EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS PUT TO THE TEST — FIELD DAY 2009

Local Radio Operators Test Emergency Communications During Nationwide Event

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, June 09, 2009

New Kensington, PA – MEMBERS OF THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY WILL BE PUTTING
THEIR RADIO SKILLS TO THE TEST DURING THE ANNUAL FIELD DAY EVENT, SPONSORED
BY THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE. THE 2009 FIELD DAY WILL SPAN 27 HOURS
STARTING SATURDAY, JUNE 27 AT 2 PM, RUNNING THROUGH 5 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 28.
FIELD DAY IS DESIGNED TO TEST AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS’ SKILLS AND
CAPABILITIES UNDER ADVERSE EMERGENCY CONDITIONS, SUCH AS THOSE EXPERIENCED
DURING HURRICANE KATRINA. FIELD DAY OPERATORS FACE THE CHALLENGE OF QUICKLY
SETTING UP AND RUNNING 2-WAY RADIO STATIONS UNDER SIMULATED EMERGENCY
CONDITIONS WHERE COMMERCIALLY GENERATED POWER IS NOT AVAILABLE. ALTERNATIVE
ENERGY SOURCES INCLUDING GASOLINE GENERATORS, BATTERY, AND SOLAR WILL BE USED
TO POWER ALL THE RADIO AND COMPUTER EQUIPMENT BEING USED IN THE EVENT.
PRESIDENT OF THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY, LARRY KELLER (AB3ER) SAYS, "ONE
OF OUR GOALS DURING THE 2008 FIELD DAY EXERCISE IS TO RAISE AWARENESS WITH
THE PUBLIC AND EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT COMMUNITIES KNOW
THAT WHEN AN EMERGENCY ARISES, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEND AND RECEIVE
CRITICAL INFORMATION, EVEN WHEN ALL OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATIONS HAVE
FAILED."
THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY MEMBERS WILL BE OPERATING RADIOS FROM THEIR
CLUBHOUSE LOCATION NEAR NEW KENSINGTON AS WELL AS A SECOND FIELD STATION AT
TOWNSEND PARK IN MURRYSVILLE, PA. THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO OBSERVE, ASK
QUESTIONS AND EVEN "GET ON THE AIR" FOR THE FIRST TIME IF THEY’D LIKE.
IN ADDITION TO EXCHANGING INFORMATION WITH OTHER RADIO OPERATORS BY VOICE,
THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY CLUB MEMBERS WILL BE USING ONE OF THE OLDEST FORMS
OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS - CW - MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS MORSE CODE. THEY WILL
ALSO BE USING LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AND
COMPUTER SOUNDCARD-BASED COMMUNICATIONS MODES.
"SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY IS A VERY PROGRESSIVE AND FRIENDLY CLUB, ESPECIALLY
WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWING PEOPLE WHO HAVE LITTLE OR NO RADIO EXPERIENCE WHAT
WE DO. WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE ANYONE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO TO VISIT EITHER OR BOTH OF OUR FIELD DAY SITES. VISITORS WILL BE
GREETED WITH A WARM WELCOME, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW OFF SOME OF WHAT AMATEUR RADIO IS ALL ABOUT," SAYS DAVID KLEBER
(KB3FXI), COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN OF THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY.
MORE INFORMATION, SUCH AS DIRECTIONS TO THE FIELD DAY LOCATIONS, CAN BE FOUND
AT THE SKYVIEW RADIO SOCIETY WEBSITE AT WWW.SKYVIEWRADIO.NET.

Contact:
David Kleber, KB3FXI
412-720-0210
David.Kleber@verizon.net
Skyview Radio Society
2335 Turkey Ridge Road
New Kensington, PA 15068
www.skyviewradio.net

Whew! An update on World War II Radio Heroes

Hello good people.

My apologies for being so quiet for a few months.

We are in the recording studio now finishing up the audio book version of World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion. I have had the great pleasure of working with so many gracious volunteers lending their voices to our letters from 1943. And, I have been so fortunate to have a great executive producer, Darryl Grandy, leading us in all of the right directions. We should have the audio books available by the end of October- just in time for the holidays. The audio book will only be available via my website www.powletters.com and at the various speaking engagements that I go out on.

We have discovered the hamfest circuit! Rob and I attended our first hamfest at Skyview Radio Society, K3MJW, in New Kensington (near Pittsburgh) on August 24, 2008. We had a great time! It was one of our best book promotions yet! (Thanks to the good people of Skyview that had spread the word before we even got there!) We had a wonderful day with beautiful weather and met dozens of radio heroes. I was interviewd by Dennis Woytek of Skyview and you can see the interview here: http://www.skyviewradio.net/

We hit another hamfest the following weekend, in Uniontown PA, W3PIE, and saw many of the same radio faces as the week before! Its a following like I haven't seen in ages. Now, we are toying with the idea of joining our radio friends in Kutztown PA on the 19th and 20th of September. And, we'll definitely be in Dayton in 2009! How could we possibly miss that monster radio event?

I have a busier speaking schedule in the coming months than I have since earlier this year. I hope to be at a location near you. Check my website for the latest information www.powletters.com

Thanks for tuning in. I hope to see you soon.

Lisa