Today and tomorrow, the Newport County Radio club will be co-hosting one of the more than 1,400 radio "field days" happening across the country this weekend, in what is both a massive test of connectivity and an opportunity to see and experience what amateur radio is all about.

Local radio folks will be set up at the Gardener Seveney Sports Complex off East Main Rd. all day today and tomorrow morning, and there will be opportunities to watch and maybe even try your hand at broadcasting if you stop by betwen 4-6pm on Saturday or 11am-2pm Sunday. You can read more on Portsmouth Patch.

During field days, amateur radio folks test out their equipment and skills, contacting other stations around the globe in a demonstration of communications that doesn't require modern infrastructure. You never know when this might come in exceedingly handy (like, say, after a hurricane).

I'll admit that I find this stuff particularly cool, because radio really was the beginning of weaving the world into one global village through electronic communication. When you think about the history of media, remember that until the telegraph, complex messages could only travel as fast as something could physically carry them (leaving Roman signal fires aside for just a moment). The jump to radio — which was the Internet of its day — suddenly allowed people to connect across national boundaries, around the globe. And while there were certainly forces that tried to turn it into one-way commercial broadcasting *cough* General David *cough* there were, and are, plenty of folks who fire up the tubes and take up their microphone or key to reach out across the ether as proto-citizen journalists.

If you have some time — especially if you have kids — you might want to stop by and check it out. Maybe I'll see you there!