The North Augusta Belvedere Radio Club will be participating in the 82nd annual American Radio Relay League Field Day this weekend, and the public is invited to come and watch.
The group will set up its temporary base of operations on the campus of USC Aiken in the parking area near Pacer Crossings.
"The majority of operational activities will be from 2 p.m. on June 27 until 2 p.m. on June 28," said Michael Newland, public information officer for the club. "We basically will be demonstrating that we can operate our equipment out in the field under emergency conditions, and we will be trying to contact as many people in the world as we can."
There also will be a station where visitors will be able to learn how to use a radio.
"A person will sit down with you and show you what to do," Newland said. "You actually will be able to get on the air and talk to someone. When you make that little exchange, you'll be able to ask them things like how long they've been an amateur radio operator or if they've got a dog or cat."
In addition, "we will be demonstrating the newest concept in equipment during Field Day," Newland said. "It is called software defined hardware. Some older hams (amateur radio operators) are not sure if they like a radio where all the knobs are found as mouse clicks on a computer screen."
More than 47,000 hams across North America took part in last year's Field Day, and they made more than 1.2 million contacts.
Newland expects about 30 of his club's members to be involved in this year's Field Day.
"We hope everybody will come out," Newland said. "We would like parents to bring their children along because many of us in the club are getting older, and we want to get more young people interested. They can increase their knowledge about science, technology, engineering and math, which can put them ahead of the average job applicant in certain career paths. Scholarship money also is available for college-bound amateur radio operators."
For more information about the Field Day, call Newland at 803-593-4179 or email him at michaelnewland@bellsouth.net.
Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C., she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.