City of Redmond Mayor John Marchione has proclaimed June 16-23 Amateur Radio Week in recognition of the public service that Redmond amateur radio operators provide to the community.

The proclamation is made in conjunction with Amateur Radio Field Day, which will from 11 a.m. on Saturday June 22 to 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Radio operators (or hams) from the City of Redmond’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) team will gather to set up radio communications equipment at Redmond Fire Station 17 (16917 N.E. 116 St.) and test their communications capabilities during a simulated emergency situation.

The event is part of a nationwide “Field Day” operations activity sponsored and coordinated by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for amateur radio. ARRL Field Day is the one of the most popular on-the-air events held annually in the United States and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions.

The Redmond ARES event is open to the public. The team will have a “Get on the Air” (GOTA) station in which anyone, under the supervision of licensed radio operators, can try to make contact with hams from other parts of the country and the world.

Local hams who are interested in this public service opportunity can find out more about Redmond’s ARES team at redmond-ares.org.