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Thousands of ham radio operators will show off their emergency capabilities from noon Saturday, June 28, to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 29. Members of the Riverland Amateur Radio Club (RARC) will participate from a hilltop north of West Salem.

Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies including the California wildfires, Oregon and Michigan storms, tornadoes and other events worldwide. During Hurricane Katrina, amateur radio — often called “ham radio” — was often the only way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer “hams” traveled south to save lives and property.

Local Hams assisted officials with communications during flooding events this June as well as in August 2007. They also participate as storm spotters for the National Weather Service Skywarn program.

When trouble is brewing, ham radio people are often the first to provide critical information and communications. On the weekend of June 28-29, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about.

Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the country will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.

Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan — “Ham radio works when other systems don’t! — is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, Internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 34,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year’s event.

“We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather’s radio anymore,” said Carl Thurston, a member of the RARC. “The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded.”

In La Crosse County, the Riverland Amateur Radio Club will be demonstrating amateur radio on a site on Jostad Road, near the intersection of Highways M and S. The public is invited to visit.