ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Members of the Alachua County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) will participate in the national “Amateur Radio Field Day” exercise from June 25 through June 26, 2022. The Field Day exercise will take place at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (2621 S.E. Hawthorne Road, Gainesville). This event is open to the public, and all are encouraged to attend.

The best chance to see radio operations are from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, and from 10 a.m. until noon on Sunday, June 26.

ARES provides a critical link in public safety communications. The location for this event showcases the support of Alachua County’s Emergency Management Department and first responders throughout the community.

“The Emergency Communications Volunteers are a committed group who are granted a wide range of unique capabilities by the Federal Communications Commission,” said Alachua County Emergency Management Program Coordinator Dalton Herding. “They leverage these unique capabilities to support public safety efforts across Alachua County.”

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. The event showcases how Amateur Radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with laptops or smartphones and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes.

Anyone may become a licensed amateur radio operator, and there are more than 725,000 licensed hams in the United States (as young as nine and as old as 100). It is easy for anybody to get involved in Alachua County.

Learn more about Amateur Radio at the National Association of Amateur Radio website.

For more information about the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office event, contact Dr. Gordon Gibby at 352-246-6183 or [email protected].

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in order to participate in a County program, service or public meeting, please contact the Alachua County Equal Opportunity Office at (352) 374-5275 at least 2 business days prior to the event. TTY users, please call 711 (Florida Relay Service).