Ryan Carter
A group of BEARS spent the weekend at a local park, but instead of
hibernating, they were communicating.
These BEARS were members of the all-volunteer Burbank Emergency
Amateur Radio Service who, along with other ham radio group APA
Digital Communications Network, spent Saturday and Sunday on Burbank
hilltops and parks for "Field Day."
The event is a competitive field drill designed to test operating
skills in the face of adverse conditions.
In the event of a disaster, the BEARS, who are part of the city's
Community Disaster Volunteer program, would provide a link between
residents, state and local authorities when no one else can.
The two groups of ham enthusiasts spent from 11 a.m. Saturday to
11 a.m. Sunday setting up makeshift antennae and low-watt power
generators with radios on top of picnic benches and using them to
link up with local and far-away contacts. As basketball players
played on a court in Brace Canyon Park, the hams tried to communicate
with their counterparts throughout the country.
The goal was to communicate via radio under less-than-ideal
conditions while educating the public about what hams do.
"That's what this is all about -- how quick can you respond, and
how quick can you can be ready to respond?" said Wally Foster, a
co-founder of APA and a member of BEARS.
Using such mediums as voice communications, Morse code and digital
data, operators from the groups received points for every contact
they made -- some as far away as the East Coast.
"Many of us think it's magic that you can take that little bit of
power and someone far away can pull out your signal and turn it back
into information and make a communication," said Rob Hanson, a
Thousand Oaks resident and member of the APA group at Field Day.
