Submitted by Grant Dobbie.

The Narwhal Amateur Radio Society, made up of ham radio operators from Bellingham, the San Juan Islands, and the Seattle metro area will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from noon on Saturday until 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 26-27. The event is ARRL Field Day (www.arrl.org/FieldDay), an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States. The NARS Field Day event will take place at Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island.

Hams from across North America ordinarily participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

Other hams from around Puget Sound will also use the radio stations set up in their homes or taken to their backyards and other locations to operate individually or with their families. Many hams have portable radio communication capability that includes alternative energy sources such as generators, solar panels, and batteries to power their equipment.

During Field Day 2020, more than 18,000 hams participated from thousands of locations across North America. According to ARRL, there are more than 750,000 amateur radio licensees in the U.S. and an estimated 3 million worldwide.