By Delayna Earley
The Island News
BEAUFORT – For 24 hours, a group of ham radio enthusiasts set up camp next to the Huddle House on Lady’s Island to demonstrate the reach and importance of the ham radio.
The Beaufort Radio Amateur Group (BRAG) held their annual 24-hour Field Day, which lasted from Saturday, June 24, through Sunday, June 25.
The event is part of a nationwide exercise that attracts around 40,000 radio operators.
During the event, the radio operators here in Beaufort made 48 two-way, voice contacts and four digital contacts, which is basically like email but goes over the radio.
A two-way contact is a radio operator can communicate with their connection, and not just hear them.
They made contact with radio operators in 21 states, two Canadian provinces and a radio operator in Spain.
David Jennings, BRAG Emergency Coordinator for Beaufort County, said that while the Field Day is usually confined to North America, sometimes foreign ham radio operators will jump in and participate in the exercise.
While it was not a two-way contact, they were able to make a one-way contact as they pointed their antenna toward space as the International Space Station as it was passing by.
“If we had different equipment, we could have made a two-way contact, but we could hear them up there talking on the ham radios,” said David Jennings, BRAG emergency coordinator for Beaufort County.
During the event, BRAG received a proclamation from S.C. Governor Henry McMaster, making the week of June 19 through 25, 2023, Amateur Radio Week.
The proclamation recognized the amateur radio operators for “their many contributions, including emergency communications and other public service work, to the continued safety of the residents of the Palmetto State.”
Part of the purpose of the Field Day is for the amateur radio operators to practice setting up in a field outside of the comfort of their homes, essentially simulating how things would be in an emergency.
“During an emergency, we show up and have to provide for ourselves for several days before other services get set up,” Jennings said.
The members of BRAG have been called to help during local hurricanes such as Hurricane Matthew, and according to Jennings, they need to be ready to go at any time.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
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Radio operators ready for Field Day 2023 in Beaufort, June 22, 2023
