Despite the ubiquity of internet-enabled cell phones, email, and text messaging, every year, whole regions of the country find themselves in the dark.

Wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, storms, ice, and other disasters often leave people without the means to communicate. In these cases, the one consistent communications service that has never failed has been amateur (Ham) radio, according to the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club (SBARC).

The weekend of June 22-23, community members will have a chance to meet and talk with SBARC operators and learn what the amateur radio service is all about.

As part of the nationwide 2024 Amateur Radio Field Day, SBARC Field Day site will be set up at Chase Palm Park, 11 a.m. Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23.

Local Hams will contact thousands of other stations throughout the U.S., Canada and the world with a variety of wireless techniques, including the use of frequencies from shortwave through microwave bands and amateur radio satellites in orbit.

Every June, more than 40,000 amateur radio operators throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate amateur radio’s science, skill and service to communities.

Field Day combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in amateur radio.

Using only emergency power supplies, Ham operators in all 50 states and Canada will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools, and backyards.

Their slogan, “When all else fails, amateur radio works,” is more than just words to the operators as they prove they can send analog and digital communications without the use of phone systems, the internet, or other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis.

SBARC, established in 1920, has a history of promoting education and emergency preparedness through amateur radio. SBARC is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation organized to promote education for persons interested in telecommunications, to disseminate information about scientific discoveries and progress in the field, and to train communicators for public service and emergency communications.

SBARC also encourages and sponsors experiments in electronics and promotes the highest standards of practice and ethics in the conduct of communications.

This year, the SBARC Field Day site will feature several stations set up for worldwide, direct radio communication as well as the local radio repeater system.

For more, visit www.sbarc.org.