June 14, 2024
Ham Radio Field Day in Tavares Showcases Lake Amateur Radio Association Communications
By Cindy Peterson
Ham Radio Field Day in Tavares Showcases Lake Amateur Radio Association Communications
When: 2 PM Saturday until 2 PM Sunday, June 22-23, 2024, is an annual amateur radio contest.
Where: Lake County Sheriff’s Office Training Bureau and Lake Tech Institute of Public Safety Weapons and Driving Range at 13000 Frankies Rd, Tavares, FL 32778. The picturesque location provides the perfect backdrop for a day showcasing mobile command vehicles from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Lake Amateur Radio Association.
What: The Public is invited to Field Day at Ham Radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill, and service to our communities and nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933 and remains the most popular event in ham radio. The competitive aspect of Field Day is to contact as many other amateur stations as possible during the twenty-four hours of June 22-23.
What is Amateur Radio
Often called “ham radio,” the Amateur Radio Service has been around for a century. In that time, it grew into a worldwide community of licensed operators using airwaves with every conceivable means of communication technology. Its people range in age from youngsters to grandparents. Even rocket scientists and a rock star or two are in the ham ranks. Most, however, are just everyday folks like you and me who enjoy learning and being able to transmit voice, data, and pictures through the air to unusual places, both near and far, without depending on commercial systems. The Amateur Radio frequencies are the last remaining place in the usable radio spectrum where you, as an individual, can develop and experiment with wireless communications. Hams can make and modify their equipment to create new ways to do things.
Award Winning Club
LARA consistently wins top honors each year in the State and North America. The club was established seventy-two years ago, in 1952 by a local group of radio amateurs and now boasts a membership of over 150 “Hams.” LARA’s vast radio systems enable worldwide communications, amplifying the club’s impact and reach. For their life-saving work, hams worldwide have received commendations from the President and Congress and international praise. It proves the saying, “When all else fails, ham radio works!” Visit www.k4fc.org
Originally from the small town of Berryville, Arkansas, Cindy has become a multimedia specialist in journalism, photography, videography, and video editing. She has a B.S. in Communications from the University of Central Arkansas and produces Style Magazine's Sports Hub Podcast and the Healthy Living Podcast. She also produces for Beacon College’s Telly Award-winning PBS show, “A World of Difference.” When she isn’t working, Cindy loves traveling the National Parks with her husband , Ryan, and son, David, photographing wildlife.
