HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now) — Imagine an emergency in your area, but all cellphone lines are down. What would you do? Thankfully the Antietam Radio Association knows just what to do.
“If there’s a situation where we need people to go to shelters, we will set up a station maybe in a fire department so that we could provide direct communications,” vice president Herman Niedzielski explained.
Over the 24-hour event, participants could get in contact with other people from other parts of the country to the other side of the world.
“Our fellows, earlier today, we’re talking about listening to japan,” Niedzielski said. “So by just the idea that during certain parts of the day, we have better contact in certain areas.”
Radio operators from all over the country participated in the weekend event, setting up ham radios and antennas.
The event is used to practice their skills and to see who can contact as many other participants as possible.
“It was good because we actually had a couple of experimental antennas we put up and they’re commercial antennas, so we’re able to play with them and use them,” Niedzielski said.