONTACT: RANDY SLY (703) 475-5777 / [email protected]

LOCAL RADIO ENTHUSIASTS SHARE THEIR PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC SERVICE DURING AMATEUR RADIO WEEK

 (Purcellville, VA , June 14, 2007) -- On-air demonstrations, displays and emergency preparedness activities are on tap for members of the Loudoun Amateur Radio Group (LARG) as they gear up to celebrate Loudoun Amateur Radio Week which has been declared by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors as an annual observance for the third week of June.  

 

The week culminates with the group’s participation in an annual national preparedness exercise called “Field Day,” June 23 and 24. Field Day is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for Amateur Radio.

 

LARG will hold this year’s Field Day at Catoctin Hollow Farm, near Lovettsville, and will be operating from 2:00pm, Saturday, June 23 until 2:00pm, Sunday, June 24. “We hope that anyone who is interested in seeing what Amateur Radio is all about will visit us,” Putman stated. The public is cordially invited to visit our Field Day site at 14282 Rehoboth Church Road, Lovettsville, VA, on Saturday between 3:00pm and 5:00pm and Sunday between 10:00am and 1:00pm.

 

During Field Day, operators and Amateur Radio Clubs across the country set up in local parks, at shopping malls, or even in their own backyards, and get on the air using generators or battery power. Field Day was designed to test operators' abilities 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 Dave Putman, LARG President. “While people often think that cell phones or other communications technologies have replaced ham radio, we can still provide an important communications service that others can't.”

 

Field Day is a serious test of skill, but it is also a contest for fun and the largest "on-air" operating event each year in the United States. During the weekend, radio operators try to contact as many other Field Day stations as possible. More than 30,000 Amateur Radio operators across the country and Canada participated in last year's event.

 

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, how you can get started, or more information about Field Day, contact Randy Sly at [email protected]. Information on Amateur Radio is also available on the web at www.helloradio.org.

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