The Importance of Amateur Radio

We've come to rely on commercial telephone companies and, most of the time, our ability to communicate isn't hindered. But when a catastrophic event occurs that affects an entire community, police and fire communications may also go down. A community-wide communication failure may result in loss of life because calls to rescuers are not possible. Fortunately, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and terrorist attacks like 9/11 are not common but, when such events happen and all other communication modes fail, there is one communication mode that always works . . . amateur radio.

Why does amateur radio work when commercial and government systems don't?

Amateur radio systems do not rely on commercial communications systems. Each amateur has their radio, antenna and power supply and is able to communicate with other amateurs within seconds of a community-wide communications failure.

How do I join the Bloomington Communcations Group?

If you are a licensed amateur radio operator and are interested in joining the Bloomington Communications Group, please complete the form on the contact page; include your call sign in the comment field. All BCG members undergo a background check by the Bloomington Police Department.

Field Day

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise held the fourth weekend of June. Field Day tests individual amateur radio operators and amateur radio clubs' emergency communications deployment and communication skills. Field Day is believed to the the largest emergency communications exercise in the United States involving in excess of 30,000 amateur radio operators each year.

Antenna and Radio Deployment

The first ARRL (American Radio Relay League) Field Day was held in 1933. Since then amateur radio operators throughout North America test their ability to rapidly deploy radio communications equipment and establish communications with other operators. Environments can be as simple as tent operations in remote areas to those within Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Amateur radio operators are encouraged to use alternate and emergency power sources as these sources would, more than likely, be the only source of power available in an emergency requiring their skills.

Each club's ability to effectively deploy antennas and radios is measured through contesting. There are a number of areas in which clubs can receive points. Contacts with other operators during field day are attempted around the clock; which requires scheduling relief operators.

Making Contacts