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BCARS Participates in Annual 'Field Day' Disaster Exercise

Nearly two dozen licensed amateur radio operators will arrive at The Shawnee Valley Fire Department's Picnic Ground in Schellsburg the weekend of June 24 as the Bedford County Amateur Radio Society (BCARS) participates in the ARRL Field Day Exercise.

Using emergency power and portable antennas, these licensed "Ham" Operators will operate their high frequency (HF) and VHF equipment under simulated disaster conditions at the fire company picnic grounds in Schellsburg. There will be several stations operating simultaneously on Single Side Band (SSB), FM, Digital Modes such as WinLink & FLDIGI and vintage Morse Code (CW). This exercise attracts over 45,000 licensed amateurs in the US and Canada. This year's Field Day runs continuously for 24 hours from 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, until 2 p.m. on Sunday June 25.

"BCARS has been operating Field Day sites ever since the founding of our club," said BCARS President Zach Pepple (Amateur Call Sign KC3KHK). "BCARS was originally affiliated with the original Bedford County Civil Defense Office during the Cold War and has been active in this discipline ever since. This will be our second year at the Shawnee Valley Fire Company. The Fire Company has been very supportive to our disaster communications operations. This park has proved to be an excellent facility because of reduced electrical noise and their excellent ground conductivity. We enjoy meeting residents and visitors who stop by to see our operations."

During the two-day event, BCARS will be conducting official FCC testing sessions for the acquisition of a new amateur radio license

BCARS is an active member of several disaster communications organizations, including the PEMA Auxiliary Communications System (ACS), the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) which is administrated by the FCC. The club operates six repeating transmitters at Kinton Knob and Martin Hill. For over six decades has BCARS provided tactical and emergency communications free of charge to the county and community because of the generosity of supporters such as The Knights of Columbus, Moose Lodge 480, VFW Post 7527, American Legion Post 113, CARES Grant Program, VFW Post 8333, the Bedford County Commissioners, the Community Foundation of the Alleghenies and Bedford County Endowments.

This year's BCARS Field Day encourages visits by the public to observe their operations and learn about amateur radio. BCARS is now in its 64th year of operation. The club was founded in 1959 and has provided tactical and disaster communications for a number of community organizations, including the Chamber's "Bike Bedford," the Army Air National Guard (ANG), Bloody Run Canoe Classic, County Department of Elections, 2023 PEMA Functional Exercise, Search and Rescue Exercise at Shawnee Park, Everett Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and Fall Foliage Weekend. When requested, BCARS provides backup communications for the Bedford County Department of Emergency Services. Based in Newington, CT, The ARRL was founded in 1914 and is the National Organization for Amateur Radio.,

For more information or to learn how to obtain an amateur radio license, visit http://www.bcars.org

 

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