Thousands gather together with clubs, groups, or just friends to operate from remote locations

PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles Amateur Radio Club is hosting the 2025 ARRL Winter Field Day on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., at the Estrella Warbirds Museum, 4251 Dry Creek Road in Paso Robles. The club invites the public to one of the most popular on-the-air events in the United States and Canada. Thousands of radio amateurs gather together with their clubs, groups, or just friends to operate from remote locations. 

It is an opportunity to test equipment in case there is a need to respond to an emergency or disaster. It is a chance for radio operators to familiarize themselves with procedures to set up, operate, and take down equipment in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions. It is an opportunity to show the general public and organizations they serve what ARRL’s capabilities are. And finally, it is a fun contest to see who can contact the most other stations.

Despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems, including cellphones and internet, amateur radio has been called into action to provide reliable communications in a crisis time after time. We have only to look at the Lahaina wildfire, Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area. When large-scale disasters occur, cellphones and internet are often the first victims.

The American Radio Relay League is the national association for amateur radio in the U.S., representing over 170,000 FCC licensed amateurs. The ARRL is the primary source of information about what is going on in amateur radio.

Often called “ham radio,” the Amateur Radio Service has been around for a century. In that time, it’s grown into a worldwide community of licensed operators using the airwaves with every conceivable means of communications technology. Its people range in age from youngsters to grandparents. Even rocket scientists and a rock star or two are in the ham ranks. Most, however, are just normal folks who enjoy learning and being able to transmit voice, data, and pictures through the air to unusual places, both near and far, without depending on commercial systems.

The amateur radio frequencies are the last remaining place in the usable radio spectrum where you as an individual can develop and experiment with wireless communications. Hams not only can make and modify their equipment but can create whole new ways to do things.

The Paso Robles Amateur Radio Club meets the first Monday of each month in Thomson Hall at the Estrella Warbirds Museum, 4251 Dry Creek Road, Paso Robles. 

Feature Image: Amateur radio enthusiasts listen to a representative of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) during Radio Field Day last year. The 2025 ARRL Winter Field Day, hosted by the Paso Robles Amateur Radio Club, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Estrella Warbirds Museum. Photo provided by Paso Robles Amateur Radio Club