SALVATION ARMY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS TEAM PARTICIPATES IN SPECIAL EXERCISE
Western Division SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) team in Omaha recently participated in The American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) annual Field Day, an international disaster communications event that is held every summer. The primary goal of Field Day is to showcase amateur radio (ham radio) and the service’s special capabilities.
While the event is not truly a contest, there are points awarded not only for the number of other stations contacted, but bonus points are awarded for certain criteria, such as operating without the use of a commercial power source, setting up away from home stations, and sending “radiograms” during the event.
Western Division SATERN team partnered with the Irvington Volunteer Fire Department, which allowed the team to operate from the IVFD Station #2. The location—situated just outside of the Omaha city limits and featuring adjacent open space and nearby trees for hanging antennas— proved to be a perfect site. The SATERN team set up and operated as if the event was a disaster response; the team setup numerous antennas (simple wires, or small footprint antennas) and were able to have 5 individual radio stations operating at the same time. Each station was run on battery power and there were solar panels available to charge the batteries during the event.
The 24 hours of the event, the SATERN team made contact with 371 other ham radio operators and groups in 48 US states, 5 Canadian provinces, the Azores, and Belgium. While the event is primarily for the US and Canada, many stations worldwide were heard on the radio participating in the fun.
Taking part in events like Field Day helps the local SATERN team practice their abilities to help establish communications in practically any location to support disaster-response efforts both on scene and by keeping in touch with Division, Territory, and National HQ – even in situations where the digital communications grid fails.