(Left to right) Sue Mayoff and George Wyman participate in last year’s Benicia Amateur Radio Club Field Day. (Photo courtesy of Art Mayoff)

Field day has been an event in ham radio for 80 years. The Benicia Amateur Radio Club (BARC) has participated in the event for nearly 50 of those years. BARC will host Field Day at the Benicia Fire Museum beginning Saturday. It is a free event that will go on for 24 straight hours.
The event has several purposes; first to test the club members radio skills, check their equipment and demonstrate the benefits of ham radio. There will be a bit of a competition taking place for experienced members of the club during Field Day. The American Radio Relay League, the head of all amateur radio clubs, holds a contest where they see which club and their members can get in touch with the most stations in their local areas, America and the world.
BARC treasurer Art Mayoff sayid anyone in the public can participate in the event. The public will talk on the radio, and club members will be there to oversee their operations.
The Benicia Amateur Radio Club also has a partnership with the Benicia Fire Department. If a natural disaster were to knock of communications for the city, the radio club would help step up a way for communications to take place again, according to Mayoff.
“The beauty of radio is that it participates in communications independent of any infrastructure,” he said.
The club invites anyone to join their meetings held at the the downtown fire station at 150 Military West. These meetings happen every second Tuesday of the month. During these meetings, the club goes over any business that they need to take care of and also refers people to the classes they offer at the Senior Center to teach people how to become licensed radio ham operators . The club charges a $30 fee for study materials required for class but provides refreshments during the learning process.
According the Benicia Amateur Radio Club’s official website, the club had 80 people attend their last class session, and of those 80 people, 72 passed giving the club a 90 percent success rate.
“Anyone can operate a ham radio,” Mayoff said. “The purpose of the classes is for people to learn what they need to know so they can operate the equipment safely and not cause interference over the different channels that are used.”
The next One-Day Ham Radio Licensing class will he held on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Field Day begins Saturday at 11 a.m. and goes until Sunday at 11 a.m. The event will be held at the Benicia Fire Museum, located at 900 East Second St. For more information, contact Mayoff at aa6am@BeniciaARC.com.

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