We're in severe thunderstorm season, and power outages are always possible.
That's where amateur radio comes in handy as operators can rely on other methods to keep them on the air and communicating with one another.
The capabilities of ham radio will be showcased this weekend during the annual Amateur Radio Field Day.
Members of the Lambton County Radio Club (LCRC) will be participating in the national exercise on Saturday and Sunday at Krall Park in Enniskillen Twp.
They'll be there from 2 p.m. Saturday until 5 p.m. on Sunday and the public is welcome to come out to ask questions and learn about the equipment.
LCRC President Chuck Chivers said field day has been a tradition in North America since 1933.
"We set up our antennas and our radios and we run them on alternate power whether it be solar or generators or anything like that, but not the regular hydro because we are simulating an emergency situation," said Chivers. "So we have to erect antennas and we have to set up our equipment and contact whoever we can for 24 hours straight. It's basically to test our resiliency in times of emergency."
Chivers said ham radio can help people learn about things like electronics, meteorology, and physics.
"Some would say it's kind of a geeky hobby, but you learn to problem-solve and figure things out on your own and it teaches you resiliency for one thing," he said. "Space weather too is one of the things you learn about because if the sun isn't cooperating and it's throwing stuff at us and our radio waves aren't going to propagate like we want them to."
Currently, there are over 70,000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators in Canada, and more than 2.5 million worldwide.
Over 45,000 people from thousands of locations in North America participated in Field Day in 2024.
