West Chester, PA--Over 30 Amateur Radio Operators, who are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, (FCC) will deploy to the Department of Emergency Services on Westtown Road for their annual Field Day Exercise. The event is conducted simultaneously all over the U.S.A. and Canada. Since 1937, thousands of “Ham” operators have set up portable two-way radio stations in fields, mountain tops, deserts, aboard boats and ships at sea and emergency operations centers all over the nation to test communications under adverse conditions. The exercise is held annually during the third weekend in June.

The exercise, to be held in West Chester, will be manned by members of Chester County ARES-RACES. (CCAR) The organization is staffed by specially trained and certified emergency communications specialists who donate their time, expertise and equipment to the Department of Emergency Services and the 9-1-1 center. “CCAR is an important component in our department.” says Deputy Director Emergency Services, Karl Mehn. “We have depended on CCAR volunteers again and again to provide back up communications for our county weather forecasting, fire, EMS and 9-1-1 center. These men and women are invaluable to the county.”

The annual “Field Day” exercise stresses the equipment and operating skills of the participants. Two stations, manned in shifts, will operate simultaneously for 24 hours non-stop. The stations will operate on HF (High Frequency) VHF and UHF using Morse code, voice and high-speed data. In addition to their technical skills, the ARES-RACES operators will use their highly practiced radio circuit discipline and message-handling skills to provide accurate and up-to-date information the county emergency operations center from around the world.

W3EOC: Station W3EOC at the Chester County Government Services Center

Chester County ARES-RACES trains and exercises regularly with the staff professionals at the Chester County 9-1-1 Center, Limerick Nuclear Power Plant and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS). According to ARES-RACES Emergency Coordinator Loring Kutchins, Amateur Call Sign W3QA, “We drill constantly with runs, races, fairs, festivals, nuclear power plant drills and a number of other exercises to make sure that our volunteers and our equipment function properly every time. We have over 40 people on our roster who have qualified on all three levels of the ARRL Emergency Communications curricula, as well as several others who have received dozens of training certifications from the American Red Cross, Civil Air Patrol, FEMA and PEMA, alongside our professional colleagues. Our group of volunteers includes professional emergency responders, scientists, engineers, medical professionals, communications specialists, career military veterans and ordinary citizens who have been trained to handle these challenges in a variety of circumstances.”

The public is invited to view the Field Day operations at the Government Services Center at 601Westtown Road on Saturday, June 27th from 12 noon to 5:00 PM.

Chester County ARES-RACES and its predecessor, the Chester County Amateur Radio Club have served Chester County since the 1930s and is considered by many, including PEMA, to be of the most professionally run emergency communications volunteer groups in the Commonwealth. To learn more about Chester County ARES-RACES “Field Day Exercise”, visit www.w3eoc.org or call Chester County Emergency Services at 610.344.5000.

--Lloyd Roach W3QT
PIO, Chester County ARES/RACES