The Maple Valley Amateur Radio club will be holding a “Field Day” event at Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley on June 28-29.

The club is a non-profit/volunteer organization that helps with emergency communications, as well as providing communications support at local events.

Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies and includes an informal contest. The club encourages anyone interested to join in on hands-on use of radios – licensed radio operators or not – or just observe and learn more about amateur radio, starting Saturday at 11 a.m. and ending Sunday at 2 p.m.

The contest portion of Field Day involves contacting as many other stations as possible and to learn to operate our radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions.

This annual event is the climax of the week long “Amateur Radio Week,” which is sponsored by National Association for Amateur Radio. The Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.

There are more than 750,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. Information on how to become involved in Amateur Radio is available from the ARRL, by calling 1-800-32-NEW HAM or visiting www.arrl.org.