The fun is seeing how far you can go, the point is being ready to keep contact when an emergency strikes.

Members of the Orange County Amateur Radio Club spent the weekend camped out on a Huntington Beach middle school soccer field, practicing various ways the ham radio operators will help in an earthquake, fire or other disaster that knocks out communications.

When you can’t hop on your cellphone, they’ll be able to tune in other operators across the globe and keep lines of communication open.

The annual Winter Field Day is hosted in conjunction with groups across the country; operators use generators and alternative power sources to practice keeping emergency communications open in a variety of conditions.

During the 24-hour event, the goal is to make contact with as many other licensed ham operators as possible using various modes, such as voice, Morse code, packet radio, high frequency, low frequency, satellites and even a moon bounce, organizers said.

The field day invites the public, letting people see how far they can make contact — and hopefully encouraging a younger generation to get interested.

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