On Saturday, Sept 8, 2012, the Fannin County Amateur Radio Club will be set-up at the Park in Leonard, TX where the Leonard Picnic is held. There will be numerous modes of communications demonstrated that day. We will be showing how to communicate using digital modes with very little power and by voice to other parts of the country and the world.

After all the diasasters in our country this year, Amateur Radio operators have been very busy. Emergency Communications is just one aspect of the hobby. Again this year we will set-up in Leonard to demonstrate a large array of what Amateur radio is all about. Some will remember a few weeks ago when Bonham and most of Fannin County had no telephone service. Amateur operators were standing by to help any way we could.

Few people know that Amateur Radio Operators are out around the county and the state during bad weather as Weather Spotters for the National Weather Service (NWS), but you will be able to meet some of the fine men and women that help to keep you safe during the storms. A lot of the watches and warnings issued by the NWS are because of reports that they get from your neighbors that brave the storms to get the information back to them.

 During this time in the park we will demonstrating APRS (Automatic Positioning Radio System) which is a way to keep track of your favorite Ham operator or your spouse and children. We will also be demonstrating Slow Scan TV, a mode that you can use to send and receive pictures or text messages with using a cell phone when the towers are down or you have no signal.

 We invite the community to come out and find out what we all about. You never can tell, you may be bitten by the Radio bug. So come on out to Leonard on Sept 8, 2012 and see what it is all about.