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							FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For additional information contact:
Jan Bishop, PR
Sammamish Citizen Corps Council
C: 425.985.2566
sammamishcitizencorps@hotmail.com



           Amateur radio operators from Sammamish join in national deployment exercise



SAMMAMISH, WA—Volunteer Communication Specialists from Sammamish will join tens of thousands
of amateur radio operators across the U.S. when they test their emergency communication capabilities
and radio equipment during the annual AARL Field Day June 27th through June 28th at Sammamish City
Hall and Plaza.

Starting at 11:00AM (PDT) on Saturday, June 27th in a round-the-clock event through 11:00AM Sunday,
the Sammamish ARES/RACES GROUPe (SARGe) will put equipment, skill and know-how to the test in the
most popular on-the-air operating event in U.S. amateur radio.

You may have seen Sammamish Volunteer Communication Specialists before at local Sammamish
events like last year’s ‘Fourth on the Plateau’, Nightmare at Beaver Lake and the ‘Concerts in the Park’
series.

In an emergency situation or exercise typically, they’re behind the scenes, operating their radio links to
the Sammamish and King County Emergency Communications Centers, Eastside Fire & Rescue, the Red
Cross as well as other served agencies in Western Washington, to ensure readiness in emergency
situations. “We’ll be using emergency power (batteries and generators) to operate our radios, which
will be set up to demonstrate our ability to handle priority messaging by voice and data modes
including email messages – with attachments and pictures – over our Amateur radio frequencies,” says
Jon Bromberg, an organizer and participant in this year’s event. “Imagine how helpful that capability
might be to our City, fire and police responders following a disaster when landline and cell phones, and

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even the internet, may not be available.” Bromberg also pointed out that the AARL Field Day was a
great opportunity for Sammamish citizens to join in the fun at the event and actually give radio
operation a try on a ‘GOTA’, (Get On The Air), station that SARGe will have just for that purpose.

“We’ll have different equipment and personnel set up in various locations around the City Hall Plaza,
and will be using different modes of communication.” “It’s a fun time for us, too, we not only get to
experiment with different radio communications, but we’re also able to get to know folks in the
community who have an interest in amateur radio, and may be curious about how to get started with
it.” “We won’t be hard to spot,” Bromberg added, “Just look up! One of our antennas will be aloft,
attached to a helium weather balloon, 150 feet above Sammamish City Hall grounds.”

More than 30,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year’s event,
according to the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio.

There are over 650,000 Amateur Radio licenses in the U.S., and more than 2.5 million around the world.
Through the AARL’s Emergency Radio Program, Volunteer Communication Specialists provide
emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free.

In Sammamish, the Sammamish ARES/RACES GROUPe (SARGe), maintains equipment, certification and
standards in order to provide support to the City of Sammamish, Eastside Fire and Rescue, the
Sammamish Police, and other agencies. More information about SARGe can be found on the City’s
website: http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/Sarge.aspx




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                          704 - 228th Avenue NE, #292 Sammamish, WA 98074
                                    www.sammamishcitizencorps.org