Members of the public are invited to see amateur radio in action as three Yolo County clubs participate in a field day at UC Davis and the largest on-the-air event in North America on Saturday, June 28.

Local operators — who play a vital role in communications for major special events and emergencies — will test their abilities to communicate with other radio stations around the world.

About 25 members of the Yolo Amateur Radio Society, the Yolo County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and UC Davis Amateur Radio Communications will establish a field station — including antennas, radio stations, tents and a cooking area — without utilities.

The club members will talk to radio operators around the world using voice, Morse code, and other digital forms of communications such as radio teletype.

Part of emergency program

As part of its comprehensive emergency program, UC Davis operates a base station at its Emergency Operations Center and has a repeater station.

Gary Matteson, a researcher in biological and agricultural engineering at UC Davis, is president of the Yolo Amateur Radio Society, assistant emergency coordinator for the Yolo County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and a member of the UC Davis group.

He says amateur radio, which transmits and receives messages on radio frequencies set aside for noncommercial use, is a reliable and powerful means of emergency communications especially when telephone, cell phone and Internet services are overloaded or damaged.

Some 35,000 radio amateurs in North America participate in like field days organized by the ARRL, a national association for amateur radio, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

At University Airport

Members of the public are invited to visit the field station at the University Airport between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The University Airport is located west of the main campus. From Interstate 80, take Highway 113 North. Take Hutchison Road, the first exit. Turn left or west onto Hutchison Road and drive for just over one mile. Turn left onto Hopkins Road. Go past Airport Road and take the next entrance to the airport on the left. The field station will be set up south of the hangars.