BREC invites families and friends to the 2010 American Radio Relay League Field Day on Saturday, June 26 at the Highland Road Park Observatory, 13800 Highland Road.

Temporary stations will be set up on the lawn in front of the observatory and inside the main building as the Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club joins similar clubs across the nation in an exciting emergency exercise. The event will be open for public viewing and participation at no cost from 2-10 p.m.

Visitors to the observatory also have the chance to communicate with other ham operators. Licenses to use ham radios are controlled by the FCC, but non-licensed visitors can transmit under the guidance of a licensed ham and learn how to obtain their own license.

Visitors will have a chance to send their names in Morse code. This will be a great opportunity for interested parties to find out what the ham radio is all about. Ham radio signals, being electromagnetic radiation (visible light, x-rays and microwaves), easily travel to Earth's upper atmosphere; so there's a chance a ham will communicate with an astronaut on the International Space Station!

The observatory is brought to the public by BREC, LSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Baton Rouge Astronomical Society.

For more information, call the Highland Road Park Observatory at (225) 768-9948, go to hrpo.lsu.edu or brec.org.

It is the BREC mission to provide parks and recreational opportunities for all citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish