Radio Operators to Have a Field Day

If disaster should strike Ventura County, help could come in the form of 11-year-old Jeremy McClure of Simi Valley.

Jeremy is the youngest licensed amateur radio operator in the Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club and, during an earthquake or other disaster, he could help law enforcement and public service agencies contact the outside world.

On Saturday, Jeremy will be among the 65 or so hams practicing during the American Radio Relay League field day in Moorpark.

Sponsored by the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club, the 24-hour field day is intended to test hams’ ability to set up emergency communications stations during disasters, said Ron McClure, Jeremy’s grandfather and president of the Simi club.

“The goal is to make as many radio contacts as you can in 24 hours,” McClure said. “We do that by setting up emergency stations and running them on battery power, just as we would during a disaster.

“We have fun, but we’re really practicing to do things better and faster,” he said.

In times of disaster, hams are often the first to volunteer their services. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, when phone lines were out from eastern Ventura County south into Los Angeles County, hams connected family members out of state with those affected by the quake.

“We made a contact in Massachusetts, and one contact was made in Belize,” McClure said.

McClure, who goes by the call sign KD6VLM, is one of five members of his family to receive his radio operator’s license. Jeremy followed in granddad’s footsteps, earning his license at age 8.

The field day, which is open to the public, begins at noon at 8380 Stockton Road.